San Antonio, TX
Wednesday April 2, 2003
::Yawn:: I slept great last night. I still use the blanket that kept me warm in Berkeley every night. I washed it, of course. It's so warm.
Well anyway, it's 11:06am right now. I woke up, went to the back and smoked a cigarette and waked-n-baked and took a hot chower. I remembered I still needed to install Bob's printer. A couple days ago I had burned him the Nero installation program with crack. I didn't think my mom had any blank CDs, but I found one. When I got to his house, he asked me about the printer. Shit, I had forgotten that driver. I told him I would grab it when I had the chance. I installed Nero on his computer and accidentally forgot the CD, which has a 700mb capacity and Nero was only 14mb, so I had a shitload of room left on that CD. I had burned it Multi-session and left it open. Well, I had left the CD at Bob's house a couple days. I would've grabbed it sooner if I had a case for it. So yesterday, before I left my mom's I stole one of her blank CD cases and put it in my back pocket. I rode the bus around all day and had a lot of fun and at the end of the day I made my way over to Bob's. I put the CD in the case and in my back pocket.
So this morning when I woke up I remembered I had it. I went to www.hp.com where I knew that driver was. I couldn't remember the model number, so I went to the webpage and typed in 1, then 2, then 3. When I typed in 3 the AutoComplete function of Internet Explorer spat out 3820. I downloaded the 21mb driver and pulled up Nero. I set it to continue the multi-session disc and added the printer driver to the CD.
I have about ten minutes before I walk to catch the bus and start my day. I still don't have a bus pass so I'm going to tell the driver that I didn't have a chance to buy it yesterday, but that I was on my way to buy it today. If he doesn't let me I will tell him, "Ok. These boots are made for walking. I'll just walk to the grocery store and hopefully the 605 driver will be generous and let me on." It's a beautiful day. I better go eat something. Peace in the middle east.
Wow, man every day is better than the last. Let me see if I can remember everything that's happened today.
Let's see, this morning I woke up, took a shower and got on the computer again. Umm, I don't really remember what I did, but when I got bored I went to catch the bus. Since I still don't have a bus pass I was going to see if I could score a courtesy-ride. The bus came to the elementary school, the driver let me on and I rode it to the grocery store. At the grocery I jump on the 620 that's going to the hospital. Now, the 605 goes to the hospital too and gets there at the same time. I usually ride the 605, so today I decided to add some variety to my life and jumped on the 620.
I told the driver, "Sir, I didn't have time to buy my bus pass yesterday. Can I get a courtesy ride please?" He let's me on and I sit down. Then guess who I see. Walldeck from yesterday. He said, "I knew I was going to see you again, dude." He asked me if I had any buds and I told him sure, that I would smoke him out. Now I hadn't brought that much with me so I told him, "Let's jump on the bus back to the elementary school and go smoke at my mom's house." He says okay and we jump on the other bus. Mr. Perez let us on, the guy who usually drives the bus and knows me and gives me courtesy rides, but never seem too happy about it. Walldeck and I get off at the school and walk the ten minutes to my mom's. I went and grabbed my sack of weed and we stepped out onto the back porch and got stoned. When it was time to leave walking to catch the next bus, we did.
Back at the grocery store I try getting a courtesy-ride but the driver wouldn't let me. It kind of bummed me out and I walked to the store to see if I could bum a cigarette off anyone. I did and went and sat down at one of the tables outside. I smoked my cigarette and looked inside. At the place where all the tables were was by the deli, I looked through the window and noticed there were a lot of doughnut boxes open and pastries everywhere. It looked like they just had an employee-luncheon or something. I get this great idea and walk inside and talk to the deli manager. I tell her, "I noticed you guy's had a luncheon or something in there. Could I grab a donut?" She tells me to help myself. I walk in there, grab a donut and walk around eating it. I ate two others like that. I noticed there were like four dozen spare donuts in boxes on the table. I guess it was just the leftovers. They were most likely day-old or something. Since the lady told me to help myself, I helped myself to a whole dozen and walked out. There were about ten minutes left for the buses to come so I walk up the Goodwill Donation Station and yell out, "Marko!" Marko comes outside and I ask him if he wants a donut. He says no thanks, that he had eaten donuts earlier and was full. I ask him if he had to pay for them and he said yes. I told him I was sorry, hehe.
Anyway, I walked over to the buses. I see Mr. Palacios in the bus heading back to the elementary school. I had remembered that he was the one who told me that next time he saw me I better have a bus pass because he hooked me up yesterday. I walk up to the bus, stick my head in and say, "I don't suppose you would trade me a courtesy ride for a couple donuts." He tells me he can't accept that so I tell him, "That's ok. I don't need to go that way anyway. I was just testing you to see what you were going to say." I walk to the bus behind his, the 620. I recognized the driver. It was this overweight Mexican dude I had talked to before. I ask him the same question. He thinks for a second and says okay. I let him have a donut and everyone was happy. We ride the half hour to the hospital. On the way there I offered everyone on the bus a donut. Out of the five people on the bus only one accepted one. When the bus was around . . shit I forgot, this older dude got on the bus. I recognized him from West, so when he got on and sat in front of me I asked him, "Didn't you work at West?" He tells me he has and I ask him how many times. He says only a couple, but that he's worked there like for years. I offer him a donut and he says sure. I tell him about my plan and he seemed very interested.
When I got to the hospital I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go talk to my ex-stepdad Luis sometime today. Luis was an attorney and walks a lot, so I wanted to get his point of view on my complaint to being kidnapped. The 92 which would take me to Crossroads Park and Ride, where I would have to walk ten minutes to Luis' office, runs every twenty minutes. So I bummed a cigarette or two and just hung out, not being in a hurry. I saw my security-guard friend and he gave me two thumbs up, as usual. I asked him if he wanted a donut and he said sure. I just walked around the transfer center and offered everyone else donuts. More people than not declined, so I got the idea to go up to the sixth floor in the hospital and give them out there. I could snag a Boost while I was at it and save it for later. I rode the elevator up to the sixth floor. On the elevator ride up I was telling people, "Hi. I'm here to feed the workers. Want a donut?" No one in the elevator took one, but they told me thanks anyway. I walked into Reeve's Rehabilitation Center where I was after my wreck in 2000. Since I know everyone there and go there all the time while I wait for the bus, as soon as they saw me everyone was smiling. I walked into the physical therapy room and saw Gabe. Gabe tells me, "Hey Moses, where's your stick?" I tell him the police got it and then go into my story. I offer him a donut and he says no thanks. I tell Gabe I'm going to go get me some nourishment and wink at him.
Since I didn't have my Adidas bag I only grabbed one. After exiting the nourishment room I walked to the front desk and gave away some more donuts. I looked in my box and only had about four left. I wanted to go back downstairs, eat three donuts and smoke an after-dinner cigarette. I rode the elevator down to the transfer center. I walked outside and couldn't find anyone smoking. I sat around for five minutes and sure enough, someone got off the bus and hooked me up. I ate some donuts and offered to smoke this guy out. He told me he smoked, but that he wasn't going to do it there. I tell him, "Hey man, they don't call this thing a sneak-a-toke for nothing." I told him to just hold it with his teeth, cup his hand around it and hit it. That no one would be the wiser. Hehe, I made his day better. I started telling him about my ideas and he agreed with everything I said. He gives me a cigarette and I smoked it. Then I jumped on the 92 and go to Crossroads Mall.
On the bus to the mall, when it first came there was only one other dude on the bus. He was young and seemed pretty cool, so I go all the way to the back where he is. I ask him if he burned. He immediately understood and said yes. I ask him if he wanted to sneak a toke on the bus. He hesitated at first, then said sure why not. Since my pipe is smokeless what I do is just take a full hit and hold my breath for about forty seconds, so that when I exhale there is nothing there and I get away with it. He saw me hit it and he gave it a shot. He looked at me all red-eyed and said, "Wow." As we rode a little more, this black dude got on the bus. I would guess he was in his thirties or so. He comes and sits down next to me and asks me, "So, what do you think about this war?" I tell him that I planned to stop it and dive in with my ideas. When I told him I planned to get marijuana legalized he got all excited. He asked me, "Do you have any? Let's get off somewhere and smoke." I tell him we can hit it right here on the bus if he wants. He says, "No way. I don't want to end up in jail." I smile and slowly hit my pipe on the bus. After my hit, while I'm holding my breath his jaw drops and he tells me, "Man, you got to show me how to do that! Okay, Okay, I'll take a hit like that." The guy I smoked out before and I just giggled. I gave him five and exhaled. I then handed my sneak-a-toke to the black dude. I told him, "Hold it with your mouth and cup your hands around it so no one sees. Then, take a hit and hold your breath for like forty seconds." He looks at me and says, "Forty seconds?? Forget it man." I tell him to suit himself. Hehe, that was so cool.
At Crossroads I get off the bus and gave another hit to that dude. I took off walking towards the lawyer's office. I walked under the highway and about fifteen minutes to Luis' office. I open the door and see Luis. He smiles and is surprised to see me. I ask him if he has any time and he says sure. We go into his office and I tell him that I am sitting on a sure-win lawsuit. He asks me to tell him about it and I say I would rather him read it. He asks me to give him a condensed version and I say, "Man, that's why I typed it all up. So I wouldn't have to remember it every time." He finally agrees and accepts my disk. He reads the story and we start having a little mind-melding session. He pulls out a piece of paper and starts talking to me writing down main points, just encouraging me to speak my mind. I unload on my scripts and get some terrific input. He tells me it will be very difficult to prove my case for lack of witnesses. Not to mention the fact that the redneck isn't going to admit to any of it. He writes me out a diagram on the paper trying to show me a timeline. He tells me, "You know who you sound like exactly? Me when I was twenty five. And, you will sound like me when you're my age." I totally disagree with him saying, "What? You don't think times change? Do you mean to tell me that you think everyone is the same?" He tells me, "Physically, yes." In the end, I am really glad I went and talked to Luis today. He seems to believe in me.
So back to Crossroads Park and Ride I walk. At the park and ride I scan the area looking for smokers. If I saw people who looked cool I was going to offer to smoke them out. I walked around for a while, even letting a 92 pass. I knew there was another one coming in twenty minutes. I was just enjoying the beautiful day. The sun was shining so pretty. I see this dude sitting down with a sleeping bag rolled up next to him. I walk up to him and ask him if he's got a spare cigarette. He says sure and hands me the rolled cigarette he was holding in his hands. I ask him if he wants to smoke a bowl and we go over and sit on the benches by the soda machines. The wind had been pretty strong where we had been sitting and we couldn't light my pipe. I talk to him and he tells me he just got into town hitchhiking. I ask him where he's going to sleep tonight and he said he didn't know. I tell him, "I know a badass camp that's like a bamboo forest." He tells me that's what he was trying to figure out, a place to sleep that night. I offer to show it to him and that he's going to want to make it a permanent residence. He beams and we jump on the next 92 going towards Medical Center.
Right after the 92 turns left on Louis Pasteur from Fredericksburg, I signal the stop. Now, the camp is over by Wurzbach/Fredericksburg, but since the 92 went to the hospital I didn't feel like waiting. John(the homeless guy's name) and I got off and I tell him, "How does a mile sound like to you? A piece of cake right? Trust me, it'll be well worth the walk when you see this magical forest I'm going to show you." He says okay and we start walking. John was a slow walker so I had to wait for him every so often. We walked down Fredericksburg and I decided to stop at Datapoint, take a piss behind a tree and sit down in the grass. I lit up a cigarette. John eventually caught up and sat down too. We were in front of the Diamond Shamrock sitting on the grass next to some big oak trees. John comments on how beautiful the spot is. I tell him, "There's beautiful spots anywhere, you just have to get out of your car and slow down to see them." He smiles.
After my cigarette we kept walking. John was still walking a lot slower. I walked all the way to Wurzbach and turned around. I didn't see John anywhere. I walk back a little and there I see John sitting down at the bus stop. I guess he couldn't handle all that walking. Me thinking he's just resting, I waited for him for about five minutes, hoping he would get up and start walking. I don't know why but I got the impulse to walk towards him. Right when I was almost to him I see the 91 coming. Badass, I didn't think it was coming for another hour. The bus pulls up and I tell the driver my story and ask for a courtesy ride. The driver tells me, "No, that'll be eighty cents if you don't have your card." I tell him, "I'd like you to keep in mind that I am writing a book on generosity that the entire world will read..." He cuts me off and says, "Oh, you're the guy from California? Hop on. You helped me out the other day." Badass! I talk to the driver and I ask him how I had helped him out. He told me, "That one day when I was driving the 605 and you told me to turn the right way. That saved me a lot of time." Kickass, so many people know me in San Antonio. The victor-effect is spreading. August 8th here I come!
John and I ride the bus a little pass Wurzbach. I show him where the camp is and he is just amazed. He tells me he can't believe his luck in running into me. Hey, I know firsthand what it's like to wonder where you're going to sleep. I thoroughly made John's day. He now had a private bamboo forest to hang out at and crash tonight, and the next night, and the next night. Remember, happiness can be bought for a little more than free.
After I left John at the camp, I walk out to Fredericksburg and just waited for the 91. Around that time(like six or something) the 91 passed every thirty minutes. I waited like twenty minutes for it and it finally came. I get on and give the driver the same line and he lets me on. On the way to Babcock North I overhear the driver talking with some lady in Spanish. So as I sat there I was practicing what I was going to say to the driver when I got to my stop. I was going to say, "Muchisimas gracias, señor Rivas(he had his nameplate displayed). Que tengas una beuna noche y maneja cuidadamente"
Shortly after we turned into Babcock North I see this fat chick getting off the bus holding a cigarette. I get off too, telling Mr. Rivas what I said I was going to tell him. The fat girl walks off and I start walking behind her. She crosses the street and I go, "Excuse me sister. Do you have a spare cigarette?" At first, she pretended to ignore me. She just kept walking and I repeated myself. She stopped, turned around and said, "This is my last one." "Yeah right.", I thought and told her to enjoy it. She didn't have to lie. That's why I called her the fat girl.
Well anyway, I walked to Bob and Carlos' and Bob and Tim were in the garage. I walk in and ask them if I would be cramping their style if I hung out until the next bus passed. They told me no and I offered them a hit of weed. Both of them refused which came as a surprise to me. I was sitting down for a little bit when guess who comes into the garage from the house. Andrea! Her and Bob have turned out to be really good friends and I am glad I brought them together. I tell Andrea, "Andrea, I don't suppose I could coerce you into giving me a ride home when you leave? If not, I can just walk it as usual." She tells me okay.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Andrea offers me a couple shots of whiskey and I accept. Everything on a reward-basis. I had yet another productive days and I deserved it, damnit. I wasn't going to get drunk or anything. Well, Andrea took me home and here I am. It's ten fourteen. Tadow.
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