August 6Th, 2010:
Had a cheap and excellent breakfast at the local hippy coffeehouse "Cafe Ibis". Ibis is owned by a couple conscientious old Hippies, who really do care about their customers and the environment as well. I find that many "Hippies" are just lazy and justify their behavior with a lot of bullshit rhetoric. But I know a few Hippies who do what they preach, they believe in using "effort" to achieve their dreams and not just a hand out. These owners of Ibis deserve all the good things that they have achieved.
I had a great breakfast consisting of local, free range, organic, eggs. Two pieces of high quality local baked bread known as "Deckard Five Seed", which will turn you into a bread lover real quick, and a small container of high grade organic jam, sugarless of course. And some chopped home grown potatoes, covered with some fine herb. And a large cup of their "Highland Grog" coffee. This was just good quality fare. Like the owners pay far more for the ingredients because they care about you. Every attention was put into detail. These people actually travel to the country and inspect the fields before they buy the coffee beans, which they grind themselves. They are not just name dropping pretentious bastards, all their stuff is first rate. Total cost for the best breakfast in town: Six dollars.
Ibis to me is the way all companies should be. They focus on a good healthy honest deal, not the bottom line. Their reward is a highly successfully business and the owners are quite well to do because of this. The Puritans from the Mayflower days used to prosecute businesses which made more than a 7 percent profit. Capitalism with no constraint is not good for anybody. Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower pointed out this in large block letters that people have managed to ignore. Huge profits are what pimps and drug dealers seek. Not good businesses like Cafe Ibis. Ibis has stolen more than a few customers from the bland, expensive local places for breakfast. Business is greatest when it is ran with a conscience and even "Love".
"Gammed" quite awhile with the 65 year old maintenance man, who enjoys the same first name as myself. Seen him around, thought him insane at first. This man is the spitting image of the actor "John Malkovich". This man rules the 22 lofts up here in the Logan, Utah sky. John (obviously not his real name), does not take any shit... PERIOD! He really seems to like me, and bends over backwards to help me get my apartment finished out (no door between bathroom and living area). John was on it immediately. Maybe he respects me because I am not indigent or live on public assistance like many others around here. Maybe its because I'm big and kind. I trust this man, and so does the owner of these fine living spaces. "Malkovich" is a good man to have on your side around here. He will probably have me help him bust some heads in the future. A job I will gladly assist in.
Spent some time tracking down my barber, who was a student at the local hairstylists academy. She has cut my hair and beard many times, in fact I trained her how to use the clippers on a beard and head about 12 months ago. Now, she is the only one I will allow to touch my head. We are pretty good friends, and things are comfortable between us professionally. I showed up and she was the only lady at the shop that had a customer. She trimmed off 6 months of beard and hair with the skill of a lawncutter. 15 minutes later, I looked like a new man, and her new place of business knows that she knows her shit when it comes to shaggy old men! Most hair stylists her age tend to treat me like "The Elephant Man". Mandi is like a daughter to me.
Went to the car dealer and was approved to buy a 96 "S" class Mercedes Benz, a giant four door sedan, and the most expensive of the Mercedes built that year. The original price was $87,000!!! It looks to be new, as I previously described, and very well maintained. I
will buy it for around 9 thousand! I don't need a car really, but this is more a love affair. I have been looking at her for a few weeks now, and with my hated newer motorbike as down payment, I can get her for $350 per month for only 2 years. The dealer loved the Kawasaki, since it is also new in appearance. I can't stop thinking about this "finest of all the cars in the world". Bad thing is: I really don't need a car. I am happy with my ancient truck, but wont drive it too far. This car has "Presidential" written all over it. And can cruise down the Auto Bahn at 140 MPH all day long, while holding tight to the road. This great black German built ship, is over 17 feet long and weighs nearly 5000 pounds. 335 horsepower makes it quite fast enough to enter the highway with complete, Teutonic authority!
I must have her... I must...
Saturday Nacht: Spending some time on the "back porch" or our large 140 year old building. The "porch" is a fire escape, with a wide deck of steel grate, before it becomes an ancient, spindly, steep set of stairs, some 30 feet off the ground. Takes a bit of time to get used to, but I can manage carrying two sacks of groceries, whilst ascending the sturdy old tangle of steel grate, and iron rails. The view from up here is incredible. Much calmer here than on the Main Street side of the building. Thankfully some kind soul put a large rubber mat on the deck and even an old folding metal chair (with wooden seat), on the mat, just so I can look out upon the back parking lot from up high like a god, who watches over his imagined creation of concrete, lamp posts, cars, and the night people.
Amazing all the human activity I can spy from up high in relative camouflage, These are not the same folks I see around here in the daytime. These are not Mormon people. who go to sleep at night up in their fine houses on the hillsides. These are the ones who sleep in the day, and smartly get to enjoy the cool weather, when they go on the prowl at 11 PM. Many are harmless college students on foot or bicycles, but I also witness the poor and destitute, walking to the local store for more ciggies and beer. A few are like sharks in cars slowly driving around looking for an easy piece of meat to steal. Then there are the cops. They are nearly everywhere. From my point of view it looks like a big cat and mouse game, with all participants avoiding the gaze of the "cats" (cops). I was interrupted from my observation from the giant insane man who lives down the hall from me. This dude seems harmless, but he really doesn't have a job, and brags about his diagnosis a bit too much. I loaned him a few dollars the other day for ciggies, and will not give him a dime, until it is repaid. Mainly the residents of my new community are elderly with a monthly pension. A few have lived here for twenty years. I might only stay for a year or two, or until I learn all there is to know about this area. So far I love this unique place. Its pretty much safe, interesting, and friendly. I wouldn't trade this loft or view for the nicest apartment in town.
So now it's 1 AM, and I can't seem to sleep, the big wooden radio is playing some cool music from the 40's and 50's and I'm simply having too much fun listening to it, in a pad that looks straight out of that time period. My furnishings, gleaned from the "D.I." (Deseret Industries, a Mormon giant "Good Will" store, which has really decent stuff,) I found a chair and two end tables, in perfect condition, for $40 for the set. All I need now is a small old table, which will serve as a desk and eating place. It will go next to the wall of big windows, which makes the front of my loft. I prefer to watch the street and traffic than TV at this point. Each nite this week has been quite rich and special, hard to fully describe in normal words. I can best describe it from a quote from the book, "The Great Gatsby", while the narrator was talking about how pleasant the hot August night in Long Island was during the time period of all those events. He said, something to the effect of: "This night is like a delicate delicious fruit, just waiting to be plucked". This is how I feel about these several nights I've spent up here in this loft. Each one is more intriguing than the previous, I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow up here.
Tomorrow I plan to explore the upper floor and navigate its complicated fire escape system, part of which crosses between two buildings, with chimneys sticking up like on the rooftops of old London, reminiscent of the movie "Mary Poppins", in the chimney scene. I can easily envision some of these locals dancing on the roof tops to the song "Step in Time", from that very movie. I also plan to hit up Cafe Ibis, because I constantly dream about their magical breakfast's. But that will be tomorrows adventure.... Nite..
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