071603

 

Eugene, OR

Wednesday July 16, 2003

     7:55am  I woke up at Whit's squat and he suggested I go hit the lady up at the Community Market nearby for biscuits and gravy. Sure enough, the lady agreed with everything I said. She's from California. When I asked her what she thought the world's greatest problem was, she said, "It's money. It's ignorance." She hit the nail right on the head. Then I told her, "I hope you don't think I had an ulterior-motive.." She cut me off and said, "I'll hook you up, what do you want?" Mmmm, those biscuits and gravy were damn good. Her name is Shara.

     8:20am  I'm back at the camp hanging out with Whit and Maggie. Whit's ex lives nearby and he went and got their dog, Maggie. She's a very adorable Lhasa Apso. I am so surprised I ran into such luck last night. I went to that bus stop and some fourteen year old kid was supposed to give me some weed, which he didn't. I met Whit at the bus stop and he asked me if I needed a place to squat. I was going to risk crashing at the butte again, but then I didn't have to. So, we rode the bus and walked to his camp. Everything was cool. I woke up and got some breakfast. All for free. Awesome. Happiness can be bought for a little more than free.

     9:17am  I'm walking towards the highway now. I've decided I'm going to go to the coast first, then go down 101 to Arcata and then San Francisco eventually. Berkeley here I come. Whit is a heroin addict. He loaded up a needle and is shooting up. I took another nap at the camp. I'm walking now.

     10:15am  I'm walking through this neighborhood. I passed these tennis courts. I saw this old man and his grandson get out of the car with tennis rackets. I walked up to them and asked them, "Excuse me, I don't suppose you can spare a tennis ball for my stick?" The grandson told me that he had only brought the can of three, but if I waited for them to finish playing, he would give me one. So I chilled out and smoked a cigarette. Then this old man and old lady came to play tennis. I asked them for a ball and they told me, "No, no. These are brand new. We can't spare any." When the old couple was finished I was hoping they would give me one, but they just got into their death machine and drove off. Soon afterwards, the other dude and his grandfather stopped playing and he hooked me up with a ball. Badass. I'm going to see how long it will last me. It's got a little Mickey Mouse picture on it. Oh yeah, I'm over at North Eugene High School.

     10:39am  I'm walking down the highway. I'm not sure what highway I am on, but I'm walking down it. Hopefully someone will pick me up soon.

     11:11am  I took a rest on the side of the highway. I ate some raisins some guy hooked me up with. I drank a beer someone had given me and I'm picking up pennies. I just found three of them.

     12:03pm  I stopped at this Papa's Pizza. I'm going to see if I can score some food. They have a lunch buffet going, so it's about time.

     12:20pm  Okay, the greedy bastards at Papa Pizza wouldn't hook me up.

     1:08pm  Strike two. the Blimpies place told me no. Man, there's supposed to be nice, generous people here. Alright, I'm going to go to the Winco grocery store and see if they can kick me down a couple cans of tuna fish. Oh wait, there's another pizza place across the street. That's where I'm going to go. Then, I'll come back to the gas station and get a ride.

     1:13pm  Strike three at the Abby's Pizza. Damn, what a greedy part of town.

     1:14pm  Hmm, could all this greed just be another sign? I think so. Hey, there's a library right here. I'm going to go check my email. The Bethel Branch Library Biblioteca.

     1:20pm  I was at the library. The computer said, "You have 5 minutes left." Shit, I'm going to lose it. I was typing up this big detailed story about my trip to this girl Angel, who randomly emailed me. I was telling her a really good story. I explained the situation at the library and assured her I would finish it later. So, I sent it. I asked the librarian, "Excuse me, if there is no one waiting to use the computer, can I get on again?" She didn't even give me eye contact to answer me, "You only get on hour." How wasteful is that? There's two computers open.

     1:32pm  Man, this place is greedy. Stupid librarian.

     2:01pm  This very generous bus driver gave me a courtesy ride back to downtown Eugene. He shall remain anonymous per his request.

     2:30pm  I'm back at the Eugene Station, where all the buses go. As you can tell, I changed my mind about walking out of here. Maybe today wasn't my day. I've got barely any food. I have to prepare myself. I'm going to go to the Greyhound and see how much bus fare is. And, I told the bus driver who gave me a courtesy ride, Armando, my ideas. He ends up hooking me up with a daypass.

     5:41pm  Man, today has been kind of sucky. I've been really bored. I went to the EFN place and I finished typing that letter to that girl, Angel. I'm hungry. I have no food. Actually, I have raisins. I can eat raisins. Hmm, I did get a daypass from Armando, so I jumped on a bus and I'm going to go to the mission, so I can eat something there. I'm contemplating crashing there, but I would have to be there at 7pm. Fuck that. Hmm, I'm kind of tired, so I could go to bed early.

     6:30pm  I rode the bus all the way to the mission. All they had to eat was bananas. They made me sign all this shit. They said I had to get a tuberculosis shot within seven days(even though I plan to leave Eugene tomorrow) They also make you attend the chapel at night for service. Then after that they will have dinner and assign me a bed at 9pm. Oh yeah, then they told me I had to check in my bags and told me I would have to put my stick aside, too. Fuck that, I went and ate some more of those bananas. Like a total of six. I took one to go. Screw this place. I'll take my chance at the butte again.

     7:07pm  I'm on bus #30 headed towards as West as I can go on this route, which is Burtelson and 11th which is where I walked that night I got picked up for the Country Fair.

                   Dude, total groundscore. I wanted to cross the street to the 7-11, but there was a huge line, so I said forget it. I crossed the street to the Dairy Mart and heard all this change fall on the ground. I noticed some lady got out of her truck and all this change fell on the ground. She didn't even bother to pick it up. She just walked inside. I told myself I would stick around there, wait for her to come out and see if she picks up the change. She came back out carrying a case of beer, got in her car and left. I went over to where she was and groundscored up the ass. She dropped like six quarters, four nickels, and more coins. A total of $1.93 in change. Talk about groundscore. I'm going to get me something to eat now. Cool, I've got bus fare for tomorrow, if I need it.

                   Oh yeah, right when I picked up that change this guy pulled up in a black El Camino. He was smoking a cigarette, so I asked him if he could spare one. He told me that's what he came to the store to buy. I told him thanks anyway. In his car, he has this little skull on the shifter. The car looks really sharp. Like a true death machine. When he came out I said, "Bitchin' car, man." He said, "Yeah, I enjoy it." He gave me three cigarettes. Man, the pennies are everywhere today.

     8:32pm  Wow, this is a rather interesting turn this night has taken. See, I was just chilling out at the Dairy Mart thinking I'd start walking 11th soon and somebody would pick me up. I was talking with the cashier and was about to start my California story when all of a sudden, these three hippies in a VW bus pulled up and threw me the peace sign. I talked with them and told them how I planned to get marijuana legalized. They immediately offered me a hit and invited me out to this place called The Rockslides. Just like that I'm going to the Rockslides, whatever that is. They said it's thirty miles West. That's what I went to that Dairy Mart for, to find a ride West. Awesome. They introduced themselves as John. All three of them. John is forty eight and John is forty three. The other John didn't say.

     11:03am  It's time for a really big update. I was at the Dairy Mart and I met the three John's. I think the second one's name is Corey, though. Oh, Carey. We went to some lady Carol's house, but she wasn't home. So instead we go to Karen's. Everybody's a hippie here and live in a wooden house built around some travel-trailers. Wow, what luck that I ended up with real hippies. I told them, "Okay guys, I'm trying to make everybody's dream come true here. This is what everybody wants. I dare you to find something more important to talk about." At first the old hippies listened, but before I knew it, they were interrupting and changing the subject. That really brought me down. You would think that what I have to say would catch the attention of all these pot-smoking hippies who have been fighting for my causes since they can remember. But no, ignorance prevailed.
                     I started to feeling really uncomfortable, so I stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. I was just walking around the back and I noticed there were some people in a different travel trailer listening to some music. The door was a little cracked and I saw young people inside! Yay! Kids! I knocked on the door and was all, "You guys are just what I needed! Kids! The old people won't listen to me. Will you?" They told me sure and welcomed me into their trailer. There were three of them, two guys and a girl. I told them my ideas and they listened at first.
                     In view of the old people's ignorance I said, "People need to realize that I am trying to do the same thing someone else tried to do a long time ago, bring peace to earth. I'm coming across the same ignorance and resistance that he did, from the same exact people who have worshipped him their whole life. How ironic is that? I don't think I'm Jesus or anything. I'm Victor. I'm just following his same path."
                     After I said that, this guy says, "Dude, you really need to be a journalist." I said, "I already am, or at least that's what I like calling myself."

     11:35pm  Travis, one of the younger people offered me a piece of chicken that's in the oven. He gave me an after-meal cigarette, too. He always supplies cigarettes for everybody. Travis says, "I, more than likely, am the most kind-hearted person around. In my opinion, it ain't worth having shit if you don't share it."

Next day..