Poverty Sucks!

Some good stuff, some bad stuff:

Well, I transferred back from the Grocery side of the store to the liquor side. My former boss offered me as many hours as he could give me (I got 30 this week and I will have 36.5 next week). This is good, but it doesn't get me out of my current predicament. I have almost enough money for rent, and I am sure I can work out a deal with my landlord to pay him the balance next payday, but there is the $286 I owe Entergy, which I don't have, and won't have, until mid-March. I called them this morning to try and get an extension, but they declined, as I knew they would. They don't care. They will get their money, anyway, and, if they cut my services off, they can charge me a re-connect fee and more deposit, and thus increase their profits, the soulless bastards.

So, I am trying to locate a charity that might help me to solve this situation, but it looks grim. I wish I could borrow the money somewhere: I will have plenty of money by mid-March. I should have my tax refunds by then and I will be getting plenty of hours (guaranteed). In addition, there is an election in March that will pay me $250. If only it were March. But, it isn't. So, the grim reality is that I may spend about a month without electric or gas. Oh, well: at least I'm not sleeping out of doors and (shudder!) I do have a stockpile of MREs.

So, about 11:30, I will cruise on down to work, collect my meager earnings, and go pay what I can on my rent. Then, I will go by Social Services and see if I can acquire some contacts which might help me pay my power bill. I am also going to text Bridget and ask for money, since the bitch owes me $430, and has owed it since May, but that is a long shot, because she has really convinced herself that she doesn't owe it to me because I "disrespected" her, which is a total load of crap and an excuse to not pay me. It's also unpleasant, because every time I ask her for my money back, she gets all huffy and sends me nasty text messages, or I get nasty drunken voicemail from her trained chihuahua. But, I'm desperate, and, if I don't prod her about it, I'll never get anything from her at all, ever. Some friend, huh?

OMIGAWD! I was on my way to work the other day, and, lo and behold: the City of Baton Rouge actually fixed something! No kidding, two of the worst spots on Perkins Rd. were actually repaired, after a fashion (see photo above). Of course, all they did was throw some tarmac on the problem and whack it with a shovel, but it's the first actual attempt at repair I have seen in ages. Now, all they have to do is fix the other hundred or so holes on Perkins Rd., and everything will be hunky-dory.

So, keep a positive attitude: why not? Sure, you're really daft to do it, considering how shitty everything really is, but reality sucks: that's what drugs are for. More's the pity, I can't afford drugs.

Sneaux?

Yes, I have been remiss ... I haven't written on my damned blog in a week, but my excuse is that quite a lot has happened (which I will relate more of in a later post/and/or post(s). For one thing, I am no longer homeless, thanks to my friend Chester and a hell of a lot of running around on my part, doing things. I didn't get the place I initially wanted, but, as it turns out, this is probably going to work out better, at least for now. It is actually about 40m from the place where I lived, years ago, on Highland, even thought the building has been torn down and a Jack-in-the-Box now stands there (more about that later).

So, even though it is an "efficiency" walk-up (which means carrying my bike up and down a flight of stairs), it has quite a lot of space and an actual view, albeit of the JITB parking lot, so I can watch people driving through and buying crappy food all day long, if I get really, really bored. I have been luxuriating in the total freedom of actually having a place to stay (which mostly means goofing off a lot and taking LOTS of naps). I actually get to cook food now, because I have a refrigerator that has real food in it, not MREs or take-out. Tonight, I had a bit of steak, a baked potato with sour cream and chives, and yes, oh yes, my very first egg nog of the season (with a stiff shot of whisky in it!). Oh, bliss!

Oh, yeah: I have an inflate-O-bed, with real sheets and pillows and a comforter on it, and a gas fire (so what if it isn't a fireplace?), and a brand new microwave that I just got, which is really cool, and didn't cost me much; and (best of all) I can snag two WiFi signals for free, even though the reception is poor, so I really can't do YouTube or other video ,most of the time: I still have to go to Cc's or someplace else for that. So,it's heaven on Earth.

So, I worked until 8 yesterday, and, when I got off, it was near freezing and pouring rain, and the weatherman (or men or women) had predicted snow. For some reason, people here find it necessary to spell snow as sneaux, as kind of a cutesy faux (real word) French word. The real French word for snow is niege, which hasn't got an 's' in it at all. Go figure. I rode my bicycle home (as usual) and was half-frozen and wet from the waist down when I got home (great word!). I lit the fire, stripped off my wet clothes, dried off, got into dry ones, and fixed dinner.

When you ride a bike in the rain, the back wheel throws water up your back. The water proceeds down the middle of your back, into your shorts, down your butt-crack and thoroughly saturates your balls. This is unpleasant. Just as unpleasant is having splash from the road fill your shoes, so your feet are cold and wet, as well. The feeling of wet nuts, a wet bottom and sloshy feet is indescribable: it took about an hour for my testicles to reappear: they were in hiding.

I got all comfy and warm and ate and watched Dark Knight, which was extremely kewl, and goofed off for awhile. I stay up late, so I was still up around 3:30, when I heard this familiar tapping noise on my window. I though, "no, it can't be ...", but, when I looked out the window, yes, it was actually snowing. This is South Louisiana ... snow is a rarity here. I went outside and took some video with my phone and some pictures, which I uploaded. I am going to try to put them on this blog.

The whole city pretty much shut down the next day (which is today): all the schools and a lot of government offices were closed. They closed a lot of bridges (which we have a lot of here) so a lot of people didn't make it to work. I don't like snow. I remember the very first time I met snow, when I was about 3. My parents thought it would be fun to dress me up in a little "snow suit" and take me outside and take pictures of me and the snow. I hated it and started crying. You can tell by my face in the pictures that I thoroughly hated it. Had I been older, I would have called Family Services on them. How sadistic! I could have gotten frostbite, and lost my fingers, and not been able to type this, years later. What a loss to the world that would have been!

At any rate, I'm going to try putting photos and maybe some video in my blog. I'll try to post more and fill in some of the other stuff that's happened lately. For now, I'm going to have another egg nog, with plenty of whisky: it's good against the cold. That's my excuse, and, if not medical science, then those big dogs with the Swiss ski patrols, at least, will back me up (or, is that brandy?).

Now My Phone Won't Work!

Really! Just spent all that money on a new phone, and thought I had until December 19 to pay the bill, but they changed the billing date (apparently) and so, I went to text Travis and, lo and behold, my fucking phone wouldn't fucking connect! Goddammit! Is there no end to my tribulations?

So, I am back at CC's, blogging and charging. No idea what else to do today. I was hoping that I would be busy moving stuff and getting the electric turned on and starting to get settled in a new place, but not today. Guess not. Probably an MRE tonight and a movie until my battery dies.

I wanted to get one of those inflate-a-beds. I was hoping to sleep on that tonight. Wallace's secretary is supposed to call me tomorrow and let me know when I can expect to move in (and where). I would love an inflate-a-nap now. I wish I could take an inflate-a-nap with me, so, whenever I got bored and had a few minutes, I could inflate it and snooze. That would be so really coolio.

Hope the payment on my phone account goes through soon. Made it at Radio Shack. Supposed to be posted within 4 hours ... usually sooner. What an annoyance. Everything always seems to happen at once. Of course, that makes no sense at all: how could something not happen at once? How else would it happen? "Suddenly, something happened." As opposed to what? "Gradually, something happened?" How about: "It happened in a series of installments, as spelled out precisely in the enclosed brochure." How about: "Nothing happened?" Nothing cannot happen, by definition. "Nothing didn't happen" makes more sense, except for being a double negative of sorts, which makes it grammatically suspect. Which brings me right back to the subject of being bored and having nothing to do, which is probably what drove Nietzsche to stare into the abyss until he went all wobbly and retired from the philosophy business. Damnit, one of the reasons I got this kewl fone was to dispell boredom! Damned abyss pisses me off!

Fake Pee-Pee

I woke up this morning and a maniac with one of those gasoline powered blowers was running amok around the apartment complex where Travis and Fernando live. He was on the other side of the fence that I was sleeping behind and I got a blizzard of wet leaves blown all in my hair and into my sleeping bag, which wasn't a very good way to wake up. They are going to New Orleans today to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. I work at 6, and I am at CC's (big surprise) for awhile.

It rained a good part of yesterday, so I spent a good part of yesterday here. I went by Travis' place last night, and David was there, and we all ate Chinese take-out and some of David's leftover stir-fry, and had drinks and had a very pleasant evening. David complained to me that he never gets laid, which is silly, because he is 22 and very cute and nice to have around. I would definitely do David, except he would never consider me, since I am old and ugly and deformed ... oh, well. He really has nothing to complain about: He is just starting out in life and has a good shot at happiness, which I don't have. I'm lucky to have a shot at anything. I get wet leaves in my hair.

Anyway, I am going to attempt to put SimCity 4 on my machine today. I have had very little success putting games on my computer. It seems that Vista doesn't like most other programmes in the world and refuses to work with them (or they don't like Vista). Vista sucks. It really sucks worse than any other OS I have ever had to deal with over the years. I hate it. I wish I could get it off of my machine and put XP on it, but I went and bought XP and tried to delete Vista and load XP on it and Vista wouldn't let me. Microsoft crap is so goddamned proprietary: you can't even delete components that you don't want (like Windows Explorer, which I don't use because I use Firefox instead). So, I don't know if Vista will let me install SimCity 4 ... we'll find out.

I work until 12 tonight. Still hoping to hear something from Chester ... I really want to have a place to live this week, so I can be all thankful and everything. So far, this holiday season is not shaping up very well. So, until such time as I hear from him, life goes on in its usual sucky manner.

An un-named person whom I know has to take a pee-pee test for his job, since they are making everybody take pee-pee tests, so he bought some "synthetic" pee-pee from the local head shop, and we were all wondering exactly where the so-called synthetic pee-pee came from. I mean, it would be easier just to use real pee-pee (except, of course, it would degrade and get all ammonia-smelling). Maybe there are preservatives that you could add to it. I shall have to research this further. I mean, what the hell else do I have to do, anyway?

This pee-pee came from Cincinnati, but (I conjectured) it might have been shipped in bulk from China, where little boys are paid a pittance to make pee-pee into vats. Then, the bulk pee-pee is then sanitised and adjusted for Ph, and preservatives are added, and it is shipped to Ohio (the state that is round on either end and tall in the middle) in rail cars, before being bottled and packaged for end-user end use. Just one more industry being lost to the damned Chinese (unless, of course, little Ohio boys are supplying the pee-pee, which would make it a valued domestic industry that should be protected at all costs). I intend to write the company and ascertain whether or not they are using domestic pee-pee, as opposed to imported. I would definitely NOT use foreign pee-pee, if there were a suitable domestic label available. That would be un-American.

Anyway, it came with a little self-heater pack, like they have with MRE's, so you can warm it to body temperature, since the drug-testing people check for temperature. I really think it is no-ones damned business if I want to smoke weed or not, so long as I don't do it on the job. It all started back with Nancy Reagan and that stupid "just say no" crap, when everyone started passing all kinds of drug laws and everyone decided to start testing all their employees for everything. It not only created drug-testing industry, but a fake pee-pee industry as well. So, I guess we should all be thankful that drug paranoia has provided more jobs.

I've got to log off. Got to pee-pee. I'm not saving it, either.

Blah Blah Monday Blah Blah

Not much important has happened over the past few days, and I have been working a lot and that's my excuse for not blogging, shallow as it is. It has been rather chilly, and Travis and Fernando let me spend a few nights on their floor in my sleeping bag, which was very much more comfortable than being outside, but last night was more temperate, and I wound up outside again. I thought at first that Travis was cross with me, but it turns out they just wanted some privacy, and it is a bit cramped with m sleeping in the living room. So, I slept outside again last nigh, which wasn't too bad until about 3:30, when it strted raining. I got up in the corner, under the balcony, and stayed relatively dry.

Before I went to sleep, I watched a movie that Travis had just bought, Don't Mess With the Zohan, which was kind of funny. It has Adam Sandler in it as the Mossad's top agent who fakes his own death so that he can emigrate to New York and follow his dream to become a hairdresser. Lots and lots of slapstick, outrageous stunts and off-colour humour. It was amusing.

I took a shower at Travis' place and came here to (you know where) CC's, since I don't work today (I wish I could, even if the past few days at work have been horrible). I am hoping to hear from Chester soon, as I really want to be in my own place by the first of the month, which is next Monday. Since I have today off, it would be an ideal day for getting all the things done that I have to do to get moved, such as pay deposits and arrange for the electricity and water to be turned on. I am hoping that Wallace Eversberg, who was my landlord of many years, has a property open in the State St. area. I intend to call his office this week, as soon as I have the money situation in hand.

Oddly enough, as I was leaving Travis place, I ran into Ned, Wallace's handyman of many years standing, working on one of the rental properties. I asked him if there were any vacant and he said that there were a couple that would be vacant soon, and to call Wallace's receptionist. He told me that he would help me find a place, which was nice of him. He is a good man.

So, anyway, here I am, bored as hell, blogging away (I would much rather have a nap right now). After a while, I will pick up tonight's MRE fro the store, and then I will see if Travis and Fernando mind my compny for awhile tonight. Maybe we can watch a movie. I will be glad when I have somewhere to go again.

My Game PLan: 20.11.08

Well, got to sleep on Travis and Fernando's floor last night, which was good, because it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside the night before, and it was a lot softer with my sleeping bag on the carpet. Watched Tropic Thunder, which Fernando had just gotten the day before: it was pretty funny. Tom Cruise was hilarious, as was Robert Downey.

The other night, as I was sleeping outside, I heard a disturbance, like footsteps in the leaves, which woke me (any sound that might be a threat wakes me). Well, imagine my surprise when I looked up to see a rather large mother raccoon, carrying one of her kits, headed away from the building behind me. I guess she was moving them to a warmer location. It's amazing, all of the wildlife that exists in the city! I felt like I was in the middle of a nature video.

Anyway, I got up this morning and discovered that I had a bit of gout in my left elbow. I have had problems with gout in the past, but not had an outbreak for several years. I think it is all the coffee I have been drinking at CC's lately. I am having tea right now. Today is, of course, Hotel Day (yay!), and I have my reservation at La Quinta. I am going to work in a few minutes, to get my paycheck and cash it, and then I am going to Wal-Mart, not for any particular reason (which I don't usually do) but just to kill some time, since I can't check into the hotel until 3.

Good news: my friend Chester came by the store last night and told me that he will loan me money next week, so that I can finally get an apartment (big YAY!). This is really good news, and it means that this could be that last Hotel Day, which is kind of sad, but we have to move on in our lives, after all. So, I may have something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving (I am working Thanksgiving, anyway, since I don't have any family to visit and no place to go). I am looking for a turkey MRE ...

Anyway, I work tonight, until 10, but I might get off early because I worked late last night and I will have overtime, which gets everybody all excited and apoplectic. Hey: they keep asking me to work, and I need the money. It isn't like I have a lot else to do, since I don't have a life.

So, my next post should be from the comfort and safety of La Quinta Inn on Acadian Thruway. With luck, I will get off in time to have a nice dinner at Mestizo. That, a bottle of Chardonnay and Adult Swim is my game plan.

A Somewhat Pleasant Week-end

Wow. I actually went two days without blogging. Really, there wasn't much to blog about. Friday, I went by the store to check my schedule and pick up an MRE for dinner, and I wound up working until closing, which was okay because I really didn't have anything to do any way. I wound up sleeping on Travis' back porch, because it was misting rain and there was a cold wind. I huddled up in the back corner of the porch and got a few hours' sleep.

Around 7 AM, Travis came outside and invited me in and I had coffee with them and we just hung out for a while. I got to take a shower and went to work. I was going to meet the for dinner, but they went to Koi with David, and I didn't have a way to change (I couldn't very well walk into a cool sushi place in bike clothes, carrying a backpack), so I ate some awful, dried out chicken tenders from the store, instead.

So, Travis and Fernando and David and I watched movies and hung out and drank beer and got high. We watched Young Frankenstein, The Love Guru and several episodes of Girls Will Be Girls (Travis bought the box set). We all stayed up late and Travis and Fernando let me crash on their floor in my sleeping bag, which was good, because it was about 37 degrees outside. I got to take a shower in the morning before I went to work.

Last night, I slept on the back porch again. It was very cold and I was pretty uncomfortable. I watched the end of Ernest in the Army (not the best of his films) and ate an MRE and went to sleep. About 11:30, I was awakened by two of the neighbors over at the "Hippie House" having a screaming fight, which ended with the girlfriend locking the boyfriend out and him pounding on the door and breaking several windows. She finally told him that she had called the police, and then it quieted down again.

Imagine my surprise about 3 AM, when I was awakened by a loud report. I initially thought boyfriend had returned with a shotgun, but it turned out to be a transformer fuse blowing on a nearby power pole, probably because of the increase demand due to the cold. I went back to sleep and then woke up about 7:30, when all the morning noises started. It was really cold and I didn't want to do anything much, so I tried to just nap for a few hours, but it was so loud that I couldn't really sleep, so I just lay there, listening to all the racket, until I finally got tired of that and got up to go to CC's, so I could go online and recharge my battery.

As I was leaving, I saw Travis, and I texted him later and asked if he wanted to get something to eat tonight, so maybe we can do that, later. Saw David at the store Sunday and he told me that he had had "too many cervezas" Saturday night. He was on his way to work.

I am hoping to hear from Chester this week. It would be nice to end all of this and have a place to live. I am really tired of this. Like, today: all I really wanted was to take a nap for a while, but it was so uncomfortable and loud where I was that I really couldn't. It is nice to have a place that is comfortable and quiet, where you can take a nap if you want. I really like to take a nap sometimes, when I am tired and really don't have anything else to do. It is refreshing. I will be so happy when I can take a nap whenever I want again. That is freedom.

"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.

Why Monday Sucks

Slept behind the building again, on the hard concrete. It was chilly, but at least it hasn't rained lately. That skank Chris has moved in to the Possum Hilton. He even found a piece of board to cover up the broken window, so he's nice and cozy. It does my heart good to see him so comfortable.

Had a beef stew MRE last night for dinner, along with half a bottle of chardonnay, so it wasn't too bad. I watched a movie(which finished off my battery). This morning, I had the strawberry milk shake that came in the MRE, for breakfast. Not bad. I passed Travis, on his way back from taking Fernando to work, but I don't know if he saw me or not. I am at CC's, like every morning, having an iced coffee and a bagel.

I have today off. I hate days off (unless it is on a Thursday, when I can chill in a hotel room). There is nothing to do, and I have no place to go. I wind up here, for several hours, but there is no place to just chill. I would really like to take a nap right now, but I don't have any place to take a nap. I would like to watch TV right now, but I don't have a place to watch TV, unless I go some place with TVs, like Zippy's, and then I have to watch what is on their TVs, which is usually fucking ESPN, and I get really tired of fucking ESPN. How the hell can anyone watch so much sports?

Really! I am interested in sports somewhat. I like to watch football and baseball and tennis. But how can you be so obsessed with sports that you have to know all the stats of all the players and all the coaches and the favorite vacation spots of the team and the names of the owners' pet llamas? Come on! Is this a straight guy thing and I just don't get it? Do I really want to get it? It all seems like an incredible waste of time and effort. I guess it's better than smoking crack.

I just hope Chester comes through and I can get an apartment soon. It will be so nice just to relax and do nothing, in comfort and safety. It will be nice to actually buy food and cook it, something I haven't done in a long time. It will be nice to sleep in a real bed, every night, with real sheets: not just a sleeping bag on the ground. It will be nice to be inside. Right now, it's like a dream.

I will have to get some furniture, of course. I don't even have a bed any more. All my furniture went when I had to move out of the apartment in Tigerland. I hope Jeremy rots in hell, the little creep. Leaving me stuck with all the bills was one thing, but charging his cell phone to my account after he left (which destroyed my bank account) was really low. Haven't heard anything from Jeremy ... maybe he's dead!

It will take a while to accumulate furniture. I'll start off with just the basics: like a bed, a table, something to store clothes in and some shelves for books, CDs and DVDs (which I have a lot of). It will be so nice to have my few remaining possessions with me, instead of in a storage shed out on Coursey Blvd. It will be nice to have fresh fruit and vegetables, too. I miss fresh vegetables.

Oh, well. So much for the dream: it's back to reality today.

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.

A Day at the Races

I wasn't on the schedule at work for Monday, but I had to drop by the store and pick up an MRE to sustain me at the polls on Tuesday. Ran into T., and she asked me to come in later and help out because they were short-handed (as usual); she knows I need hours and will work any I can get. Went back by Travis' apartment and we got high and sat around and discussed the upcoming election for a while, and ate leftovers from Sunday, then I went to work and worked until midnight. Went back by the PH to see if Chris, the Squatter was there. He wasn't, but his cookies still were, so I decided on another night over at the stage at Serrano's, rather than to risk having him wake me up, since I had to be at the polls for 5 AM.

I was watching Tristan and Isolde on my laptop when this kind of grizzled-looking guy about my age or a little older, in a cap and old military coat went around the back of the stage. I heard him rustling around back there for a few minutes, and then he reappeared, with a guitar case. That's when he saw me and he said,”I didn't even notice you there, you were so quiet.”
“I try to be quiet,” I said. Then he waved to me and started off in the direction of Chimes St. Apparently, he stashes his stuff there behind the stage, and plays guitar for money on Chimes St. This really is a colorful neighborhood: I really enjoyed the years I spent living here. It is so Bohemian. There is an active street life and a lot of colorful characters and college students. I love the old wood-frame apartment buildings: there are so few of them left after this last wave of building and demolishing that took away so many old buildings (including mine!) and wiped out the only shopping center in the area. It is now a field, surrounded by a fence, with piles of rubble strewn about. Someone should put a neighborhood grocery there: it would make a fortune.

I went to sleep and woke up a 04:45, when my cell alarm went off. I was at the polls for 05:00, and received the keys to the machines at 05:15. We opened the polls at 06:00, and we already had about 20 people in line. As it turned out, we had lines for most of the day. We also did 29 provisional ballots (one was mine: I was so busy running the election, that I forgot to vote, until we had closed down the machines. I had to file a provisional ballot.), and I was on the phone for most of the day. This election brought in a lot of people who hadn't voted in years, and some of them had been dropped from the polls. It also brought in a lot of young people, mostly students, who had registered to vote right before the election. Many of them had filled out voter registration forms through organizations that were canvassing campus for voters. Some of these organizations may have been late submitting VR forms, I which case they were never registered to vote, but assumed that they were.
Of course, this meant that I spent half the day on the phone to the Department of Elections, trying to find out about voters' status. The Clerk of Court's office gave us a cell phone, a Nextel (try Next-to-useless-tel), but it was locked, and wouldn't dial out. I called the DOE and told them about it, and they brought us another phone, but the network was busy half the time, so I ended up using my own phone, a Sprint phone, and got through, at least to DOE. The Registrar of Voters office was totally inaccessible by phone: I only got through to them once, and I probably called them a hundred times). Somehow, the three commissioners I had working at my table managed to get the Poll List count off by one. I told them that I hadn't had an election discrepancy in over 20 years with the DOE, and I wasn't going to start now, so we went over the books, found where the error was, and corrected it. I hope to God nobody has to look at those Poll Lists!

We slogged through the next 14 hours with long lines. We had about 57% turnout, which is phenomenal for this precinct (and for Louisiana in general). According to our poll, Obama , Landrieux and Cazdayoux all won (but our precinct leans to the left). After we closed the poll, and Peggy and I finished up the paperwork, I packed it all up and took it to the collection point, at Walnut Hills school. I walked in the door to the auditorium, backpack and all, and was stopped by a Deputy Sheriff, who demanded to know what I was doing there. I said, “Bringing in the election results. What else would I be doing here?” I guess he thought I was looking for a soup kitchen ...

Before I left, I texted Travis and asked what they were doing, and they were listening to the coverage on the radio (they don't have a TV). I stopped over at Zippy's, on the way, for a $2.75 margarita, so I could watch some of the coverage on TV. I was about to sit down inside when this twenty-something dude with a mohawk came up and said, “Hey. Why don't you sit outside with us?”.

“You watching the election?” I asked, and he said, “Yeah,” so I went and sat down at a table with him and his friends. We watched the election for a while, until about 10:15, when CNN predicted a win for Obama. This got everybody cheering, and glued to the TV screens. Travis texted me: Obama wins! I texted him back: CNN just said so. I watched for a few minute and Matt, the guy with the Mohawk, said, “Hey, wonder what Fox says?”

I walked over to the one TV with Fox on, just as they named Obama the winner. “Hey! Fox just called it for Obama!” I shouted. “I'd like to see Sean Hannity's face right now!”

I texted Travis: Fox just called it for Obama!” Then I said goodbye to Matt and his friends (they seemed like cool people; maybe I'll run into them again.) I rode over to Travis' apartment, just in time to hear John McCain's concession speech. It was only 10:30. I was stunned. I never thought it was going to be over so quickly. I was half-dreading something like the 2000 election, when Bush cheated himself into the White House, and proceeded to do everything he could to wreck the country. McCain's speech was well delivered (and well-rehearsed: I think he knew in advance the way it was going to go). Obama's speech was uplifting and very moving: the man is an incredible speaker. We really haven't had a President who could inspire people with his oratory since John F. Kennedy (I don't count The Great Communicator, because he was just playing a role). I was absolutely flabbergasted at the way the election turned out. We drank mimosas in celebration, and then I retired to the PH.

Chris' cookies were still there, but no Chris, and the cookies looked like they hadn't been touched in a while, so I said fuggit, and unrolled my sleeping bag and got a good night's sleep, among the laundry machines and the native fauna. I have to admit, I went to sleep feeling a lot better than I have lately. It's about time that the American people repudiated the conservative ascendancy that has plagued the country for generation, and tried a more progressive approach. I'm just sorry that it took so long. There is a long, hard road ahead, but today there is hope.

-30-

Squatter!

Met up with Travis and Fernando and we went to the laundromat and the ate Pizza at Mellow Mushroom, which is just around the corner from Cyclone Laundry. Then, I went back to their apartment and had a shower before I went to work. Worked until 12 AM. When I left, that guy Chris, who has moved into the PH, was still there. That didn't look good. Had a woman steal a CoinStar receipt from me, for $66.90. She was so slick, I didn't even see it. Wound up $47 short, but I am sure they found it today or something, as there is no way I would be that short on my register.

Unfortunately when I got back to the PH, that fucking squatter Chris was still there, in my fucking sleeping bag! I woke him up and asked him what the fuck he was doing in my bag, and he said he was cold. I told him I didn't care how cold he was, that wasn't my problem, so he got out of my bag. I told him he would have to find another place to sleep, and he said there was plenty of room for two people (there isn't, and he is nasty). He said he wasn't leaving.

I didn't feel like arguing, so I got my stuff together and left. I told him he had better not be there when I get back tonight. I hate to be ugly, but he just moved himself in where I have been staying, and that leaves me without a place to stay. If there is a "homeless etiquette", I am not familiar with it, but I want him out. I don't intend to be there any longer than I have to, and then he can have the place to himself. I don't know if I would actually get physical with him over it: I hope he just takes a hint and leaves. Anyway, I spent the night in the back corner of the stage over by Serrano's. Oh, yeah: and the motherfucker ate my dinner! I had an MRE for my dinner last night, and that piece of shit ate it! He even had his own food (some cookies and some chips), but he ate mine! Fucking thief!

I am not scheduled to work again this week, but I hope they call me and want me to come in, as I was only scheduled 22 hours, and that is not near enough. I am short on commissioner for the election, and I called the election department. Hopefully, they will call me back soon. We will definitely need everyone this time. Saw Peggy Bueche yesterday, and she and the elderly couple that I had last time will be there, but the other woman dropped out. Have to be up for 4:45 AM, so I hope that scumbag Chris is gone by the time I get back there tonight. I hate to be ugly to anyone, especially since I understand how it feels not to have any place to go, but I have to survive.

So, I am at CC's, like every day, blogging and surfing the net, trying to find some kind of place to stay or roommate wanted post somewhere. They have started playing Christmas music already. I think this is going to be a pretty poor Christmas for yours truly, but then, the last one kind of sucked, too. At least I had Dad to share Christmas and Thanksgiving with last year: looks like I will be all alone this year.

There is a feeling of being all alone about this experience. That is the main reason I would rather be at work, or with friends. I feel so terribly alone, like I can't depend on anybody for help. Pretty much everything I do I have to do alone. There are only a few people who care at all what happens to me, and I am not getting much help. Granted, there are some friends who have helped me, but there are others who could and aren't. I am too polite to ask for help: I figure that they know my situation and would help me if they could, but they don't. It's enough to make you very depressed. Sometimes, I feel completely helpless, and almost lose all hope. I have come very close to losing all hope, several times. I am really down, right now. I'm going to go by work later, to check and see if they need me later this week, and pick up an MRE to eat tomorrow at the polls.

Hope I have a place to sleep tonight.

Unexpected Company

Got off work around 9:30 and went back to the PH. Travis and Fernando were at the game, which LSU ended up winning 28-10. Bought a couple of cheap movies at work, and watched part of one, the remake of Mysterious Island, with Patrick Stewart, and ate part of an MRE, then went to sleep, around 11:00. Around 1:30 or so, Travis came and woke me up. Fernando was asleep, and he wasn't sleepy, so I went over there and we just sat up and talked for a while. Went back to sleep about 3:30. Since the clocks were set back last night, I figured I could get some extra sleep, but no suck luck.

About 6:30, I was waked up by this black guy who came in. He was carrying food he had bought at the Circle K on the corner. His name is Chris, and he has spent the night at the PH before. He asked if he could share the place for the night, and I said I didn't care (after all, it's not my place). He told me that we "had to set some ground rules", because he wasn't "into that homosexual shit", and then told me he was going to lie down. I just rolled up my sleeping bag and told him he could have the place for the morning, that I usually left early, anyway. Just as I left, he told me he had an idea that could make us both rich. I said, "great" and left.

Passed by Highland Coffees, but they weren't open yet, so I went over to CC's, which opens at 7:00. I was puzzled that they weren't open, and then I remembered that the clocks had been set back, and it wasn't 7:00 yet. So, I went by the store for a little while and read Rolling Stone, an article about David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide a while back. I haven't read any of his work, but I guess I will, now: I always try to read dead people. Then, I went back to CC's, where I ordered coffee and a bagel, since it looks like I won't be getting any more sleep this morning.

This guy Chris presents a problem which I had anticipated the possibility of before. I always figured that somebody else knew about the place, and kind of half-expected to run into another homeless person, sooner or later. This is the most comfortable place I have found, and I don't really want to be forced to find another place. This could be a problem. I don't really want to share my little patch of heaven with someone else. I stashed my sleeping bag there: I hope he doesn't decide to appropriate it. Oh, well: I guess I will find out tonight. I hope he finds somewhere else to go.

So, I guess I will hang out here and write and blog for a while, at least until Travis and Fernando get up, when I can go by there and take a shower, and we can maybe go get some lunch. Tomorrow, I will try to find something better. One of my co-workers gave me a number to call for United Way. She does volunteer work for them and said that they provide housing for people. Maybe I can find temporary housing through them. I am tired of the PH, anyway: I just don't like not having that option, in case I can't find anything else.

God: does my life suck, or what?

Halloween Night

Last night was the Carlotta Street Halloween party, which has been somewhat of a local tradition for about 30 years. Carlotta St. is just North of LSU, and there are a lot of students living in the area. The Possum Hilton is only a block away, so it was quite a night, with intoxicated people in costume wandering around, music playing, people yelling, etc. I checked it out for a little while, and then returned to the PH, where I watched a movie on my laptop and dined on an MRE (chicken fajita). It wasn't very good. There was rice pilaf and trail mix with it. I watched my movie, trying to ignore the mayhem going on outside. I finally got to sleep around 3:00, when the noise died down. Travis and Fernando went to NO for the evening.

My sister called me from Alabama, saying she was worried about me. She said Dad was settled into his new home, and that he had serious problems with his memory and with incontinence, which I already knew. She said she would pay my phone bill for me, so that it won't get cut off, which is good, because I won't have enough money until Thursday. Gee, I'm glad someone is worried about me, but nobody seems worried enough to actually help. That would be better, if I could get out of this mess, and had a stable existence. Then, nobody would have to worry, least of all me. But, that isn't going to happen.

Then, I got a call from work: they want me to come in early, at 2, so I am having a cup of coffee at CC's right now, and I will be headed to work when I finish this post. They keep calling me in to work, and then they get all upset when I wind up with overtime. Well, you can't have your cake and eat it, too. If I wind up with overtime, don't bitch at me when you asked me to work it. They are lucky that they have me to come in whenever I'm needed and work late when they need me to. Of course, whet else do I have to do?

So, I had enchiladas at Zippy's (their lunch menu is really cheap), and a $2.75 margarita. I'm drinking a cafe au lait, and then I'll be ready to go. I really hate this fucking existence. I am tired of not having a place to go. I am tired of being lonely. My life sucks. Hotel night was nice, but it will be Thursday before I sleep in a bed again. I have got to find a way out of this, before I go nuts. I am so miserable.

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.