Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published by “Erik S. McMahon”

Not Thinking About Rocks

One tolerable, humid yet cloudless July morning in the late 60s, the apparent aim was to relocate a buttload of ugly, undistinguished rocks — are…

Cuarto Cero-Cero

We’d flown into a Mexican coastal resort without hotel reservations. On the wretched stretch of road between airport and town, we chatted up our cab…

Late For San Pedro

Bumpy Ride, late landing at LAX. Stateside pilots talk about “a little rough air.” In Mexico, they’re more honest and refer to una zona de…

Nassau Taxi

Most travelers can recount airplane “flights from Hell.” But of course, there are also Satanic cab and bus rides. Sometimes, even a pleasant-looking ferry will…

Brazilian Cabbie

Another entry for my bulging file of cab-ride tales. Slipped out early from work and went book shopping, emerging into cold winds on lower Van…

Duct-Taped To A Couch

Tracey crept up on you bit by bit. Eventually, you’d sense yourself relenting. The fastidious rational brain no longer bothered calculating how much of his…

Bowl Of Borscht

Flying Oakland to Burbank meant saving a couple hundred bucks. So headquarters could spring for a cab, instead of the Muni/BART/shuttle journey. A Georgian —…

Why Not Take The Bus?

“Urban public transit has never made its living off promises of gentility or grace. To the middle class, it’s mostly been: “We’re faster, cheaper, more…

Lost Wallet

‘Tried to give away, turn in, that is, her wallet. Eager to surrender, ready to submit. No use, though. Why’d I ever pick the orphan…

-