My Texas Adventures - Part 1

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

My entry into Texas was unforgettable. A two hour flaming red sunset that went on and on and on and the bus continued to drive into. The kind of sunset that made everything glow that it touched - longest I have ever seen.
Just after dark we drove into Mount Pleasant Texas - the smallest Greyhound Depot I have ever seen - literally a 5 ft cube of weathered wood and a two foot wide wooden porch with a running dog sign hanging from the roof. Even though the place was closed (and seemed closed permanently) a young couple was waiting to get on - modern day hippies with rings thru everything.
Dallas was huge - sprawling on and on in every direction with interestingly designed buildings - more than one architect won awards for those buildings Im sure. The Greyhound Depot downtown was a meeting point of the entire multicultural spectrum. At one end was a really neat snackbar/cafe. The food was surprisingly quite good, reasonably priced and pleasantly handled by attractive, outgoing Spanish American girls.
During the midnight run from Dallas to Lubbock we passed many interesting town names along the way. One of the male passengers wanted to know the name of each town along the way and a big black girl (who had a cute baby) indulged him (I think he just liked hearing her voice) Rope, Bolt, Crossing X, Sundry, Smoke etc. (probably the first thing the first white guy saw became the town name.)
About midway on the trip I must have drifted off because I came to and the bus was stopped beside a dilapidated adobe shack (abandoned?) with part of the roof caved in and an open doorway. The driver was pumping gas into the bus from a single old pump. Where else would you see something like that, a Greyhound driver pumping his own gas?
I think the bus trip was physically dangerous for me. My feet, ankles and calves swelled up to almost twice their normal size, I couldnt get my shoes back on. By instinct I hobbled around the Lubbock bus depot (outside) at least a dozen times immediately after getting off the bus, even tho extremely painful it resided afterwards into a numbness which was bearable but the swelling didnt go fully away for two days.

[Paul Bonham]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

My entry into Texas was unforgettable. A two hour flaming red sunset that went on and on and on and the bus continued to drive into. The kind of sunset that made everything glow that it touched - longest I have ever seen.
Just after dark we drove into Mount Pleasant Texas - the smallest Greyhound Depot I have ever seen - literally a 5 ft cube of weathered wood and a two foot wide wooden porch with a running dog sign hanging from the roof. Even though the place was closed (and seemed closed permanently) a young couple was waiting to get on - modern day hippies with rings thru everything.
Dallas was huge - sprawling on and on in every direction with interestingly designed buildings - more than one architect won awards for those buildings Im sure. The Greyhound Depot downtown was a meeting point of the entire multicultural spectrum. At one end was a really neat snackbar/cafe. The food was surprisingly quite good, reasonably priced and pleasantly handled by attractive, outgoing Spanish American girls.
During the midnight run from Dallas to Lubbock we passed many interesting town names along the way. One of the male passengers wanted to know the name of each town along the way and a big black girl (who had a cute baby) indulged him (I think he just liked hearing her voice) Rope, Bolt, Crossing X, Sundry, Smoke etc. (probably the first thing the first white guy saw became the town name.)
About midway on the trip I must have drifted off because I came to and the bus was stopped beside a dilapidated adobe shack (abandoned?) with part of the roof caved in and an open doorway. The driver was pumping gas into the bus from a single old pump. Where else would you see something like that, a Greyhound driver pumping his own gas?
I think the bus trip was physically dangerous for me. My feet, ankles and calves swelled up to almost twice their normal size, I couldnt get my shoes back on. By instinct I hobbled around the Lubbock bus depot (outside) at least a dozen times immediately after getting off the bus, even tho extremely painful it resided afterwards into a numbness which was bearable but the swelling didnt go fully away for two days.

I see here the rough draft of a movie script: "Desperately Seeking Susan (Polgar)".

Great writing, Hans! All that's missing for Hollywood is the love interest. I momentarily thought it might be the woman that was dragged off the bus... :D

[Larry Castle]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

I like Paul's Desperately Seeking Susan (Polgar) but I would like to submit
"Fear and Loathing on the Road to Lubbock" as an alternative.
Great stuff Hans.

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

Lubbock and Texas Tech - As I mentioned earlier a tornado wiped out the north east of Lubbock some years ago. What was spared was Broadway Avenue, the first street south of the destruction. Interestingly on that street from the grounds of Texas Tech to Avenue Q (a distance of about 1 mile) exist most of the churches of Lubbock. Coincidence, maybe. I enjoyed my walks along that street as it was the most picturesque in the area. It had also the most popular taco bar in the area. Literally cheap beer and a few choices of Mexican food - a great hit with the locals - far more "blue collar" than students. With the exception of Denny's I did all my eating on campus. The quality of the food was good and also cheap - an example: filling pasta dishes for $4. The service was good and the scenery exceptional (Im partial to younger athletic looking, attractive women). After my first meal there I wanted desert - namely ice cream. I admit I have cravings at times for butterscotch. I couldnt for the life of me get a cone (apparently there is a separate franchise somewhere else in the building for ice cream). So I ordered a butterscotch milkshake. I was astounded to see the server walk over to a freezer and put in 5 large scoops of butterscotch ice cream into the large cup before adding other ingredients and mixing. Cost $2.45. The next time I watched she put in 5 large scoops of butterscotch and I said "hold it - I'll take it as is" - Beating the system - priceless.

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

I like Paul's Desperately Seeking Susan (Polgar) but I would like to submit
"Fear and Loathing on the Road to Lubbock" as an alternative.
Great stuff Hans.

Great idea Larry! Maybe I can right a sequel and use both titles. Imagine a new career born on chesstalk! Lol

[Keven Eyre]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

This whole story is very good. Thanks very much for writing it!

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

The weather in Lubbock kept getting better each day - warmer by 5 degrees at least - the last day it went over 90 (almost 35 C) and dry heat - the best kind -none of our summer humidity.
It was a real pleasure to walk back and forth to campus.
I discovered the outdoor chess tables on my third day.
In terms of location, design, looks, and even cleanliness they are far superior to the ones here at Kitchener City Hall. They are located right beside the university library and strategically set so that they are in the shade by mid afternoon.
The tables themselves are together by twos with benches (so bughouse can be played) which is far better for social chess and communication. One table at the end has no benches - the wheelchair designate. Altogether there are seven.
Each bench has a gold plated plaque with famous chess sayings - example: Bobby Fischer "chess is life", Johann Goethe "chess is the touchstone of the intellect", Susan Polgar " win with grace, lose with dignity" etc. Only thing is they were underutilized.
The entire time I was there no one played on them with the exception when I talked a passerby into playing there. I mentioned that they needed a chess coordinator and I hope they realize and follow thru.
On the second day of play in my tournament I blundered away two out of three of my games (although in one my opponent returned the favor) so I finally could fully relax and enjoy more of my surroundings.
On the Sunday morning after a glorious walk to the tournament I discovered that there was no coffee on site -trauma. Nothing was open and the coffee on site was just in the process of being set up.
I sat down to play and Susan Polgar noticed something was wrong (although I hadnt said anything). She came up to me and asked me if she could get me coffee and then went on a coffee run. She came back with the best coffee I had on my entire trip - where else would a world champion get coffee for an ordinary joe?? -wow - to say the least that floored me.

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

In the tournament itself I played the 3 best youth stars.
Jeffrey Xiong is the top 10 yr old in the US. The last published rating I could find was 2288 but by the time we played it was going north of 2350.
In the analysis room on the second day I saw him on a laptop. When I went over to look he was whipping thru database games at about 4 or 5 moves per second.
I asked him what he was looking for. After a few more questions it became clear that not only was he identifying opening ideas but also tactical keys and positional technique during the course of each game.
In my game he saw a lot more than I did.
His father was also very friendly. He mentioned that he would be happy to bring Jeffery to a tournament in Canada.
I am sure I can work something out.
I really enjoyed spending a lot of time in conversation with Dr. Hal Karlsson and Paul Truong.
With Dr. Karlsson there was a new idea(s) with every conversation. He was always looking to fine tune or add to the chess tournaments or the chess program.
Paul was a virtual fountain of information on the international chess scene and because he was basically tied to the computer and his cameras I got to pump him with at least a thousand questions. Paul was always happy to answer and I got him excited on more than one occasion on past events or current situations.
A couple of times he gave me a ride back to my motel and it was thanks to him that I received a gift basket and many other souvenirs of my stay in Lubbock and Texas Tech.
I even stayed an extra day for more conversation and to see the end of the Spice Cup A tournament (with the thrilling finale between Le Quang Liem and Lenier Dominguez) and Susan personally invited me to the farewell dinner (and birthday party of Ray Robson) at the Texas Land and Cattle Roadhouse.
The bacon wrapped sirloin was Texas sized and sitting across from Le Quang Liem and his mother and beside Jerry (a vice-president of Texas Tech and a 500 pound ex football Afro American with a razor wit and constantly telling stories of his youth growing up in Munich in southern Germany, interspersed with witticisms form Paul Truong) was memorable.
Also on the final day in the morning I went to see the Buddy Holly museum. Definitely not to be missed. Every little detail of his life is there.
Even tho he died at 21, not only was he a music legend but a great improviser who invented or perfected many musical ideas.
Especially the video has to be seen. It is a mini documentary (about half an hour) very tightly scripted.
About 5 minutes in you see Paul McCartney sitting in a chair with a guitar. Paul is very down to earth and leads with: "I guess I was about 16 and me and John sagged off from school one day to go to the Paladium to see Buddy. We sat up front to watch his chord work and we couldnt get over it. How does he do it? How does he do it?" - then Paul on the guitar breaks into Peggy Sue and then in the exact same rhythm Twist and Shout - and then typical Paul - but of course Buddy did it much better.
Also seeing the Stones tell about their first song in public being a Buddy Holly tune and Elton John's famous glasses -an idea he got from Buddy.
In the museum showcases endless examples of Buddy's creativity and highlights of his career. Buddy, on top of his musical prowess, was an expert craftsman and wood and leather carver, carving his own belts and guitar straps and even making his own furniture.
Every Buddy Holly song ever recorded is there and is played non stop around the clock, as well as other hits of other stars at the time.
Definitely not to be missed the day the music died.

[Rene Preotu]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

Hans,

Can you please post the game against Jeffrey Xiong. He's playing in U12 at WYCC so our players might play with him.

Thank you,

Rene

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

Jeffery Xiong - Hans Jung 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 c6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Qc2 h6 9.Bh4 a5 10.Nge2 Na6 11.a3 Re8 12.0-0 Ne4 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Rae1 b5 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.Ng3 f5 17.f3 exf3 18.Rxf3 g6 19.e4 b4 20.Na4 Qd6 21.Rd1 fxe4 22.Nxe4 Bf5 23.Rxf5 Rxe4 24.Qxe4 gxf5 25.Qxf5 bxa3 26.bxa3 Nc7 27.Nb6 Rf8 28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.h3 Qxa3 30.Nc4 Qc3 31.Ne5 Qe3+ 32.Kh1 Rg8 33.Nf7+ Kh7 34.Qf5+ Kg7 35.Rd3 Qe1+ 36.Kh2 Qe6 37.Rg3 Kf8 38.Nxh6+ Qxf5 39.Rxg8+ Ke7 40.Nxf5+ 1-0 Not a good game from my end. 14...Nd6 would have given me a reasonable game. 20...Qd6 was a howler. Its all yours to study fwiw.

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

On the last morning I got up in plenty of time and went to Denny's for breakfast and then ordered a cab.
After 45 minutes the cab had still not arrived so I ran with all my luggage to the bus station. I was a few minutes late but was relieved to find out that I had not missed my bus.
An hour later the bus arrived but the driver was acting very strange. He was on a cellphone for quite some time (just sitting on the bus after letting all the passengers off) and when he finally exited the bus he held a clipboard to his head so we couldnt see his face.
He disappeared into the terminal for 15 minutes and when he finally allowed the passengers on board he had no info for us.
Now an explanation for more of the story.
The streets of Lubbock are bricked (not paved) and I guess in the winter sometimes the bricks heave up. This causes what is referred to as gaps and there are big signs "Mind the Gap - 5 mile per hour". If you are wise as a driver you do 5 mph.
The bus left in a great hurry and all of a sudden a tremendous bang, curses from the driver, but he kept on going.
About 20 miles out we are pulled over by a state trooper. He boards the bus and explains that fluid is pouring out of the bus and would we please accompany him to the nearest depot. More curses from the driver after he leaves.
On arrival at the state trooper depot we are waved ahead of a line of about 20 tractor trailers to pull up over a large mechanics pit. It takes another 45 minutes but eventually they temporarily patch the leak and give the bus a full inspection and clearance (but the driver is given papers to have the leak properly fixed in 48 hours).
While the driver is away talking to the troopers the story comes out via one of the passengers why the bus was late that morning.
Apparently the night before on the all night run from Dallas to Lubbock (and then to Amarillo) about two hours from Lubbock the driver drove off the road. When he did it a second time the passengers started shouting at him.
The driver then drove the bus to the nearest motel, left the door open, and disappeared.
When the passengers realized he was not coming back they phoned Greyhound and finally arranged (after several calls) a replacement bus and driver.
We arrived in Amarillo two hours late and luckily 10 minutes to my next departure to Albuquerque, New Mexico (and eventually Flagstaff, Arizona)
I got off the bus a little paranoid.
Amarillo is a major transfer hub for buses going south (Dallas), south west (New Mexico and Mexico), west (Vegas and LA), north (Denver), and north east (Oklahoma and ST Louis or Memphis). However the station itself is like a Greyhound station from the 50's with very few bays, a seedy interior with little signage, and poor service.
Lucky when I got off the bus I noticed that there were two handlers(one each for each side of the bus) Being Johny on the spot I noticed one of the handlers with my bag and demanded it. He reacted with "Sure man, calm down, whatever" but handed me my bag. Im pretty sure he was stoned and the incident shook me.
I got to my next bus just in the nick of time, Im not sure about my fellow passengers making it.
Off we went to New Mexico. I found eastern New Mexico to be boring, basically the same scenery, but close to Albuquerque the scenery changes dramatically to mountains with beautiful background views, some magnificent homes, and sweeping passes thru canyons.
Albuquerque is a gorgeous sprawling city - 6 to 8 million depending who you ask. The freeways are lined with fascinating multicoloured tiles, the underneaths of highway bridges are painted in spectacular murals, the dividers in the center of the highways have many trees, large cactus, and shrubs and huge painted clay pots with lots of flowers.
An impressive city.
After 16 hours of driving adventure I got to Flagstaff, Arizona. It was 1030 at night and we got off to a small one room depot (that could hold a dozen passengers max) and one guy behind the counter. The bus held 50 passengers.
Lucky I had been studying my Grand Canyon guidebook (Lonely Planet - I highly recommend it) and knew the direction to downtown Flagstaff. However it was pitch black out.
I headed out with all my luggage, luckily I didnt hit a pothole, and after about a mile was wondering where the downtown was.
The other thing was when I left Lubbock the temperature the day before was 90+ and that morning early already 70 (20+C).
Although I was wearing my jacket off the bus (as I didnt want to jam it in my luggage) I was freezing.
Later I found out that the windchill that night in Flagstaff was -5C. Just as I was panicking about being lost I happened to notice a couple of groups of people huddled on both sides of the street.
Smokers from two bars saved me! The bars themselves did not have lighted windows.
I continued and about a 100 ft further noticed a large lighted window on my left and inside finally four normal people having a conversation. I found the door, went inside, and asked for directions to downtown hotels.
A nice, courteous young man helped me but as he gave me directions a voice piped up from behind "Why dont you stay here?" and so I did. I had stumbled onto the Grand Canyon International Hostel - guaranteed the friendliest place in Flagstaff.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

Hans wrote:

Albuquerque is a gorgeous sprawling city - 6 to 8 million depending who you ask.

Miised it by that much! With that population, they would have the Coyotes and not Phoenix. :-)

From Wikipedia:

"The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census[4] and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As of June 2007, the city was the sixth fastest-growing in America.[5] It has a metropolitan population of 907,775 as of 2011."

[Rene Preotu]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

Thanks Hans

Rene

[Hans Jung]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

Whoops! I must have spoken to the wrong people or probably my understanding of Spanish is very poor. Lol! Oh well, Its good to have someone proofreading. Thanks Hugh.

[Paul Bonham]

Re: My Texas Adventures - Part 1

Hans wrote:



Miised it by that much! With that population, they would have the Coyotes and not Phoenix. :-)

From Wikipedia:

"The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census[4] and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As of June 2007, the city was the sixth fastest-growing in America.[5] It has a metropolitan population of 907,775 as of 2011."

Maybe the number Hans gave WAS including the coyotes!!! :D