by Nalin Ratnayake
I get pensive sometimes. I go into this zone where my mind just wanders from subject to subject, exploring possibilities, pondering what-ifs, and reflecting on my life. It’s a sort of re-alignment for me, a chance to stop my busy schedule and let my mind calibrate itself to who I have become since I last checked… which is usually awhile ago with how busy I get. In these times I need to talk, to discuss, to bounce grandiose schemes off of someone who will build off of them and fire it right back.
The James and I met up for the first time in a long time, in a city neither of us has ever been to before. We are here in the Queen City, Cincinnati, attending a meeting of the minds of the aerospace propulsion industry. Near 6th and Vine, set back and almost lost in the high rises of downtown, we found a middle eastern restaurant to grab a “quick” bite to eat. Four hours, three hookahs, and a pot or two of tea later, we were well on our way to solving the mysteries of the universe when we realized that the place was shutting down for the night.
We talked politics, science policy, Islam, girls, plasma physics, beer, old friends, Europe, business plans, trains, quantum mechanics, growing up, the merits of current energy deposition theories in the presently modeled magnetohydrodynamic numerical codes for ion and fusion thrusters, NASA funding, the historical ethnic conflict in Cyprus, and just how nice Lebanese mint tea is. Fantastic.
Thanks James, I needed that. Bring it on world, I’m ready for you.
Oh yeah and one large black man who said his mother just died and he needed $10 to catch the bus home… I’m pretty sure he was full of shit, but you know, he might not have been, i was in a good mood, happened to have cash on me, and it’s my birthday tomorrow so I figured what the hell, karma comes around. (shrug). It’s been a random night, but I can’t shake that feeling that it meant something. I guess I just go a little crazy sometimes.
He probably spent it on drugs and alcohol which is also probably why he had no money in the first place.
$10 worth of drugs though… what does that buy you these days? Like 3 nanograms?
On the other hand, a large plastic jug of Clan MacGregor whiskey is about $10… that’s probably what he did. I seem to remember one awful night when The James brought Safeway Select ™ vodka to a party… I’m going to bet that was less than $10. Thanks James, that’s one residual headache that will never fade.
Oh Nalin, you should know better. That’s not a residual hangover, that sir is brain damage. Welcome to the club! Not only am I a member, but I’m also the President… and the treasurer, secretary, director, and best boy grip.