Transcript of my Journal
October 9,
I didn't get much sleep last night, maybe an hour or so. Sleeping on the buses has been easy enough to do; at least rest was possible. The drivers have been nice enough so far. Half have seemed pretty on edge and all of them have run a little behind. It's been good though, as I've made all of my transfers.
Right now I'm in Douglas Wyoming at a Maverik gas station. The music here is pretty good, though it's all piped in. I can tell by the advertisements saying there were around 170 of these gas stations. That'd be a nice bit of change for my company if they were a customer. They've been nice enough to let me stay while I have my four hour or so layover. With the weather the way it is I almost suspect it will be very late on me.
It went from rain to snow to sleet to something else in about five minutes. I'd been seeing more and more clouds gather, but I wasn't expecting anything to hit. Guess I should have checked Weather.com or something.
Met a few people, or rather, been near some interesting folks. The first would be this little slip of a woman who looked to be in her fifties. Didn't catch where in Europe she was from, but I'm guessing France, Germany, or somewhere in the Benelux region.
Another person from Europe identified himself as from Amsterdam/Holland. Weird guy, reminded me of an adult version of a plump German kid who likes the wurst more then I do. Said he was prone to seizures, and had braces on both legs and an arm.
That about does it for the interesting folk about. Now I think I'll wait a while for my bus to decide to come around. Got my cell counting down to about forty minutes before it's scheduled to show, so I will have plenty of time to just get up and go.
October 10,
The last stop, but the other bus is an hour late, which doesn't bother me too much. Just hope it's the same deal as before with having this ticket already pulled.
Last night the bus was forty minutes late, not too bad. Kinda annoyed though. Saw a few great sights when I woke up just after dawn. To the left and right were steep hills rising a good two hundred feet in the air, it seemed. Just to the left of the road there was a river, which made that stretch so damn beautiful.
Not too long after that came an ambulance without any lights going. Shortly down the road there was a flipped RV with the windshield busted. Looked like it might have been kicked out, or maybe had someone sent through it. A black pick-up close to the RV might have had something to do with the accident or ambulance, can't be sure.
Right now I'm about four hours from my destination, sitting on a wet bench at an Exxon station in Lovell. I think I see bison across the road, which reminds me of earlier. The thing that crossed the road kind of looked like a white tail female deer, but it might have been an antelope, something a driver said he might have to break hard for. One thing I know I saw was a herd of jackalopes. Interesting looking things they were.
Shame my cell isn't working right for making calls. Keep getting a voice telling me to add the # sign to the end the number I'm trying to call. Oddly it isn't working. Only time that's happened before was when I was roaming. So far on this trip I've had none of that, and most spots are giving me good reception. Theoretically, anyway.
At about 2:30 pm I arrive. It feels good to finally relax, stretch out, and eat in peace. It is kind of noisy outside, but for $40 a night I'm not complaining much. I can just be as one with myself here. What better a place to learn some control on my getting to sleep then a place where I should be unable to.
Already tried calling with my cell. Out here I don't get service, even though the bars are good and it's not saying that I'm roaming. I just can't get it to work. Did get a call from my mother. I let her know that everything is okay. Told her that although the buses ran a little late, I got here in good season. Then she called again to say that the cat had just brought a mouse to the door. Hopefully this means he'll actually get some food for himself out there.
I think I might try to get some sleep soon. Maybe an hour or so.
And so I don't sleep, I give a call, and we visit for a few minutes. I had a vision in my mind, and she wasn't like I expected. Kind of had a tingling feeling over me. It's a bit weird, realizing I've made people think I was already spending time with her. Oh well.
She'll be calling later, but it looks like I'll be seeing her on the 12th. Doubt I'll be getting any cuddling, but I'll still have her to myself.
Then she stops by again, this time with her sister. I was in the bathroom when one of them knocked. Thought it was someone else before I opened the door. They made some fun, saying I must have been doing something bad. Tried to dry off my hand with my shirt, but it didn't really help when I shook her sister's hand. I said I wasn't going to kidnap her to her sister. Then they asked what I was watching and I said something to the effect of, "A show on executions."
Her sister reminds me of someone who I knew in band class. Was a little bit creepy how both of them were smiling. Almost expecting to hear another knock soon, 'cause I was only expecting a call. I'll give it a few hours before really thinking about sleep.
It's been a little bit yet and no new knocks or a call, which doesn't bother me much since I just got out of the shower. And just now I decided to make LordBORG's wish come true and took a picture of myself in my undies.
October 11,
It's a little past 9 in the morning. I woke up not to long ago and found I slept for about eleven hours. My mother left me an e-mail about 20 minutes before four which I remember waking up for. She'll be calling later then planned because of welfare stuff.
On a bright note from talking to my mother yesterday, was that she told me that I might come home to a new computer or two.
I'm not holding my breathe, but it would be nice to find.
I think I'm going to have some more trail mix and beef jerky for breakfast. Haven't really been eating as much as I usually do, which could be a good thing if I go home and find I've lost a few pounds.
15:05 - I decided to take a short walk earlier and keep thinking this place reminds me of Bemidji, Minnesota. Doubt the couple of pictures I took were very good, but I think the one on the mountains might be okay.
Thought it might be a good idea to get a pizza, since I think my food might be running out soon. And that was some good pizza, already got here. For some reason that was the best pizza I've had in a long time. It might be possible that at this altitude my head is getting messed with. Felt lighter then I usually feel yesterday, so it could be a possibility.
19:41 - Well, I think I've found something I don't like about traveling, and that would be I've got the runs. Could be from the jerky and trail mix, but then again, it could just be from the water system. Then she stops by and during the conversation I realize I haven't had any of the water here yet. So it must have been the pizza.
20:01 - So I find she'll be here tomorrow like I thought, but it was nice just chatting with her. her sister thought it felt like I had just used lotion, which probably made them both get the wrong idea, but at least her sister thinks I'm gentle now. Compared to before where she had it in her mind thinking that I was going to be kidnapping mi unico amor and making her my slave.
While we chatted I got to see the tattoo on her chest, looking much better then it did in the picture she sent. She seems a bit taller then I was expecting, but I think it's just me finding out I'm not as tall as what I thought I was.
I do keep asking, but she keeps saying I can't take care of her husband's recent ex-girlfriend. Shame, I was looking forward to scaring her, but since she quit working at where he does, so I guess that's out of the question for doing.
Do feel good right now, a bit relaxed. Watching cable, the first time I've gotten this much for a long time. A show on distilleries is on absinthe, so I think I'll be watching that for a bit.
October 12,
13:54 - Didn't get quite what I wanted, but I've got no complaints. Went out on a date with her, which was nice. Went to the river, ate lunch there. Did a bit of talking, then went and relaxed a bit at the motel. There were a few good pictures that I took, and I hope the one on the snow covered mountain turns out well.
I sent a text message to a coworker about a call I got on Sunday from someone who knew him. I was basically told that the number was taken from his cell's address book. the deal I might be getting into sounds a bit like a pyramid scheme, but has enough sense of legitimacy to it that it could be something to look into when I get back.
Sadly my trail mix is about gone, so I might have to take a trip to Wal-Mart tonight to replenish my food supplies. I'll aim to spend less then $20, but who knows how it'll go, that place seems to have something that just go and draws my attention. Well, least I won't have to worry about starving.
October 13,
16:14 - I woke up today not wanting to get out of bed. I decided to just give it a few more minutes then did stuff in the bathroom. I've had a headache since I woke up, and it doesn't seem to be going away.
Around 10 in the morning my mother called and I didn't have a good tone of voice with her. My headache, along with not having heard from mi unico amor didn't leave me feeling very well. I did find out that Buddy, my cat, did catch another mouse. I've figured that even without front claws he could still kill.
Around noon she called and we did visit for a bit. Got some of that cuddling I wanted. Not much, but it was something. I noticed that while she laid next to me my headache had gone away. She let me know about a homecoming parade and I decided to go.
I didn't know exactly where it was going, but I did manage to get a very good spot. The camera of mind probably didn't catch it, but damn were those some good views of the mountains. Must have been to the South-East where the best view was. From where I was the peak looked huge, and the snow cap, or, so nice.
Besides the marching bad the parade wasn't much. They had a bit on hating some competitor called the "Camels". There were a few classic cars, three or four floats, and a firetruck, not counting the three police cruisers.
I'm thinking I might have some food trouble for my trip back, but oh well, might actually lose some weight for it. I should have plenty of entertainment along the way though. Bunch of magazines yet to read through, and I haven't touched the rest of my sudoku book yet.
October 14,
07:46 - I decided to load up at the Maverik station for treats. 4 packs of 2 pop-tarts, 9 nutrigrain bars consisting of 3 raspberry, 3 blueberry, and 3 strawberry, and a bag of beef jerky. I decided to take a piece of the jerky to try it out. It didn't look to good coming out of the bag, the texture wasn't the greatest, but the finish of it was delicious.
I've got a little bit of packing to do, so I'm going to get to that.
October 15,
06:39 - I've made it to Rock Springs Wyoming. I've started my 20 to 44 hour layover with a big hot dog and some Sobe. There's still half of the Sobe left to go. There isn't much light yet, but the sun is coming up. I'm thinking that for lunch I'll have Taco Bell, and Burger King for dinner.
It's a little bit chilly out right now, but nothing to worry about. The light from the Mobil station is enough to write from. Just noticed that my hands are a bit dirty. Got to go to the bathroom, too, but that can wait for a while yet. Do think that cold is starting to get to me a little bit though.
Just saw one of the buses go by. So I suppose now would be a good time to tell about yesterday. When I got on the bus I met a guy a little bit older then me who works as a driller for natural gas. Kind of dumb luck, since I'm looking to get into the field. From my understanding I'm home 5 days and out and about for 9, while bringing home over two thousand dollars for the week, starting pay.
Some people sitting behind me were a bit annoying, mostly just one of them, though. He said he was heading to the South East coast of Georgia. If college had a course for complaining, this guy would be running a circuit making millions from speeches. It was kind of fun at times, to quietly laugh at the guy from something going on. He did have a couple okay jokes, but for the most part the guy was just rude. Will have to look up Crohn's disease, since the guy said he was diagnosed with it.
Damn, the cold is starting to get to my hands. Think I'll hold off on writing for a bit.
22:29 - I think I may have Experienced the weirdest day of my life. Shortly after I was done with my last entry I brushed and flossed. As I was going to toss the floss I see this guy who looks black. Turns out it's this homeless Native American who went and taught me a lot about a culture I knew next to nothing about.
His name was Timothy Chavez, or Geronimo, as he liked to be known as. "Tell your buds, you met Geronimo, he sleeps in a crack in the rocks, and he fed you like a fat rat." At the Burger King near the bus stop he told me his "sob story." Not too long ago Geronimo decided to drive with three times the legal blood alcohol limit. Due to this he lost his car, and the impounder refused to let him at his stuff.
It's been a bit of a drag for Geronimo of late, and I got to see his alcoholism first hand. Over the course of the day he must have tipped back 6 40 ouncers of malt liquor. I almost feel ashamed to admit that I bought two of them for him.
After leaving Burger King he showed me his camp, which was a ten minute walk away. It mostly consisted of alcohol bottles and such laying around, with a couple of knocked down tents and some cooking items. There was a lot of plastic bags and cardboard boxes strewn about, too.
Not too long after being there another guy came by, the guy who owned the other tent that was knocked down, one of which, as it happened, recently broke, belonged to Geronimo. For a bit I thought his name was "Traitor" but came to realize he was being called "Trader." This guy was packing and leaving, "saddling up" as they called it.
Trader was getting a ride from a guy Geronimo later identified as "Preacher." Before we headed back to camp Preacher gave some advice to Geronimo that I hope he took. It basically went that he should stop by this one church for aid. Later in the day I said to Geronimo that he should see if people could leave messages there, so employers had some way of contacting him. Unfortunately the times I mentioned it to him he was just waking up, or was otherwise wasted.
For lunch I was treated to something pretty good, but to get it I had to place a lot of trust in Geronimo. Earlier he had told me about a guy who went by the name "Fred Flinstone", who's real last name was Stone. He told me that in his dealings with him he once did a booze run, and as a sign of trust they switched wallets.
The reason for writing this is because to get lunch I had to run to Wal-Mart. This mean leaving my stuff to only be watched for by Geronimo. To possibly combat my paranoia he gave me his wallet. It slightly helped, but on the other had he didn't have a photo ID in there, and the thing had four pictures of young white kids, and Geronimo is not even close to being Caucasian.
When I got back to the camp my fears were mostly proven wrong by him still being there, and all of my stuff seeming to be in place. The only thing that has made me doubt him is that he mentioned something about me writing stuff down in a "dairy" (I prefer "journal"), and I never mentioned that to him. Other then that, no reason to not trust him at that point.
For lunch I got to have tenderloin steak with A1 sauce in a tortilla, and had some Riverton Waterworks water to finish me off. Even though one of the steaks fell on the ground, and the fire brush got into the meat, using those tortilla shells pretty much made that gritty crunching on my teeth disappear.
After lunch Geronimo took a nap, and I went and explored the surrounding region. Damn was it nice up there, just looking down on the city and around to the surrounding hills and mountains. I probably spent an hour and a half up there goofing around, throwing rocks and walking around.
Toward evening Geronimo and I started up a camp fire in a fire pit of sorts that he pointed out. Using sage brush from around we got that thing going pretty good. There was this dog that kept barking that made Geronimo nervous. Things started getting a bit off kilter after Geronimo mad a final run to the liquor store.
After a bit he got to hugging and saying he loved me like a brother; he got to crying and feeling sorry for himself. As he did before taking his nap he got into repeating himself over and over, asking the same questions, and making the same comments. (From descriptions I've heard of people having Alzhiemers it could possibly be compared to that.) He kept saying things like "I've got no where to go," "If I were to die tomorrow I'd go to hell." "Jesus forgive me, please," and "I want to go where you are." By the end of it he got himself to cry a bit.
He told me he'd swear off liquor, change his life around, or maybe that's what I wish he'd said. I hope tomorrow he does start to turn things around for himself. That would be for the best if he could make it.
"What's the difference between a hobo and a homo? A hobo ain't got no friends... A homo has friends up the ass." The only time he used the word "hobo" was in that joke. He seemed to prefer the words "transient" or "tramp" to describe his situation.
One good thing about going to that liquor store was that I got the chance to pick up a big cigar by CAO. CX2 is the name of the cigar, and when I get home, after taking care of a few things, I'm going to smoke that thing and then crash and sleep for a bit.
There were other things that Geronimo and I talked about, other things that he taught me, but I can't really remember them. Right now I'm mostly worried that he didn't give me head lice. He said he had it, and when he hugged me his hair and mine did meet, which does make me wonder. Hopefully no transfer occurred, but I suppose by Tuesday morning I'll know for sure.
October 16,
07:24 - I'm on the bus again, about to head East, and get me closer to home. This time tomorrow I should be leaving from Minneapolis to home. If my luck holds I should be able to get a couple hours of work in tomorrow morning. I'll be feeling pretty poor for a while, so hopefully selling plasma will help me some.
On the bus going into Denver I think the old guy I sat next to was a bit off his rocker. Said that it would be a good idea to separate the country into 20 different sections and the different peoples of the United States should live there. Talked about Irish Americans and German Americans should have a section each, and that no one should intermingle. He said, "This would be a cheap way to fix this country's problems."
I don't know what this guy was thinking, but I'm very glad that, hopefully, not too many in politics share his beliefs. He mentioned Pat Buchanan and Barry Goldwater in his talks, but what he said did remind me of something else I once heard. back in the day when I leaned further Left then anyone I know an idea was attributed to Bill Clinton and Kofi Annon in a newsletter I got. The idea was to place all humans inside of self contained bubble domes.
That's about it for everything major. Going to try and et as much sleep as I can now.
October 18,
18:58 - It's been a while since I've written, but now I've gone from paper to pure electronics. I'm sitting at home now, no more transferring my writing from paper to computer. On my second to last transfer the bus driver noticed that I had been leaving a day early, but since the first driver let me on, I was "en route" he let it slide. He didn't seem to happy about it, but a passenger talked him up a bit, so I hope he forgot about it.
Otherwise since the other day I have been a little bit confused. I didn't have to work yesterday, but I get those couple of hours in this morning. Just a bit of inventory accounting to do at a hair care supplier. Almost amazes me that a store could survive merely by selling products devoted to hair. Then again, there are a lot of people who like to tinker with their hair, so I suppose it's not that surprising after all.
I'm pretty sure I don't have head lice, but I do wonder what's happened to Geronimo. When I left him he was sitting on some boards, and was close to the fire. If he decided to make it big again and then fall asleep near it, he could very well have caught on fire. I did ask him before he left if he remembered where his blankets and such were, so I hope he decided to go and lay under that, instead.
Yesterday I decided to have that cigar, and boy did I learn a lesson. I was told that you don't suck it into your lungs, you just puff it up and make some nice smoke. It was harsh after a few minutes of having finished that cigar that I threw up my lunch. I'm mostly thankful that I was near the basement drain hole when it happened. I think I might get in the habit of having a cigar on special occasions, or maybe just once a month, to avoid having to go through that again. I do know that it felt like I was drinking and smoking dope hard after I had that thing. I read a review not to long ago about that cigar, and it did have a spiciness to a bit of it. The finish wasn't as good as it could have been, but overall, it was one good cigar. Can't really comment on them, but to my unrefined palate it was quite nice.
That about does it for everything. The thing was meant to be posted on the Internet, so it is just a mite bit duller then it could have been. For the four or so people who'll probably read through this entire thing, congratulations, but I can't give you anything, not even an over the Internet cookie. You'll just have to find one of those yourself.
I didn't get much sleep last night, maybe an hour or so. Sleeping on the buses has been easy enough to do; at least rest was possible. The drivers have been nice enough so far. Half have seemed pretty on edge and all of them have run a little behind. It's been good though, as I've made all of my transfers.
Right now I'm in Douglas Wyoming at a Maverik gas station. The music here is pretty good, though it's all piped in. I can tell by the advertisements saying there were around 170 of these gas stations. That'd be a nice bit of change for my company if they were a customer. They've been nice enough to let me stay while I have my four hour or so layover. With the weather the way it is I almost suspect it will be very late on me.
It went from rain to snow to sleet to something else in about five minutes. I'd been seeing more and more clouds gather, but I wasn't expecting anything to hit. Guess I should have checked Weather.com or something.
Met a few people, or rather, been near some interesting folks. The first would be this little slip of a woman who looked to be in her fifties. Didn't catch where in Europe she was from, but I'm guessing France, Germany, or somewhere in the Benelux region.
Another person from Europe identified himself as from Amsterdam/Holland. Weird guy, reminded me of an adult version of a plump German kid who likes the wurst more then I do. Said he was prone to seizures, and had braces on both legs and an arm.
That about does it for the interesting folk about. Now I think I'll wait a while for my bus to decide to come around. Got my cell counting down to about forty minutes before it's scheduled to show, so I will have plenty of time to just get up and go.
October 10,
The last stop, but the other bus is an hour late, which doesn't bother me too much. Just hope it's the same deal as before with having this ticket already pulled.
Last night the bus was forty minutes late, not too bad. Kinda annoyed though. Saw a few great sights when I woke up just after dawn. To the left and right were steep hills rising a good two hundred feet in the air, it seemed. Just to the left of the road there was a river, which made that stretch so damn beautiful.
Not too long after that came an ambulance without any lights going. Shortly down the road there was a flipped RV with the windshield busted. Looked like it might have been kicked out, or maybe had someone sent through it. A black pick-up close to the RV might have had something to do with the accident or ambulance, can't be sure.
Right now I'm about four hours from my destination, sitting on a wet bench at an Exxon station in Lovell. I think I see bison across the road, which reminds me of earlier. The thing that crossed the road kind of looked like a white tail female deer, but it might have been an antelope, something a driver said he might have to break hard for. One thing I know I saw was a herd of jackalopes. Interesting looking things they were.
Shame my cell isn't working right for making calls. Keep getting a voice telling me to add the # sign to the end the number I'm trying to call. Oddly it isn't working. Only time that's happened before was when I was roaming. So far on this trip I've had none of that, and most spots are giving me good reception. Theoretically, anyway.
At about 2:30 pm I arrive. It feels good to finally relax, stretch out, and eat in peace. It is kind of noisy outside, but for $40 a night I'm not complaining much. I can just be as one with myself here. What better a place to learn some control on my getting to sleep then a place where I should be unable to.
Already tried calling with my cell. Out here I don't get service, even though the bars are good and it's not saying that I'm roaming. I just can't get it to work. Did get a call from my mother. I let her know that everything is okay. Told her that although the buses ran a little late, I got here in good season. Then she called again to say that the cat had just brought a mouse to the door. Hopefully this means he'll actually get some food for himself out there.
I think I might try to get some sleep soon. Maybe an hour or so.
And so I don't sleep, I give a call, and we visit for a few minutes. I had a vision in my mind, and she wasn't like I expected. Kind of had a tingling feeling over me. It's a bit weird, realizing I've made people think I was already spending time with her. Oh well.
She'll be calling later, but it looks like I'll be seeing her on the 12th. Doubt I'll be getting any cuddling, but I'll still have her to myself.
Then she stops by again, this time with her sister. I was in the bathroom when one of them knocked. Thought it was someone else before I opened the door. They made some fun, saying I must have been doing something bad. Tried to dry off my hand with my shirt, but it didn't really help when I shook her sister's hand. I said I wasn't going to kidnap her to her sister. Then they asked what I was watching and I said something to the effect of, "A show on executions."
Her sister reminds me of someone who I knew in band class. Was a little bit creepy how both of them were smiling. Almost expecting to hear another knock soon, 'cause I was only expecting a call. I'll give it a few hours before really thinking about sleep.
It's been a little bit yet and no new knocks or a call, which doesn't bother me much since I just got out of the shower. And just now I decided to make LordBORG's wish come true and took a picture of myself in my undies.
October 11,
It's a little past 9 in the morning. I woke up not to long ago and found I slept for about eleven hours. My mother left me an e-mail about 20 minutes before four which I remember waking up for. She'll be calling later then planned because of welfare stuff.
On a bright note from talking to my mother yesterday, was that she told me that I might come home to a new computer or two.
I'm not holding my breathe, but it would be nice to find.
I think I'm going to have some more trail mix and beef jerky for breakfast. Haven't really been eating as much as I usually do, which could be a good thing if I go home and find I've lost a few pounds.
15:05 - I decided to take a short walk earlier and keep thinking this place reminds me of Bemidji, Minnesota. Doubt the couple of pictures I took were very good, but I think the one on the mountains might be okay.
Thought it might be a good idea to get a pizza, since I think my food might be running out soon. And that was some good pizza, already got here. For some reason that was the best pizza I've had in a long time. It might be possible that at this altitude my head is getting messed with. Felt lighter then I usually feel yesterday, so it could be a possibility.
19:41 - Well, I think I've found something I don't like about traveling, and that would be I've got the runs. Could be from the jerky and trail mix, but then again, it could just be from the water system. Then she stops by and during the conversation I realize I haven't had any of the water here yet. So it must have been the pizza.
20:01 - So I find she'll be here tomorrow like I thought, but it was nice just chatting with her. her sister thought it felt like I had just used lotion, which probably made them both get the wrong idea, but at least her sister thinks I'm gentle now. Compared to before where she had it in her mind thinking that I was going to be kidnapping mi unico amor and making her my slave.
While we chatted I got to see the tattoo on her chest, looking much better then it did in the picture she sent. She seems a bit taller then I was expecting, but I think it's just me finding out I'm not as tall as what I thought I was.
I do keep asking, but she keeps saying I can't take care of her husband's recent ex-girlfriend. Shame, I was looking forward to scaring her, but since she quit working at where he does, so I guess that's out of the question for doing.
Do feel good right now, a bit relaxed. Watching cable, the first time I've gotten this much for a long time. A show on distilleries is on absinthe, so I think I'll be watching that for a bit.
October 12,
13:54 - Didn't get quite what I wanted, but I've got no complaints. Went out on a date with her, which was nice. Went to the river, ate lunch there. Did a bit of talking, then went and relaxed a bit at the motel. There were a few good pictures that I took, and I hope the one on the snow covered mountain turns out well.
I sent a text message to a coworker about a call I got on Sunday from someone who knew him. I was basically told that the number was taken from his cell's address book. the deal I might be getting into sounds a bit like a pyramid scheme, but has enough sense of legitimacy to it that it could be something to look into when I get back.
Sadly my trail mix is about gone, so I might have to take a trip to Wal-Mart tonight to replenish my food supplies. I'll aim to spend less then $20, but who knows how it'll go, that place seems to have something that just go and draws my attention. Well, least I won't have to worry about starving.
October 13,
16:14 - I woke up today not wanting to get out of bed. I decided to just give it a few more minutes then did stuff in the bathroom. I've had a headache since I woke up, and it doesn't seem to be going away.
Around 10 in the morning my mother called and I didn't have a good tone of voice with her. My headache, along with not having heard from mi unico amor didn't leave me feeling very well. I did find out that Buddy, my cat, did catch another mouse. I've figured that even without front claws he could still kill.
Around noon she called and we did visit for a bit. Got some of that cuddling I wanted. Not much, but it was something. I noticed that while she laid next to me my headache had gone away. She let me know about a homecoming parade and I decided to go.
I didn't know exactly where it was going, but I did manage to get a very good spot. The camera of mind probably didn't catch it, but damn were those some good views of the mountains. Must have been to the South-East where the best view was. From where I was the peak looked huge, and the snow cap, or, so nice.
Besides the marching bad the parade wasn't much. They had a bit on hating some competitor called the "Camels". There were a few classic cars, three or four floats, and a firetruck, not counting the three police cruisers.
I'm thinking I might have some food trouble for my trip back, but oh well, might actually lose some weight for it. I should have plenty of entertainment along the way though. Bunch of magazines yet to read through, and I haven't touched the rest of my sudoku book yet.
October 14,
07:46 - I decided to load up at the Maverik station for treats. 4 packs of 2 pop-tarts, 9 nutrigrain bars consisting of 3 raspberry, 3 blueberry, and 3 strawberry, and a bag of beef jerky. I decided to take a piece of the jerky to try it out. It didn't look to good coming out of the bag, the texture wasn't the greatest, but the finish of it was delicious.
I've got a little bit of packing to do, so I'm going to get to that.
October 15,
06:39 - I've made it to Rock Springs Wyoming. I've started my 20 to 44 hour layover with a big hot dog and some Sobe. There's still half of the Sobe left to go. There isn't much light yet, but the sun is coming up. I'm thinking that for lunch I'll have Taco Bell, and Burger King for dinner.
It's a little bit chilly out right now, but nothing to worry about. The light from the Mobil station is enough to write from. Just noticed that my hands are a bit dirty. Got to go to the bathroom, too, but that can wait for a while yet. Do think that cold is starting to get to me a little bit though.
Just saw one of the buses go by. So I suppose now would be a good time to tell about yesterday. When I got on the bus I met a guy a little bit older then me who works as a driller for natural gas. Kind of dumb luck, since I'm looking to get into the field. From my understanding I'm home 5 days and out and about for 9, while bringing home over two thousand dollars for the week, starting pay.
Some people sitting behind me were a bit annoying, mostly just one of them, though. He said he was heading to the South East coast of Georgia. If college had a course for complaining, this guy would be running a circuit making millions from speeches. It was kind of fun at times, to quietly laugh at the guy from something going on. He did have a couple okay jokes, but for the most part the guy was just rude. Will have to look up Crohn's disease, since the guy said he was diagnosed with it.
Damn, the cold is starting to get to my hands. Think I'll hold off on writing for a bit.
22:29 - I think I may have Experienced the weirdest day of my life. Shortly after I was done with my last entry I brushed and flossed. As I was going to toss the floss I see this guy who looks black. Turns out it's this homeless Native American who went and taught me a lot about a culture I knew next to nothing about.
His name was Timothy Chavez, or Geronimo, as he liked to be known as. "Tell your buds, you met Geronimo, he sleeps in a crack in the rocks, and he fed you like a fat rat." At the Burger King near the bus stop he told me his "sob story." Not too long ago Geronimo decided to drive with three times the legal blood alcohol limit. Due to this he lost his car, and the impounder refused to let him at his stuff.
It's been a bit of a drag for Geronimo of late, and I got to see his alcoholism first hand. Over the course of the day he must have tipped back 6 40 ouncers of malt liquor. I almost feel ashamed to admit that I bought two of them for him.
After leaving Burger King he showed me his camp, which was a ten minute walk away. It mostly consisted of alcohol bottles and such laying around, with a couple of knocked down tents and some cooking items. There was a lot of plastic bags and cardboard boxes strewn about, too.
Not too long after being there another guy came by, the guy who owned the other tent that was knocked down, one of which, as it happened, recently broke, belonged to Geronimo. For a bit I thought his name was "Traitor" but came to realize he was being called "Trader." This guy was packing and leaving, "saddling up" as they called it.
Trader was getting a ride from a guy Geronimo later identified as "Preacher." Before we headed back to camp Preacher gave some advice to Geronimo that I hope he took. It basically went that he should stop by this one church for aid. Later in the day I said to Geronimo that he should see if people could leave messages there, so employers had some way of contacting him. Unfortunately the times I mentioned it to him he was just waking up, or was otherwise wasted.
For lunch I was treated to something pretty good, but to get it I had to place a lot of trust in Geronimo. Earlier he had told me about a guy who went by the name "Fred Flinstone", who's real last name was Stone. He told me that in his dealings with him he once did a booze run, and as a sign of trust they switched wallets.
The reason for writing this is because to get lunch I had to run to Wal-Mart. This mean leaving my stuff to only be watched for by Geronimo. To possibly combat my paranoia he gave me his wallet. It slightly helped, but on the other had he didn't have a photo ID in there, and the thing had four pictures of young white kids, and Geronimo is not even close to being Caucasian.
When I got back to the camp my fears were mostly proven wrong by him still being there, and all of my stuff seeming to be in place. The only thing that has made me doubt him is that he mentioned something about me writing stuff down in a "dairy" (I prefer "journal"), and I never mentioned that to him. Other then that, no reason to not trust him at that point.
For lunch I got to have tenderloin steak with A1 sauce in a tortilla, and had some Riverton Waterworks water to finish me off. Even though one of the steaks fell on the ground, and the fire brush got into the meat, using those tortilla shells pretty much made that gritty crunching on my teeth disappear.
After lunch Geronimo took a nap, and I went and explored the surrounding region. Damn was it nice up there, just looking down on the city and around to the surrounding hills and mountains. I probably spent an hour and a half up there goofing around, throwing rocks and walking around.
Toward evening Geronimo and I started up a camp fire in a fire pit of sorts that he pointed out. Using sage brush from around we got that thing going pretty good. There was this dog that kept barking that made Geronimo nervous. Things started getting a bit off kilter after Geronimo mad a final run to the liquor store.
After a bit he got to hugging and saying he loved me like a brother; he got to crying and feeling sorry for himself. As he did before taking his nap he got into repeating himself over and over, asking the same questions, and making the same comments. (From descriptions I've heard of people having Alzhiemers it could possibly be compared to that.) He kept saying things like "I've got no where to go," "If I were to die tomorrow I'd go to hell." "Jesus forgive me, please," and "I want to go where you are." By the end of it he got himself to cry a bit.
He told me he'd swear off liquor, change his life around, or maybe that's what I wish he'd said. I hope tomorrow he does start to turn things around for himself. That would be for the best if he could make it.
"What's the difference between a hobo and a homo? A hobo ain't got no friends... A homo has friends up the ass." The only time he used the word "hobo" was in that joke. He seemed to prefer the words "transient" or "tramp" to describe his situation.
One good thing about going to that liquor store was that I got the chance to pick up a big cigar by CAO. CX2 is the name of the cigar, and when I get home, after taking care of a few things, I'm going to smoke that thing and then crash and sleep for a bit.
There were other things that Geronimo and I talked about, other things that he taught me, but I can't really remember them. Right now I'm mostly worried that he didn't give me head lice. He said he had it, and when he hugged me his hair and mine did meet, which does make me wonder. Hopefully no transfer occurred, but I suppose by Tuesday morning I'll know for sure.
October 16,
07:24 - I'm on the bus again, about to head East, and get me closer to home. This time tomorrow I should be leaving from Minneapolis to home. If my luck holds I should be able to get a couple hours of work in tomorrow morning. I'll be feeling pretty poor for a while, so hopefully selling plasma will help me some.
On the bus going into Denver I think the old guy I sat next to was a bit off his rocker. Said that it would be a good idea to separate the country into 20 different sections and the different peoples of the United States should live there. Talked about Irish Americans and German Americans should have a section each, and that no one should intermingle. He said, "This would be a cheap way to fix this country's problems."
I don't know what this guy was thinking, but I'm very glad that, hopefully, not too many in politics share his beliefs. He mentioned Pat Buchanan and Barry Goldwater in his talks, but what he said did remind me of something else I once heard. back in the day when I leaned further Left then anyone I know an idea was attributed to Bill Clinton and Kofi Annon in a newsletter I got. The idea was to place all humans inside of self contained bubble domes.
That's about it for everything major. Going to try and et as much sleep as I can now.
October 18,
18:58 - It's been a while since I've written, but now I've gone from paper to pure electronics. I'm sitting at home now, no more transferring my writing from paper to computer. On my second to last transfer the bus driver noticed that I had been leaving a day early, but since the first driver let me on, I was "en route" he let it slide. He didn't seem to happy about it, but a passenger talked him up a bit, so I hope he forgot about it.
Otherwise since the other day I have been a little bit confused. I didn't have to work yesterday, but I get those couple of hours in this morning. Just a bit of inventory accounting to do at a hair care supplier. Almost amazes me that a store could survive merely by selling products devoted to hair. Then again, there are a lot of people who like to tinker with their hair, so I suppose it's not that surprising after all.
I'm pretty sure I don't have head lice, but I do wonder what's happened to Geronimo. When I left him he was sitting on some boards, and was close to the fire. If he decided to make it big again and then fall asleep near it, he could very well have caught on fire. I did ask him before he left if he remembered where his blankets and such were, so I hope he decided to go and lay under that, instead.
Yesterday I decided to have that cigar, and boy did I learn a lesson. I was told that you don't suck it into your lungs, you just puff it up and make some nice smoke. It was harsh after a few minutes of having finished that cigar that I threw up my lunch. I'm mostly thankful that I was near the basement drain hole when it happened. I think I might get in the habit of having a cigar on special occasions, or maybe just once a month, to avoid having to go through that again. I do know that it felt like I was drinking and smoking dope hard after I had that thing. I read a review not to long ago about that cigar, and it did have a spiciness to a bit of it. The finish wasn't as good as it could have been, but overall, it was one good cigar. Can't really comment on them, but to my unrefined palate it was quite nice.
That about does it for everything. The thing was meant to be posted on the Internet, so it is just a mite bit duller then it could have been. For the four or so people who'll probably read through this entire thing, congratulations, but I can't give you anything, not even an over the Internet cookie. You'll just have to find one of those yourself.
posted by DM at 11:39 PM
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