Cilantro Rolls Fatties

This just in from the “Texas Tech representin hotline” … Ha … My last day in San Francisco, I decided what the heck, why not wear the Red Raider shirt. I can say with some certainty that I was the only guy in San Francisco wearing the double T for Tech. But, the shirt is not quite as obscure as I thought. I checked my bag at my hotel, before heading out to look for hotspots. There were about 50 copies of USA TODAY stacked up at the desk … and guess what was on page 1 of USA TODAY today. Bingo — Texas Tech, football genius Mike Leach and Heisman frontrunner Graham Harrell.

Man! Could it get any better than that? It did. Just wait. I hustled over to Union Square to check out Wi-Fi, but first a quick stop for a light breakfast … just a breakfast burrito to slam down on the run. Ha. This little mom/papasito joint called Cilantro rolled me a fatty. I mean. It is one of those burritos that you cannot put your mouth around. You just have to put your face against it and grab as much as you can. Alas, there was no Wi-Fi … in fact they didn’t even have “English connectivity,” but they did laugh at my broken Spanish. The open flame for cooking was just a few feet away, so I got to watch and savor every ingredient in the mix. It was like a team of three, making my burrito. And I think it was one of the best meals of my trip. Off to Union Square.

I grabbed a coffee at Borders Books near the square and fired up the laptop. The T-Mobile splash page popped up. I looked for Boingo, since I no longer have T-Mobile privileges. No dice. How about the AT&T option, under roaming options? I tried that and the AT&T page opened. I completed the required “paperwork” entering my SBC username and passcode, just as I always do at an AT&T hotpsot. No connection.

Borders Bookstore off Union Square gets 2 pings. I was in a hurry and the connectivity wasn’t there for me. I tried several times — for the duration of one grande size, fatboy burrito. The 2 pings are for being open and having coffee.

Reality Travelers

Then more Texas Tech trivia struck … I saw a video crew shooting over in Union Square. I thought it could be interesting content, so I went over and started shooting photos. One of the guys on camera stopped what he was doing and said, “Hey, Texas Tech … Guns Up!” I was blown away. He continued, “They are the best team in the country.” And here is my favorite detail. The guy was from Detroit, and had no connection to Texas Tech.

Guns Up! With Ping

Man, you gotta love an informed sports fan. “So, what’s the story on this video crew?” The 5-6 guys involved — two TV personalities, a director, a sound man, a camera man, etc., were shooting a travel/reality TV show pilot. Their project is expected to land on MTV next spring — fingers crossed. Ha … then they interviewed me. “Okay, I know a little about travel and yes, I am certainly outspoken and opinionated.” We did it. I told them my

Action

best story from the Fillmore club, and we did the Tech “Gun’s Up” sign in a few group shots. What a perfect way to end my trip in San Francisco — with a little network TV appearance.

Overall, the visit was great. In the next few blogs, I will back track and get into more specifics. The press conference went well, but I didn’t get invited to take a seat on the Virgin Wi-Fi promotional flight, scheduled two days after my press conference at San Francisco International Airport — 5 pings … go figure!