Skatboarding to San Diego
Begin: I was riding from Los Angeles to San Diego on a skateboard (I have never been on a skateboard in my waking life), intending to drop in on Jerry and Will, if they happened to be in. Unlike more sophisticated riders, I carried a push stick to pole myself along over flat or uphill sections. Although San Diego wasn't quite so far away as in waking life, it was still a long haul on a skateboard. Fortunately it is downhill all the way to San Diego - just look on any map. San Diego is down. Getting back seemed quite difficult so I intended to take the bus. I had sufficient money, $30, the same amount as in my wallet when awake at the time.
I arrived in San Diego in the late afternoon, just as it started to get dark. I found, in between myself and my destination, a large botanical garden of the kind inhabited by rose bushes and little old ladies. Being uncertain if skateboards were allowed in there, and seeing some of the paths were dirt, which makes poor rolling, I decided to go around, even though that required going down a couple of back alleys in semi-darkness. I did get through the alleys without incident, but was now separated from the street I wanted to be on by a row of small stores. The most practical route would be through a store, but I didn't want to be too obvious about it, so I decided to pick a store I could pretend to be a customer in.
About the third or fourth store I came to was a student science service, selling chemical glassware, etc. I took an interest in a large flask I thought I could use, but the price was much higher than from the major distributors. The store attendant was a nice young lady with moderately long blonde hair. She didn't know much about the stuff the store sold, but did know how to read price tags and work a cash register. She pointed out a machine she liked to play with. I think it was an ultrasonic homogenizer, as I had seen an ad for a similar looking device a couple of days before. She had it rigged so it produced a sound pressure on the ear drums similar to that produce by a Peruvian whistling bottle, but silently, of course, being ultrasonic. I mentioned there might be health hazards in using such a device that way.
Over on a side counter were a number of devices, among which was a KitchenAid mixer. These are often sold for laboratory use as well as to restaurants. It was not quite the shape of the waking ones, and was green, whereas they are always white (in those days). I pointed it out as the most useful device in the store and something she might want, but the price was a good $100 higher than from a restaurant supply.
Fade.