After the whistle blew for my final shift at Continental Can Company, I of course was feted by the Litho posse and capped my career at the Can by setting a new record on my favorite pinball machine at the Ranger. After a shower and change of clothes, I drove downtown and pinballed though several bars before ending up at one of Portland’s premier late-night watering holes, the Veritable Quandary, as it approached closing time. No woman in the joint gave me a second look that I was aware of, and after a gay man made a pass at me, and last call came and went, I realized I was in no condition to drive. So I slept in my car in the public parking structure across from the VQ. Not your typical cake-and-a-good-cry retirement party.