011305

 

San Antonio, TX

Thursday January 13, 2005

     7:35am  I just woke up. I got enough sleep. Umm, I'm going to walk downtown again. I'm going to walk Medical Center and then walk down Fredericksburg.

     8:30am  I am almost ready to go. I ate me a bowl of cereal and put some layers on. I have some layers in my bag. It's cold. The cold front came through. I've got my rain poncho. I'm going to take off walking downtown again. Here goes.

                   Oh yeah, I'm turning right on the power line trail. I'm going to go to Guilbeau. I'm going to try that El Tropiko Mexican Restaurant they have there. I'll see if they're open and I can get some breakfast. They've hooked me up before(3-22-04, 3:26pm).

     8:37am  La gente generosa en El Tropiko me van a dar desalluno para mi camino.

                   Calling the shots, calling the shots. Scored me some breakfast. Hell yeah.

                   Oh yeah, and when I was trying to give the guy credit he didn't listen and would say, "God's upstairs. God takes care of everything. God bless you." These brainwashed people, sheesh.

                   I'm going to walk the power line trails to Leon Creek after Mainland then walk Bandera to Eckhert and walk Eckhert into Medical Center.

     9:17am  I stopped along the power line trail to switch out my tennis ball and take off my thermal top.

     9:21am  I just crossed Mainland.

                   I walked around this neighborhood in search of a ditch, but there's no outlet to the woods. It dead ends right there. That sucks.

                   I just walked through somebody's backyard. The gate was open.

                   This sucks, I'm going in a circle in this neighborhood. I can't believe there's not access to the woods anywhere.

                   I ended up back on Low Bid Lane. Hmm, should I just keep going the way I have been lately?

                   No, I'm going to turn left and go down this street and try to get on Bandera.

                   Damnit, I'm over here by the construction yard again. I don't want to be over here. I want to get to Bandera. There's a fence here. I want to jump it, but it's really tall and has these sharp points.

                   I scoped out the fence and said forget it. It is way too dangerous to jump. I'll get poked or stabbed. Man, I really want to get on the other side of that fence though.

                   Cool, I was able to squeeze through the gate.

                   I'm walking a trail. Let's see where I end up.

                   Never been through these woods before.

                   There are only animal trails out here.

                   I found a big abandoned building. I'm going to go in it. It's like a big roof. I'm back over here by Mainland.

                   Man, I wish I had a camera. Which way should I go? Should I go East or West? I'm going to go East.

                   I'm on some dirt road. Ha, there's NO TRESPASSING signs everywhere.

                   I just passed this Jeeptrail into the woods. I'm going to go that way and head North.

                   I ended up back on Mainland, over by the daycare center Michelle Dubose's mom used to work at.

     10:06am  I am almost to Bandera now. Over here by Tio's Restaurant. I've gotten hooked up there before(2-3-04, 10:47am).

     10:09am  I just put on my thermal. I'm taking off walking.

     10:12am  Turning left on Westchase. I'm going to cut through to Eckhert this way.

     10:29am  I walked a little past Marshall High School and said screw it, I'm going to take this trail behind the trailer park here and see where I end up. Maybe I'll see someone outside smoking a cigarette.

     10:32am  I ended up at a big fenced-in empty lot. There's like nothing here. Oh cool, there's a deer. There's two of them. They're trapped trying to get away from me. I wish I had my camera, man.

                     Whoa, they just leapt, jumped over the fence! That was awesome. Very graceful.

     10:36am  Hopped over the fence. I see Eckhert Road right there. Man, another empty fenced in lot. There's nothing here.

     10:38am  Back on Eckhert, almost about to pass Huebner Creek.

                     Cool, there's a sign for a Huebner Creek Park.

                     Ahh, it's just a little field. It's not worth exploring.

                     I'm going to walk off to the right and explore these woods right here. I've never been through here.

     10:47am  I got to this old, badass house that's back here. Real close to Huebner. It's got a big wishing well in the back. It's cool. I wish I had my camera. It's a really nice house. It's a really old house. I am tempted to go knock on the door and inquire about the history of this property.

                     Damnit, there's a barbwire fence right here to get on Eckhert. That sucks. I'll find a way out.

                     Okay, back on Eckhert. That was tough. But I got through.

     11:05am  Saul hooked me up with a cigarette at the Diamond Shamrock on Babcock and Eckhert. I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit, thanks. He gave me two, badass.

                      Hehe, it was funny. When I first asked him he was about to drive off in his car. I had heard him packing his pack. I asked him for a cigarette and he got all pissed off that I asked him for it. He said, "What? What did you say?" I said, "Can you spare a cigarette?" He all handed me two.

                      I'm walking down Babcock now.

                      I wanted to cut straight across to the hospital, but I got to this big ditch. It's too steep to climb down and there's water down there, so I'm just going to go around and get back on Medical.

     11:43am  I am cutting through the Oak Hills County Club, haha.

                      I am walking straight through the enemy's lair. All these rich, snooty people driving by in their cars. I am giving each one of them the peace sign.

                      I'm wearing my grey thermals my mom got me and a yellow pocket-t shirt.

                      I'm on Fredericksburg now.

     11:52am  I'm going to go see if my friend Joe still lives at Eagle's Nest apartments. Remember Joe? I met him coming out of jail one time(4-26-04 and 4-28-04, 5:25pm).

                      I came over and knocked on 1211's door and nobody's home. I'll keep walking.

     12:08pm  I walked over to 410 and on the other side, off the access road I see a Taqueria Rodeo Jalisco. I'm going to score some food there. I'm hungry.

                      Calling the shots, got hooked up. I logged the girl's name, but the recording messed up. I'm going to go eat at Santa Fe Apartments.

                      All of these Babylonians saw me in that restaurant. It was awesome. Some great publicity.

     12:27pm  I walked to Santa Fe Place. Teo wasn't home and neither was Leo. I'm just going to sit down on a bench and eat these tacos. Then I'm going to walk downtown.

                      Oh yeah, I'm walking down Fredericksburg now. I can see my Emerald City in the background. I'm going to walk all the way over there.

     1:13pm  Walking past the Deco District HEB.

     1:24pm  I was walking down Fredericksburg and I see some dude working in front of some window. I was thinking, "I bet that dude will see me in the reflection and get weirded out with me and my walking stick." I walk a little past and I hear him calling out, "Oh hey, it's you." I turn around and that dude ended up being someone who knew me! He knew me from West Telemarketing. I asked him if he had any weed and he goes, "Yeah, I might have a blunt-roach you can have." Cool, he gave me two fat roaches.

                   Man, that was awesome how that weed just fell into my lap. Just walking down the street.

                   Oh yeah, as I was walking I saw this black dude walking in the opposite direction. He gets close to me and says, "You walk a lot." I guess he's seen me before, hehe.

                   Oh yeah, don't forget to put the title on my journal, "When you look at the world through my eyes, doesn't everyone else seem crazy?"

     2:09pm  Bert hooked me up with a cigarette. I appreciate it, brother. I just walked downtown. Everybody gets credit, thanks.

     2:32pm  I'm talking to Josh, some traveler in the park. What was your email? Gone11030@hotmail.com. Cool, cool.

     2:52pm  I had a great reward for my walk downtown. I got to tell my story to this traveler dude Josh.

     2:54pm  Craig hooked me up with a cigarette in the park.

     3:12pm  Remember to email Josh Zai's email.

     3:19pm  This guy Paul was telling me about something cool that just happened at the Greyhound station.

                    Paul: "Yeah, my name is Paul and I just walked into the Greyhound station. I was a little hungry, ya know. I went in there to use the restroom. Then I came and sat down at one of the tables. I saw all this food on the table and I asked the lady close by, she was in a wheelchair, she only had one leg, "Who's food is that on the table?" She said, "I don't know. It's been there for a while." It was some French fries, one chicken strip, some cold gravy and a drink. I just grabbed all of it and headed for the door. The lady who worked there said, "Hey, what are you doing? Stop right there." I told her, "But I'm hungry and I want to eat." She told me, "Come here, put that down." She gave me $4 and I bought me a fresh hot juicy hamburger, man. Cheese and everything, the works. She asked me, "Do you want a combo with that?' I told her I didn't have enough. The lady said, "Don't worry about it. There's 5 more dollars right there on the table for you." I told her, "Thank you so much."

                    The universe provides. Did you get her name?

                    Paul: "Nah, she didn't tell me her name. Just the lady at the Greyhound in the deli. Right before I left I walked up to her and told her, "Thank you for having such a nice heart." I gave her a hug. She squeezed me so tight like if I had known her forever."

                    Awwwww, gawrsh.

     3:27pm  Josh has a story for me.

                    Josh: "Out of Nashville, TN me and my friend Damien, we're ready to catch a freight train. We jump on one and we start riding. But we got off, it was going the wrong way. We were trying to go a different way. Anyway, we jump off and end up getting drunk and going to a tractor-pull. I had never seen a tractor-pull. We get real drunk and hop a train. We take beer with us. We get on top of the train. On top of a grainer. And we're drinking the whole way, throwing beer cans and cigarettes, waving at everybody, waving at other conductors. We roll into the yard and we're going across the trestle bridge across the Tennessee river, but it was in Alabama. We're rolling in and it's beautiful. We're just looking at it. We looked up and to our left there's the tower. The tower that watches the train. We had nothing to do but to wave at them. So we waved. We roll into the yard and climb down and try to hide. There was a local cop, there wasn't even a bull in that yard. I look and the conductor that's standing there with the cop sees us. I was hiding in the V and my friend was in the hole. We go to jump off, we're on the very back of the train. The cop runs around the back, runs up to us and pulls out his gun, sticks it right at us and yells, "Don't move!" I told him, "Alright, I'm going to drop my backpack." He told us to get on our knees. He arrested us and shit. The whole time we were telling him, "It's cool, man. It's alright." We were all drunk, remember? Then the other guy I asked, "Are you a worker?" He tells me, "No, I'm a conductor." I said, "You guys kick ass. You always tell me where you're going and let me get on the train and get me water. You guys rule, man. I love you guys." We're going to jail and we're just talkin' shit to the cops. Telling him stories. He was cool with us by the time we get there. My friend is getting booked. I'm sitting there laughing at him, "Ha, you're going to jail." He asked me, "What's wrong with you guys? Are you on drugs?" I say, "Oh no, we're just drunk." He asked me if we had any paraphernalia and I told him, "I've got a bowl in my backpack. You want to check it out?" So they stick us in the drunk tank. In there was this guy, umm, he needed company, man. He had made a person out of that water jug you get. He was like playing cards with him and shit."

     3:04pm  Whoa, we're walking to go smoke some weed at the Municipal Auditorium. Josh just told me that there's a place here you can take a shower at that not too many people know about. Like that they have a big bathroom with a shower. That's crazy. I didn't know that.

     3:45pm  Josh showed me that indeed, there is such a place in the auditorium. There's nobody in here.

     3:52pm  Joanna Lopez hooked me up with a cigarette at Travis Park. I appreciate it, Joanna.

     4:09pm  Kathleen hooked me up with a cigarette here at Travis. I appreciate it, sister. Everybody gets credit.

     4:27pm  Mr. Martin is hooking me up with a ride to the hospital. I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit, thanks.

                    I just got to the hospital and I wanted to make it a point to read these signs they've got displayed. One says, "Did you know . . . that the federal government generally pays 80% of the cost to buy VIA's new buses. Your fares and local taxes pay to keep them running." Another one says, "Did you know . . . it costs automobile owners twenty times more per year to drive than it costs you to ride the bus using VIA's monthly big ass($20)." In the back one says, "Did you know . . . VIA provides more service for every dollar spent than any major transit agency in Texas." That's right, VIA kicks ass. Yet another one says, "Did you know . . . that without VIA people in the San Antonio area would spend 3.5 million more hours every year just sitting in traffic."

                    Oh yeah, earlier when I got a ride on the 91 at Travis Park the guy told me, "Just don't make a habit of it." I told him, "I promise." Hahaha.

                    Right now I'm at the hospital and I'm contemplating, because you see, if the 91 doesn't give me a courtesy ride, I've got a dollar in my pocket, I might pay the fare, I'm thinking I'll catch the 91 to West and walk the seven miles home. I should have stayed on the 91 when it got to the hospital.

                    Sweet, the guy on the 91 said yeah. I asked him, "Hey sir, don't suppose I could get a ride to West so I can walk the seven miles home?

                    I walked to Prue Babcock and turned right on Babcock. I think I'll go by Carlos' house. Just to say hi and take off.

                    I stopped by the Sonic to see if Rose still worked here. Some guy didn't know who she was, so forget it. You guys remember Rose, right(5-19-04 11:22pm and 5-21-04 10:14pm)?

     6:37pm  Oh my gosh, I was just randomly walking down Prue and then some kids pull over and I hear one say, "Victor Antonio from San Antonio." Some kids who recognized me. Steve and Lito. Remember January of last year that day I bought my walking stick in Parkwood and smoked out with all these kids in the ditch? That time I saw that kitty cat get run over? I'll look it up(1-25-04, 6:25pm).

     7:00pm  Oh yeah, I have to tell you. I have to make an update. I ran into my fan club from last year(1-27-04, 1:26pm). We're driving by Bandera and 410 to go score some marijuana. Awesome, they said I could tag along. Oh yeah, and I'm telling Tim and Sean my story. What was your email address again? Dirtbike77@cs.com

     7:45pm  These kids told me that there's something going on at Holmes High School today. Like it's still going on. They told me that the whole high school has been taken hostage. They locked it down. Nobody can leave. Oh, they just told me that all the kids have been let out already. The guy with the hostage is in a hotel across the street.

     7:49pm  What was your name? Tim's telling me a funny story. What's going on?

                   Tim: "Well, we got arrested for criminal mischief and vandalism. The cops puts my hands behind me and I keep slipping them in front of me. I'm pissing him off big time. I finally tell him, "Hey, I need to piss! Pull over!" He was all, "Okay, last time." He pulls over to let me and my buddy piss. But he was still holding onto my belt. I yelled at him, "Let me go! I can't piss like this. I ain't gay." He wouldn't let me go so I told him, "I ain't gay, faggot. I need to piss. Let me go!" He still wouldn't do it. I didn't piss, so he threw me back in the car. I put my hands in front of me and said fuck this, I pissed on his seat."

                   Wow, I've got such a magical update to make. Wow, see what I get for all the walking I do? I just had that last minute decision earlier that I was going to walk home from West. I just got a hair up my ass to walk home from West. Even though I walked downtown today. I just felt like it. I was up for it. I walk down Prue until right where it starts going up. These kids saw me and yell out the car, "Victor Antonio from San Antonio!" I said, "Who's that?" They ended up being those kids I hung out with at Parkwood that night. That night I saw that cat get run over. That's so crazy.

     8:12pm  I'm sitting here playing Tetrinet. Somebody right now said, "Who's LIBERATOR(my nick)?" I told him, "Me, Victor the Liberator." He goes, "From where?" I tell him, "Victor Antonio from San Antonio." He said, "Oh, you live in Texas?" I told him, "There's a huge difference between San Antonio and Texas." He goes, "Well yeah, one's a city."

     8:17pm  It's so funny. I'm playing Tetrinet. There's this one girl Stacie playing that I always talk shit to. She doesn't like me at all. I saw that she was in the room. Right when I got in I said, "Hey Stacie, baby-doll." She automatically leaves. Hehe, that's funny.

Next day..