I'm a kid at heart, but have the body of an old fogie

The title of this post describes me with some accuracy, but it does leave you thinking, "Huh?" Therefore, as sort of a souvenir for making the long trip out here to the Planet, I'll explain—or at least try to explain what I mean. Then you'll have something to take home as proof that there really is life out here. Maybe it'll fit on your dresser, in your closet, or on your front porch. Y'never know.

The title can more or less be broken into two parts. I'll tackle the "kid at heart" part first, then take on the "old fogie" part after that.

We've all heard the expression "kid at heart" and I think we accept that it refers to a person who thinks young, does "young" things; for instance, a 60-year-old person who still loves the roar of a nice V8 engine (with power!) while driving a car with a manual transmission. Or in my case, getting on a roller coaster—any roller coaster regardless of how big it is. Yeah, I still get on those contraptions even though my body is telling me to stop doing that. I happen to live less than an hour from Six Flags Magic Mountain, which at this writing has the biggest collection of coasters in the entire world—nineteen to be exact, with rumors of No. 20 coming next year. (We'll know later this month when Six Flags announces their projects for 2019.) There are a couple of coasters at Magic Mountain that I haven't ridden because they're kiddie coasters with seats that I can't fit into anymore. I've had the displeasure of taking the dreaded Walk of Shame™, so if there's any doubt about whether I'll fit, I avoid them. (For those who don't know, as coasters go, the Walk of Shame™ is when you're denied the chance to ride because you're not tall enough, the restraints won't fit you because of your size, etc. The proper way to take that walk is with your head down and a frown upon your face—mostly for the effect. You'd be right if you think I play that up and have a little fun...)

Aside from roller coasters, my sense of humor really hasn't changed much from when I was a lot younger. Like my taste in stand-up comics, I don't think profanity adds anything to humor. In fact, I think it takes away from it. Therefore, I avoid using it. My friends know me for my plays on words and punnery. That's how I roll. Strangely, I don't laugh out loud or smile a lot, but I have been told by some friends and acquaintances that I'm a funny guy nonetheless. If I can bring a smile to someone's face, that makes me feel good. Smiles and laughter are good for the body by keeping your blood pressure down, and for your soul by making you happy.

Now for the "old fogie" part...

Behind that heart of a kid lies a guy who is actually very sick. I don't look sick, but diabetes is one of those "silent" diseases where you look perfectly fine, but are far from it. I've written about my ails and the brokenation of my body many times. Unfortunately, most chronic diseases age the body more rapidly than it already ages here in our wonderful world. Physical and mental aging. I recently had my 59st birthday. Almost 60. Almost retired. Almost picking out my burial spot. Funny thing, in this recent selfie that I took when Jeff, Wendi and I went to Union Station last month...

...I look like I've taken a few years off of my face. Maybe it's because Union Station is one of my happy places. To be honest, I actually like how that picture turned out. Very few wrinkles, and *BONUS* I even shaved—which helps. In my opinion, I look a few years younger than I really am; that gray patch of hair below my nose doesn't help, so it may be headed to the endangered species list, having been there since ninth grade. But that's only my opinion. As we all know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, there are plenty of beholders, so there are plenty of opinions.

For even more laughs, here's yet another photo of myself at another happy place—the one mentioned previously with all of the roller coasters. I don't look too bad here, either, but, again, we always look good when we're in a happy place.

And besides, after I took this picture I had Chinese food for lunch. For free. Nothing wrong with that.

Of note, I can't help but to think of the theme song to a show from back in the '60s called Secret Agent. Turn on your speakers, then click here for a listen. In my case, it's Secret Aging Man.

I'd like to think that a young heart and mind will counteract the effects of the aging body. You can't turn back time, but maybe you can slow it down a little.

Hitting the rails with a couple of friends

Recently, a couple of friends invited me to join them for an event at Union Station in downtown L.A. Anyone who knows me knows that an event that involves trains requires little thought on my part about going. "Trains? OK, I'm go..." Wait, where did he go? He's at the train station, dummy. He got there before he finished his sentence.

Back in 2008, Amtrak began holding an annual event known as National Train Day. Held on the second Saturday of May, it was a day to celebrate trains. Old steam locomotives and classic coaches shared the tracks with modern coaches and brand new diesel-electric locomotives that pull trains today. Visitors to the event lined up for hours for a chance to walk through the cars and see how our parents or grandparents traveled when they were younger. One time I even got to climb into the cab of an old steam locomotive and check it out. (Read about that here.)

I don't know for sure when Amtrak stopped having that event, but it was within the last couple of years. I attended the first one in 2008 and still have a button I got while I was there. In past blog posts, I've written about my adventures. (Click the link in the paragraph above.)

The event I attended with Jeff and Wendi was very similar to National Train Day. This time the event was called Summer Train Fest and was held at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. I can't recall where I first learned about National Train Day because I wasn't on Facebook at the time. It might have been in the newspaper. But Summer Train Fest was advertised on Facebook, and I saw it there. Between "Going," "Not Going," and "Interested," I clicked "Interested" because I'm never sure whether I'll be up to attending events where I'll be too hot or on my feet for an extended period. (I just can't do a lot of that anymore. The reasons why are for another post.) But I got the invite from Jeff and Wendi, so I decided "what the heck, I'll go." It sounded like fun.

The three of us arranged to meet around 9am at Metro's Universal City station to take the Red Line to Union Station. A twenty-minute ride got us there not long past 10am, which was the official starting time for the event. People were already lined up along the wall in the tunnel that Amtrak and Metrolink passengers use to reach the track where their trains are boarding, or after arrival to get to the Metro Red or Gold Line stops or the main station concourse.

The event was free, so we didn't need to purchase any tickets for anything. We weren't in line long before it started moving. Visitors were led to the middle of the train before boarding and walking through some of the cars. Because I'd seen these cars before, I didn't take any photos. Jeff and Wendi had not walked through these cars previously or in recent times, so everything was new...ish to them. Any photos that appear in this post were taken by Wendi unless otherwise specified. To start, here are the three of us in the dome of Silver Solarium.

Wendi, Eric, and Jeff traveling in style.

There's no question that travel by rail could be quite an elegant experience back in the day. While much slower, it was definitely a hundred steps above the cramped, flying buses that we use today. (Yes, they're buses with wings unless you pay big.) What better way to see the country than at ground level? Someone else is driving, and you can sit back, enjoy the scenery, meet new people, get up and walk around the train, get a snack—you name it. And you can't beat the view from a dome car!

Eric, Wendi, and Jeff enjoying the dome car.

You won't find appointments like these today. The three of us did, however. No cramped seating here; only a nice sofa:

Wendi, Jeff, and Eric enjoy a little class. Sofa, so good...

What has always amazed me is how these cars roll down a track with rails only 56.5" inches apart, yet the cars can be as wide as a room in a house. We didn't get photos, but some of these cars have bedrooms with bunk beds and/or beds that can convert into a comfortable seat and vice versa. This is an exterior shot of the car we're sitting in.

Classic railcar from the 1950s

Once we were finished enjoying our 1950s rail trip, we hopped aboard the Metro Red Line and headed to Pershing Square. We stopped there to ride Angel's Flight. It has been shut down for quite some time, and I wasn't aware that it had reopened, so we had to see for ourselves. Sure enough, there was a car waiting for passengers at the bottom station. We wasted no time in getting in line.

Sinai waiting to carry folks to the top of the hill.

Jeff had never ridden Angel's Flight, and Wendi hadn't ridden it since before its original closure in 1969, when it was located a half-block up Hill St.

After our classic downtown L.A. rail experience, we headed across Hill St to have lunch at the Grand Central Market. Inside, there are a lot of places to eat, but we decided that the Horse Thief BBQ would suit us for lunch. We had to wait a bit, but it was worth it. A little western food hits the spot now and then.

The classic Bradbury Building was only one block away, so we walked over there and went inside. Here we are inside:

Jeff, Wendi, and Eric rockin' the Bradbury.

Unfortunately, unlike my last visit to the Bradbury Building sometime in the '80s, we were not able to ride the classic, open cage elevators. Guided tours are offered, but you have to sign up and make a reservation. There were no open slots when we were there, so maybe some other time. Here's a shot of one of the elevators:

Going up?

Wendi took quite a few photos of the interior of the Bradbury Building. Here is an assortment of her pictures:

By the time we left the Bradbury Building, I was beyond exhausted and we were ready to head back to the Valley, anyway. We had to walk a couple of blocks to reach the Pershing Square station of the Metro Red Line, so we got a-hoofin'. Jeff, Wendi, and I got our TAP cards loaded and pretty much walked onto a train headed to the Valley. It was nice to sit for a few minutes at least.

Back at Universal, I drove Jeff and Wendi over to get his car which was parked at a friend's house not too far away. I called it a day and headed home. At some point, I'm sure we'll embark on another adventure of some kind. There's so much to explore in the city of Los Angeles.