121703

 

Tehachapi to Ontario, CA

Wednesday December 17, 2003

     6:21am  I just woke up at the Denny's! Man, I can't believe it. I can't believe they let me crash on the bench like right in front of the door. Like every single person coming through saw me. Even these cops that came in didn't do shit to me. That's so awesome. I'm sure they sympathized because it's so cold outside. Well, I wonder what I'll do today. Hopefully I can catch some truckers waking up and I can ask for rides. I'm going to go to the bathroom.

                   Man, I just love this sleeping bag. It kept me so warm last night.

     6:37am  I just took a picture of the bench.

 

My bed last night.

     7:00am  I just finished my Grand Slam breakfast. It was $3.21.

     9:14am  Yeah, the lady who let me crash here last night just came up to me and told me, "Hey, I let you sleep here last night, but customers are complaining about you asking for rides." Ahh, I'll just stick around and see if she calls the cops, hehe.

                   Oh yeah, this one guy said he wasn't going that far, just to Mojave. I told him, "Ahh, don't worry about it. I hear there's nothing in Mojave." Then I asked the manager if there was a Denny's in Mojave and she told me yes. So, I'm going to Mojave, hopefully. If this guy will give me a ride.

                   The guy going to Mojave told me no. Damnit. I don't know what to do.

     9:32am  Manny just gave me three dollars! Badass.

                   Manny was that same truck driver that said he couldn't give me a ride. He gave me money. He felt guilty, I guess.

                   Whoa, Manny, the guy who wasn't going to give me a ride, is giving me a ride! After he had already told me no, I had gone to hang out in front of the gas station. All of a sudden, I hear Manny calling me to his truck. Shweeeeet.

     9:40am  Manny just agreed to take me to the Ontario Truck Stop. I've been there before(5-13-03). Ontario is pretty close to LA. I'll be on I10, so it'll be lots warmer. I said screw I40. I thought I was going to go all the way to Albuquerque, but it's snowed-in.

     10:40am  Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that we just pulled into a cement factory. Manny is hauling cement. He's going to unload and get another load and go to Ontario from here. I was going to take pictures of the cement factory but Manny advised against it. He said, "No, don't take pictures. They might think you're spying on them." Oh well.

     11:46am  Manny is Portuguese. He's not from Portugal, just Portuguese. Anyway, we're waiting for his friend. His partner that's been following him. He misplaced him. He needs Manny to know where he's going. He called on the CB and he's not answering. So we came back to the cement factory. We weren't that far.

     12:08pm  We're driving through Mojave. It's about twenty miles from Tehachapi. This town doesn't look as desolate as they made it out to be. I wouldn't have minded stopping here and planting my seed. Maybe some other time.

     1:32pm  We just pulled over at the Burger King in Victorville. I'm going to go eat. I'm hungry. Man, maybe I should stay in Victorville. This town has my name on it, hehe.

     2:57pm  Manny just dropped me off about fifteen minutes ago. I'm in Ontario. I've been here before. He dropped me off on the side of the highway. He told me the truck stop is on the other side of the highway. Good thing there was a hole in the fence for me to climb through, so I wouldn't have had to go to the exit and walk around.

                   Oh yeah, I ditched some layers. It's hot. The temperature-differential is amazing. I'm all hot. I ditched a polo shirt I had gotten from the Free Box. And, I can't really fit all the clothes I have in my backpack with this big thick jacket that Michael gave me. I don't want to ditch it, but I can't take it. It's a quality jacket. So, I'm going to walk to the truckstop with it and give it away to someone. But, right now I'm stopping in the shade by these trees. I'm going to take my thermal bottoms off. It's hot.

     3:17pm  I'm walking down Airport Blvd. I'm in Ontario. I think the truckstop is like right on the other side. I stopped under a bridge here. I'm going to smoke a cigarette and rest and stuff. Man, this sucks. It's so crowded here. There are so many cars.

                   It's December. It shouldn't be this hot!

     3:23pm  I'm done resting. I'm going to walk to the truckstop.

     3:44pm  I'm at the truckstop now.

                   Oh yeah, I gave my jacket away right when I got there. There was this other dude asking for rides who got it. I asked him, "Do you need a jacket?" and he said, "Sure!"

     4:02pm  I asked this black dude at the truckstop if he had any weed. He asked me how much I wanted and I told him ten bucks worth. He told me to follow him. We walked over to this ghetto motel by the truckstop. He told me, "Walk that way and I'll meet you." He never came, so I'm leaving. These crazies earlier walked up to me and started talking shit. This is a shady place, so I just went back to the truckstop. Better safe than sorry.

     5:48pm  It's cool as shit! I got weed already! I only spent five dollars, too. This dude hooked me up.

     6:18pm  I just realized the tape ran out and I put in a new one. I have to tell you about the weirdest shit that happened. This old dude took me to his truck. His name was Bill. I met his team mate who he was driving with. Some younger black dude. When I went in the truck they had a porno playing and shit. I thought to myself, "That's weird." I asked them, "Hey, do you guys want to hear my stories?" and they said yeah. I tried telling them my stories. At first he was all interested and agreeing with me and stuff. I smoked them out. Then the older dude started asking me questions. Like weird questions.
                  Oh yeah, he was flipping through the channels and it landed on the news. I saw all this messed up stuff had happened. A car had ran into a big crowd of people and killed like ten people and hurt like sixty others. Man, that's so terrible. When will finally learn how cars are death machines? Why is taking us so long to learn this?! They're evil.
                  Anyway, this dude started asking me questions. He told me to hold my hands apart however long I thought twelve inches was. Then he said, "Now, you have to ask yourself how big is my erect cock?" I told him, "Dude, that's none of your business." He told me, "Oh, that's not the question. I'm all high and shit." He said again, "How big is your erect cock?" I told him again, "That's none of your business. I told him, "Dude, all this talk about cocks is making me a bit uncomfortable. You're some old dude trucker dude I just met watching a porno in his truck. I kind of feel a little uncomfortable, you know?" The other black dude had taken off. Then he said he had to go find his friend, so I took that as my cue to leave . . . and I did.

                  At first I had thought maybe I could score a ride if this guy was going East, but I quickly changed my mind. Screw that.

                  I bet the black dude is the old man's lover.

                  I have twenty dollars. I just counted the money in my wallet.

                  I just took a picture of Ken,

 

my friend at the truckstop who I gave my bulky jacket too. Remember I told you I had given it away.

                  It's cool, I got a little station right here next to the door. There's like this little counter I can stash my shit behind and not worry about it. Hell, if I had a microphone this could serve as a podium and I can have some great presentations.

     7:37pm  Oh yeah, I started talking to this other guy. This other trucker dude. He was all into my ideas and it seemed like I was blowing his mind. I was telling him about my travels and then he asks me, "Ever run into any gay men?" I told him I just had and recapped the story about what just happened. Then I thought to myself, "Why would this guy ask me if I ever ran into any gay men if he wasn't gay." He told me, "Oh, tomorrow when I leave I'm going to Texas and I'll take you as far as Fort Stockton if I see you." I told him, "Okay," but I really don't think I would. Screw that.

     7:52pm  Robert just hooked me up with a shower voucher. Robert is that trucker dude I just talked to who had asked me if I had ever run into any gay men. Well, that's cool. A shower would hit the spot.

                   Cool! I'm going to be clean!

                    I took a picture of myself in the mirror.

 

I accidentally put the flash on, so it probably won't come out good.

     7:55pm  Whoa, this is awesome! I got me a private restroom with shower. There was this cool little thing outside on the wall where you have to put in your code and the door unlocks. I get to take a shower! This is awesome! It's all a private restroom. There's a towel and soap and everything. Wow.

                   There's a sink. It's like a whole bathroom.

     8:40pm  I just finished taking my shower. I took a long, hot soak.

     9:41pm  Sweet! I'm going to get a free pizza from David. He's hooking me up. I told him my story.

     9:42pm  I went to the Pizza Hut they have at the truckstop and I told the guy working there, David, my story. After I finished it I told him, "So, I don't suppose you would care to donate any gasoline for my stomach?" He told me no. Then I said, "Okay, how much is a Supreme?" and reached for my wallet. When he realized I had money and could pay for it, he probably took me more seriously because he said, "Man, I was just fucking with you. Come back in ten minutes." He's going to hook me up! He heard my story and now he's going to hook me up with a Supreme Personal Pan Pizza! I appreciate it, brother.

                    At first David asked me, "Are you a hippie?" I told him, "No, I'm just Victor. I don't tend to classify or label myself."

     9:47pm  Oh yeah, I'm going to buy me a pack of cigarettes. I deserve it, damnit. Since I didn't have to pay for the pizza.

     10:00pm  I can't believe I scored that pizza. That was awesome. I came out here to eat and was talking to Jeff. He was staring at my yummy pizza. I felt kind of bad, so I offered him a slice, which there was only four of. He was very grateful. That pizza was good.

     10:13pm  I'm out here talking to David, some trucker. He told me he could take me to Albuquerque tomorrow. That's exactly where I wanted to go, New Mexico. That's weird. David is a bit ignorant, though. He started doing other shit while I was telling my story and he wasn't listening. I don't even know if I should even trust this guy.

     10:40pm  Man, I'm pissed. That black dude who I had hooked up with some pizza just ripped me off! Fuck LA. Screw this part of the country, man. He told me we could go to his truck and smoke some weed. I told him I wanted to go get my sleeping bag, so I wouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing it. I got tired of walking around so I told him, "I'm going to go to the front again." When we turned a corner, I noticed he just turned around real quick and started walking the other way. I feel for my wallet and it was gone! This dude pick-pocketed me! I'm so stupid. I should have had the money in my mission bag. I knew the day would come where I would get pick-pocketed because my wallet sticks out a lot. It's a woman's wallet I had found in the barn in Arcata.
                     Anyway, I turned around and told him, "Hey man, what the hell? Give it back!" He said, "Give what back?" He took me on some wild goose chase around the truckstop, telling me he was going to give it back soon. I tell him, "Man, don't you know how karma works?" Then he asked me, "Do you have any money in it?" I told him, "Yeah, I've got like twenty bucks, man. What? Are you just going to take it from me? Dude, I just hooked you up with a big slice of pizza and a couple cigarettes! And now you're just going to do this shit?!" I told him, "Dude, justice will be done. You have no idea how wrong you've been." Then he said, "I'll give you the money. I'll give you the money." So I said, "Well, give it to me then." When he snagged it I told him, "Man, I have stuff in there that I need for my webpage to bring world peace!" In the end, he gave me the wallet back, but all the money was gone. I told him, "Man, I can't believe you did this. I gave you something to eat." Again he said, "I'll give you your money. Come over here." I told him, "No, why don't you give it to me right here?" He said, "If you want your money, come get it." In the end I just told him, "Dude, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to enjoy that money. I forgive you, brother. You don't know any better." Then I walked off. The nerve of that dude.

                     I have to practice what I preach.

                     I had to stop myself from being upset. It's only money. Ink and paper. For all I know this dude might've had a gun or knife on him. It wasn't important. I don't need it.

                     Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that earlier I got to call Kati with that phone card I got in Tehachapi. I got to call my Kati-pie! I miss Kati. She's still going to come visit me in San Antonio. Oh yeah, that was the most valuable thing in my wallet I thought of when it got swiped, the calling card information she had given me. I didn't give a shit about the money. I was more upset that I had lost that.

                     Anyway, it's alright. I'm not stressing about it at all. Stupid money. I have to practice what I preach.

                     Oooh, I hate Southern California. It's so evil. It's such a huge gear of the machine.

     10:59pm  I came out here and Ken was still here, the dude I gave my jacket to. I told him about what just happened with my wallet. Ken gave me these Frito chips. They're honey-barbeque. They're good.

     11:02pm  A trucker named Dave walked by and I asked him if he was going East. He said tomorrow he was going to Vincent, California, then he was going East towards Missouri, through New Mexico. So, if I don't have a ride by noon tomorrow and he sees me, I'll have a ride.

                     This dude who I talked to before came back outside and I told him about what happened with my wallet. He asked me, "How much did he get from you?" I told him about eighteen dollars, but it might have been a little less. He told me, "I'll see if I can get it back," and walked off. I don't know what he's going to do.

     11:30pm  John just got dropped off by his friend and he came up with some young dude. Some eighteen year old. I told them how I had just gotten my money stolen. He just gave me the spare change in his pocket. I didn't even ask for it. I appreciate it, brother.

     12:00am  I just came to smoke out with John, some nineteen year old kid who has been riding with his dad for three years. It's cool I found someone to smoke out with. He volunteered me a dollar for smoking him out. That's cool. I already got a dollar back.

Next day..