121803

 

Ontario, CA

Thursday December 18, 2003

     6:30am  Today is the next day, Thursday. Last night I crashed in the movie-viewing room. The little theater where they have a big screen TV. Other people were crashed there and stuff. Other hitchhikers. I slept good. I have a really comfortable sleeping bag. I still can't believe that fucker ripped off my money. I got a dollar which I'm going to save for breakfast. Then, I'll start asking truckers for rides.

     6:41am  I just had a badass presentation. These two hip-lookin' kids. The pulled up in a car. They listened to all my stuff. I busted out. It was awesome. The girl even gave me a hug. Right before they left I asked them if they were going East. They were, but their car was all full.

                   Their email addresses were TheOneCannibalLizard@aol.com and Pixiechase@aol.com.

     6:55am  Man, I had another badass presentation. I asked this black dude for a ride. I told him all my stuff. I just jumped in with all my stories. He was nodding his head up and down agreeing with everything I said. He told me, "That's damn right."

                   Whew, that was awesome. What a good way to start that morning.

                   That old dude Ken who has been here for like, umm I think today is his fourth day. He's been wearing that coat I gave him this whole time. I'm really glad he's putting it to good use. He was all happy when I gave it to him.

                   Oh yeah, in my Brewster County Jail script be sure to include that, "When I was put in jail, I saw how big a game it was. I was dealt my hand and I played it. I just had to change the way I looked at it. The way I saw it I had a roof over my head, food in my stomach...and someone else was paying for it. What, this is what criminals deserve? A life free of responsibility?"

                   Pedro me dio un dolar. Gracias Pedro. Eres muy generoso.

     7:12am  I was just talking to Ken and he just gave me like a whole half of a big Hershey's chocolate bar. Badass!

     Ken told me that because I gave him that jacket he stayed warm sleeping outside.

     7:25am  Cool, had another sale.

                   Ken came over to me and asked me for help cutting his bag. He asked me if I had a knife and I pulled out my simple, sharp, utility knife I bought off some guy in Arcata for a dollar. Ken thanked me and I told him, "No problem. I'm always glad to be of service."

     8:00am  Sean just walked out and handed me a couple burritos. He looks young. He's thirty seven. Whoa, he's going to be forty soon. Doesn't look it one bit. Badass, I was hungry.

                   Whoa, Sean said he knew Weezer. I asked him if there was any way he could give me River's or any of the other guys' email address. He told me to go snmnmnm.com and tell them, "I met your big brother Sean and he told me to talk to Seamus or Matt to give me either River's or someone's email address."

                   Dude, this is awesome! Sean said he knew Weezer and he might have provided me with a way to get their email address. He told me to go to some site and post something on the message board.

     8:49am  I emptied out my wallet. And oh yeah, the guy who gave me the burritos put them in a really good Ziploc bag. I got this idea. I emptied out my wallet(which precariously hangs out of my back pocket). I took everything out of it like my license and shit and put it in the Ziploc bag, which I will always keep in my mission bag now. I even wrote a little note and put it in my wallet. It says, "FUCK YOU FOR STEALING MY WALLET, BITCH." Now, since I took all the important stuff out, I don't give a damn if it gets stolen . . . and it'll be funny when the crook looks through it and the only thing he finds is a note telling him fuck you. Hehe.

     9:10am  I'm sitting here at my little station. This is so rad. I have this little podium thing here at the truckstop. I can sit down on this tall chair and give my presentations here. People have been listening to me like crazy. Oh yeah, I made a new sign.

 

All it says is, "On my way to save the world. ASK ME HOW." If the truckstop people give me shit, I'll just tell them, "I'm not doing anything wrong. This was a free country last time I checked. I'm just telling stories."

                   I would tell them, "So what exactly are you doing for world peace?"

                   That's so cool that I might email Weezer. Weezer has always been one of my all-time favorite bands. I love Weezer.

                   Pre-sellout Weezer, I mean.

                   And also Secret Weezer that you can only get for free on the web.

     9:32am  This black guy walked by and said, "How you going to do that?" I revved up my scripts. I told him, "With the Internet I've found a way to fight the world's greatest problem." He quickly said, "What's that?" I asked him, "What do you think that is?" He said he didn't know and I told him, "Ignorance," and then he started walking away telling me, "Ahh, I gotta go make some money." I asked him, "Have you always been that ignorant?" He just kept walking.

     9:40am  Rick just walked out and handed me two cigarettes. Just like that. I didn't even ask. I appreciate it, brother.

     10:02am  Some dude just stopped and asked me how I was going to do it. I told him I would tell him if he was willing to listen. I asked him the standard question and asked him what he thought the world's greatest problem was. He said, "Oh, I believe in Jesus and I think through him.." I cut him off and said, "You're not answering my question." I repeated myself and he said, "I guess not knowing." I told him, "Exactly, it's ignorance. The root of all problems." I told him my mission-objectives and asked him if he had time for a really interesting story. He told me, "Not right now and God bless," and walked off.

                      Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is death.

     10:44am  Mack and Kelly have been listening to me for a long time. I appreciate it, guys. I wish everyone would listen.

                     Man, I've been having good presentations all morning. This couple stopped and listened to me and I told them all my shit.

     11:11am  I just had an awesome presentation with Ted, a guy who is here for a job interview. I didn't get to finish with him, though. He told me, "Sorry to cut you short, but I'm here for a job." That's ok though. He listened to a great deal of my stuff.

                      I just told this black dude my stuff. He was all, "Yeah, I wanna hear what you gotsta say." I told him all of it and he was all amazed. He didn't interrupt me one time.

     11:40am  Renee listened to my story. She even gave me a candy cane. Merry Christmas, Renee.

                     That was so cool. I am now starting to ask people, "Hey, do you have time for a really interesting story?" I asked Renee that and she was all, "Yeah!"

                     Cool, another good presentation with a trucker. It was badass. He listened to all of it. They're all agreeing with me. 

                     Singh just walked out of the truckstop and handed me a five dollar bill. I didn't even ask him for it. What a great day I am having.

                     This is awesome. This Arabian guy with a turban came out and handed me five dollars! Just because he read my sign!

     12:10pm  After that Arabian dude gave me five bucks I told that guy Sean who had given me that webpage earlier, "Yeah, that guy just gave me five bucks." He was all, "Yeah, those guys have so much money." I told him, "You don't know that guy. You can't generalize like that." He thinks for a second and tells me, "You know what, you're right."

     12:34pm  Lee just listened to my story and he volunteered me three dollars. He couldn't give me a ride because he is with his wife. It's all good. Nobody is paying me to do this. Every little bit helps.

                     Whoa cool, I asked this lady if I could tell her my story and she was all, "I've already heard about it." Whoa, I'm famous! Everybody is talking about me.

                     Hehe, some other hitchhikers started using my old sign that said, "Trying to get home for Christmas. Going East?" but they just ripped off the part that says, "Going East.'

     1:30pm  They had this big Mobile Chapel at the truckstop and I just talked to Chaplain Jim(wadfx@juno.com). Chaplain Jim was nice enough to listen to me. That's all I need people to do. Just listen. Awesome presentation.

                     Oh yeah, AJ had suggested I come over to the chapel and get a sandwich. Thanks, brother.

     1:51pm  Dude, I'm so crazy. I'm standing here holding a sign that says, "On my way to save the world." All these truckers walked by and I said, "Hey, I just want to tell you how I'm going to do it. Will you listen? I am not asking for anything."

     1:06pm  Some Asian guy I talked to earlier who was all impressed and stuff, he just walked up and told me, "I agree with you. This world is fucked up. You have to save it." I laughed and told him, "Man, you can count on me."

                    Oh yeah, and earlier that dude who took me to the chaplain, the god bus. He heard me tell the chaplain all my stories. After that, he comes up to me and says, "Hey man, I want to walk with you. I want to learn your walk." I told him, "Sorry man, I don't have partners. I have affiliates I keep in contact with, but I'm doing this on my own. I gotta do this solo. I'm playing by my rules here." He said, "Okay, I understand." I told him, "No offense."

                    Dude! I just told this trucker my story and when I told him the guy at the Greyhound in LA hooked me up with five dollars he said, "Man, I would've given you a bus ticket." So I told him, "Well, could you get me a bus ticket now?" He thought for a minute and said, "I don't know. Maybe. I think so." He told me he was going to call his boss to put some money into his account. I might get a bus ticket out of here! That's awesome!

                    Some guys just walked by and I asked them if they wanted to hear a really interesting story. They immediately started digging through their pockets and I told them, "I'm not asking for change. I just want you to hear my story." They were all, "Oh no, oh no," and they just walked off. They gave me change though.

     2:55pm  Rick is hooking me up with some traveling weed.

     3:11pm  I'm sitting here talking to some girl who works here. She's riding a bike. She's all ignorant and telling me to go stand somewhere else and not talk to her. I'm trying to tell her, but she won't listen.

                   Damn the ignorance in this world.

                   She can just hear about it when the rest of the world does.

                   Or when her friends send it to her.

     3:30pm  Crystal, this girl who works here walked by and asked me how I was going to do it. I asked her if she was willing to listen. She did, but then she walked off. She came back and handed me an apple and an orange. Cool. Some gasoline for the stomach. Thank you, Crystal.

     3:37pm  Crystal just gave me three dollars! She had asked me, "Do you have any money?" I told her, "Yeah, people have given me some." She hooked me up anyway.

     3:45pm  Rykel was generous to give me some change. I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit in my game.

     3:50pm  Lon gave me some change. I appreciate it, brother.

                   Man, I'm not even asking people for anything and they're giving me money.

     4:05pm  Richard just hooked me up with two cigarettes. I appreciate it, brother.

     4:14pm  I just ran into some dude who works here at the TA. He was emptying out the trash. He told me, "No, no. You gotta work. You gotta go to school. You gotta get an education. You can't educate yourself." He was some Mexican dude.

     4:27pm  Ana me acaba de dar una pizza. Eres muy generosa.

                   That was awesome! This mom came out with her little kids. This little girl was wearing a shirt that said, "Hippie chick." I went, "Yeah! Hippie chick!" The little girl handed me a bag with a pizza in it!

                   The kids know I'm going to do it! The kids love me!

                   I walked up to them and tried to give them the breadsticks back. I told them in Spanish that I was fine with the pizza and that I didn't really need breadsticks. The mom told me, "It's ok. Go ahead and eat them. We're already full." That was awesome.

                   The coolest shit. I started flying my, "Trying to get home for Christmas. Going East?" sign. The first guy who read it asked me, "Where's home?" I told him San Antonio. He tells me, "Man, I go through San Antonio all the time. Maybe I'll give you a ride." Sweet! I told him, "Let me tell you what I'm doing." I got to the part where I tell them, "I'll tell you how I'm going to do it if you are willing to listen," but he had to pump some gas. He told me he was leaving at 4am. That would own to the bone if I got a straight shot back to San Antonio. I really shouldn't get my hopes up. His name is Roy.

     6:56pm  I just got my ride! After a day and a half. He told me, "I'm not leaving until 4am though."

     6:59pm  Man, this is really cool. I think I found my ride already! This guy is going to take me at 4am. I haven't wanted to mention this but my tooth is hurting again. And it's a totally different tooth. I just bit down on the pizza crust and it shot a searing pain in my tooth. It's on the left side, on a different tooth. I'm all pissed off now. I even got all dizzy because it hurt so much. I had to sit down.

                   Ugh, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm dizzy.

     7:15pm  Namin just walked up with a big ass cockatiel.

 

I went, "Whoa, can I get a picture of that?"

                    I just found out that my stick is manzanilla wood, not persimmon.

     8:49pm  I have a major update to make. The guy who had said he would give me a ride, he ended up coming back outside. I had laid my head down on the table and trying to get some sleep. He came back and it turns out he's Puertorican too! I told him how I was born in Puerto Rico and had moved to San Antonio when I was three. He said he was born there too. Anyway, he's going to give me a ride back all the way back to San Antonio! That's awesome!

     9:25pm  This Roy guy is hooking me up. He's got a blue truck with number 28 on it. First of all, he's going to let me crash in his truck tonight, second he's going to take me all the way back to San Antonio! Yeah!! I got my ride already! Patience is a virtue! He's from Puerto Rico. I just told him my platform and odyssey story and hopefully blew his mind. He's all about my stuff. Awesome. And, he's proving me right.

     9:34pm  Jeff is hooking me up with a cigarette outside of the truckstop.

Next day..