I should not have watched that video.

The story starts when Rick rode in Pacific Electric streetcars with his grandmother as a child when they went to Los Angeles in the late 1940's and early 1950s.

Ultimately Pacific Electric's rail network was dismantled and it wasn't until the Blue Line (not to be confused with the Big Blue Bus) came into being that LA had a rail system.

Fast forward to the late 1990s and early 2000s.  Thanks to Precious Sister, I was made to feel unwelcome amongst Rick's family.  Sooooo, a deal was cut.  When he visited his family, I did something else.  Sometimes that something else was Wanging and Chunging in LA.  We made it a point to fly home together from San Diego.

In many of these cases, I got around LA via city bus and rail.  The day before I was supposed to meet Rick, my routine went something like this.

• Check out of hotel.
• Take 4 or 304 (this was before the 704 Rapid) bus down Santa Monica Blvd to the Vermont and Santa Monica Red Line Station.
• Take Red Line to Union Station
• Take Pacific Surfliner to San Diego

Rick was a little envious of my taking this trip (although not at all surprised that I could get around LA on public transit.)  He never got to ride on the Pacific Surfliner and had not been inside Union Station in eons and wanted to do the trip with me one day.

Fast forward to 2014.  The Trip From Hell thanks to Precious Sister shooting her mouth off at me.  Although I was in a rage (to put it mildly) we spent one night in West Hollywood as that was part of the trip and it was already paid for.  This meant taking the La Cienega exit from the 405, and crossing under the Expo Line.

Fast forward to today.  In ten days, the extension of the Expo line to Santa Monica will open.  Today was a press preview day as Metro puts the finishing touches on the expansion.  I watched the news report thinking nothing would happen.

WRONG!

I was crying afterward.  If Rick were still alive, he would want to take a ride on the grand opening just to see what it was all about, and enjoy the fact that what is old is new again.

Which confirms one decision I made with regard to social media dating.

I disclose on my profile that I am a widower.  And I am realizing that I made the right choice because it is very, very different from being single.