AUSTIN, November 27, 2005 — Thirty years ago, FFP took me to the Armadillo World Headquarters to see Marcia Ball and the Misery Brothers. It was Thanksgiving Day. The event was billed as a Turkey Trot. We shared a plate of nachos. Three large (full-size?) fried tortillas with beans, cheese and jalapenos. He said he was just being nice to a newcomer to Austin. I had just arrived the week before so going home for Thanksgiving was just too much trouble and I opted to sort the boxes of my meager possessions in my apartment. I'd moved from a furnished apartment (on Abbott Avenue) to my parents' house just before leaving Dallas. I'd moved out early and taken a vacation just before my last days at the old job. I'd been to Europe with two girlfriends, worked a week or so at my old job, moved, started a new job with some training at Lakeway. I was dislocated and Austin seemed

impossibly wonderful as FFP showed me around. My apartment was near 183 and IH35 (and was unfurnished so a twin mattress and springs, a few storage things, a bumper pool table and a few other things didn't even fill up the small one bedroom). That night FFP had driven me downtown on IH35 and there was the Capitol all lit up and the Armadillo was so wonderfully funky. FFP had a cute little house with hardwood floors on Shoal Creek, all fixed up with paintings on the wall, a few knickknacks, and attractive paper light fixtures. He knew every spot in town. So that Thanksgiving weekend expanded. We watched the UT football game, ate at Matt's El Rancho (which was on First Street which is now Cesar Chavez and where the Four Seasons stands today). He began showing me around, showing me the town that I would embrace and where I've now lived for twenty-nine years, longer by far than anywhere else I ever lived. In fact, I was only twenty-seven when I arrived here!

We'd decided that the thirtieth anniversary of our first date deserved being celebrated and we'd agonized over what to do. Go to Threadgill's given that it's the closest thing to Armadillo? Go to Matt's even though it's on S. Lamar today? Finally we decided that we would stay in the Four Seasons and have two other couples join us for dinner there. This was on the thinnest of excuses...that the Matt's El Rancho was located on that property in 1975. The Four Seasons didn't come along until 1985. FFP says we stayed there during the soft opening. I know we've stayed there a few times, but I didn't remember that.

We'd put Chalow in a a new doggy center over on Burnet Road (Camp 4 Paws) on Saturday so we were free to go down early. We went for a short workout at the club and then showered up, packed a change of clothes and something to read and went off to downtown. While checking in to the corner suite and checking out the amenities (robes, slippers, nice shampoos and soaps, a large flat screen TV in the sitting area, a full-size coffee maker with quality coffee, a wet bar, a bose clock radio, zillion thread count sheets, a balcony, fancy Italian hard candies) FFP said "you can compare and contrast with the Fairfield." Ah, yes, no comparison. Except the Fairfield had free wireless Internet and the Four Seasons charges ten bucks a day for a wired connection. But I'm not quibbling. Because we got comped on the room and are only paying for valet parking. And we didn't even bring a computer.

We decided to take a walk and have lunch. We are always talking about moving to downtown Austin and so we always imagine we lived here or there and see how far it feels to walk to things. We cruised down to Whole Foods from Four Seasons and it didn't seem far on this pleasant day. We sat at the seafood counter in Whole Foods and had a glass of wine and shared some tuna, crab cakes and scallops. All very tasty. We walked around the store a bit and then went over to Book People. I had a big Cafe Americana and looked at Wired magazine. I then shopped around and bought a few small things for the gift bags I'm making for my Colorado relatives. We walked back by Tesoro's Trading and I picked up a few more things.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and drinking coffee while watching Humphrey Bogart on the big TV. (Most of Key Largo and part of The Big Sleep.) We got ready a little before six and went to the cafe. We met two couples down there and toasted our first date with champagne and ate things like seared foie gras and duck and drank nice Pinot. We couldn't imagine such things when we first went to Armadillo and Matt's that Thanksgiving weekend. I might have tasted champagne before then. We've become used to the finer things. I read the other day that people trying to prepare for retirement harm themselves two ways when they live a lavish lifestyle. First they spend money that they should save and second they become used to a more lavish lifestyle, upping the amount of money they 'need' when they retire. Ah, but it's nice to learn to appreciate the finer things, isn't it? And if we run short of money, maybe we will realize that it wasn't as important as all that to spend that kind of money. Yeah, that's it. We enjoyed the night. We all went up to the suite for a few minutes and caught a little of Grey's Anatomy. Soon we were in the bed with the fancy linens. But I wouldn't sleep too well for some reason. Maybe I need some time in my own bed?