Sunday

Sunny and warm. I think it was 102 yesterday but it's not supposed to be as hot today.

Read the first thirty or so pages of Lush Life last night and enjoyed it. NYC, cops, small-time hoods, working stiffs, and an image of the Virgin Mary appearing in the condensation on a freezer door in a neighborhood convenience store. Heh.

Otherwise don't know much. Not quite awake yet.

What I Learned Today

In 1876, it cost approximately $300 U.S. dollars to travel coast-to-coast, New York City to San Francisco, via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne, Ogden, and on to California. If you didn't get off the train to sightsee, you could make the trip in seven to ten days. You were allowed one hundred pounds of luggage -- if it went over, the charge was $15 per hundred-weight.

You could buy a buffalo robe from Omaha Indians for $12.

Prairie hens were tough and gamy and often left you feeling like you hadn't eaten at all because the meat was so hard to choke down.

The Plains Indians called prairie dogs "wish-te-wish" because of the whistling sounds they made. Prairie dogs were good eating.

Another name for garnet was "mountain ruby." Agates, jasper, garnets, and onyx were all widespread through Wyoming.

Once you crossed into Nevada, Chinese were plentiful. They had a funny way of eating and tried to take a full bath at least once a day. It's a wonder they all didn't catch pneumonia.

The University of California at Berkeley was founded in 1868, and was originally located in Oakland.

That's all I can remember right now.