Police Action

Last night was miserable. I slept behind a building, and the ground was wet and it was damp all night. My sleeping bag got all damp; my clothes, too. I need to wash my sleeping bag so it doesn't mildew. Got up and went to CC's, where I am now, as usual.

Travis texted me that his neighbor had called the police on Chris (the stupid idiot stayed in the PH pretty much all day long, every day!), but he was gone. He'll be back. The problem is that it won't make anything better for me because if I stay there now, I run the risk of someone calling the cops on me, and that's all I need. When I stayed there, I was gone early in the morning and only returned late at night, so very few people even knew I was there. Dumbass slept all day in there, so that residents who went in to wash clothes found him sleeping there. That stupid fucking piece of worthless trash fucked everything up! I hope they catch him there and taser his nuts!

Anyway, I haven't been able to stay there lately, so it doesn't make much difference to me except that I have to be careful not to stay in the same place too many nights in a row or stay too late, so that I am noticed. Its almost like being a fugitive or something. That fuckhead Chris just made things worse, but he is trash, so what do you expect from him? Damn it!

Chatting with Jenni online while I am sitting here. She is at work, but she and I talk during the day whenever I am online. In a little while, I will go by work and get my check. There is a problem there, too (like, I never have problems!): the teller at Chase told me last week that Albertson's no longer has an agreement with Chase to cash our checks, so, if they can't cash it at customer service, I will have to go to Wal-Mart to cash it. Ain't that a bitch! I have to pay my phone bill today and I have a reservation at La Quinta for tonight. I work tonight, too, but I'll probably get off early because they called me in to work yesterday, on my day off. All I do is work.

I need to take quarters and soap with me to La Quinta, so I can wash a few things (like my sleeping bag) tonight. I don't want it to mildew, and it needs washing, anyway. Still haven't heard anything from Chester. I might give him a call tonight, just to touch base, if he doesn't call me. I really need to get off the street. This shit sucks.

That's about it for now. With any luck, my next post will be from the comfort of La Quinta. Won't get to eat dinner over at Mestizo tonight unless I get off kind of early, which is possible, since they don't want me to get overtime. If I get off early enough, I'll eat there after I get back to the hotel.

I sure hope they taser Chris ...

"Apres moi, la deluge ..."

Spent last night in the corner of Serrano's stage. There was a piece of visqueen there, and I folded it over the railing to give myself a little measure of privacy and cut down on the wind. When I sat down on the wooden stage to unroll my sleeping bag, a big splinter tore a hole in my bike shorts, so I now have a hole in my bike shorts. Great.

Went by the Possum Hilton. Skank Chris was there, all cozy. May he burn in Hell for a thousand eternities! Anyway, I enjoyed a meal of vegetarian penne (MRE), raisins, peanut butter and fruit punch, with carrot cake (combat, individual, one) for desert. While I was eating, Guitar Man came by to retrieve his guitar. He was wearing a silver jacket and his trademark purple pants. He said: "Kind of glad to see you back here." I said: "Not really glad to be back here." Then He said: "You know I keep my guitar here (he does: under the stage)." I said: "Yeah. I won't let anyone bother it while I'm here." He said: "I know you wouldn't. You are okay. You're a grand man." Then he was off to play for money on Chimes St. I have no idea where he stays, but he keeps a bike behind the stage sometimes. I woke up, about 2:30 AM, when he came back and stashed his guitar and left on the bike.

It was kind of muggy last night. While I was watching a movie on my laptop, this girl jumped up on the stage and started dancing around, then jumped down, all without seeing me, in the corner. Sometimes I think I'm invisible, like I have become part of the landscape. I hope not.

When I woke up, it was cloudy and the wind was blowing and a few raindrops were starting to fall. I figured I had beter get somewhere before it started to rain a lot, so I packed up and headed fo CC's, which is where I spend a lot of time these days. I got an iced coffee and a toasted bagel, and had just sat down to eat it when the bottom fell out of the sky, and it started pouring. It's two hours later, now, and it is still raining. It looks like it will rain all day. This totally sucks, as I do not work today, and have no place to go. I do have to go by the store today, to pick up an MRE for dinner tonight. I have three left from the case that Kyle gave me, but there is a lady at work who said she has a bunch of them left over from Gustav, and she would get them together for me, so I guess I'll have enough food for a little while.

I used to love days like today, when I had a place to live. One of life's greatest pleasures is to curl up in bed on a nasty, rainy day like today and listen to the storm outside, and be cozy and dry and warm. Wonder when I'll ever get to do that again. If I could choose to be anywhere right now, it would be in bed.

Right now, I'm just depressed. I feel as grey as the sky outside. I feel like I am fading away into the grey, becoming part of it, indiscernible from everything around me. I feel like I just don't matter any more; like, if I suddenly ceased to exist, all anyone would notice would be a slight popping noise as the air rushed in to fill my empty space. Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother to go on. Today is one of those sometimes.

Long Night's Journey into Day

Monday sucked, all day long. I wound up at CC's for a few hours, blogged some, wrote some, researched some stuff I was interested in and watched a terrible online movie, "Frankenstein's Daughter", which was made in 1958 and features a be-bop quartet, a girl who drinks spiked fruit punch that makes her buck-toothed and gives her a skin condition, and a monster with a bandaged head, complete with neck-bolts, which runs semi-amok a few times before obligingly setting itself on fire. That was the high point of the day.

Went by Zippy's, and I was going to see if Travis and Fernando wanted to meet me thee to eat. I was going to have a margarita while I waited to hear from them, but the bartender, spying my backpack and sleeping bag, informed me that I would have to order food if I wanted the $2.75 margarita. It was so obvious that she was intent on "keeping the riff-raff out". Bitch. I love it when that happens. It pissed me off. Her attitude was so ... condescending. I told her that I didn't know whether I would be eating or not, and she said, "Well, tell me when you make up your mind." What a cunt!

I finally decided to eat there, and had an order of nachos and a magarita. She was on break, then. She returned while I was eating, and ignored me as if I wasn't there at all. I don't think I will be patronizing Zippy's any more ... at least for a while. Too bad, but I don't like being shit on.

Tammy had asked me if I could come in to work later, so I texted Travis and went by there and borrowed their shower. Then I called Tammy back, but they didn't need me after all, so I hung out with Travis and Fernendo for a while, just listening to music and reading. I am trying not to depend on them too much. I don't want to be a bother, and I don't get much help from anyone else these days. I woul have real trouble keeping a job if it wasn't for the use of their facilities. When things are better, I will have to do some things for them.

Borrowed a movie from Travis and watched it while I ate part of an MRE, back behind the building where I have been sleeping. Chris the Squatter has moved in to the Possum Hilton permanently: he was there when I passed by this morning, about 10:30. He sleeps there most of the day and panhandles in the afternoon. I guess he gets fucked up on something at night, because he usually winds up there late. I wish there was a way to get him out of there, but I guess it doesn't matter much. Maybe the possum will bite him.

It is very uncomfortable, sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag. If I lie on my back, my back starts to hurt after a while. When I roll over on my side, my hip bones grind into the ground and my arms go to sleep. I keep waking up and rolling over. Also, there is a lot of noise from traffic, people walking around, etc., and that wakes me up, too. I never really get a good night's sleep.

Woke up this morning and had cocoa and chili mac from my MRE for breakfast. While I was eating, a well-dressed woman came up to me and gave me a copy of the Watchtower. Even when you're homeless you can't escape the Jehovah's Witnesses! Go figure.

It is supposed to rain this week, which is not good. It is also supposed to be in the 30s this weekend, which is also not good. I hope the deal with Chester goes through and I can get an apartment soon. Things are going to get very uncomfortable very soon, otherwise.

Boring-ass Sunday

Had a shitty day at work yesterday. For some reason, both w. and J. (Front-end Managers) were totally on the rag about everything: J. mostly about people punching in and out on time and taking breaks and other BS, ad nauseam. Slept very poorly (on Serrano's stage), because Chris the Squatter has taken up permanent residence in the Possum Hilton, and I can't get him to leave. Fernando said that he would "get him out", which would be great. When I left his morning (after spending the night in the open, behind a building) the skank was still asleep there.

Went to CC's, where I am now, and had coffee and a bagel. Got instructions from 2K on how to fix Civ IV, and re-installed it, but I haven't tried to play it again, yet. Hope it works. I work at noon, in about an hour.

While I was sitting here, one of the local bums, and obnoxious little one-eyed prick named Juan, came into CC's. I never though of him as a coffee drinker. He didn't buy anything, just disappeared. A while later, I went to the bathroom, and, on the floor next to the toilet was an almost-empty half-pint of Heaven Hill whiskey (Juan's favorite libation, which he generally purchases at Albertson's liquor store with hands full of change and filthy, wadded-up bills). Go figure. The guy is stashing his booze in the toilet at CC's and hitting it back there. What a skank! He was banned from the store because he threatened one of the managers. He is a nasty little guy. He stinks. He walks with a cane.

I was feeling very depressed yesterday. When I got off, I went by Travis' apartment, and we sat around for a while and got high. I took a shower before I left, because I have to work at noon, so no laundry and lunch for me today. I work until 9, and then I don't really have anywhere to go, since Chris is still occupying the PH. Fucker. I will be glad to leave all this crap behind me. Anyway, I didn't get raped and/or murdered last night, which is a good thing, I guess. I'm off tomorrow, so I guess I will spend most of the day investigating places to rent and looking for accommodation, against the day (hopefully soon) when I can afford to secure such.

That's about all for now. Doesn't seem to be a very exciting day. Wish I had some place to go when I get off. Wish Chris would go back to where he came from. Wish this was all a bad dream, and I would wake up in a real bed ...

Hotel Day!

At CC's for a while, waiting for the checks to come in, so I can go get something to eat. It's overcast, and raining a little, which is problematic when you are on a bicycle (particularly because my laptop is with me). After I get my check, I will pick up a couple of things I need at Wal-Mart (I know, but sometimes I have to go there)and maybe slide by Zippy's for lunch, or just blow off lunch and come back here and work on a few projects.

It's Hotel Day (yay!), so, at 3:00, I will go check in at La Quinta, take a hot shower and relax for a while. I'm going to try to get Travis and Fernando to meet me at Mestizo's for dinner: they still haven't eaten there yet. Then, it is a wonderful night in a hotel room, with TV, AC, WiFi and a bottle of wine. All I need is a hot boy, but I haven't come across very many lately. I'll just have to imagine the hot boy. I'll get a good night's sleep tonight, for sure.

Yesterday, I went by Travis' and took a shower. Then we walked to Cane's and got a Caniac Box and split it. We ate on his little back porch. It was nice. Travis and I had a lot of fun while we were together. I find myself wishing that we still were, often. At least, we are still friends. Travis told me the other day that I should be more forgiving towards friends who have done me wrong (like Bridget and Anthony), and I said that some things were really hard to forgive, like leaving me homeless or stealing all my stuff. He asked me why I forgave him for leaving me and I said, "Because you asked me to." I usually forgive people who hurt me, it's just that some things really hurt a lot, and it's hard to forgive someone if it is still hurting. It's also hard to forgive someone who doesn't think that he (or she) has done anything wrong. Oh, well.

Last night, at Serrano's, I was sitting on the porch, blogging and writing. I talked to a woman who recognized me. Turns out she is a customer at Albertson's. Her husband was one of the two guys playing live music. I talked to her and to a couple of other people who asked me what I was doing. There were a bunch of people talking to someone outside the porch. It was Chris the Squatter. He was trying to beg money from restaurant patrons, telling them that he hadn't had anything to eat in days, etc. He must have forgotten about the cookies and chips he left at the Possum Hilton. The rat (or rats) must have gotten into them. I threw what was left away. I figured he might go back to the PH last night, but he seems to have moved on, just not very far. He didn't even notice me.

As I was getting ready to leave, some drunk sorority type was loudly declaiming the Obama victory. "It's just not right," she said, very loudly. "A black man in the White House!" I just shook my head.

"Maybe they'll repaint it black for him," I offered. "Besides, considering who has lived there for the past eight years, it's definitely a step in the right direction."

"Who cares what you say," she said. "You ride a bicycle!" I failed to grasp the logic of this last comment, but I bid them adieu and retired to the PH, where I ate a perfectly awful beef patty MRE (don't recommend this one) and went to sleep.

It's about 11:30, and I am headed to the store to get paid. I'm looking forwards to tonight, and a soft, clean bed.