A Perry's Breakfast

"Do you wish some coffee, sweetie-pie?" 
   I felt like giving her the waitress the back of my hand. Ever since my hair turned grey, most waitresses call me "Sweetie" or "Honey-Bun". I nodded my approval at Perry's Cafe on the corner of Pacific Highway and Rosecrans - in the Old Town area of San Diego. 
   I had driven my car from the commuter parking lot a block to the corner restaurant. My hands felt like icicles and even my head beanie didn't do much good. The owner had been seasoned at the old Sambos restaurant in Palm Springs. It was the most popular restaurant on the main drag when one entered this famous city. 
   The charm and hospitality of this restaurant reminded me of the Palm Springs eatery. I had spent many Indian summer mornings eating waffles or french toast, before setting out to look for a an old adobe bungalow in this star-born town. People used to flock to Palm Springs in the old days, but time has given way to Hawaii or Florida.  
   "I am sorry this waitress is so loud." She is an early morning riser and has a bit too much energy when her shift begins. This one spoke like me, as if listening to Mozart on the piano. 
    'I'll take the special, waffles, scrambled and beacon."
   Six grey hairs in the next table were reminiscing. Their laughter was contagious. The women in the next table was mouth reading the menu. At another, two children behaved like adults, just the way their parents behaved.  
   By nine o'clock I had cleaned my plate without effort. I must have been hungry. I ordered a coffee-to-go and spent a few minutes to make sure the lid hugged the lip of the cup. I left a two dollar tip and paid my fare at the register. I paid my bill and forgot my coffee. 

   My morning had just begun. My body warm and my lungs awaken, I drove to the Harbor and the Sheraton Hotel. The Pacific Highway takes you to the high rise across from the airport. I parked free at the Deli parking lot - between the twin hotels and walked the one half mile to the hotel. 
   Inside offered me a chance to digest my breakfast and also read a free US newspaper. Two headlines grabbed my attention. Cancer was on the rise with the lung variety the chief culprit. Also people were beginning to down loud their jobs for to gain a subsidy with the new health plan. 

   The rest of today, the Fifth of January was spent at San Diego's pent house on the ninth floor. I worked the digital computer with a microfilm of the thirties. I needed knowledge of the thirties to get my mind ready for San Diego's Balboa Centennial and also more about Ambrose Schindler, my football story. . 
   A must for any tourist is to eat a bag lunch on the ninth floor patio with a view of the Coronado Bridge with Tijuana hills in the back ground. 
   Got to go now and get ready for the  Elks dance tonight in El Cajon