MREs and Nuremberg

Last night at the Possum Hilton wasn't too bad; even though it was cold and uncomfortable (as always), at least, courtesy of my friend Kyle, I had a hot meal. Kyle had a case or two of MREs left over from Gustav, which he had offered to give me. I worked until midnight last night, and he gave them to me. Of course, I couldn't carry a whole case with me, but I snaked two of them and put the rest on top of the lockers upstairs. What I will do is grab one or two when I need them and take them with me.

For those of you who have never experienced an MRE (in South Louisiana, after Katrina, Hugo, Gustav and Ike, we are all too familiar with them)or, "Meal, Ready to Eat", they are self-contained meals, featuring an entree, a dessert, a snack and usually some fruit or beans, along with cold and hot drink mixes, matches and toilet paper (of sort). The package contains a chemical self-heater, which is activated by water, and will get your entree and coffee quite hot. I had ravioli, a brownie and pineapple. I stashed another MRE (believe it or not, "omelet") at the PH, for later.

I went by work before noon and cashed my check and got a bottle of chardonnay. I have a reservation at La Quinta for three o'clock, and I am off until three tomorrow, so I will get a shower (probably two) get to watch TV and (hopefully) spend some time online. I will also eat over at Mestizo's, which is a Mexican Restaurant next door, with great margaritas. That is my plan for "hotel day". I texted Travis and asked if he and Fernando wanted to join me for dinner, but they are going to the State Fair, instead. Of course, it is back to the PH again tomorrow night, but I do have an MRE and a movie I can watch. At least, for tonight, I have reasonable shelter.

A friend told me to call United Way; that they might be able to recommend resources to me, as far as shelter. I am still trying to track down the heretofore elusive (and possibly mythical) $75-per-week rooming house "near the Capitol" that I was told about. Baton Rouge does not seem to have any rooming houses or resident hotels that I have been able to locate (except for the Alamo Plaza, which is a notorious crack venue). I am going to spend some time tomorrow in search of residence, even if I have to physically ride around downtown and look.

When I got to work, I was confronted by a member of management who wanted to know exactly why I closed last night I said, "Because I was told to. I was asked if I could stay until midnight, and I said 'yes', and I did." It seems somebody noticed that I had 6 hours of overtime and had apoplexy. I was only following orders. I just realized: that excuse didn't exactly work at Nuremberg ...

Anyway, I get hotel night tonight. Yay. I will spend a lot of time online tonight researching ways out of my current predicament. That is what I am doing now, besides writing this blog. I will check out Craig's List and any other sites I can find. I have been doing this almost daily, besides looking in the classified section of the paper. There has to be a way out of this ... I just have to keep looking.