121202

 

San Antonio, TX

Thursday December 12, 2002

                   Okay, today is Thursday December 12th of 2002. It's about eight seventeen in the morning. I got up and it was freezing. Man, I'm going to see if I can get four dollars off my mom so I can get my boots fixed today. I asked my mom and she said she didn't have any. I guess I'll just go bum some change at the bus stops. I'll tell them it's for a good cause. I'll tell them I need to get my boots fixed so I can walk to California, eliminate money and bring world peace and all that good stuff. It's pouring outside. I don't know when it started raining. Well, not anymore. I'm cold so let me suit up and put on my turtleneck. Damnit, I can't wear my boots because I'm going to get them fixed so I have to figure out what other shoes I can wear. Hmm, I'll figure something out.

                   Aww, this sucks I don't think I recorded the rest of this day. The tape just got quiet. Let me see if I can remember what happened.

                   Hmm, I was thinking real hard what other shoes I could wear. I remembered I had another pair of boots in the garage. You see, let me tell you a story. Right after I got back from going to jail in Alpine, Texas and the state hospital which I placed myself in to get out of jail, my friends Bob and Carlos had let me crash in their garage for like four days so I could get a job. Well, the people in the house across the street from them had been evicted and left a lot of things there, including all these clothes. They had left the doors open so Bob and Carlos had gone in there looking for stuff. They came back and told me there was a lot of clothes in the house. I perked up when they said that. Free stuff. I went inside the house and I found me a whole new wardrobe. T-shirts and pants that all fit me. I found me two pairs of good boots, both size twelve which is my size. There were a pair of Doc Marten boots which I wore every day after I found them. There was also a pair of more rugged hiking boots, but I liked the Docs more. I took the other boots with me too though. Hell, they were size twelves.
                   Well anyway, I just then remembered I had those other boots I had put in my mom's garage. I had never tried them on because they looked like they were heavier and not as comfortable as the Docs. Boy, was I wrong. I put them on and they fit like a glove. They're all insulated and thick and will be perfect for my walk to California. To the Victor go the spoils, hehe. I scratched getting my Docs fixed off my list. I had replacements now, better ones. I then remembered that the strap on my water bottle was about to snap and that I needed to get that fixed before I left for Cali. I don't remember how it got worn, maybe a cigarette melted the corded plastic. I don't know. I thought hard about where I could take it to get fixed. The only thing I could come up with was the cobbler. He can stitch stuff up, let me go ask him.
                   I caught the bus to Lockehill-Selma and Blanco again and walked all the way to his shop. I told him I had found new boots and didn't need to get the other ones fixed. I showed him the water bottle and he said he could fix it and would only charge me four dollars, but he couldn't do it today though. I asked him if he knew of any other place that could fix it. He told me the dress alteration place across the street could probably get it done today. I booked it over to that place. I went inside and showed this Mexican lady my bottle. She grabbed it from me, took it to a sewing machine in the back of the shop and came back with it all stitched up and fixed. Wow, that was easy. I asked her if I owed her anything and she told me not to worry about it and smiled. Ahh yesssss. Freedom.
                   Anyway, I put on my headphones and was jamming out to my punk rock as I left walking with my fixed bottle. I was going to walk back up to Rector and wait for a bus. I was on the sidewalk close to this intersection and I notice a girl in a car making funny faces and yelling. I could've sworn she was trying to get my attention, but I had my headphones on. I kept walking and then I recognized her. Hey, it's Jennifer, Marie's cousin!
                   A while back after I went and talked to the Peace Corps at the Quarry mall(10-9-02), I had been walking down Basse Road and Jennifer spotted me and gave me a ride to North Star so I could catch a bus home. I couldn't believe it was happening again. She told me to get in the car. Badass. I got in and there was Marie in the passenger seat and Jennifer's boyfriend was in the back with me. Shweet, what a coincidence Jennifer was in the same neighborhood as me and picked me up twice! Am I lucky or what?
                   Anyway, after that I think I went back to the hospital and caught the bus home. I don't remember too much else about that day. Remember, I've had two head injuries(universal excuse). That's why I got my tape-recorder, hehe.

Next day..