HomeLessCide- Life on the Street

"Will We Leave The Inside Ice Show To Find That Mother Nature Has Put On One Of Her Own?....................."

2012-02-08T18:15:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

(Although it looks like evening.)

Well....it's a nasty day out there, falling temperatures, low grey clouds, fog in spots, a mix of schizophrenic precipitation...snow flurries, sleet, rain...in varying capacities, order, and strength, and the forecast is for the worst of everything to mix it up at about freezing road temps. just about rush hour. In other words, a typical Baltimore winter day....lol.

Monday I was supposed to meet Monkey to get some bupes for the month, but she was incommunicado for some reason, which meant using an alternate back up source that was again also only able to secure the film and not the tablets, and of course the cost was higher as was the fee to the source. Which has screwed up the already screwed up budget.

Another example of lousy timing is the fact that LAST night I was at Jenn's to babysit, and tonight I'm taking Rachel to the Disney on Ice show at the Arena. We're going on the Light Rail at least so that is a plus, with the stop right at the auditorium. Hopefully the overhead wires won't ice up while we're at the show and the MTA has to organize what they call a bus bridge..aka a 'shuttle service'....(remember the State Fair fiasco this summer?).

So Monday and Tuesday there were roofers working on the office building adjoining the shed. Monday I was out before they arrived but Tuesday I was just leaving when they pulled up and were unloading their ladders. One of the guys asked me as I was locking the chain on the shed door if I had access to the office.....I looked at him and said "I wish!", and we both laughed.

Tuesday was also the day the stomach/bowel issues returned with a sudden case of...."oh sh*t!....gotta get to the Giant, they better have the doors unlocked on time" at 5:58 am!.....and then another sudden urge again at 7:35 am.....[stock tip....buy whoever is making Immodium AD....now!...lol.] And then the nice fresh HOT cup of coffee I made a little later separated itself from the lid and confirmed that the local gravity was still working...and certain laws of physics relating to moving and immovable objects, and fluid dynamics!

I went to Hunt Valley to meet Jenn and rode back to the house, ate, watched the kids, and finally got to shower and put laundry in. I did not get to sleep up at Jenn's until almost 5:00 am. through a combination of a real slower washing machine, real low water pressure, and falling into a half spaced out-half comatose state while sitting on the couch waiting to put the clothes in the dryer.....so I'm exhausted and nodding out now over the keyboard.

It's time to pack up and meet Rachel at the Light Rail....after a couple quad espressos!

Later.............................Dave

"The Purrrrrfect Storm

2012-02-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

So.....Call me the "Cat Whisperer", A woman came into the Starbucks distraught that her cat, who NEVER jumps out of her car, chose today and here to do so. She had been looking for a good while without luck under all the neighboring parked cars and checking under her seats and under the hood and in the trunk. She was about to leave and go home and print up some 'missing cat' posters with picture and contact info. I stepped out side and looked around and tried to picture where I would go if I was a terrified lost cat, and based on experience with my Daughter's cats getting out, headed back toward the bushes and ornamental grasses growing in a bed up against the building.....and...There She Was! The poor kitty was just lying in the grass not moving except for her little heart beating at a disco pulse. I picked her and she offered no resistance and pressed against my chest and curled up. The woman was just pulling away after backing out of the parking space when I caught her eye and she jumped out of the car, barely getting it in park, with the engine running and the door wide open. When I gave her the kitty she was crying and thanking me, and told me " oh, you are definitely getting into heaven for this".......lol! (Well, I can use all the character references I can get, to counter balance some of the less savory deeds committed way back when...............lol!) She pulled off, releasing the traffic backlog she had caused and I walked back inside all warm and fuzzy feeling...on the inside...lol.

Later...........................Dave

2012-02-04T18:10:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

This story from Poland has echoes of a similar situation in New York City with it's miles of underground tunnels, abandoned sub-sub basements, old subway stations, etc.........:

http://news.yahoo.com/homeless-underground-survive-deep-freeze-132921932.html

The few similar underground spaces in Baltimore are either patrolled, access blocked, susceptible to flooding and/or leakage, too well known as party spots, as yet undiscovered, or already claimed and occupied.

But I'm always looking and snooping.

Later...........................Dave

"This Is The Week That Was.................."

2012-02-03T17:50:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well....haven't posted since Wednesday, haven't written since Monday, so this is just a 'check in and let you know I'm still alive' post.

Tuesday afternoon I met Jenn at the Hunt Valley Light Rail terminus and she picked me up and we went back to her place in Monkton. I watched the grandmonsters that night while they were out and in the morning Devin, while Ed was in school and Jenn went with Tom to his doctor's appt. Around 1:30 pm. Tom dropped me of at the Light Rail on his way to Devin's weekly speech therapy appt. Wednesday the 1st was also Edward's 7th birthday, so he was in a really good mood in the morning....for a change....lol. He usually does not respond well to the whole 'get up, get dressed, get breakfast, get out of the house before the bus gets here' routine......lol.

I took the train down here to Mt. Washington and spent the rest of the day and evening at the coffee shop. It has been and still is a generally "Greta Garbo" week....(as in her famously misquoted statement..."I vant to be left alone"....), ........lol! Not exactly isolation, (though if I still had electricity in the shed......), or avoidance, more of a 'hi, how ya doin', great to see ya, now...."buh-bye"....', kind of thing.

EXCEPTION:...As I was in the middle of typing an E-mail to Michelle my phone rings and it is her inviting me to come out for a drink or three with her that evening. Well it was the 1st and my financial situation was only slightly better than that of Greece...as I had bus fare for the next day, so I sadly declined. I told her I would be here at the Starbucks until close, if she was going to out and about, and her company was not only welcomed but desired. There was no response to that, but 45 minutes later she walked in the door, hugged me and we sat with our heads together and talked for hours. :-)

Yesterday, Thursday, I received the little bit of monthly cash I get and attempted to get a resupply on the buprenorphine, only to find that my source will not be getting hers renewed until the 6th or the 8th......lovely.

I was put in contact with a friend of hers and met her to get some to cover the gap, but not only was it less than required, it was in the form of the sublingual 'meltaway strip', which only comes in the 8 mg. dosage and is a real pain to cut into quarters for the 2 mg. dosage I use. I was also not real pleased to have to go where I had to to meet her at her apt. to get it.

Oh well, better than the alternative.....either of them!!!!!!!

Today I woke up at 5:00 am and had to run to the gas station to use the bathroom, and again at 9:00 am. to the Giant, but after a couple doses of generic Immodium things seem to have settled down. On Wednesday when I got back here from Jenn's things got nasty too, and it was over to the Giant and then the gas station and back to the Giant at 6:00am. That was when I bought and first used the Immodium, which stopped the problem, after 2 doses as directed. By Noon everything 'felt' back to normal and I was able to put some needed fluids and electrolytes in my body, and some solid food, which did not spur any negative reaction, a bit later on.....I thought I was done with it for a while......NOT!

It's back to the doctor next week to get checked for an ulcer(s) some where in the gastro-intestinal tract, and possibly one particular parasite that though rare will cause the same symptoms. The extremely 'sour stomach' in particular is way worse than anything I've experienced before, and the intensity, though hard to quantify, is beyond what anyone I've talked to about it has heard of,

except for one intern specializing in "oncologic enterology", who says chemo-therapy causes similar symptoms....but unless somebody is spiking my coffee with ProMACE/cytaBOM or MTX/6-MP/VP I don't think that is the problem in this case.......lol.

Anyway I really don't feel like writing...lol...so...

Later........................Dave

2012-02-01T15:44:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Homelessness is not just an American problem;

Homeless hard hit as death toll from severe cold spell in eastern Europe...

ow.ly

Later.....................Dave

"Sleeping In Seattle......................"

2012-01-30T20:18:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

A link to a story from Seattle;

via InvisiblePeople.tv & NWCN.com;

Seattle church opening parking for homeless car campers

ow.ly

Later......................Dave

"Is It Feed A Cold/Starve A Fever?.....Or The Other Way Around?........Doesn't Really Matter On The Patented No Frills HomeLessCide Diet Plan!................................."

2012-01-30T20:08:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

So...wasn't that an awesome video in the previous post?

Mythbusters are 'da bomb'....literally!....lol!

Well the good old common cold is doing it's typical mutation and commute, from head to chest and back again, at the moment I'm coughing up tasty little tidbits of lung, and earlier I was sneezing out what looked and felt like bright green, glow in the dark, radioactive, sinus gunk, mixed with the occasional bit of eyeball and brain.

In other words your basic garden variety sinus infection with a side order of pre-pneumonia congestion thrown in just for sh*ts & giggles.

Just got an e-mail from Jenn telling me she's not coming in town tonight and that we should meet in Hunt Valley at the Light Rail Terminus tomorrow afternoon, because as she put it...

"it feels like mutant-thumbed, jackhammer-wielding, zombie woodpeckers from hell are inside my skull"

I can relate!.........lol!

Tomorrow night I'm staying over at their place in Monkton because I'm watching the grandmonsters on Wednesday morning while she goes with Tom to a doctor's appt.

Showers & laundry & a hot meal, plus some time with the Direct TV.

Damn I just remembered.....I totally forgot to call the shrinks office today!

I better write it on my wrist tonight before I leave here.....just in case........lol!

I'm dead, flat broke right now, cash, Foodstamps, even my multitude of Starbucks cards have all been raided and combined for the dollar or less balances in the past couple days for that 'starter' cup of coffee....still have some of the Folgers instant left for the daily Giant cup though.

I've been living on a smoked ham that I got on Friday morning at the Giant all weekend, and while it was and is...(one big slice left for tonight or tomorrow morning)...I'm getting real tired of ham.....lol!

It was a quarter of one of those smoked 'football hams', (so called because they are about the size and shape of one)..that was on sale and $2.00 off, so it cost me $1.25 for 3 pounds. And between the cold temps in the shed being smoked and cured it would and did stay edible.

That, the day old rack and the scratch and dent rack at Giant, and the Dunkin' Dumpster have kept me in comestibles this weekend.

I'm hoping for a bag of bagels later tonight for breakfast tomorrow. Then Jenn's pantry on Tuesday and Wednesday, and back to normal....HA!....on Thursday. Which also means reupping on some of my meds too.

I am hoping to get some cash on Thursday, but if not......well stamps on the 7th and in between.....the delightfully humbling uncertainty of not knowing who/what/where/how/when the 'food gods' will provide sustenance.

Anyway, my eyes are tired from looking at this screen, and feel like they are bleeding acid and ground glass, so......

Later.........................Dave

"Sunday...................Funday Or Gunday................""

2012-01-29T19:07:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

So....it's Sunday again.

Nowhere to go, nothing to be done, no money anyway, so no reason to get up and out early. Just as well because I needed the rest, I'm starting to come down with a chest and head cold, and between the phlegm factory in my lungs, and the constant, persistent throbbing headache that won't go away, and sinuses that feel like a hot water heater with the safety valve welded shut.......

.....even with heavy duty meds, I'm not feeling sociable.

It has always been the least favorite day.

When the time comes to check out, it's a 99 & 44/100 % chance that it's gonna be a Sunday.

But not this one, for better or for worse.....

Last night as I was crossing Kelley Ave. on the bridge to get to the bus stop a car stops and backs up and a woman gets out and asks if I wanted or needed a ride. I recognized her as the female half of a married couple who were in the Starbucks with their friend Joetta, who is a head cashier/shift manager/front end manager (??? not sure what the proper designation for the job is) at the Pikesville Giant. She was in the car with them headed home and asked them to stop and inquire. Well that was a very nice gesture and I gratefully took advantage of it, saving myself 2 bus routes and an hour or more of travel time back to the Giant. I knew Joetta had known me by sight but not that she knew my name, which was a pleasant surprise and a counter to the paranoia/inferiority complex that accompanies this damn depression during some episodes.

(And not having heard back from the Psychiatric Dept. at Sinai yet has not helped to dispel it....gotta call back tomorrow....[and just trying to make phone contact brings on the anxiety.....face to face is hard enough, but for some reason, for me, the phone is hell....which is weird because one would think that the wall of invisibility and anonymity the phone allows would make it easier...damn, even my f*ckeduppedness is f*uckedup, lol..{ouch}....]....)

Anyway I was in the shed by 9:45 pm. and watching a little TV and reading a book, (I brought the lantern with me to charge here yesterday), or just sitting in the dark all bundled in the quilt, kinda spacing out, in between the shows I wanted to watch to save the battery.

I woke up out of some bizarre dreams once I lay down to sleep about Midnight, on the average of every 3 hours from 3:00 am.to Noon. According to the forehead thermometer strip I have, I've been running a slight fever, around 100-101 degrees, which may explain the dreams and extremely dry mouth. I have to see if I have any OTC meds left beside the Ibuprofen, I think there are 2 NyQuil geltabs in my medicine bag....which will allow me to fight the cold symptoms early....but may produce even more twisted dreams.....lol.

Yeeaaaahhh, I'm not even going to hint at the subject matter, they were THAT freaky....even for ME!!!!

LOL!

That's it I don't want to write anymore,

the line between 'goofy' and 'insanity' is getting blurry...lol!

Later.........................Dave

2012-01-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

A link to Invisiblepeople.tv founder Mark Horvath;
via Huffington Post online

My First Night Homeless: A True Story

Later.............Dave

"Blue Jean Blues..........................."

2012-01-28T19:22:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well....it started out as a good day.

I went to sleep early last night because I did not have enough juice in the last set of batteries to read by, and when I was in the coffee shop earlier charging the portable digital TV I never checked to be sure the power switch was set to off. And since the volume was set to the lowest setting and it was face down in it's case....I never realized it was on. And of course when the TV is on their is only a minimal amount of power allotted to charge the battery, and it only lasted 30 minutes or one episode of "The Office"........duhhhhhhh me!

I was up at 6:30 am.to pee and to break out the quilt, it was colder than when I lay down at 11:00 pm., though much less windy.

After waking back up at 9:30 am. and hitting the Giant to wash up and make coffee I went to the library for some books and music, and to drop off some material that was due. Then I took the bus and the bus to the Goodwill Super Store...aka the 'Gucci Goodwill' in Reisterstown. I spent an hour pawing through and trying on jeans until I found an almost new pair of LEE Riders straight legs that were still dark blue but soft, and NOT! Relaxed Fit or stretch or 'baggys' or loose fit....etc., that fit like the proverbial glove.

I usually avoid the second hand/recycled/used clothing shops because they don't often have the larger waist sizes I wear....except for the really big and baggy styles that also are ridiculously long in the leg.

In my experience, most big guys tend to wear out and throw away clothing, since shopping for new ones is a miserable chore with limited selections of size, style, and cut. That being said, I was delighted to find a pair of

W48-L30 for $13.00 in excellent shape and a comfortable fit...(especially the 'rise', which is cut so damn low in some styles and high in others....particularly Levis, the sworn enemy of my scrotum!........lol!).

I had exactly $12.00, bills and coin, which the nice lady at the register said was good enough....God bless her.

To keep costs down, the bags used for merchandise vary from blank, generic to surplus, mistakes, and printers overruns with logos from different stores.....mine was a MACYS bag....

Which leads to why the day was better in the first half....

I was on the Metro Subway from Owings Mills to State Center to transfer to the Light Rail to Mt. Washington and after the train entered the underground segment just past Cold Spring Station the warmth of the car, and the rocking of the train, and the 'white noise' like sound through the tunnel had me closing my eyes and dozing lightly as often happens.
I was on the aisle seat of the first row of forward facing seats to the right of the door with 2 perpendicular center facing seats along the bulkhead in fro nt of me with my bags on the window or inside seat.

At Mondawmin station, the first stop underground, a whole 'gang' of 20 or so teenagers got on the train, bouncing around from seat to seat and roughhousing, and screaming at full volume at each other over the noise of half a dozen different music devices/phones/ipods, and generally being as obnoxious as possible and purposely, verbally and physically annoying and trying to intimidate everybody and anybody. The held the doors open while shouting at others on the platform, until the train Operator/Driver and threatened to shut down the train and call the police. At the very next stop, Penn North, they all boiled off the train......only problem was that they grabbed and/or tried to grab anything that was at hand and not being held tightly, and running off the train with it or knocking to the floor and kicking it or stomping it. Hats off of peoples heads, bags and packages, sodas....etc. When they hit the platform they ripped open and threw about everything, mostly into the opposite side track-way, (which is a concrete trough about 5 feet deep, filthy with dirt, oil, trash, drainage water, all covered with the metallic dust/rust from the brakes of the trains), or in the case of food and drink, onto the walls. This was not a 'robbery' per se, but more like a spontaneous 'grab what you can and toss it' vandalism attack. As the train pulled away they could be seen running up the stairs and escalators empty handed.
Well...my black bag, (with the laptop, et al), was on the seat next to me with my left arm entwined in the strap, as always, and my 'larder or pantry', the Giant bag with my food items was under my elbow.......I guess you can guess what was not secured. Yes the MACYS bag with my new, (to me), jeans was laying on my lap after I had looked inside to check on something regarding the zipper of the jeans.....and I grabbed too late, and got tangled in the shoulder strap of the black bag when I tried to stand up. All I could do is look out the window and watch them fly out of the bag and into the trench.
I though about getting off and going back a stop, but if I was to try to go into the trough to get them...after having been passed over by at least 2 trains...I'd be arrested, and no way the cops are going to fish them out.
Luckily...HA!... I'm at such a low point emotionally right now, I really can't even work up a good, angry, righteous indignation....lol.

Of course the pair of jeans I'm wearing now, the only pants I have, just started to fray and separate at the waistband and the left hip area when I just got up to use the bathroom....lol.

Anyway, I'm done tonight, but if anyone runs into any cheap/free used but nice jeans in the 48W-30/31L size let me know where please.
(Lee, Wrangler, Target-generic......NOT Levis OR 'Designer')
Thanks.

Later..............Dave

LETTER: Help end homelessness | The Carrboro Citizen

2012-01-28T17:33:00.000-05:00

LETTER: Help end homelessness | The Carrboro Citizen

"You Have The Right To Remain Stupid...........&...............Sushi With My Sweetie...................."

2012-01-27T20:36:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

So.....After leaving here last night I ran into the guy who lives under the bridge, (And about whom I still owe you a story), on the bus to the Plaza Subway station.

We traded a bunch of the bagels I had for some of the Clementines,[tiny oranges], he had, and chatted for a while. He was in one of his very lucid, though manic, phases and the conversation ranged from jungle warfare to navigating the urban jungle to soup recipes.

We parted company with my accepting an invitation to come by his "aerie" one evening next week for a joint 'stone soup'/'pot au feu' effort from scavenged ingredients....more to follow.

After I hit the Giant and prevented a major shoplifting attempt of men's toiletries and hygiene items by an obvious moron, who did not even know better than to come into the camera filled "Gucci Giant" while decked out in 'thug wear'. On top of that he tried to walk into the men's room with a shopping basket filled with 20 or 30 pieces of the same 5 types of merchandise. As I was coming out he backpedaled and placed the basket on the ground outside the door. I stood there looking at the 'scratch and dent' items shelf and sending a text on my phone and he did a double take on the way out and began babbling about how he 'better check with her and see if these were the right things', looking all around and over his shoulders as he started 'geeking and tweaking', and took off around the corner calling a woman's name......and then made a beeline to the front door and dove into a waiting car which pulled off and left....after turning the headlights out!?

Just goes to show that stereotypes and profiles gotta originate somewhere.

Act and look like a thief---get treated like a thief.
{I used to 'boost' back in the "bad old days".......I guess my disdain is just that of the professional for the rank amateur.......LMAO!!!}

I got into the shed about 11:30 pm. after stopping at the gas station and ended up sleeping on top of the sleeping bag after watching "The Office" and "My Name Is Earl" on the portable...(that's about the charge limit for the battery)...until 3:30 am.when I both had to be and got chilly....lol. It rained cats and dogs for a while, but stayed warm all night...warm for a January night that is.

Today I went over Rachel's for lunch after hitting the Giant in the morning for Little Debbie Cakes and drink pouches off the 'scratch and dent' shelf, scoped them out last night....lol. I the had to stop at 'Whole Foods' to get the sushi she requested and caught the bus up the hill to the apartment. We ate and read Dr. Suess, and took a walk in the sunshine and I came back here to the coffee shop about 5:00 pm....it's 8:30 and I'm packing up to leave.....and that's about it for now.

Later......................Dave

"Aloha: Changed By The Breath........................."

2012-01-27T19:58:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

This is a link to an interview and podcast on FuturePrimitive.org;

Aloha: Changed by The Breath

featuring my friends 'Iokepa Hanalei 'Imaikalani & Inette Miller 'Imaikalani

last February just after the publication of the book

"Grandmothers Whisper"

It's nearly an hour long, and touches on the spiritual and mystical, so some of you out there who are reading this should not bother to link and listen...
(you know who you are).

Later..................Dave

"How To Curb Chronic Homelessness? First, A Home!!!...................."

2012-01-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Another link, this time from the Christian Science Monitor;

How to curb chronic homelessness? First, a home!

making the point that really should have been obvious from the get go...

It's not rocket science....

Put a permanent roof over a chronic homeless person's head and both willingness and ability to resolve the underlying issues becomes greater by an order of magnitude....thereby increasing the odds of employability, and stability, while decreasing the time that said person need rely on public and/or private charity/assistance/welfare.

(And of course it is a given that there are those whose illnesses and disabilities are so severe that these models don't apply....they are not the subject here.)

Anyway, at least the reports and conclusions are beginning to reach mainstream media, and not just specialized sites with a limited audience where it is, as they say, 'just preaching to the choir'.

Later..........................Dave

"Homeless Protest Shelter Ban............"

2012-01-26T15:34:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

A link to a story yesterday in the Baltimore Sun:

Homeless protest shelter ban

There is also a related story from the day before about the fight that sparked it all.

More examples reinforcing why I do not patronize the shelters.

Later............................Dave

"Plop Plop Fizz Fizz!.....Or.....How Do You Spell Relief........""

2012-01-25T16:22:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well...I spent from Monday afternoon to this morning at Jenn's in Monkton and other than the insomnia that comes with this stage of the depressive cycle, (which was augmented by the damn 'Mama Cat' entering the extremely vocal and demonstrative..."Hey Big Boy..Do Me...Do Me NOW!..And Bring Your Friends....All Of Them!!!!!!!!!".... stage of her 'heat' [or 'estrus' for all you technically correct types]...), nothing major is new.

Except for coming to realize that even though I (like a gazillion other folks) suffer from acid reflux and indigestion, (which due to dietary factors is a very common issue with the homeless), which is treated quite successfully in most instances with the prescription 'Ranitidine' and OTC store brand 'Tums', the 'sour stomach'/'rotten egg'/'sulfuric acid' taste almost only occurs when I've been at Jenn's, (the new place, the basement apartment in her M-I-L's house) for a couple days. After examining and pretty much eliminating the differences in diet I went searching medical info sites and the common thread running through them is stress and tension, even 'second hand stress' from other's problems, or tension related to trying to 'stay neutral' when 2 or 3 sides all want you to agree with them.....(especially when you want to

tell 'em all off!........lol!).

Just gotta bite down on the stick and remember the hot showers and washing machine and dryer!

Later...................Dave

"Choke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!............. AKA .................. Death In New England ................. & ...................... Slip Slidin' Away ............."

2012-01-22T19:04:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well..........my stomach hurts from cramps and nervous tension, my throat hurts, and I damn near passed out holding my breath. It all would be worth it if Billy Cundiff hadn't 'royally' "screwed the pooch"......a freakin' 32 yard field goal!!!!!!!

I feel like I was the damn football!...........lol!

You'll excuse me while I go wallow in my own misery for a while........

But it WAS one exciting game to watch!

Nothing else to mention today, other than the idiot who cussed me out when I was crossing Reisterstown Road and he was about to make an illegal left turn and cut through the ice covered skating rink of a parking lot next to the shed, as I was on the way to the bus stop. I told him that the gentle 20 degree slope was deceiving and that the ice was solid all the way to the asphalt and his tires would NOT crack through and give him any traction at all.

He told me to 'mine yo own f*ckin' bidness' and hit the gas and spun out across 2 lanes of traffic nearly hitting a bus.....then he hit the ice....lol!

He slid down hill revving the engine and spinning his wheels uselessly, picking up speed and barely missing the shed and the fence, then slipped through the gap into the other parking lot perpendicular to the first one and at even a gentler angle. He missed the brick wall and fence in front of it and he not only continued his downhill slide, but added the angular momentum of a clockwise spin.....ending up hitting the high curb at the bottom of the lot broadside with his (no longer) shiny 24 inch spoked mags and low profile high pressure tires and the bottom edge of the door and front and rear fender panels....with juuuust enough speed and force to scuff, scrape, dent, and scratch all the above mentioned items. And the more he uselessly hit the gas and spun the rear wheels, the more the passenger side rear drive wheel and tire ground against the cement curb, shedding rubber and aluminum like a stripper at a frat party sheds her clothes.

And he still couldn't move!

LMFAO!

When the bus passed by 15 minutes later I saw a tow truck up on the cleared pavement of the side street, and the operator unreeling 30 plus yards of cable and sliding/walking down to the car with it plus hooks and slings. At this point I lost sight and can only speculate that the car got winched up off the lot and onto dry/clear roadway.

Jerk was too cool to listen to reason......oh well!

Later.............Dave

"Snice................Sneet.............&................Slice,............Baltimore's 'Wintry Mix'..........................CWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!................"

2012-01-21T20:24:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

Well it started to snow at 11:00 pm. on the dot last night as I was walking to the gas station from the shed after dropping off my bags and relocking the shed.

It was cold enough on all but the recently traveled parts of the roadway or parking lot. When I was in the Giant it was a madhouse, as everyone here in Baltimore freaks out at any mention of snow/sleet/ice and descends upon the food stores like very selective locusts denuding the shelves of milk, bread, and toilet paper.

When I left the gas station at 11:30 pm. there was already a 'primer coat' of very fine snow on everything.

At some unknown to me point in the night after 1:30 am. it began to sleet and then changed to freezing rain giving all the horizontal and most of the northerly facing vertical surface a 'clear-coat' glaze of ice.

I had no reason nor desire to get up early so I stayed inside my sleeping bag and pulled the quilt up over my head and dozed on and off from 5:00 am. to 11:00 am. (with 3 or 4 quick unveiling's to make deposits in the 'post digestive, after hours liquid collection bottle')..lol. When I did get up, after listening to the crunch and spin of tires all morning, the parking lot near the shed was coated with a hard, thin, but solid sheet of ice that was too thin to crush and too smooth to slow footprints. Farther from the buildings the "snice" (snow-ice) coating was thick enough to show the tire tracks of a car that had pulled in and circled and faced out and sat for a while, a couple times.

After I had put the cold steel lock on the colder steel chain and was standing under the carport trying to warm up and get the blood thawed in my hands and fingers and then dancing around trying to ease the related pain and regain use of same....a Baltimore County cop car pulls in, circles round, and sits, facing outward towards the road in the previous tracks.

I just continued on pulling my gloves on and grasping my bags as best I could and headed on past him/her to cross the street to the RiteAid shopping center to collect 3 of my prescriptions that were ready today.

It seems as if this particular police officer must have just been assigned/transferred/promoted to patrol this particular section of Pikesville, on the day shift, and this is their chosen 'hidey-hole' for lunch-paperwork-'resting', etc. For general principles, the purpose of basic avoidance of authority in any form, and just S.O.P., I think I'll just have to figure out their schedule and time my emergence from my plugged and patched, rapidly deteriorating, cardboard and plywood chrysalis for his/her periods of road patrol.

After hitting the RiteAid, then the Giant for coffee, et.al., I fought my way through the incoming tide of crazed shoppers who braved the blizzard like conditions...HA!... to risk life, limb, and Lexus to stock up on staples for the Ravens vs. New England in tomorrow's AFC Championship game.....(a second wave should be there tonight and at least two more Sunday morning, the 'churchers' and the last minute scavengers..........lol.).

Then I waited 40 minutes for an MTA bus that never showed, catching another route that was either 20 minutes late....or 20 minutes early..........on both routes they are on main roads that had been cleared for hours and were pretty much devoid of traffic.

Then when I caught the connecting #58 the driver not only closed the door as I was stepping in, and could go no further because of the people in front of me depositing their fares, but then slammed the bus around the 90 degree right hand turn onto Clarks Lane before not only I, but 2 other passengers, one elderly and with a cane, could even get to the seats, much less sit in them, causing us to nearly fall on the snow and ice slick flooring. If another passenger had not jumped up and grabbed the older woman with the cane she would have went face first into the steel support pole!

Of course when people complained to the driver he ignored them and refused to respond.

Cell phone cameras are handy in situations like this....as the driver is about to find out from the man who sat in the very front right seat covertly filming the speedometer!

Anyway....made it to the coffee shop and here I sit.

I'm going to pack up early to give myself time to negotiate the slippery sidewalks to the bus stop on the bridge.....

Later............................Dave

"Ships That Pass In The Night, And Speak Each Other In Passing, Only A Signal Shown And A Distant Voice In The Darkness; So On The Ocean Of Life We Pass And Speak One Another, Only A Look And A Voice, Then Darkness Again And A Silence......"

2012-01-20T20:05:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well it was warmer last night at 11:30 pm. and at 5:00 am. this morning than at 9:00 am. this morning, and it's been been getting colder all day and night.Hopefully the projected rain/sleet/snow event slated to begin around 9:00 pm. tonight and ending about dawn will be of minimal effect. Personally, I'd prefer frozen precip....less leakage into the shed, and I've been staying plenty warm enough.

I had 2 different strangers state that they recognized me today, one bus driver, from the Fox45 WBFF segment, and a woman named Susan who I sat next to in the Starbucks and had quite an interesting and pleasant conversation with.

Today was pretty much an exercise in self imposed isolation, (except for the above mentioned conversation). I dropped off scripts at RiteAid, stopped at Giant for coffee and picked up 4 boxes of biscotti for $0.33 @, or 90% off the $3.29 retail price, and caught the bus to the coffee shop before Noon, where I ensconced myself in the corner in the back....and where I still remain. Part of the reason for the self imposed exile is the typical
'unsociable/anti-social/asocial' reaction...
...(in increasing order of magnitude vis-a-vis the annoying persistence of people who don't comprehend the phrase; "I really don't feel like company or talking to anyone right now please" )...
... to this phase of cyclical clinical depression.
Plus the mixed feelings and conflicting emotions involved in being truly happy for two different women who have finally found love, and in one case an unexpected but welcomed pregnancy, while feeling the interrelated sadness and loss for lost opportunities.

C'est L'Amour - C'est La Vie - C'est La Morte
Just another cycle around the wheel...
Om Mane Padme Om..... ^!^

Later......................Dave

"Feels Like A Monday.........'Recalculating'................."

2012-01-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

So...another cold night, but from 11:30 pm. until 6:30 am. it made no difference to me...once I finally warmed up the sleeping bag with body heat. Luckily I made the right decision at 6:30 am. and got up right away and trotted over to the Giant to use the restroom...instead of 'farting around'....which would have been just like the tagline for the TV commercials for Bill's Carpet.........................

"You're Making A BIG Mistake!"............LOL!

After going back to sleep for another hour and a half I had an unexpected surprise that was as much of a shock as that first blast of cold air when I opened the door to the shed. There was a County police cruiser sitting idling in the parking lot with the officer either doing paperwork, or 'resting his/her eyes' just outside the shed door.

I continued with my normal routine of dropping my bags and re-threading the chain back through the holes and placing and locking the combination lock on the chain, picking up my bags, and heading off towards the Giant. There was no reaction at all from the cop as I did so and rounded the corner out of sight. Of course in my case the 'pucker factor' was in the mid to high range...but that is mostly muscle memory and old ingrained habit from a previous life and lifestyle. It is hard to forget, even though there is no reason for that reaction anymore.

After picking up some juice in the Giant....and washing up, (and checking my shorts....just in case........lol!), I dropped off prescriptions to be refilled and caught the bus to the train to East Baltimore to pick up other meds that were ready.

Then, the train to Mt. Washington and the coffee shop.

When I got here I called the Psych. Dept. at Sinai to try to make an appointment for "Evaluation & Intake-(Outpatient)" using my referral from my Primary Care Doctor at JAI. I have to call back in a few days to find out when it will be...(since I don't have a current mailing address and appointments are mailed, usually). The deepening depression, and the shorter periods between ever increasing episodes combined with the incidents of anxiety brought on by the sense of a deteriorating grip on the ability to control the crazy thoughts that keep coming, and the seductive desire to just surrender to them...........well, if I don't attempt to see someone now....I'm never going to do so.

And in an attempt to connect with one of the long time, long term anchors in my life, I also was finally able to have a phone conversation with my good friend AnnaMarie and we did a quick and dirty 'catching up' and made plans to meet next week for details and coffee at her place one evening.

And that's all I'm feeling like writing just now....

Later....................................Dave

"Don't Know Why Mom's Always Harp About Clean Underwear ...........They're Gonna Get Soiled If You Get Hit By A Car Anyway!........Nobody's Gonna Know The Difference!......................."

2012-01-18T20:23:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

So....spent from Monday Noon until about Wednesday Noon at Jenn's place in the basement apartment that was built in her mother-in-law's house in Monkton. For various reasons including but not limited to; inability to sleep, being the middle man in interfamilial tensions, and a 'days away from being 7 years old' grandson with a teenage attitude problem having difficulties in First grade, to increased gallbladder and related upper back pain and the usual lower back issues and now similar (but from a different cause....I'm hoping and praying) joint pain to what my son-in-law is suffering from, (and which at times is nearly debilitating to him). We both carry the same chronic disease that has an influence on this, but he is undergoing tests to determine if Lyme disease may be the culprit in his case. I have never shown the certain distinctive symptoms that identify having been exposed to that for sure, nor other symptoms common to other causes also to the same extreme as he has....but I am going to discuss having the bloodwork done to check and be sure.

I did get to shower, wash clothes, and get to Walmart to buy some 'undies'...lol.

Actually we stopped at Walmart on Monday and I made the mistake of shopping by price not value. When I got to Jenn's and opened the Fruit Of The Loom's I found that they were the thickness, strength, and texture of thin cheesescloth! Today on the way back here I stopped to return them and spend the extra $2.64 for Hanes, which though they are the white ones...(7@$11.97 vs. 5@$15.97 for the colored, which seem to be slightly thicker....but gotta cut some corners!)...are about 3 times as thick as the returned ones!

Jenn dropped me off at Rachel's mother's apartment on her way to take Devin to speech therapy and I spent a couple hours there. She made Chocolate Raspberry ice cream and I tasted the 'Bacon ice cream'...yes Bacon... from the weekend. Pretty damn tasty!........both of them! Yeah I know 60 degrees yesterday and I get ice cream on a day it did not break 40 degrees......lol....story of my life!

That's it for now, it hurts to laugh and try to be amusing with this throbbing pain between my shoulder blades that intrudes on my thoughts. From past experience I know this is from either (or both) the gallbladder and/or the Hepatitis B/C, and the most effective treatment of the symptoms is contraindicated in my case....increased dosages of opiate/opioid painkillers.

NOT going there!

The 'bupe' had been keeping it at a bearable/manageable level for years, but something has/is changed/changing.....which is why I'm seeing the surgeon again to find out if the gallbladder is a candidate for removal at this time....balancing other previously negating factors against current changes.

Anyway, time to pack up. I want to be sure to get to the bus stop early tonight to catch the #58.....it's toooo damn cold out there to stand around!

I have not forgotten about my 'under the bridge' story!

Later.....................Dave

2012-01-18T17:40:00.002-05:00

Good Evening;

Killing Homeless Stereotypes in Orange County – Poverty Insights

Later..............Dave

"Shootin' Craps................Without Dice........"

2012-01-15T19:04:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

So...a cold night last night.

I ended up in the Giant watching the last quarter of the Denver-New England game and then I hung out in the gas station with Daniel watching TV and having a sandwich until almost 2:30. I woke up suddenly about 7:30 am.with horrendous cramps and back pains presaging a nasty bout of diarrhea......and nearly made it to the Giant in time. What a friggin' mess! Doctors Tuesday.

Needless to say it's been a crappy day all around, except for the Ravens winning.

I'm tired and not in the mood to write, so more from the coffee shop in the morning or Jenn's tomorrow night.

Later................................Dave

Housing: It’s a Wonderful Right

2012-01-14T20:46:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

A link to an Amnesty International site;

Housing: It’s a Wonderful Right

Seems like there should be a way to place people in housing in exchange for

anything from:

simply having someone in a house to keep it from being vandalized, to having folks who can do so help repair or rehab them in lieu of rent.

Later...............Dave

City enforcing stored property ordinance at 3 Oahu parks

2012-01-14T20:29:00.002-05:00

Good Evening;

A Link to KFVE TV online in Honolulu;

City enforcing stored property ordinance at 3 Oahu parks

A no win situation for everyone.

Later.............................Dave

"Little Of This............Little Of That............+ & - ........"

2012-01-14T19:29:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well it's been an interesting couple days....on positive and negative notes both.

I'm not in the best of moods just now and am only going to give a brief skeleton outline to be fleshed out tomorrow...(or later tonight possibly).

On the good side of the ledger is of course seeing and talking and spending time with my friends from Hawaii, 'Iokepa and Inette.

The gathering at 'Breathe Books' in Hampden was surprisingly and most fulfillingly crowded for both such a cold night and a Friday.

Later that night after I got a ride back to Pikesville with a cousin of Inette's I chanced upon this older gentleman, who I had seen often on the train and thought but was not certain was also homeless. His backpack and a carrier bag he was using to haul some used/discarded hardware salvaged from a construction dumpster happened to burst as we were passing and with some cable ties, parachute cord and a couple rubber 'bungie cord' type straps I had in the shed we were able to rig up a type of shoulder rig and carry harness for him to get it back to his 'lodge'. He seemed like a really neat old guy with lots of fascinating stories, and we seemed to hit it off well so I volunteered to help him back to the vicinity of his hidey hole, letting him know I would not try to follow him back. After a long pause where I thought he had not heard me and I was about to repeat my offer he spoke up and said he would appreciate the help, and had something to show me, if I would swear an oath to keep it secret.

After I said I would, and did actually swear an oath, he took me to his 'sky box'/'aerie'/'cliff lodge' as he called it among other things.

I'll go into more detail later but I have to tell you that never in a million years would you believe this dwelling he has fashioned up in and under a major bridge structure in Baltimore City! Awesome in the true meaning of the word, and literally and figuratively "out of sight"!

As cold as it was last night...the 'teens'.....brrrrrrr, I was so so warm, and so so grateful to Pauline for the sleeping bag and quilt.

Also on the plus side is the bottle of generic Immodium that Tom at the Giant bought for me on the spur of the moment after overhearing me speaking to someone else about my efforts to find somebody to do a dollar for dollar trade of groceries for OTC meds since I had no cash but did have food only credits.

And on the negative side....well if you assumed that the 'intestinal distress is back from the last paragraph....you are correct. And from symptoms and evidence examined...(don't even ask...!), and based on prior experience....I think that the Hepatitis is active again.

No freakin' idea how or why, but everything points to that conclusion.....which is going to be put to the test on Tuesday when I return to JAI and strongly request full spectrum GI bloodwork....ASAP!

And have my doctor authorize any referrals for any and all radiological tests that would be forthcoming upon a positive result.

(If it's negative it only takes a phone call to cancel, but if further testing is needed this saves/gains a weeks time or more.)

And of course the sentence about the bedding is a not so veiled allusion to that old standby:

"COLD WEATHER SUCKS!"

My hands are so damn cracked and dry my skin looks like it's covered in powder and split open and painful on 3 fingers and a thumbtip, and a fingertip...(not all on one hand). I put Vaseline and Bandaids on the oozing splits and when I get to Jenn's on Monday to watch the grandmonsters I'll be able to "lotion up" real well with one of the top of the line lotions/creams...('Udder Cream', 'Crack Cream', 'Cornhuskers Lotion'......lol! funky names but effective stuff) they have on hand all the time for their 'works in progress' tattoos. I don't really like to use lotion or creams when I'm out and about or in the shed because my hands always seem to attract more dirt, and they never feel 'dry'....but slightly greasy, even with the water based emollients..

Anyway, I'll finish the story about the gentleman and his really cool hideaway next time I'm online.

Later.........................Dave

"Yorba Linda man arrested in homeless killings........"

2012-01-14T18:00:00.003-05:00

Good Evening;

It's a good news/bad news situation since he was captured after being witnessed in the act of another killing.

From the Orange County Register online;

Yorba Linda man arrested in homeless killings

Later.....................Dave

"19 Degrees Tonight.......This Is The Next Best Thing To Being In Hawaii!...................."

2012-01-13T16:20:00.004-05:00

Good Afternoon;

So this evening at Breathe Books in Hampden;

breathe books, llc
Susan Weis-Bohlen, proprietress
810 W 36th Street
"The Avenue" in Hampden
Baltimore, MD 21211
410-235-READ (7323)

6:30p - 8:00p
Ancestral Hawaiian Wisdom Teachings with Iokepa Hanalei Imaikalani and Innette Miller

Author Inette Miller and her husband 'Iokepa Hanalei 'Imaikalani, a guardian of the aboriginal culture - are travelling to Baltimore from their home on Kaua'i -to share their remarkable personal story within his ancient, matrilineal culture, from Inette's new book,Grandmothers Whisper: Ancient Voices, Timeless Wisdom, A modern Love Story. For 12,300 years, the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands embraced a culture that refused the possibility of war. This seminar awakens that ancient wisdom-ritual and practices that dissipate anger, prevent violence, foster harmony-and shares its profound implications for the 21st century. "My ancestors areyour ancestors," 'Iokepa Hanalei 'Imaikalani says. The ancient wisdom is universal, and our ability to access it is unlimited.

Cost: Free

My friends from Hawaii are in town to celebrate Inette's mother's 100th

birthday,

and will be speaking and signing copies of 'Grandmothers Whisper'.

Amazing, beautiful, wonderful people...

An incredible chance to hear the true and unaltered history of the 'Kanaka

Maoli', as the indigenous Hawaiians name themselves...

See.. Return Voyage - www.returnvoyage.com

And....as an added bonus...you can meet me!........(lol!!!!)

Later...................Dave

" So What Did I Ever Do To You To Deserve This....Montezuma?...............&.......CWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........."

2012-01-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

Good Morning;

Well I'm here at the library and have been since about 9:30 am. because of a need to stay within range of a bathroom, and at the same time stay warm. Why....because # 1 Montezuma's Revenge is back with a venegance and #2.....

COLD WEATHER SUCKS!!!

When I went in the shed about 11:30 pm. last night I was laying on top of the sleeping bag watching TV in my sweats...when I got up at 3:00 am. and ran (literally) over to the gas station it was a mix of rain and sleet and about 38 degrees...next trip at 6:00 am. it was windy and 32 degrees...at 7:00 am. when I hauled ass over to the Giant it was windier and 30 degrees,....and when I got dressed and went back to the Giant and then over here it was still 30 degrees and windy.

I don't know what I ate or whatever it was to set this bout of intestinal nastiness in motion, but it is no damn fun! It has not yet reached the stage of misery that last weekend's episode did, and I'm praying it will not, (cross my fingers/knock wood). I am hoping the worst is over now because tonight is the booksigning of "Grandmothers Whisper" by Inette Miller 'Imaikalani and the talk by 'Iokepa 'Imaikalani on the history and subjugation and suppression of the Native Hawaiian people, at Breathe Books in Hampden tonight...

(details to follow soon...I'm out of time here)

Later.............Dave

2012-01-12T15:04:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

A link to the KOAT TV site with a positive story;

Veteran Uses Own Money To Help Other Vets

www.koat.com

Later...................Dave

"No....That's NOT Fairy Dust!...................."

2012-01-11T19:38:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well, just a slow and uneventful day today. I'm just waiting on phone callbacks to schedule doctors appointments.

It was dry when I left the shed, but raining when I came out of the Giant, and alternating between light to moderate rain and mist all day and night, with any luck it will all be over before the leaks overwhelm my drainage setup.

Oh, yes...one happy occurrence, last night the root and sharp visible chunk of the broken upper right 1st molar broken at the gum line that would sometimes collect a seed or shard of hard food recently became loose, (and which I thought may need immediate extraction before things became infected very soon), and when I was trying to feel around with my fingers to get and idea of how loose it was within the gumline......suddenly cracked into 2 (nasty blackened rotten) pieces which I was able to work out with my tongue!

OH! the sense of release and relief was wonderful, especially after a half dozen saline rinses and some Listerine analog mouthwash...there must have been a seed in between the broken pieces and the tooth socket, along with some nasty 'shmutz', because the pain AND the pressure is gone.

I was just about to call Chase-Brexton to see about an urgent care appointment, (as opposed to examination or emergency....it's middle ground).... now I can just set up an evaluation for the upper front central and lateral incisors to see if I qualify for their services for a root canal. Not like I really want to, but with my weakened immune system and the increased chance of an infected tooth as they chip away.....well, I just watched an acquaintance who I see on the street a few times a week wait too long to attend to a minor infection. After weeks of intensifying agony she went to the ER crying one night and ended up having part of her jaw shaved away where the infection invaded the bone.

Yeahhhhh...........woke my ass up! An infected wisdom tooth 30 -some years ago still resonates in my mind.

I put it under my pillow, both pieces, and I woke up to find two Confederate dollars, a Chuck E. Cheese token, and a $100,000,000,000,000 [100 TRILLION! dollar ] Zimbabweian bill.....(worth less than $5.00 US.....),...a pile of fairy vomit.

Oh well...I jinxed myself....it's "rainin' like a bitch" as a customer just said as he came in spraying water everywhere as he shook his umbrella off.....moron.........lol.

Later....................Dave

"Back-achin' And Scrambled Legs......................"

2012-01-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well I'm sitting here at the end of a crappy day with my fingertips going numb for no easily discernible reason.....just freakin' wonderful.

The day started out before dawn when I tried to get up to pee and I could not get up because my left leg wouldn't support me and was like a piece of cooked spaghetti with the jitters.....spasming at irregular intervals. My left hip and lower back were on fire and hurt like hell.

After rolling to my belly and climbing upright on my right leg using the shelves as handholds, control slowly returned...as did feeling..."OUCH OUCH OUCH F*CK F*CK F*CK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Seems the 'harmless benign fatty tumor' on the sciatic nerve ain't so benign!

Guess what the doctor said.....yup..."we have to run more tests".

"Hello Neurology....it's me again!"

Anyway, limped to the Giant and library eventually, as more control returned. About 1:00 pm. things were as normal as they ever are and I took the bus/train/train to the coffee shop.

Good news I've gone almost 180 degrees in the intestinal department....lol.

Time to go......

Later....................Dave

113 homeless were attacked in 2010 | homeless, attacks, report - News - The Orange County Register

2012-01-10T18:32:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

A link to a story in the Orange County Register site;

113 homeless were attacked in 2010 | homeless, attacks, report - News - The Orange County Register

Later....................................Dave

"Just Like Yogi Berra Said.........................."

2012-01-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well methinks I spoke too soon...had to make emergency runs to both the gas station and the Giant at about 3:00 am. and 7:00 am. and slept both little and poorly.

And things are not all peaches and cream again at 8:20 pm. either. Luckily Jenn is bringing some clothes I left there that she washed for me.

So since I was already up I went past the library and dropped books in the after hours slot and then jumped on the bus to the train and headed over to East Baltimore to grab meds and then to try to stop in at JAI's Moument St. location but could not even get in the waiting room.

I then went to the First Mariner Arena to pick up the tickets to Disney On Ice that are the rest of Rachel's Chanukkah gift, then here to the coffee shop.

My day was brightened by orders of magnitude when Michelle walked in and came over and surprised me with a big hug. We spent a couple hours alternating both conversation and comfortable silence as we both had some tasks to do on our laptops.

Now I have to pack up and rn over and get my stuff from Jenn across the street and head on up to the bus stop.

After last nights fiasco of waiting nearly an hour and a half on the stop with the folks from Whole Foods in which no buses came by, (3 were supposed to), then having two show up at once, and missing all my connections, then having to wait 20 minutes on the bus at Old Ct. Station while the driver talked to another passenger about all kinds of crazy 'Jesus mumbo jumbo' to the point that the MTA police came over to write him up.....well I don't trust the schedules or the drivers at all.

it ain't over 'til it's over
gotta run

Later................Dave

"Could Skid Row Turn Into Death Row?.............."

2012-01-09T15:18:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

A link to an op/ed piece by Joel John Roberts of PATH & Poverty Insights

Focusing on the serial killer targeting the homeless in Southern California:

http://www.povertyinsights.org/2012/01/09/could-skid-row-turn-into-death-row/

Later...............Dave

"Burning The Candle At Both Ends...........(Delete -- ' The Candle' --! ).............."

2012-01-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

So....sorry about the lack of posts the past few days, but I've been pretty miserable...to put it mildly.

And if it bothers you to hear about 'bodily functions', you may just want to skip it and wait 'til the next post...lol! ;-)

Starting on Thursday I was just feeling achy in all the 'long muscles', (arms, legs, back..) and my joints and vertebrae, and tired from a poor nights sleep. After trying and failing to get hold of my doctor by phone I went to the Giant for coffee and to wash up and then I made my way to Hunt Valley by bus, Metro subway, and Light Rail to meet Jenn. I got there about 2:30 pm. and we went out to her place in Monkton. I watched the grandkids Thursday night so Jenn could go with Tom to his Home Group and help him celebrate his 9th anniversary. Other than a general malaise and feeling bloated I was able to deal with the little monsters okay and spent time playing with them and then putting them to bed.

After eating 'dinner' around 11:00 pm. I watched a little TV and then tried to go to sleep.......but,....just wasn't happening. Although I felt exhausted, insomnia and a steadily worsening case of indigestion kept me up all night until I finally fell asleep about 6:00 am. Which was when the cats started with their 'Feline X Games' competition, of which I was unknowingly part of the arena/playing field. After bribing them with their breakfast kibble I fell back asleep just in time to be awakened by all the commotion revolving around getting Ed up and ready for school. At this time my indigestion had turned into the nastiest case of 'sour stomach' I have ever had, (and which is still lingering, though only a memory of what it was), and the Tums had little effect. I managed to fall into a doze, after Ed and Jenn and Tom all went upstairs, and was just slipping away into sleep when I heard "Hi Pop-Pop" and opened my eye to see Devin's face about 3 inches away, with a goofy grin and her tongue sticking out. I tried to go back to sleep, but, when the 'Princess' declares it's time to play 'Tea Party', normal mortal needs and bodily necessities take a back seat!............lol!

Friday the sour stomach gradually worsened and I became tethered to the commode. Jenn made the offer of another night's stay if I would keep an eye on the kids again that night so they could go to a meeting in Stewartstown and I jumped at that. Another night of insomnia combined with

diarrhea that got to the point where it resembled the 'total system flush' from the magnesium citrate laxative I had to take before the colonoscopy, requiring constant re-hydration, which fueled the cycle again......

On Saturday, after Tom left for work and before Devin, (who has gone from sleeping until 10:00 am.or later everyday to the 'dawn patrol'....lol), got up, I was able to get 45 minutes straight through sleep, and my 'intestinal distress'...(Hah!...)...seemed to be tapering off.

NOT!

After searching for the least irritating thing I thought would have a neutral effect on my system, I ate some animal crackers and continued with the mass quantities of water. I needed to eat SOMETHING because I was starting to get a headache and what I assumed were 'hunger pangs' for something solid.

NOT!

After just saying to Jenn something along the lines of,'at least things aren't getting any worse', the 'hunger pangs' revealed themselves to be the beginnings of retroparastalsis. For the next few hours it was a case of "which end is (coming) up" , as I proceeded to evacuate my entire digestive system....repeatedly. Jenn went to the Giant in Hunt Valley and while she was gone I was to keep an eye on the kids and shower and pack up and she would take me back to the train.

Well, I was able to keep an 'ear' on the kids, who blessedly were having a good day with the minimum of attempts one trying to control the other, with the accompanying verbal and physical actions and reactions.....but shower and pack.....wasn't happening.

So again Jenn and Tom were able to attend another meeting together, and I did not have to get more than 20 feet from a bathroom. The vomiting finally tapered off and ended about 8:00 pm. Saturday night, after one last session, (after a 2 hour pause which almost caught me off guard and out of range), and except for the expected soreness from the unaccustomed repeated muscle action I felt 100% better. The bowel movements continue to be what in others would be called 'irregular', but because of my messed up and jury rigged intestinal system fall within the bare minimum of 'normal for me....barely!

One of the major worries I had during this whole 3 day ordeal is that with the buprenorphine I am taking, my intestinal system should have slowed if not stopped totally after taking my meds, (which I did right after the first incidents, but to no result). In trying to determine what possible vector was the cause of this bout of nastiness, 4 come first and foremost to mind;

1) reaction(s) to the ongoing internal abdominal issues involving gallbladder, liver, spleen, and/or ulcers

2) intestinal flu, stomach virus of some sort

3) food poisoning (by cross contamination due to touching improperly cleaned/disinfected counter tops, utensils, or outside of containers, ( umm, yeahhhh, there's a whole post that could be written on Jenn's struggles with trying to get her M-I-L to understand and follow common food safety rules)

4) a case of 'precipitated withdrawal' brought on by a bad batch of Suboxone. (Too much of one component,(Naloxone), in the compound, or uneven distribution within the tablet-which I break and use in quarters-, could cause these symptoms, which is it's purpose, to prevent abuse of the buprenorphine component. It is also used alone in cases of OD.)

All of which could cause the symptoms.
I have actually eaten a bit today and kept it down, and had some coffee and not had it immediately flow through and exit my body, so hopefully whatever it was has passed....for the moment. Tomorrow...or Tuesday most likely, I'll be going to JAI to see the podiatrist so I may as well sign in on my PC doctor's sheet and wait to see her also.

I'm just grateful that I was at Jenn's, not in the shed, and that our relationship is repaired and restored to the point that I can ask to stay another night, or two. And it figures that it was the warmest nights that this event occurred over.....lol. And...as much as I appreciated spending time with the grandmonsters, I really did want to get back to the shed to check it out because on Thursday when I passed by on the bus heading to the subway station I saw a car and a truck in the parking lot and the truck was lettered with the name of a contractor/company advertising 'board-up' services.....which has had me wondering exactly what is going to be boarded up, if anything, or is it another contractor giving estimates?
I'll find out in a couple hours....maybe, but hopefully not.

Anyway, it's 5:00 pm. and it was 11:00 am. when I ate, and I'm hungry....so....over to Whole Foods to decide what looks least likely to bring about a return of yesterday's fun and games.

Later....................Dave

"As If 'LIVING' On The Street Wasn't Hard Enough.............."

2012-01-06T20:24:00.002-05:00

Good Evening;
A link to a story out of California, via Hootsuite;
http://news.yahoo.com/police-warn-calif-homeless-serial-killer-033938159.html
Later...............Dave

"Pre-Op Be-Bop?.........................."

2012-01-04T20:25:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

Initial findings from the blood work and other tests are pointing to both a worsening of the status of the gall bladder/gall stones, an increase in the size of the spleen, and of the tear/opening of one of the hernias, and a freakin' ulcer.

I need to go in for a full consultation, this was only a preliminary report over the phone and not fully detailed. I'm not sure exactly what kind or where the ulcer is...duodenal, ulcerated colon????

More news as I get it.

Later................Dave

"Put THIS In Your Pipe And Smoke It!............."

2012-01-04T20:15:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well I went ahead and changed into the sleep sweatpants I left in the shed last night before bedtime anyway, quite an eyeopener......lol, though not as much of one as putting on the jeans this morning that I had forgotten to pull inside with me to warm up.....I never heard denim crackle before.....lol!

But it's soooooo nice and warm and cozy in there all wrapped and quilted up...

kinda like being back in the womb, without all that nasty, sticky amniotic fluid!...lol!

Nothing exciting to mention today, I'm still floating on the pink cloud from seeing and spending time with Michelle M. last night. Today was the usual routine; Giant, library, [where I checked out a copy of "The Bippolo Seed, and Other Lost Stories" by Dr. Suess, a collection of stories from 1950-51 that were only published in magazines, never in book form.... I got it to read with Rachel, and Ed & Devin....'nod nod wink wink'....lol], and oh yes I did see my MICA professor friend, the other Michelle, as I was on the bus stop and she was in the car waiting for the light to change...it's a long light so we had a nice little chat...lol, then bus to train to train, to the coffee shop. It seemed to be old home week with Abe, and Zeke, and Stewart stopping in and saying hello, and of course John Erby was there, and the tall blond woman whose name I do not know, but who is a regular visitor with her gentleman friend, and whose style and poise and beauty is such that a couple weeks ago I was compelled to compliment her on her wardrobe choices and accessories and told her that she was the epitome of 'casual elegance'. This seemed to please her to no end and now every time we meet she favors me with her million megawatt smile....and I just melt.......lol!

Oh yes and there was one new and exciting discovery I made today...

'Boars Head Mesquite Smokehouse Beef Brisket'..

....as Flava Flav would say--"Yeeeeeeeah Boyee!!!!!!!!!

Time to finish off the rest of it...don't want it to freeze (nearly) solid tonight, like my water bottle and Powerade bottles did last night. A 'Brisket Slurpee' doesn't sound that appetizing....except maybe to a poor guy with the broken jaw and mouth wired shut.................lol!

Tomorrow it's the Light Rail to Hunt Valley around 2:00 pm. to be picked up by Jenn and then back out to ~~East Bumfu...~~.......Monkton to watch the grandmonsters so she and Tom can go to his 9 year anniversary.

I would have been nice to be out there last night to see the meteor showers, especially since Tom got a pretty decent telescope for them for Xmas....NO 'light pollution' out there in the 'sticks' ... (though some very nice and pricey 'sticks' these days........lol).

Later.............................Dave

" Button Up Your Overcoat...Baby It's Cold Outside!................."

2012-01-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Dear diary: today was a good day!

( -Except, of course, for the fact that, -COLD WEATHER SUCKS!- ),

A possibility of employment, a good deed done..and immediate reward,

a debt settled, a full supply of meds, a random, chance meeting of an old friend,

and getting a text from the woman I love....(just as I am typing a text to her)...and then spending the evening with her deep in coffee and conversation.

Now out the door to face this stupid cold front once again, (it was snowing with the damn Sun shining through today, how crazy is that?), and the so, so reliable MTA.

I think tonight it's straight in the bag with the still warm pants and sweat shirt on.

I know I'll be washing clothes Thursday night, I'll make do with air freshener sprayed clothing if push comes to shove.

Later..........................Dave

"Fresh Frozen Fingers.........."

2012-01-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

So...last night and this morning it was freakin' cold!

Once I got into the bag and it warmed up from body heat I was wonderfully toasty, but this morning getting dressed, rolling and storing the bag and the quilt, changing into my jeans, and especially handling the chain and lock caused my hands and fingers to hurt so bad I screamed...literally! I ran over to the Giant for warm air, hot coffee, and warm water to bring my hands out of the first stages of frostbite. I had to wait for the coffee because I could not control my fingers enough to pull 2 $1.00 bills out of my wallet to put in the coffee machine, or even pick up and hold, much less tear open the sugar packets.

Raynauds Disease, it may be colorful as can be, but it's no damn fun!

(Though one of the meds used to treat it is Viagra......great, just what I need!

It would be like an atheist's funeral...'All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go')

But eventually my hands and fingers returned to normal, though chapped and cracked, which actually is pretty normal for me this time of year anyway....lol.

I can't imagine doing the work I used to do in either the fish market, icing and unloading near frozen seafood, or delivering newspapers at 4:00 am. on a winter morning.

I'm back here at the library after the meeting described in the previous post and about to head out to the bus and over to East Baltimore both to see Monkee and pick up meds. then stopping at the coffee shop to eat the food I got at 10:00 am.

It will be about 4:00 pm. when I get a chance to finally sit down and eat breakfast.

Which is fine because my internal clock's schedule is so out of whack anyway....lol!

Later.............................Dave

"Return To Sender................."

2012-01-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

Good Morning;

Well.....I just finished meeting with the owner of the contracting company whose notepad filled with measurements, specifications, etc. I found Friday night. It seems he had been looking at the office building to which the shed is attached and may be submitting a proposal to the owners also.

We sat in his car and talked for a bit and did the usual 'How & Why' thing about being on the street.

He mentioned that after reading my E-mail informing him that I had found his paperwork he had showed it to his wife, who is also a partner in the company.

He brought up the possibility of having me do some writing of the formal proposals and/or estimates to be given to the prospective clients/homeowners on jobs he is bidding for. I would be taking his raw data and calculations and estimates and using standard formats, turning it into completed bids, proposals, invoices and work orders, etc.

He said that he and his wife would like to sit down and talk with me about this, (and so she could also take a look-see and get a 'feel' from her first impression), over coffee somewhere neutral, before making any further commitment. Which is fine because I've worked for husband and wife bosses before....and sometimes it is NOT a good thing.

Since this would be a writing job, a few hours a day, a few days a week, and the (possible) offer was based only on the E-mail I wrote, I gave him the address to our little blog here so he could see more examples of my 'deathless prose', "words that will live forever, adrift in the ether of the internet!" .....lol

He told me he'd be in contact, by E-mail or phone, sometime soon, and as I was getting out of his car, (I ran down from the library to the Giant to meet him), he handed me a $20.00 and his thanks.

I guess that that last impulse to 'do the right thing', and the little bit of extra effort that really was no effort at all, in the waning minutes of the last hour, of the last day of the old year paid off in more ways than one.

Even if nothing comes of the possible job, and not counting the cash, which was a bonus, the satisfaction of being able to help someone, to make their life just a bit less worrisome, made it all worthwhile.

Later.................Dave

"Interior Decorating With The Corrugated Cowboy! ...."

2012-01-02T20:14:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well....it got cold last night but more than the ambient air temperature it was the wind that got to me. I could feel and smell the 'winter' in it. I broke out the quilt which has to be folded in half so I get a double layer about 6 inches high on top of me over and above the top half of the sleeping bag. I have to fold and tuck the lower end under my feet, and both the upper bag I'm in and the old bag, and the quad folded blanket beneath them. I was so warm that getting out was difficult, both physically and mentally.....lol! I did not even notice the many places where the wind shifted and displaced some of the flattened cardboard boxes 'patching' holes in the wall until after I was up and dressed and about to leave the shed.

Tomorrow's project is to check the recycle dumpster for the liquor store's discarded boxes as Tuesday is delivery day for most of their vendors. I pulled up the boxes that had slid down and over as much as I could this morning, but some are pretty warped from the rain and the interior runoff from the ceiling. I have to get a handful of tacks too, instead of just trying to wedge the cardboard in place.

More for precipitation and privacy, than sealing out the air which has a bazillion smaller cracks and crevices by which to enter.

COLD WEATHER SUCKS

[2012-01-02-#1]

{First in a series....Collect them all!}

I had a reply to my e-mail to the contractor whose notepad I stumbled onto. I called him back and we are to meet tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at the library.

He sounded both pleased and relieved to be able to recover his notes, etc.

I was able to get my monthly bus pass today, so that is a relief, and tomorrow I am going to East Baltimore to get another couple weeks refill on one of my meds.

After stopping in the Giant I came here to Mt. Washington to the coffee shop, and that's about it for today. The MTA and just about everything except the Baltimore County Public Library system were either closed or running on a holiday schedule.

Later.......................Dave

"2012......# 1.........A Minimalist Greeting........."

2012-01-01T17:20:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

Happy New Year!

Later.......................Dave

"Last Post....Last Thoughts...."

2011-12-31T19:42:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well the last post of 2011 and I really don't feel like writing anything tonight.

I want to thank everyone for reading and following and commenting. I am especially grateful to those of you who chose to buy copies of 'Talespinner' and hope you found it both enjoyable and edifying.

Much gratitude also goes out to the folks who were moved to offer gifts or donations after reading or after meeting and talking with me.

(And Thank You, Blue, for the surprise gift last night of the Starbucks gift card, very appropriate since we only see each other here almost every day....lol. But seriously, I'm touched by your thoughtfulness and generosity.)

Last night walking to the gas station before bedtime I came across a yellow legal pad filled with notes, specs, and details relating to bids and proposals for a contracting business, as well as some printed bids, invoices, and RFPs. On the letterhead of some of the paperwork was the name and e-mail and phone # of the V.P. of the contracting company. As my last 'good deed' of 2011 I sent him an e-mail letting him know I found all his notes etc. and if he wanted/needed them back to please contact me by e-mail and we could figure out where to meet. And I also asked him to stop and consider how much time, money, and aggravation having them back would save him, and that I would not be insulted if he wanted to pass along a finders fee...lol..., but that I'd be happy to return everything to him no matter what. I would have called the business phone number, but I'm out of minutes until tomorrow sometime, and out of money except for bus fare for Sunday the 1st, until.....????????

Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years Eve and best wishes and for a healthy and prosperous 2012.....

(as long as it lasts until the Mayan calendar ends, and so does the world...lol)

After borrowing the phone and a quick call to Rachel, I'm heading back to the shed after closing here and I'm just going to crawl into the new bag and watch TV until the battery dies, (which should be about 1:00 am.), and listen to all the ghetto morons shooting off their guns into the air at Midnight, then read until the flashlight gives up the ghost. I have had half of a pint bottle of vodka that I have not been in the mood to drink for about 5 weeks that I may mix with something and have a cocktail as the Ball drops in Times Square, and a doughnut (if the Dunkin Dumpster has any fresh ones....lol) to celebrate....

or....sit in the gas station with Daniel if I want company, watching the drunks stumble in and out, then get pulled over by the cops as soon as they drive off....Reisterstown Rd. is not the place to drink and drive!!!

(unless anybody has a better offer..1 minute left on the phone...call me..lol)

Later..........Dave

"Courtesy Is Not Necessarily Censorship.......... OR ......... Redacted Not Retracted............"

2011-12-30T19:04:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Because it was put to me politely as a request, I am going to refrain from using names of certain folks in situations where my observations good and less good may be misinterpreted.

Or course this also means that service or actions above and beyond will not be assigned to the individual either.

Later...............Dave

Bus Trippin'..............................."

2011-12-30T18:49:00.002-05:00

Good Evening;

Well I ended up catching the #53 to Old Ct.Station and the first train was heading East so I got off at the Plaza station and caught the #27 bus to Mt. Washington. So far so good, the half-caf coffee is staying put as is the Healthy Choice ham and chicken deli slices on light rye, (w/mayo....but that's a given no matter what!.....lol! ).....all systems nominal!

Overheard on the bus:

Old black woman gets on and says,"What a dirty bus, and it's late too. I guess 'THEY' [her emphasis] don't care about us black folks.", while looking directly at me. Not wanting to start a confrontation or controversy, being the only white person on the bus, I just snorted silently and laughed to myself while composing an internal monologue(s) of how I would reply if I were to do so, both rational and reactionary....lol.

I then heard another black woman speak up and say

" This bus just came out of the garage...with a black service crew, a black cleaning crew, a black supervisor who signed it off as acceptable, and a black driver who signed it out as cleaned and that he did a walk through and that there were no abandoned bags or packages, or bottles, trash or damages. So why you staring at the white man, sister? Stop trippin'. We gotta start admitting to ourselves that our own attitude's gotta change and not yell prejudice or racism at every situation. Not sayin' the playin' field is always level, but the more we ignore the fact that sometimes we ARE at fault, the less people of any race are going to take seriously claims made when something IS unfair!"

.....Silence.....

Then the normal bus chatter picked back up as if nothing was ever said, one guy "wishing everybody happy holidays....except snitches....", and the second woman looked up at the sky and shook her head, and over at me and rolled her eyes.

I decided it was safer and wiser to exercise my Miranda rights at that time.

Anyway, it's 6:30 pm. and no negative reactions to the test bites and sips of the above mentioned food and coffee, so it's dinner time. I'm going to take my meds with food also, just in case, because certain combinations on an empty stomach are contra-indicated.

Later..............................Dave

"Running Man......................"

2011-12-30T14:05:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon;

So I'm here at the library just in case the power situation at the coffee shop has not been rectified yet. I may even take the first bus that comes along either way when I leave here, whether it's going up or down Reisterstown Rd., and go to the St. Thomas Center Starbucks for a change, if the westbound bus is first.

Stay tuned....lol!

Last night was a really rough night, that continued through the morning, with a sudden, no warning, uh-oh...to...oh no!...can't get the damn zipper open...hell with a jacket...screw relocking the door...omg,omg, omg.....mad rush to the gas station bathroom, attack of -- the 'Willy Makeits/Betty Wonts' -- to put it politely. My stomach and bowels were on fire, and the pain in my back had spread, and my gut was cramping up so bad I was almost in tears.

I ended up going to the ER (after finally being able to leave the bathroom...AND donning a complete change of clean clothing,) when things got worse and I was given a shot to stop ALL motility and IV fluids for an hour. The bus ride over was agony, it was one of the oldest buses still in service, and the shocks were dead. You can imagine how every bump and pothole felt.

Times up......gotta run.....

I'm back......

They took about 3 gallons of blood to run tests on, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder, and I think kidneys too. The abdomen and back pain were reminiscent of a gallstone episode, but the nausea and diarrhea were an added bonus. Intestinal virus an/or bacterial infection were the initial thoughts, from flu to food poisoning, but ruled out after some of the test results came back, and due to the lack of fever.

Other tests take longer to process, so they will take a day or two yet before results come back.

I've avoided food except for some crackers and plenty of water. The lack of coffee is beginning to make itself known.....lol!

I'm out of time on the library computers, and I don't feel like unpacking the laptop right now, so I'm going to try to get in contact with my regular doctor again to be sure she gets the results directly as they are available. Then I may sit here and read..(doze)..or head out to the bus and the train and ????

Later..................Dave

"The Wobblies........................."

2011-12-29T16:09:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well Just a short post for now because I'm sitting at the lone high top table by the window and the Sun is shining in my face and it's quite painful on the eyes, and when I can block it out I can't see the screen for the glare, and this table was either put together improperly or it is defective because it wobbles like a drunken sailor on shore leave.

The reason I came over here is because the outlets at each seat under the long bench by the wall suddenly stopped working, all 7 of them. When asked to check the circuit breakers, the reply was we have no control over the electricity. If the whole store went out, that is probably true, but there has to be a circuit breaker box in the back somewhere, not only by code/law, but common sense.

Anyway....spent last night at Jenn's watching the kids while she and Tom went out to dinner and a movie, her Xmas present from him...'a date night'.

Showered and did laundry and ate some leftover Christmas Steak, (and cookies too.), and was shown and played with all the things Santa left for the grandmonsters.

I had major difficulty sleeping due to an episode of severe lower back pain, meds did not work, even at the maximum dose I was willing to chance, above and beyond normal. I had just fallen asleep when all 4 cats began to yowl and spaz out so I gave them all a little bot of dry cat food to shut them up and lay down on the floor and passed out. 10 minutes later I heard Jenn stumbling and mumbling around and doing the same thing...the sneaky, lying, feline bastards had started to rock and roll in her bedroom among all the boxes and woke her up.

I looked at the time and it was quarter to five so I took my morning meds and the combination let me sleep for 3 hours. Once I realized it was Xmas vacation for Ed I was able to doze off and on until we all got up about 10:00 am. After a quick cup of coffee and packing my bags we piled into Tom's car and I got dropped of at the Hunt Valley light rail stop....(after we turned around halfway there and had to go back to the house because Tom forgot his insulin and necessary equipment)....and they went to Jenn's aunt's house and then out to see various train gardens at firehouses and ???.

It's been a messed up couple days, between the pains and somehow losing $20.00 that I cannot account for and did NOT spend, and the onset of the expected downhill slide of my depressive cycle. I called a shrink from the referral list given me by my doctor to make an appt. and was told to call back on the Monday, the 2nd of January, so that is up in the air, as is the walk-in to JAI's Monument St. office to meet with the addictions coordinator/facilitator to find a prescribing doctor for some meds.

With just $6.00 and no electricity in the shed it is shaping up to be a very quiet, very slow New Years Eve, and Day. I have no real interest in any partying, but would like to find a nice and calm place to hang out with some likeminded folks or even alone.

Okay...I'm done on the laptop.....

Later.............Dave

2011-12-29T15:11:00.003-05:00

Good Afternoon;
A link;

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans - Get Involved

www.nchv.org

NCHV will end homelessness among veterans by shaping public policy, educating the public, and building the capacity of service providers.

Later.......................................Dave

"Pass It On Down The Line............................"

2011-12-28T13:09:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well it got cold last night and windy too!

(Cold Weather Sucks...!)

When I was on the way back to the shed from the gas station about 11:30 pm. I saw a guy I have seen sleeping on the buses and trains before huddled in the scant protection of the bus shelter curled up and shivering. When I asked him if everything was ok he told me that some young punks had jumped him, slapped and shoved him around, and trashed all of his possessions, just for laughs. I asked him to wait there and went back to the shed and grabbed some of the old and too small...("wish clothes".....lol)...clothes I can't wear but never threw out, and the two thinner blankets I don't need anymore since I got the quilt and new bag, and took them over to him, along with a monthly bus pass for December that someone had given me, and a bag of doughnuts I had scavenged from the Dunkin Dumpster earlier. At that point the bus pulled up and he got on to go to the subway and I went back to the shed.

After the TV battery died after watching the 2 episodes of 'The Office' and 1 of 'My Name Is Earl', I fell asleep until dawn, when I took my morning meds and went back to sleep.

I'm leaving the library now to catch the bus to the train to the light rail to meet Jenn in

Hunt Valley and then back to her place to watch the grandmonsters tonight, shower, and wash clothes. I may be back tonight after they have not killed me....lol!

Later..................Dave

"Yes Deer........................"

2011-12-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well...not really a lot to say today.

I slept comfortable but in a weird pattern last night, waking out of a sound sleep and trying to sit upright but falling back onto my back because the zipper is so damn stiff, not like the plastic one on the old bag, which does not lock and slides open when you flip the edge of the bag.

I had to trot over to the gas station bathroom about 4:45 am. in a bit of a hurry and on the way back saw the wildest thing.

I heard this clickety clack noise getting louder and louder from across Reisterstown Rd. and turned and saw a huge whitetail deer running full steam across the road, right past me only 2 feet away and up and across the Giant parking lot, across Old Ct. Rd., and then jumping over the fence into Druid Ridge Cemetery! This was wild to see, it was at least a 10 point buck, and he flew over the fence like it was not even there!

closing time......

Later.................Dave

"No Hype...Equals...No Letdown, ............... Chocolate Choo Choo, ................... Dreidels and Latkes,.................."

2011-12-26T16:28:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well Christmas is over.... no big letdown this year because it really didn't feel like much of anything this year. Don't know why, but a lot of folks I've talked with, in every socio-economic level, said the same thing. "It's not the weather, but it is missing something this year"

So....when I left here yesterday afternoon, I jumped on the train and went down to North Ave. with the idea of trying to sell some candy bars on the corner. My buddy Zach from Morocco was out there as usual selling flowers and stuffed animals. He told me the police had been running people off the corner all day so I decided to pass on giving it a shot. As I was sitting on the bench at the bus stop I kept getting the 'evil eye' from cops who drove by even though all I was doing was sitting there.

I walked back to the train and one cop followed me until I pissed off and annoyed and slipped through a shortcut he could not take his cruiser through. I was standing laughing and talking to an MTA policeman on the platform when the city cop roared around the corner, slid to a stop, and started to jump out of his car...unbuttoning his holster as he did so. He then noticed that I was chatting with a Major in the Mass Transit Administration police dept. and stopped dead in his tracks. When my friend Major ------- asked if there was a problem, he hemmed and hawed and stammered no and got back in his car and drove away. The Major began to laugh and said that most of the city cops on the street that day were 'pissed to be working, and had bugs up their asses' .

I wished him Merry Christmas and got on the BWI Thurgood Marshall airport light rail train that pulled in and rode it to the airport and then out to Hunt Valley and back. I tried to read and ended up dozing in and out instead, for a couple hours. On the last trip out from BWI I overheard a woman ask the driver where to get off for the Silver Spring Metro station on the D.C. subway system. After the driver was only able to get off at the next stop and catch the B30 bus to 'somewhere down there', another homeless guy and myself (HA!) by looking at our combined schedules and route maps, got her oriented and organized and gave her times and directions to get from BWI Business Park to Silver Spring Md. via Greenbelt subway station and the Metro.

While I was on the light rail and later on the subway I noticed the large number of homeless folks doing as I was, just killing time somewhere warm. I had a few dozen candy bars left and I ended up giving almost all of them out to people who were sitting or sleeping all bundled up with their bags arranged for both protection and anti-theft. I walked up and down the train offering chocolate bars to each of them, for many of them the only gift they would receive. When I got back to the shed and saw 11:00 pm. news footage of some of the different 'Xmas giveaways' in town and the huge crowds there, I saw what one of the men meat when I asked him if he had gone to any of them or the Xmas and Xmas eve dinners hosted by various charities, and he replied........

"hell no, it's a zoo.....and a feed lot..sit down, shovel it in, get out...no peace or sense of Christmas, no chance to relax and reflect or rejoice,
we (he traveled with a 'running buddy') are grateful for the 'care packages' of essential hygiene items and packaged food and find ourselves and a few others a private place and put together our own dinner....may be Spam sandwiches not turkey and stuffing, canned peaches not pumpkin pie, but also not gonna hafta sit around lookin grateful for a bunch of once-a-year-do-gooders tryin to burn off some guilt"

I also saw at least 3 families I know for a fact are NOT homeless, but go to every soup kitchen they can so as to save their money for dope, and sell whatever gifts or donated items they get. The 'feel good' Xmas TV clips don't always tell all. This city has loads of schemers and scammers who prey on their own needy.

Sleep was again 'warm and cuddly' with the new bag and quilt,
That and getting all my meds back in cycle makes a big difference. As I was leaving the Giant after my morning coffee/bathroom/shopping ritual I found a Starbucks card on the ground. I looked it up online and it's not registered and hasn't been used but 2 times in a year and a half, and still had $5.70 as a balance....that's just $0.30 short of 4 coffees..
..Merry Chrismahanakwanzakah to me!..

Jenn is supposed to pick me up about 7:00 pm. with the presents I have stored with her for Rachel, and drop me off at the 'exes' so I can give them to her for Chanukkah tonight. After spending a couple hours there, Jenn is picking me up and dropping me back at the shed. She says they need a sitter for the Grandmonsters on Wednesday, so I'm getting picked up that afternoon and spending the night in East Bumf....., MONKTON.....lol.

Now, time for dinner......

Later......................Dave

"Happy Chinese Food And Movie Day!...................."

2011-12-25T15:44:00.001-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well it's 40 minutes to close here at Starbucks and one of the barristas is putting the chairs stools on tables so they can save a whole 5 minutes when they lock the doors and finish cleaning up. Would not even mention this but when you are sitting at a table and surrounded by upended chairs......well, things like poor customer service, tacky, and childish come to mind. Especially when the manager has requested that they should wait until 10 of or so when the place is empty or nearly so.

Nice person, but....

So...last night I slept for a total of nearly 10 hours! Interrupted only once by the 'urge' around 4:10 am., when I also took the full complement on morning meds for the first time in close to a month.

It was about 1:10 am. when I looked at the time and closed my eyes for '25 minutes'....ha!, and 11:00 am. when I got up and out.

One of the reasons I slept so good was the new, (to me), sleeping bag and huge, thick, soft, & fluffy quilt that Pauline, one of the regulars at the gas station who stop in and sit and play the Keno or Racetrax lottery games, gave to me. We had talked the night before about the deteriorating conditions of the shed and my sleeping bag's steady decay and she said she had one and a quilt that she had been planning to give someone, who no longer needed it, and would I like it. Well after a polite version of "hell yeah!!!!!!!", we made plans to meet last night.

WARM is almost inadequate to describe how comfy I was last night!

The biggest problem is figuring out how to fold and arrange everything to fit and lay flat.....lol!

Anyway, gotta pack up, see you tomorrow, and hope everyone has had a happy and safe holiday weekend.

Later......................Dave

"Raw Beef And Homemade Cookies A Christmas Feast Doth Make".................

2011-12-24T14:34:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

So I'm sitting here at the coffee shop about to eat lunch/breakfast (85/15Ground beef on sale and $1.50 off at Giant....'steak tartare !!!' )and trying to watch the Ravens beat Cleveland on the portable digital TV. The problem is with digital as opposed to analog is that the signal is there or not, l or 0, on or off, so with the little magnetic antenna and the thick brick and stone walls of the old mill, and all the moving people here, I'm having trouble keeping the reception constant. Window seat is open....gonna slip over and check that out.

Nice, good as cable in this spot!

Well I stopped at RiteAid and my scripts were ready and waiting and I downed the BP pill then and there, and the others a bit later when I got some water to wash them down. I can already feel the difference, and the diuretic in the BP meds is working quite well...maybe TOO well....lol!

Tom stopped by with a bucket of Jenn's homemade cookies, some clothes that washed for me, my travel mug, and a Chankkah/Xmas gift from them and the kids.

"Ones size fits all, always in season, always appreciated.....cash!"

They close here at 6:00 pm. and unless someone comes up with a better offer, it's ride the trains until it's time to try to sleep.

I miss the electricity in the shed.. :-(

Even though there's no heat, with light it seems warmer someow.

Back before I leave at 6:00 pm.....

Later....................Dave

"Doctor Love's Traveling Salvation Show....................."

2011-12-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well I slept last night, rain and all, even having to get up and pee 8 times between Midnight and 9:00 am. I still got some rest.

I passed out somewhere between the theme song and opening credits of "That 70s Show", and the TV played on until the battery died.

I stopped at the Library to get books to read on the train over Xmas eve and and Xmas, when I'm not here at the Starbucks.

After that I stopped at Quiznos and ate, using the rest of the balance on the gift card I was given. I went to JAI after wards arriving about 3:00 pm. and seeing the doctor about 4:45 pm. I actually watched a Dr. Phil episode, and it was actually worth watching. It was about a polygamist family in Utah that was the subject of the book "Love Times 3", and except for their choice of marriage were as 'normal' as any other typical American extended family.

Part of the reason they exposed themselves to public scrutiny was to combat the idea that all polygamists are like the sick bastard Warren Jeffs and others who abuse 14 and 12 year old girls and have incestuous relations with their own offspring.

Anyway, I spent a good 30 minutes with my doctor, who is really awesome and inspires me to want to take better care of myself and instills a feeling that I really can make changes in my life, that it's not too late.

(Whether that survives to be put into practice is where things usually fall apart.)

She sent all my prescriptions online to the RiteAid so I should have BP, reflux, and back meds by the morning.

I also got new referrals to the shrink and the addiction coordinator, (for legit source of 'bupes'), and a gentle chiding and encouragement to act on them, as opposed to browbeating and ultimatums.

As I was on the way out she turned to me and said "I hope you aren't offended by this..." and thinking she was talking about recent comments or was about to offer advice or opinion, or spiritual words, said "no, of course not".....and was left momentarily without words to further reply when she slipped a $20.00 into my hand and wished me Happy Hannukah! and expressed that she believed in me and that things would get better!

Floored doesn't begin to cover how I felt, not seeing, nor expecting anything like a gift of this nature.

Damn good thing we already discussed my tendency to 'transference' and psychological preference and need of female 'caregivers'!....lol.

Time to pack up, I'm going to be here sometime tomorrow, Xmas eve, after 10:00 am. when I am supposed to meet my son-in-law Tom and get a little cash, my Xmas/Hannukah gift that Jenn told me to expect before I left....but the bank clearing a deposited check for them, never got the message on.....lol! That should give money to eat on the rest of the year and to get Rachel the rest of the Hannukah gift I promised her, (glitter paints and a big pad of art paper).

Later..................Dave

Later

"Pressure Is Rising.........Everybody Clear.....It's Gonna Blow!............."

2011-12-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

Good Evening;

Well I'm back here at Starbucks for a bit before heading back to the shed for the first time since Jenn picked me up here on Monday night.......and of course the rain has started.

I came down with some sort of lousy fever inducing, head pounding, sleep preventing 'bug' that lasted until late this morning. I didn't really feel "sick" as much as feeling like warmed over, then chilled down, 'crap!'

Stomach, bowels, throat, sinuses, eyes, ears, muscles, joints, glands, and a constant throbbing inside my skull, echoed by the high pitched squeal of an excited/angry/happy/bored/"insert mood here"/... 3 and 1/2 year old.

I'm still somewhat queasy, but I got a little sleep and a respite from my own private "Occupy" movement.....(the words private and movement should give you a hint as to where and what I was 'occupying......lol!)

Anyway....it's closing time and I've got to pack up. I'm guessing that there is still no electricity in the shed so I'll be back tomorrow from the library or here.

And it's JAI or die tomorrow, I HAVE to get BP meds because I' don't want to try to deal with the holidays without them in this mental state......

which has me wanting to relieve the pressure with an icepick straight through the ear!

Later................Dave

"Business! Mankind Was My Business................."

2011-12-22T14:43:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon:

I stumbled on this essay by chance when reading a story on the National Homelessness Vigil held in 150 cities last night. (Wed. Dec. 21st) where the names of those who died while living on the streets in the past year were read out. It was just the title, which sounded familiar, so I Googled it...and ahhh....Of course.....Jacob Marley.

Just thought I'd share it as it is fitting for the season, nothing you haven't heard before, but this is an eloquently expressed piece:

Mankind Is Our Business

By Ingid Van Mater

Last Christmas there was a new version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol on television, starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. It was one of the finest productions of this classic I had seen, and I felt impelled once again to read the story which has been universally loved for well over a century. In Dickens' treatment of the trials, failures, and triumphs that occur in daily living, he reveals that the most important force in life is compassionate understanding of our fellow human beings.

One of the most moving statements in this Christmas tale is by Marley's Ghost when despairing over "life's opportunities misused." Scrooge, trembling with fear and beginning to share in Marley's guilt, says: "But you were always a good man of business, Jacob." Upon which the Ghost cried out in anguish:

Business! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!

These words stand as an eloquent expression of our grand human purpose, suggesting that it is our inner thoughts and feelings, our motives, our priorities, which contribute to making our lives an emptiness or a fullness. What we are in our whole being is so much grander than anything we can measure by surface values. In Goethe's words, "We are shaped and fashioned by what we love." The "comprehensive ocean" brings to mind the vast spiritual resources in ourselves, that ocean of truth within, that we are just beginning to discover. From this standpoint our routine activities in themselves are but a "drop of water" compared to our total duty or "business" as innately caring and responsible human beings.

How easy it is to be caught in a narrow circle of thought, magnify its importance, and through such preoccupation become blinded to matters that need our full attention; or, through a mental block of prejudice or hostility, prevent a mutually happy exchange that might otherwise be possible. In the case of Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge, it was as if they had closed off all sunlight from the small, cold island of isolation each had created. Scrooge receives his first awakening when he learns from Marley's Ghost that the steel chain encumbering him -- made of cashboxes, padlocks, heavy purses and the like -- is wrought from his material and covetous thoughts. The Ghost further alerts Scrooge that he too must have acquired a chain equally if not more ponderous. We do indeed forge of our own free will every link in the chain of effects that binds us to this earth, and only we can lessen the burden as we awaken to the needs of others with greater sensitivity and understanding. This is part of the evolutionary process we are continuously undergoing.

The genius of Dickens lies in dramatizing Scrooge's gradual inner transformation through the exchange of observations and questionings with Marley's Ghost and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and To Come. The characteristics of these all-wise Spirits resemble in certain respects the experiences some undergo in intense crises. Sometimes when Scrooge reacts to a situation, the light of the Spirit in attendance grows brighter, as when he feels nostalgia for his "former self" of his youthful days before the girl he loved was displaced by his love of gold, and when with Mr. Fezziwig he was helpful and happy in his work, and entertained "nobler aspirations." The three Spirits visit Scrooge in turn and show him his past, what he is building in the present, and the bleak and friendless future ahead of him if he continues in the direction he is going. He is reminded often of lost opportunities to show charity and love; for instance, for the Cratchit family who so courageously face their deprivations and Tiny Tim's frailty, while the warmth and joy of family sharing more than compensate for their troubles and the leanness of their holiday feast. He is deeply touched by Tiny Tim and asks the Ghost of Christmas Present "with an interest he never felt before," if Tiny Tim will live. "Not if these shadows remain unaltered by the Future," is the answer he receives. He visits everywhere with this Spirit: in almshouses, hospitals, jails; "in misery's every refuge," learning as he goes. Scrooge's conscience is gradually aroused, and his bitterness toward life becomes transmuted into understanding. Aware that people's courses will determine "certain ends," he begs the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come to allow him to change the shadows of the future by a changed life: "Hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. . . . I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me." And as Scrooge said these words, the Spirit's "kind hand trembled."

The crowning point is, of course, Scrooge's triumph. He makes good his promises, helps the Cratchit family and others in need, and he and Tiny Tim become the best of friends. From this moment he sees everything with new eyes for his heart is filled with joy, and wherever he goes on the familiar streets he derives particular pleasure especially on Christmas day!

A Christmas Carol arouses our sympathies and gives hope for humankind. It belongs to this sacred birthtime of the year, a time of beginnings and opportunities, when all things -- and people too -- are touched by the tide of renewal. As Scrooge's nephew said when his uncle formerly dismissed Christmas and its joyous significance with the words, Bah! Humbug!:

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come around apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people . . . as if they were fellow-passengers. . . .

Although commercialized and sometimes a superficial observance, this holiday time with its mounting spirit of goodwill and open-hearted sharing is bound to have its effect in the world and on individual lives. A global family of evolving souls, we are linked together, "fellow-passengers" on an endless journey toward an ever broader awareness of our responsibilities to life and to one another. Perhaps the greatest appeal of this masterpiece of Dickens lies in the intuitive perception it awakens in us that compassionate involvement with all humankind has been and will always be our "business."

Still feel as if my head is about to explode, so be back ????

Later............................Dave

"What I Wouldn't Give For A Bucket Of NyQuil & Dilaudid And An IV Hookup.........Straight Through 'Til Spring!.................."

2011-12-21T14:12:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well....I am up here in Monkton and fighting off something that has me feeling like 2 bags of dead mice. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually I'm touching bottom and just trying like hell to keep my feet from being trapped in the muck. Holiday crap, worries about the 'ex' who had to go back to the ER after her surgery, and how Rachel's taking everything. Alternating periods of 'cold sleep, no sleep, fever dreams or exhausted passing out for the last week or 10 days has got me beat. And the kids have been a handful. I'm going to try to get some hot soup or something in me and sleep some more.

Full details to follow when I emerge, probably sometime in the middle of the night....

Later.......................Dave

"Hot Air & Digital Divinity.....................Another One Rides The Bus...Part...987.........."

2011-12-19T17:05:00.007-05:00

Good Evening;

Well......so far so good,

Thanks be to the holy pantheon of Digital Deities;

Saints-Virtual Visionaries-

Pascal, Babbage, Turing, Burroughs,

Cray, Disney, Spielberg, Lucas,

Gates, Jobs, Wozniak, Brin, Page,

& Zuckerberg....

(yeah Zuckerberg, someone has to fill the Judas role......lol!)

The combination of time, cold weather, (it was 27 in the shed at Midnight), and multiple applications of the hot air hand dryer at Starbucks on the keyboard while simultaneously continuously running my hands back and forth over the keys to dry out, loosen, work out, & blow out the concentrated and sugar residue under the keys and on the motherboard seems to have worked.

In fact certain things are working better, & running faster than before!

Hmmm.......patent the "coffee flush laptop tune-up"?......lol!

So today was planned out for picking up meds from Monkee for Friday through to after the 3rd day of 2012 then going to JAI to get other meds renewed.

But thanks to both the MTA in bus and train mode, and some members in good standing of Balto. City Public School Systems F.F.A. contingent (oh...sorry that's 'Future Felons of America) on the bus that WAS on time......I'll recap the whole story later......along with the part about the incredibly stupid and arrogantly ignorant woman who took the lid off the HOT coffee she wasn't supposed to be drinking on the bus anyway and when the inevitable happened and she spilled it on her face and her arm...not once but 3 times in a row!...and started cursing the bus driver for making her spill it, (note: normal stop and go city driving in rush hour traffic....in a city where a common sign that someone is pissed off because when they cut you off and you expressed your displeasure by blowing the horn while slamming on the brakes and trying not to die is to point a gun at you....shooting optional, if you are very, very lucky!!!!!!!.....), waking up the nodding out and falling over dope fiends coming from the methadone clinic who began shouting approval and affirmation with the coffee spiller........ahhhhrrgghhhhh!

Anyway, it was way too late for JAI.

I'm leaving now to meet Jenn for the ride to East Bumf...ooops,....Monkton..lol!

Later....................Dave

"Curse You Juan Valdez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-18T17:19:00.007-05:00

Good Evening;

We;l;l;......In ca;s;e a;nyone wa;s wondering......

Cof;f;ee s;p;il;led on the k;eyboa;rd;......

NOT!!!!!!!!!! A; GOOD; THING!

L;ater........Dave

'/p[;9

2011-12-18T17:19:00.003-05:00

Good Evening;

We;l;l;......In ca;s;e a;nyone wa;s wondering......

Cof;f;ee s;p;il;led on the k;eyboa;rd;......

NOT!!!!!!!!!! A; GOOD; THING!

L;ater........Dave

"C.W.S.!! ..=.. Iteration 13,297 ... Space Invaders Needing Odor Eaters .... Dr Frankenstein's Easy Bake Oven .... C.W.S.!! ..=.. Iteration 13,298.."

2011-12-17T19:18:00.013-05:00

Good Evening;

Well it's freaking cold and getting colder tonight!

Last night was pretty cold too, around and hour and a half before dawn when I was given the old familiar...

"I've been giving you fair warning for an hour or more....but you just laid there....either get up.....NOW!......OR ELSE!"

....ultimatum from my bladder. Once I fought my way awake and out of the tangled ruins of the sleeping bag, it was near impossible to get warm and back to sleep for coinciding periods.

Then the zipper on the side of the bag decides to separate and slowly open in stealth mode from mid chest to calf. so when I roll over I'm not only exposed and cold, when I move to roll over and get out different parts of my body seek different openings and standing up resulted in sitting back down...on my face!....owwwwww!

I eventually gave up trying to nap and got up, dressed in fresh but cold clothes and wandered over to the Giant and killed an hour and a half just goofing off in the store. After that, the bus to train, to train, to here at the coffee shop. It has been chilling down all day, and every time the door opens I get a colder and colder blast of air.

Which is a good thing right now! There is a couple to my right, decently dressed in clean looking clothes, using a laptop on what looks like college studies, at a graduate level, and speaking what sounds like a combination of French and ???? a Mediterranean language from the Asian side of the lake.

Now, I really don't care where you come from, but damn, if you are going to live here learn about the American cultural norms. Everyone is always crying about diversity and Americans trashing other cultures in other lands, but if you are here, and you are going to come into a place where food and drink is served, and there are communal tables.....

and you are NOT homeless and unable to do so....(HA!!!)

.....then follow our customs and freakin' wash your body and your ass!

Don't dump gallons of cheap-ass perfume on yourselves, man and woman!, so you reek double strength and flavored, and twice as bad!

The fact that the whole damn room got up and moved away should tell you something!

Thank goodness I'm 'upwind' o' them and 'downwind o' the door!

And for all those fainting at my lack of PC.....sorry, it goes for Americans of all stripes too. Now I'm gonna piss you all off again, but I don't care, because except for certain days when the temps breached the 100+ mark.....I managed not to exude a funk that could be smelt from 8 feet away.....UPWIND!

(And shoot me but I think 'foreign funk' is worse, and I've sampled, prison, ghetto, junkie, and jail funk of Americans!)

Rant over!

I'll be back here tomorrow afternoon, at some point, unless I can find someplace else to crash tonight and not have to leave until after the Raven's game tomorrow night,......if then....lol!

Monday I HAVE to get to JAI, ...NO EXCUSES..... my BP is starting to bug me....even though hypertension is known as "The Silent Killer", there are symptoms to look for that can be recognized from person to person, if you are aware that you have prior knowledge of your condition.

On me, it's the edema and pain in my ankles, (separate from the joint issues), and the sometimes throbbing and pounding in that chunk of tissue that grows back and acts as a shield or baffle over the ear canal, you know what I mean, don't know what it's called but everytime you see someone with a piecing there, as opposed to the lobe or 'shell', you cringe......lol.

Monday night Jenn is picking me up here at closing and dragging me back to East Bumfuc....I mean Monkton to act as a distraction and run interference between her and Devin so she can get some baking done.......with "help" from tiny fingers.....and "secret" additions to the batter if Jenn turns her back.....lol.

Yeah well, we all know that it's not much of a stretch for me to work on 3 year old's level......lol!

I think I'm gonna make her get some extra ingredients to double the yield and leave us a batch to make our own "creations"......

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Sugar cookie dough, food coloring, toys as cookie cutters....

and me and a 3 year old in the kitchen...

'Zombie-princess-kitten-elves' anyone!

Later...................Dave

Ooooh, sweet stuff to go.....Thanks 'Ant'Knee'...lol.

Lemon squares and Banana Chocolate Chip cake intercepted

on the way to the garbage can.

Carbo-load for the shivers if needed tonight...

34 degrees now, feels like 31

low of 30, feeling like 27, tonight and tomorrow night

High of 41, feeling like 35 tomorrow

C.W.S.!

Later...................Dave

"What He Said!!!------.........."Sacramento Homeless blog: The Big Picture (The good, the bad and the ugly in...

2011-12-17T16:05:00.005-05:00

Good Afternoon; This is a link to a Left Coast Homeless blogger I just started reading, and a really good and extremely eloquent post on the perception vs. the reality of homogeneity in the Homeless population:

Sacramento Homeless blog: The Big Picture (The good, the bad and the ugly in...: If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? -- William Shakespeare, Merchant of V...

Well written and thought provoking.

Later....................................Dave

"Winter season..........AKA............CWS!.................."

2011-12-16T10:17:00.004-05:00

Good Morning;

A pictorial illustration, via a link;

Winter season

for those not sure what I mean I state:

COLD WEATHER SUCKS!

Later...............Dave

"....'Into The Woods'..............Hearts And Minds.............Better Living Through Chemistry............"

2011-12-15T23:24:00.005-05:00

Good Evening;

Just an --- "Alive And Well" --- mini update.

Here in East Bumfuc.... I mean Monkton until sometime tomorrow, (Friday). I've been here at Jenn's since Wednesday afternoon, to watch the grandmonsters last night and tonight and just have been kicking back.

Tuesday Michelle came over to Starbucks and we spent all evening with our heads together talking and discussing, sharing, and comparing ideas and posts from our poetry, our blogs and one she was invited to 'guest author' a post on.......among other more intimate things.

I'm so tired I can hardly type, so I'll see you again, most likely, from the coffee shop tomorrow evening.

Rachel's mom, the 'ex', went in for some scheduled surgery yesterday, and though it was pretty serious, all went well. I spoke with Rachel last night, and she will be over at 'bubbies' (maternal grandmother), through the weekend, so our plans to hang out again may be postponed. I am going to be over here again Monday night through Wednesday afternoon of next week, so when Jenn drops me off Rachel should be home and I'll stop by with her Chanukah presents for the second night's candle lighting.

I talked to her mom today and she was nicely free of pain, worry, or connection to reality....her response to "How Do You Feel?" was......a smiley slurred...."Dilaudid Works!)........LMAO!

Anyway........

Later...............................Dave

"Helping Those Who Serve Get What The Deserve..........."

2011-12-13T15:01:00.006-05:00

Good Afternoon;

So a link with good news for a change;

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans - Homelessness among Veterans Declines 12 Percent in 2011

www.nchv.org

Later........................Dave

"Suit Up! ........Battery Back-up ............ 'Do The Litter Box' & Shrimp For The Shrimp ...............Gossamer Threads .............."

2011-12-12T15:54:00.010-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well, one good thing about the lack of electricity.....I'm limited to the 2 hour battery life of the TV and no laptop...(a '5 minute battery')...so when I CAN get to sleep, I don't waste the opportunity by being up all night............lol!

Last night was colder than the night before, and much more comfortable for me. Sounds like a contradiction, but it's just preparation.

I put the sweat pants, (my older thinner pair, not the Old Navy pair I recently realized I had stashed in a bag of stuff Allen [whom I have neither seen nor heard from in many months, and have not been able to contact, by text, phone, or e-mail, and have a really bad feeling about, considering the medical challenges he went through and was still facing],...had given me, over a year and a half ago, and I had forgotten about that are really thick.), over my jeans, old loose socks over the already warm socks I had on, and wore the already warm heavy sweat shirt I was wearing, and slipped into the cold, cold bag....after lying on top for a few minutes to take to warm it up. I pulled the hood of the bag out from under the pillow for the first time since last winter and even though the drawstring is out, it still wraps around my head....mostly. I purposely jammed the zipper with the fabric of the interior of the bag where it is ripped, at he top of it's run and pulled the drawstring around the shoulders tight around my neck. OF course I immediately needed to pee as soon as I was bundled in....must be a vestige of childhood and snowsuits.....lol!

Except for spotty 'cold zones' that were much smaller than yesterday and easily remedied by a quick half asleep adjustment, I slept warm and for multi-hour time periods for the first time in a couple of months of a variety of types of insomnia ranging from certain of my meds too late in the evening, caffeine overload, musculoskeletal issues, anxiety over whether the roof of the shed was going to start leaking over where I slept, (only one, easily diverted drip in the 8 or so days the end of last and beginning of this month where we had either extreme or extended 'rain events' as the TV weather folks call them now), cable TV availability, really good book addiction, or recliner rejection/crazy cat demolition derby at Jenn's new place......whatever reasons were applicable, sleep has been a rare and precious commodity.....lol!

After getting up at 10:00 am. and puttering around the Giant for a while I spent a good 2 & 1/2 hours waiting for MTA buses which never showed up......5, that's FIVE!, different routes had 'skipped runs' where the bus scheduled for that time never showed....not late....NOT there!

More time than actually spent traveling on 2 buses to get here to the coffee shop.

Tonight I am meeting a friend of Jenn's after their HG and going to the food store with her to trade the gift card I have for some needed cash to settle a debt tomorrow. After that she is going to drop me at the shed so I won't get to see whether the buses tonight as still as screwed up. Whether it was driver's all with the 'Monday flu'-'Raven's won hangover', or some sort of work slowdown/protest, I don't know yet. I'll see one on my 'anonymous' sources on one route or another later this week who will clue me in though.

Also tomorrow, I'm heading down to JAI about mid-afternoon to get 3 of 4 prescriptions renewed that have run out. Last night I had what seemed to be coincidental but nearly simultaneous gall bladder/pancreas 'attacks'/pain incidents and an almost crippling case of heartburn/indigestion, just as I was laying down and leaning forward to zip up the bag after getting up to pee.

Short but intense, and if I had not gone through it before and did not know how to deal with it with the meds at my disposal then and there.....it would have been very frightening. Even though the meds I had were not specifically designated for the problem, side effects I am familiar with are able to treat/attack the symptoms....quickly. Enough so that I fell back asleep within the hour. But as is said....better prevention than cure....sooo,

'Hello waiting room'....not to mention having all the drug dealers in the 'hood' I need to walk through to get there either bum rush me as a potential customer.....or avoid me like the plague as a possible 'knocker'.....lol.

Just a mention of Saturday.....

Rachel and I saw "Puss In Boots" at the movies, the $6.00 10:35 am. show, and loved it! It's from the "Shrek" people and is filled with multi-level jokes and gags, and sight gags. Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek are the lead voices, Puss and 'Kitty SoftPaws'....lol, and their chemistry is as good as it is in the "Desperado" series of movies.

And the Previews and Coming Attractions!!!!!!

"Tin Tin"!......"Return To Mysterious Island"!!......."The Lorax"!!!!

I can't freakin' wait!!!!

We went to, where else...lol, Starbucks afterwards for hot chocolate and computer time..."Barbie.com".....(hours...........oy!.....LOL!). She wanted to go over to Whole Foods and get lunch and of course the budding gourmet?...gourmand?..., saw the 3 types of shrimp in the prepared foods case, breaded & fried, (mehhhh.....never again cold), 'pesto', and 'garlic,lemon, parsley'...both of which were wonderful......THE TINY LITTLE TASTES I GOT OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........LOL!

The nice thing is that she also, on her own accord, headed over to the salad bar to get some fresh veggies...and some tuna pasta, and she ate MY "Pasta with, Sundried Tomatoes, Garlic, Parmesan, and Chicken" also....I did get most of that though...lol!

And now, it's time to eat, I've made my self hungry and still have some food from Giant saved for dinner.

I know I don't sound like it but I'm teetering on the edge of another depression cycle, and after tomorrow am going to be basically broke and out of food until the end of the month. Now I've put money tightly away for Rachel's Chanukah gift(s), either one 'larger' (relatively that is), or a couple 'dollar store type', depending on her desires and the plans of her mother and grandparents....(THEY have the bucks, so if I don't have to, and can't compete......'quantity' works for me.).

And meds will be paid for, and laundry at Jenn's at least 2 more different weeks this month, along with whatever 'care packages' of food I leave with will see me through, and there is always the chocolate bars and the corner, so I'm not as bad as I have been...or as good...lol, in other years.......I'll get by.

But the build-up, hype, and sudden drop and let down.....and/or 'crash & burn' related to Xmas and NYE is always a stone bitch to deal with, especially homeless, broke, and more than anything else.....alone.

So the unreasonably mellow glow I'm feeling is a twist.

I can pinpoint it to a meeting for coffee and conversation last week with Michelle, agreed to previously as 'date TBD', and re-initiated by a text from me. And even more so to a single text on Saturday when I was on the train here with Rachel, and asking if I was at the coffee shop and did I want to meet?

Time, distance, and transportation and communication glitches prevented us from doing so, but the glow still exists, though fading.

Among almost all, 99%, of the people who I call friends, the ones who are actually happy to get a call and wanting, willing, or able to come out if invited.......I am almost always the one to suggest, invite, or initiate said happening.

So it was particularly pleasing and gratifying to have someone who I not only care for deeply as a treasured friend, but don't get to see enough, and

who..well buy my book of poetry and unless you're blind or stupid my "true feelings" are about as hidden as Santa at a Chassidic Chanukah party.....lol!, contact me.

Which is something I do really miss, 'getting' a (personal) phone call (or text or e-mail or FB msg.) for a change that isn't in reference to a negative event as related to a friend, relative, or former lover.

(Notwithstanding, the calls from Jenn, or Rachel...etc.)

Anyway, as thin and delicate thread as it may be, THAT is keeping me on this side of the old yin/yang divide leading to the abyss.

Later........................Dave

P.S. Even though last night was warm enough, the double clothing is not always a viable option, due to wetness, cleanliness, odor, and just the sheer lack of available clean clothing I own vs. laundry opportunities.

The "Blanket Request" (I love puns...LOL!) for quilts etc. is still open.

;~P

'Quilts, Comforters, And Warm Woolie Blankies Wanted..................................... C.W.S.!!!!!!!!!!!!...................."!

2011-12-11T19:18:00.005-05:00

Good Evening;

So..last night was friggin' cold.....28 degrees with a 'feel' of 23 degrees.

In case anyone has forgotten my opinions on this;

"COLD WEATHER SUCKS!"

Feel free to quote me......lol.

My feet were always on the edge of painful, even when they warmed up the aftereffects still hurt! I could not get warm everywhere all at once.

I was in and out of sleep all night and up and down having to pee, 5 times...4 of them having to step outside into the cold because of a full 'container' indoors.

The leather of my shoes was damn near frozen stiff.

Then the 'self repairing zipper' decided it had worked long enough and retired. Each time I was in or out it was a pain in the ass to fix it again, and 1/4 of the time popped open in the middle of it's length....arrrgghhhhh!

I'm in the market for a donated quilt or blanket if anyone has extras, preferably, large and thick, king, queen, or at least full size.

Today I wanted to go to the library, which opened at 1;00 pm., so I stayed wrapped up as much as I could until 12:30 pm trying to stay warm and sleep more than 45 minutes at a stretch.

Starbucks and the Ravens game on the portable TV, and now the bus back to Pikesville....

Later............................Dave

"I Coulda' Used Twitter For This.......If I Had It....LOL!................................"

2011-12-10T20:55:00.001-05:00

Good Evening;

Well....AWESOME day with Rachel.....still no electricity in shed....too DAMN cold to sit outside tonight at library....see you tomorrow.

Later.............................Dave

"And Then Some Assholes Have Me Back In Doubt ....And I'm Hopeful Again .....And Then Back To The Stone Age Again Due To 2 More Wastes Of Oxygen....""

2011-12-09T16:00:00.008-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well my restored faith was pretty short lived last night. First on the Light Rail I got to listen to the racist redneck rantings of a half a dozen 20 something, Aryan Nation wannabes/FPBA, (Future Prison 'Bitches' of America), on their way back from a 'boosting' spree for crystal meth, PCP, & heroin money..(their words)..from stores along the route of the "Rob'n Ride'. They were being loud and abusive towards a group of what looked like first year college girls, [very young, very diverse in ethnic make up, and very removed from, ever having dealt with scum from the gutter like these], crudely hitting on the white girls and making derogatory and thinly veiled sexually violent allusions towards the 2 Asian and 3 Middle Eastern girls, one of whom was wearing the minimal headscarf worn by liberal Muslim women that is much as a fashion item as a religious one.

The girls were getting visibly nervous and I was debating whether getting involved with the odds what they were and the likelihood of unseen weapons when these 2 older white homeless guys (who I've seen enough for us to acknowedge each other's presence with a nod), who had been sleeping in the seats beside the center doors of the train, (2 seats on either side of the aisle that are somewhat isolated and removed from the main body of seats), get up as the train pulls into the next stop and walk over and stand above the group of assholes, and tell them, "This is your stop, get the f*ck off". Two of the scumbags start to rise up, reaching into their pockets, and I stand up and begin to walk over, when the old guy who spoke looks at me, and shakes his head and says "We got this.....they're ours", and I sat down. The other guy meanwhile reached out with his cane and caught the loudest, biggest, nastiest piece of shit on the back of the neck, pulling him forehead first into the stainless steel upright pole on the end of the seat, and cracks the other one reaching for his pocket on the point of the elbow, so hard and loud MY arm ached....lol. Then they started jabbing all of them with their canes shouting, 'off, off, now, now', and other choice phrases, as the rest of the car laughed as the 6 fools fell over one another down the steps of the exit, landing in a heap on the plat form and getting up and running away when these guys who had to be in their 60s at least made as if to come after them.

They asked the girls if they were OK and went back to their seats and gathered their bags, as I was gathering mine and got off the next stop same as I did, but for different reasons....just in case the cameras in the train car were working, (a 50/50 shot with the MTA), they wanted to be long gone. They thanked me for starting to come help but said they had been looking for this group for a while for personal reasons...and when I remarked that they let them get off easy...they laughed and showed me some modifications to the handles and bottoms of their canes.......yeah, I saw what they meant! Sticks and stones indeed! As we parted company I saw the first man pull up his sleeve and noticed his tattoo. The noticed me looking and grinned and the second man nodded to say, me too. So with a brisk "Semper Fi", and an abbreviated salute I said farewell and caught my bus. Next time I see these guys, and it came to me that where I had first seen them had been on a bitter cold January night about 3 years ago at the M.C.V.E.T.S. (Md. Center for Veterans Education & Training Shelter), I am going to try to draw out their story.

And I can't swear to it but as I passed the North Ave. L.R. stop I saw the group of fascist bastards being hassled by a group of their "opposite numbers" from the hood as 2 police cars with blue and red lights flashing sped in to the entry road........one can only wish to be a fly on the wall as they tried to explain away the mass quantities of popular street salable merchandise in their possession with no receipts.....and as Gollum wondered about Bilbo.....I'd be curious to know...."What has it got in it's pockets"....and how it was explained to the cops also......LOL!

So the rest of my detoured trip back was uneventful until I got on the Metro Subway and got stuck on a car as the only white guy on a car full of genuine 'thugs' (it was a single car train and the doors had shut before I, not very wisely I admit, took a good look at my surroundings....ulp!), playing gangsta rap at full volume and smoking Newports and 'blunts' openly. As the muttering began, after a minute of tense silence, the train luckily was between 2 very close stations and the 'crew' was pretty well stoned close to immobility, the doors opened and at the last second I ducked out just as they closed and locked!

Taking a closer look I took the next train and before I got off checked the platform for threats. I ran into a familiar regular rider and one of our regular drivers on the bus to Pikesville and related the story of the smoky car and the bus driver said he had heard a radio call for the Metro Police to meet the train a bit further down the line.

After stopping in the Giant and the gas station I went into the shed. The door seemed 'loose' on it's hinges and chain lock and when I got inside and reached to turn on the light, all I got was a 'click'. Dead bulb I thought, while having a feeling of...."No it isssnnn'ttt.....", and after trying a new bulb, checking the connection of the cord, and checking the extension cord in the outside socket, and just to be sure plugging the fan in outside.....ALL Nada!

I noticed the top 'cap/door' of the weatherproof outside receptacle was opened, not closed as usual, and as I shone my little flashlight around signs that someone has been hanging out under the carport. I hurried to the Giant to get 'D' batteries for my regular size flashlight and with it's more powerful beam checked the surrounding area.

Oh lovely, stolen empty cases and (HA!) anti-theft devices from a couple of porno DVDs, (and cheap, nasty, sleazy, low budget ones at that!), and a half pint of Jack Daniels and a couple of "40s" of malt liquor, all empty and a couple of empty cigarette boxes and the tobacco dumped from a cheap flavored cigar, (to get the wrapper leaves for a 'blunt) scattered about...simply f*ckin' lovely. The whole outdoor socket was loose and the face plate had a gap in it. Now what I figure is that the assholes either forced the plug from their portable DVD player in there, shorting out the wires inside the junction box, yanked it out hard with the same result, or allowed water inside and shorted it out, any of which would, hopefully, trip the circuit breaker in the breaker box....somewhere inside the locked office building!

So...it was a quick sandwich by flashlight after I quickly changed into sweatpants and sleeping sweatshirt and set up the sleeping bag and blankets....after double checking all my locking and security measures.

It was a cold night and between the ache in my foot from a lingering attack of gout the night before at Jenn's, a lingering runny nose exacerbated by the cold air, a sleeping bag with a zipper that will no longer 'lock' at the top end of it's track, but keeps opening as I move, indigestion and a regular reaching out for the Tums, and the reasonable paranoia after having my 'home' violated and vandalized......sleep was long in coming, short in duration, interrupted by an urgent and impossible to put off run to the gas station about 4:00 am., then starting at every voice I heard pass by once it got light, (I was hoping to catch the gentleman from Harview Roofing if he happened to come by again, both to thank him for the Quiznos card, and ask him to check the breaker....(discreetly if possible...lol). I was in and out over and over again until I must have fallen asleep just before 9:30 am., which I had actually chosen as time to get up and out, and woke up, dressed and left there about 11:15 am., still tired.

After using the bathroom at the Giant, (nerves?), a few times while shopping, I ended up here at Starbucks about 1:30 pm., (I was in no mood to put up with the waiting room at JAI today). I ran into my friend Stewart, (picture the words..'softspoken little old man'.. and you will have a visual....lol... and we talked for a few hours before I had to eat or pass out. Then I turned on the computer.....and it's 6:30 pm. already!

I may be on again before I leave....no power in the shed and no battery life on this laptop....which reminds me I got so caught up in things and the weather that I have not talked to Eric since I dropped off the [s]laptop!

Later................................Dave

"Raining.....RAINING.......Glug...Glug...Glug ...............&................Everytime I'm About To Give Up On Humanity.......Faith Restored....."

2011-12-08T19:45:00.007-05:00

Good Evening;

Well.......2 days of rain, and as the Meteorologists like to qualify, "Heavy at times".....(to which I say HEAVY Hell, Niagara Falls was a 'light drizzle' compared to a couple of the down pours that passed over!...{and because the leaks in the shed roof have to saturate the 4 inches or more of sponge-like fiberglass insulation before even hitting my 'drainage channels', the dripping is probably STILL going on! One of the reasons I wasn't plugging the computer or ANYTHING else in to the extension cord after a certain point}......[especially after Jenn had picked me up at the Giant and she, I, and Devin were in her car on I-695 & I-83 & then the narrow, twisty, and dark little country roads in East Bumf....I mean Monkton where many of the big ass old trees that literally grow on the side of the road are streaked and scarred with automotive paint accumulated over the years!]...and the couple that stalled in place in Pikesville), and a day and a night of natural and induced "fever dreams and hallucinations", {which is the title of one of my old favorite pieces of poetry, I'll have to try and find a copy....lol}, and 24 hours up at Tom's mother's house, where they now have a basement apartment, where I spent time monstersitting, which was mostly composed of a neverending 'tea party' with breaks for food, sleep, the monster's not me...lol, and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", the ORIGINAL animated version, true to the book!, and now I'm back at Starbucks in Mt. Washington, via Light Rail from Hunt Valley, and you not only have my movements for the past few days..... but also one hell of a run on sentence, if I do say so Myself!..................LMAO!

But the real reason to write this quick update is to celebrate the quiet and unsung generosity of another average person here in Baltimore, one of the original points of this blog in the first place.

When I walked in here this evening and was just getting settled, a gentleman named Zeke, a regular customer here, whom I had spoken with a few weeks ago, for the first time after months of smiles and nods hello, and talked with about being on the street and selling the candy bars and possible ideas about a 'street vendors' license in the future, walks over and asks me if I was "the homeless guy he had spoken with a few weeks ago". Upon my confirmation and also remembering his name, he asks 'could use any money', and 'could he give me any'? As usual when someone comes up and asks like that, it sort of flummoxes me and I'm not always sure how to answer. I said, "Well I'm not asking for any from you, but sure, I can always use cash." He pulls out a couple $20.00 bills starts to put his wallet away and reaches out and pulls out another $10.00! I was pretty much speechless and finally was able to stammer out multiple thank yous and bless yous, and expressed both my amazement and gratitude at his generosity and spontaneous action.

It always both reinforces my faith in humanity and humbles me when someone acts in this manner, wanting nothing, expecting nothing and just following their heart.

Thanks again Zeke, and all those other folks who have quietly gifted me and other souls in need without fanfare or going through some sort of agency or organization, but through person to person contact recognizing a shared humanity and humility.

So many times I have heard variations of; 'I've been where you are', or 'My {insert family member} is/was homeless', or frequently.....'there but for the grace of God.......'.

Well, I've got to pack up and get ready to head out, a little richer in pocket, and a lot richer in faith.

Later..................................Dave

"fReaKIN' nYqUIL!!!!!!!!!!!#%......."

2011-12-07T01:51:00.002-05:00

I Woke Up Out Of Crazy Ass Dreams To Pee And Giant Mutant Carnivorous Zombies Mice With Eyes Of Fire Are Staring At Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Another NyQuil Night ...................OR.................. ........ Bring On The Fever Dreams!!!!!!......."

2011-12-06T14:50:00.005-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well the yawning was only a false alarm last night/this morning. I could not get to sleep until 6:30 am., and then only for an hour before what appears to be a mild case of the intestinal flu woke me up and had me running to the bathroom at the Giant like a candy assed baboon!

A few hours of repeated trips to either the restroom or the privacy of the bushes followed, depending on which end suddenly became the current point of exit for everything I had ingested over the past 24 hours or so.

I was able to fall asleep when things settled down about 11:00 am., and slept for about 2 & 1/2 hours. After just sitting here wrapped in the sleeping bag and sipping Pedialyte and nibbling on some crackers things are stabilized and my stomach, while still queasy is over the worst of it. Now there seems to be a herd or viruses..(virii?..lol!)..migrating up into the sinus regions and setting up shop while playing 'Cora Di Zingari' AKA 'The Italian Gypsy Chorus'....or as it is familiarly know in English...'The Anvil Chorus', in multiple part percussive harmony during an aerial bombardment in the midst of a thunderstorm while inside an iron foundry! I swear my corneas are vibrating!

While it has only rained hard for a short time since it started before dawn, there has been a steady drizzle with occasional showers all day, making for a clammy damp atmosphere, and now according to the the doppler radar map on The Weather Channel's hour by hour forecast with 15 minute interval detailed breakdowns....there is a heavy rain and possible thunderstorm headed this way within the hour. As is obvious, I postponed my doctor's visit to the clinic today, no way was I going to be caught stranded on the bus stops when the need arose to get to a bathroom, right there and then or else! And now I hear the rain beginning to increase in intensity...so maybe Thursday or Friday, depending on the amount of snow that falls up in Monkton, which is in the Northern half of Baltimore County, in what is called the 'Hereford Zone', and is on the other side of the climatic divide where the weather is influenced more by the mountains than the ocean, (and the Chesapeake [and Delaware] Bays).

Oh hell, the little rubber 'tit' that goes between the [missing] right arrow key and the actual pressure switch just came off. I've got to be sure not to lose it and hope that Super Glue has emerged from whatever box it was packed up in at Jenn's tomorrow....it would be a real pain in the butt having to use a toothpick every time I needed to use it....lol.

Anyway, now I've started coughing and my throat tickles. I'm going to the Giant in the next lull in the rain, so I don't get soaked and make whatever I'm coming down with worse, and get some hot soup and a bottle of Powerade, and fill my water bottle and come back in here and wrap up and do some shots of NyQuil or it's equivalent and try to knock this out of my system by tomorrow morning.

Later.............................Dave

The History of Homelessness in America, 1640-Present - Street News Service

2011-12-05T23:40:00.001-05:00

Good Morning;

This is a link to a very interesting although quite long article, the title of which is self explanatory, from the "Street News Service", once you link to it, you may want to bookmark the site for further perusal or reference:

The History of Homelessness in America, 1640-Present - Street News Service

Later........................Dave

"Cold Feet....... Raw Fish.... Fine Coffee...... Unconditional Love...... Lost Data........ Mythdirection...... Hot Glass......."

2011-12-05T23:29:00.008-05:00

Good Evening;

So....today was a pretty good day, all things considered. After waking up at the crack of 8:44 am. with an urgent need to get to the bathroom....or else, I made some phone calls and found out I did not need to be in East Baltimore until 1:30 pm. So I just went and lay down for a couple hours to make up for the sleep I did not get last night because I just could NOT get warm, especially my right foot.

It was cold, about 32 degrees, but not bitterly so, but my foot had gotten cold while I was dressing for bed and never warmed up.....until the time of the above urgent summons to the bathroom!

Even with going back to sleep I accomplished the one major task I HAD to do, which was getting a new 20 day supply of 'bupe' while I had the money.

Rachel called while I was on the train and we had a nice long talk, and I told her as soon as I found out from Jenn what the arrangements for Wednesday afternoon and night and Thursday morning were, (I'm monstersitting in Monkton again), I'd let her know when we were next going out.

After that I ended up at the coffee shop about 2:30 pm. and killed time until my friend Michelle got off work at 5:30 pm. and joined me for lattes and sushi. We had a lovely and much needed visit and sat and talked until almost closing. 12 years and counting and the magic is still there..as is the continuing imperfect timing....sighhh. But....there is a sign that karma, fate, and/or kismet have not finished with us yet!

By totally unrelated means it turns out one of the housemates in the house she has moved into was a high school friend of my daughter Jenn. Just another coincidence in a long line of serendipitous and fortuitous synchronicity in events, occasions, unknown mutual acquaintances, and situations.

Unrequited love.....no.

Unconventional, uncommon, unusual, unconditional, uneven, unbalanced, and unregulated.....yes.

And there was a problem with Blogger and the rest of this post went missing.....sh*t....sh*t.....sh*t!

To try to recap...

After she left I hustled over to the bus stop as much as I could with both of my bags and a body that tends to get slower if forced to try to go faster.

I saw the bus at the red light at Falls Rd. and the Kelly Ave. bridge and knew I would not make it....but the light stayed red...and stayed red...and stayed red...and I kept moving. Just as I came up to eye level on the ramp to the bridge...the light changed, and as I reached the curb to cross the street...out of nowhere comes a whole slew of cars in the opposite lane from the # 58 bus....which blew by around the curve and out of sight.

Instead of waiting for the #27 bus due about 20 minutes later, but always either early or late..(mostly late..it's a looooonng route)..and the 2 minute window to catch the 9:55 pm. #59 bus I usually get is more often than not closed and nailed shut by the time the bus gets there.

I could see that Jenn's car was still in the church parking lot below, which meant that she was chatting with the women in her Home Group and smoking in the parking lot.

I caught her as she was about to leave and convinced her a short 5 mile detour west to Pikesville was not out of her way north and east to Monkton...lol.

When she dropped me off I stopped in the Giant to use the restroom and get something to drink, then headed over to the shed.....where I almost immediately turned around and went back to Giant to buy a package of light bulbs.

(Helpful Hint: DO NOT let your attention, and thereby your aim wander while spraying aerosol air freshener near an unshaded light bulb!)

POP!!!!!!!!!! and.... "Boom Boom- Out go the lights!"

After being hit in the face with a large hot chunk of flying glass, I was happy that I had stopped at the Giant previously, thereby avoiding the ritual "soiling of the pants"!......lol!

Tomorrow is doctor's visit day, sometime after Noon, because even if I show up when the doors open, I'm not going to see her until 3:00 pm. at the earliest, since appointments, which are being booked ahead 90 days or so, are always seen first. So I can try to make up some lost sleep time....hopefully.

Oh Good...uncontrollable yawning.....time to say goodnight

So that brings us back around to now, minus the time it took me to create, type, lose, try to recall, and retype half of this post....lol.

Later..............................Dave

"Shelter Fallout..........................."

2011-12-05T16:06:00.003-05:00

Good Afternoon;

An article in today's Baltimore Sun, (link below), about the lack of spaces in the City's new shelter also gives a small peek into why I avoid the shelters unless it's a matter of life or death;

As temperatures fall, fewer city beds for the homeless

Later................Dave

"No Plan Ever Survives Contact With The Enemy!.........................First Law Of Military Tactics........And Parenting!......"

2011-12-05T01:08:00.007-05:00

Good Morning;

So just a quick update before I turn the light out and try to get some much needed rest/sleep.

Jenn and the grand monsters picked me up just past 9:00 pm. last night on their way home from her mother's family's annual Family Christmas Party, (caps intentional..it's that big of a deal....lol), and we all went back out to East Bumfu......, I mean Monkton to their new home. By the time the kids got put to bed and I got out of a desperately needed shower, and Tom got home from a DJ gig in D.C. and the three off us got to sit down, eat, and talk it was after Midnight. By the time I got my clothes out of the old, slow, but efficient, washing machine and into the dryer it was almost 2:00 am. and Jenn and Tom had just fallen asleep. I, however, after suffering what I thought was a fully grown, ripe, and spiky pineapple passing through my poor abused colo-rectal system, due to a change in dosage of one of my meds that had me bound up tighter than "a bull's ass in fly time" as the expression goes, spent the next 3 hours getting up from the recliner and running to the bathroom for the totally 180 degree opposite reason...... And who the hell knows why? Change of meds, reaction to the well water, maybe even the body rejecting the "foreign substance" that it's not used to dealing with....namely an actual hot, juicy, greasy and delicious McDonalds 1/3 lb. Angus Bacon Cheeseburger that it has not dealt with in a couple years.....??

Anyway, it was a restless night, Jenn even said I didn't even snore/choke/stop breathing as I usually do from the sleep apnea!

Plans were supposed to be, getting up and out and on the road by 9:00 am. so that they could get in town to church, and I could get dropped off in Mt. Washington to be picked up by Rachel and her mother to be dropped off at the movies....HA! I called the 'ex' the FIRST time at 9:30 am. saying we had not left the house yet, and would probably be getting there just in time to be dropped off to make the 11:55 am.movie, the last one with the $6.00 ticket price. At 10:30 am. I called and said I'll call you whenever we leave here, but the movies are a goner for today, Rachel and I will do lunch and figure something out when I get there.

So it's Noon + :30 when I call to say I'm here drop her off.

Now in the rushing around to leave Monkton I felt as if I was forgetting something. I was abot to go back down into the basement to look when it was pointed out to me that 'Porch Cat' had raided my Giant bag, (one of the neon green reusables, that I keep my foods in), and had dragged out and ripped into a package of hamburger buns,(which are cheaper and hold up better than a loaf of bread with all the moving around I do), and was eating them as if he had not been fed in weeks...the fat slob eats 3 times a day! I have never seen a cat eat bread like that! He nailed at least 2 whole buns, maybe more!

Well this distracted me and in the commotion of getting the car loaded and the kids strapped in etc., I never looked for my hat, saying, I'll get it Wednesday when I'm coming back to monster-sit anyway.

So...when Rachel gets dropped off and I'm leaning in her mother's car to talk to her, I notice a familiar tightness in the right rear quadrant of my jean is missing, I reach back to find....NO WALLET!

At that point I remembered where my hat was...on the bookshelf downstairs at Jenn's, 45 minutes away, with my wallet in it...along with all my money except $0.76 in coin, and my bus pass. Yeah, greatttttttt!

So Rachel and I ended up hanging out at Starbucks all afternoon and I scraped up enough to get her a kids hot chocolate with lot of whipped cream. I had a package of Keebler Fudge Coated Vanilla Creme Wafers and the remains of a bag of Halloween size candy bars that Jenn had given me, (Almond Joy & Malt Balls that nobody there liked...everybody in her family hates cocoanut...lol....but which Rachel and both love), so we had a 'Chocolate Lunch'.....lol.

We played on the computer at Barbie.com, one of her favorite sites, and found a pinball game among the games programs on the laptop...she's a budding 'wizard' too.

She had brought a bag of markers, paper, scissors, glue stick, and a 'paper pizza' she had colored and cut into wedges, and she and another little girl she made friends with cut out paper dolls and a cat and I made a tent for them and they played for a good long while, as I read the paper.

All in all it was as good a day as we would have had at the movies, which are postponed until after I deal with some appointments Monday - today- and I get to the doctor's Tuesday, then depending on the rain the rest of the week, and when Jenn is picking me up Wednesday.......etc. Maybe even until next weekend.

Jenn and family had went to Hampden to watch the Mayor's Christmas Parade, and pulled up to pick me up at the same time Rachel's mother did, just before dark. I rode back to Monkton and ended up sitting around for about 90 minutes or so until Tom was heading to Home Depot and dropped me at the Hunt Valley Light Rail terminus. I got to Mt.Washington in time to catch the 8:50 pm. bus, which is an hour later than I usually do on Sunday, (normal M-Sa time), which got me to the Plaza Subway station about 20 after 9:00 pm. and a 35 minute wait until the next bus allowed me to finish the novel I was reading so I got off at the library, walked to the Giant for a delicious and healthy dinner of day old reduced crullers, then to the gas station where the KENO gods smiled upon for the first time in weeks and I walked out $15.00 ahead...underwear money!!!!....LOL!

Then back here to catch the news and write this and now...to bed.....only 90 minutes after I had planned...lol. It's 2:29 am.....

Good Night!!!!!!!!!

Later.......................Dave

"Waiting....But Not For Godot, .........................Countryside Bed & Bath..........................."

2011-12-03T20:07:00.007-05:00

Good Evening;

Well I'm here at the coffee shop killing time and waiting for a call from Jenn or closing time....whichever comes first.

I'm getting picked up by her, sometime, somewhere tonight and going to their place in Monkton to shower and wash clothes, (the things I did not wash already today not knowing this opportunity would arise), and crash. She is at a family party and not sure what time they are leaving. If I do not hear from her by 9:00 PM. when the Starbucks closes I'm walking over to the Light Rail and taking the train to the end of the line at Hunt Valley. Where hopefully we will meet up when or soon after the train gets there. If the party runs late, (and hopefully it won't be too late because the kids are with them), I guess I'll camp out in the Mickey Ds right across the parking lot until...???????.

Tomorrow they are leaving Monkton early, (9:00 am.), for church back here in the city and dropping me off at the coffee shop or Light Rail and Rachel and I are going out from there. Not sure what or where, it depends on the time I get here, but an early movie is a high probability.

So I have my bus pass, deodorant, and half the laundry washed and dried, a fair start on my list of 'to dos'.

Last night was pretty cold, 28 degrees and I'm not fully rearranged for freezing or below temps. so when I kicked the 'pocket' I created in the foot of the blanket off my feet, they got that weird "hot-numb-tingly-cold" feeling and sleep was a mix of in and out, with very little rem sleep. My eyes feel 'sandy', and I REALLY!!!!!! need this shower for a couple reasons.

News Flash: Jenn just texted me-"Stay at Starbucks, should be there before or slightly after closing time"

Well that makes life easier. That's it for now.

Later....................Dave

"Huh..Whuh....Wherzafire??????................"

2011-12-03T01:44:00.003-05:00

Good Morning;

It's 1:45 am. and there must be a huge fire somewhere because both Pikesville Volunteer and Pikesville paid, (Balto.Co. F.D.), have just sent out what sounded like all their pieces of equipment, and I could hear more sirens in the distance from the Beltway (I-695)!

Story of my life....lol, the one time I am asleep, and such a nice, warm, cozy, restful sleep it was too, ....sighhhhh, I'm literally bounced all over the shed from the sirens & air horns.....and PVFD has a damn TRAIN air horn they are so proud of and do not hesitate to use....needed or not!.....LOL!

Nighty-night.........

Later..........................................Dave

Homeless Residents Not Evicted From Hopeville

2011-12-03T01:43:00.003-05:00

Good Morning;

A link to the KTVI FOX2 St.Louis website;

Homeless Residents Not Evicted From Hopeville

Later....................Dave

More and more homeless people living in their cars | egmCarTech

2011-12-02T18:57:00.004-05:00

Good Evening;

An article from an automotive technical publication on the homeless;

More and more homeless people living in their cars | egmCarTech

It is good to see the issue noted and/or discussed in a different forum.

The more dissemination the better.

Later....................Dave

"Don't Ask----Don't Tell..............."

2011-12-02T16:14:00.004-05:00

Good Afternoon;

So..just for sh*ts and giggles I called the 1-800 # for my Independence card account last night about 12:20 am., knowing that there would be no money there. I damn near sh*t myself giggling when I heard the recorded voice tell me there were $xxx.xx available. Having spoken to D.S.S. that morning and being told "no, nada, nothing" I do not know if this was an error on their part or the problem was fixed.....and I'm not going to ask until next year!

After pulling most of it out, just in case, I went to the Giant and bought lunch, about 11:00 am., and a cup of real coffee. I spent some time just sitting in the sun enjoying a nice fall day, until it was time to take some more sinus meds, which I had to go back to the shed for, having forgotten them.

I came over here to the coffee shop after calling JAI and asking what the waiting room looked like, and was told don't even think about it. I'll have to hit it Tuesday, (NEVER on a Monday), because I need my BP meds prescription renewed ASAP.

Tomorrow....Jockey shorts! And finding SOMEWHERE to shower, if I cannot do so tonight. Feign interest in a gym membership, take the free tour, shower, and tell the poor salesperson to save their pitch because I don't want to waste their time...????....maybe!

Anybody want to trade the use of their bathroom facilities for some cappuccino & conversation?.....I'm buying. Call me, E-mail me,

"Have Bus Pass-Will Travel"

Can't stop by the college and walk in the gym anymore after all the damn psychos and their crazy sh*t on campuses. And I am not familiar enough anymore with any condos with pools or health clubs to walk in as if I belonged like I used to do.

I did the best I could do yesterday with a handful of the sanitizing wipes you can get at the entrances to the food stores and a bunch of paper towels. Even though folks I've asked who will tell me the truth say I don't smell funky, I feel that way still.

Tentative plans for Sunday revolve around Rachel. If I can get her mother to drop us off, we are going out to the Owings Mills 17 movie theatres to catch the "$6.00 before Noon" showing of...

Puss In Boots?

Hugo?

Jack And Jill?

Happy Feet 2?

????

And then head to lunch somewhere cheap.

It is supposed to be nicer Sunday than Saturday, by 6-10 degrees so waiting for buses should not be too bad.

Anyhow....it's almost 5:00 pm., time to eat the food I bought hours ago for 'lunch',

Later...........................Dave

"Just A Bad Day, Cont'd............................With A Happy Little Lift At The End..................."

2011-12-01T23:22:00.002-05:00

Good Evening;

To continue....

As I was heading towards the Light Rail to 'get outta Dodge' before the cops showed up, (it seems there was an "anonymous" complaint about an 'aggressive panhandler'), a friend stopped and asked if I wanted a ride to Mt. Washington. Of course I accepted.

As we were approaching Northern Pkwy. ON I-83 and the traffic thinned out a bit and speeds increased, I was gradually coming off the adrenaline buzz from my little confrontation.

Or so I thought!!!!!!, when with no warning his right front tire suffered an..."explosive decompression at speed"!, and we sliding sideways up the JFX! Luckily my friend, (who does not wish his name published), was able to get us to the shoulder safely, with no spinning out, slamming into the car next to us or hitting the Jersey Wall. After I changed the tire, (it would have taken way too long for him to unclench his fingers and remove his hands from the steering wheel....lol!), he dropped me at the Light Rail station on his way home, (I asked if he wanted a cup of coffee with me, but he mumbled something about needing clean shorts...lol!) and I walked over on rubbery legs to the Starbucks.

I sat there for a while, started this post and drank my water and took some of the new Mucinex Nasal Pressure Relief meds......so far-so good! When I was on the way out I heard Katie call me, and when I turned back she had a bag of marked out breakfast sandwiches for me. What a nice surprise and right on time too. She truly is one of the sweetest and kindest young ladies who has worked there.

So my fingers are cold and I'm going to go to sleep and try (again!) to get out early to get some cash. I need my monthly disability bus pass-$16.50, fresh deodorant and disposable razors-about $6.00, and I desperately need new undershorts-about $12.00, not to mention as much as I can acquire for Chanukah presents for Rachel. Plus scraping up enough for food for the week, and $100.00 for meds. Hopefully the D.S.S./S.S.A. paperwork fiasco will be straightened out by January...but I doubt it, February is much more likely, based on their 'past performance'

Anyway....the 'sinus' part of the meds are starting to kick in...and they are not 'non-drowsy'..goodnight all,

Later................................Dave

"Just A Bad Day............................."

2011-12-01T20:30:00.003-05:00

Good Evening;

Well...I'm sitting here at the coffee shop drinking an ice water because the last thing I need is caffeine mixing with all the adrenaline that is running through my system right now. My stomach doesn't have 'butterflies' but more like a flock of vultures fighting over fresh carrion!

I got out about 3:00 pm. and stopped at the Quiznos to eat, (having no food, foodstamps, nor cash...but enough for 2 meals on the Q card, with the coupons I received.), then caught the bus to the subway. Where I waited 40 minutes for the train because the system was having 'troubles', watching the sun set and daylight rapidly fade. I eventually got to the light rail and down to Camden Yards and went over to the corner of Conway St. ans got out the chocolate bars and the sign.

I then found out why that corner was empty at the time....extremely short red lights and very bad glare from headlights, (which made it impossible to see if someone was waving me over).

I left there after 15 minutes and took the light rail up to North Ave. and I-83 where I again set up and was starting to have some good luck. Until this thug type comes up and tells me I have to leave, that he just got out of Central Booking and was taking 'his' corner back. Well...if he had asked me and told me his story, I probably would have yielded gracefully....but he got in my face and threatened me, which kicked in 'fight or flight mode', (and adrenal discharge # 1). I had my screwdriver in my pocket and pressed it up against his abdomen as he pushed up on me, telling him to BACK THE F*CK OFF! Never having learned to fight in the manner of the street culture where one trades punches until the other gives in and capitulates, but only in the style that says "If you think you're going to get hurt......do whatever is necessary to make the other person unable to do so", I just backed him off, gathered my bags and backed away, until I was out of range and sure he was not coming after me. I thought about crossing to the other corner, but seeing him knocking on windows as cars pulled up, I did not want to be around when the cops showed up.....

times up here.....more in a while

Later.........................Dave

"Demented Dreams,................Depressive Screams,........................And A Flagon Of Cold Weather Whine................"

2011-11-30T22:29:00.003-05:00

Good Evening;

Well, the past 2 days have not been productive to say the least. Most of the past 48 hours have been spent in the sleeping bag either shivering or curled up in a fetal position. I fell asleep Tuesday afternoon about 4:30 pm. and woke up at 11:30 pm.totally disoriented and with the start of what appears to be another sinus infection. After running to the Giant before they closed to use the restroom I took my nighttime meds and some NyQuil tablets and some generic Immodium. The next 12 hours were a mix of broken twisted dreams, paranoid fantasies, and extremely realistic hallucinations.

NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT "Accidentally" take same combination of Meds and OTCs!!! (But bookmark this page for future reference if bored....lol)

Today the building wave of depression crested and broke, inundating me with all the usual negative and self defeating thoughts. The tools and exercises used to combat or minimize the effects were of little or no help today. Between the drop in temperature and the emotional crash dive, and external triggers, and the ongoing and unresolved physical issues, I just couldn't raise enough energy to get up until after 5:00 pm. It was out to use the bathroom and back in the shed and into the sleeping bag.

I really NEED to get up and out tomorrow to get some cash somehow, I've got bus fare for 1 day and my food stash is down to the candy bars I have to sell and a jar of instant coffee. It is supposed to get down to 32 degrees tonight, (and feel like 28), I hate cold weather, and that is a major factor in this episode of depression. As much as I know I should get out for the morning rush hour, the thought of getting up and out in the dark and cold, an hour before dawn to catch the bus(es) is dragging me even farther down. If my hands are starting to hurt now.....

Another thing I am dreading is sitting for hours in the waiting room at JAI, which is also a necessity.

Ah well, time to get my hands under cover, and try to sleep now, without dreams, so I can at least sit up in the morning when the alarm goes off and either turn it off and get up, hit the snooze and then get up next ring, or...turn it off and go back to sleep.

Instead of falling asleep 20 minutes before it goes off and not even hearing it,

like the other day.

Not having a regular place to shower is not helping matters either....tired, cold, and funky is not a good feeling. It is hard to look at or care about long term goals or options when day to day things seem to be falling apart. The whole D.S.S/S.S.A. thing has me ready to give up. When one hears people on the bus bragging how they 'gamed' the system with completely phony claims and 'got paid',......well......I don't even want to go there in print!

Anyway, maybe a good solid uninterrupted nights sleep, and the 'non-psychotic' nasal meds will help.

Later.......................Dave

"The Party's Over.................................."

2011-11-29T16:22:00.004-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Homeless Thanksgiving, American Style

Above is a link to a 'Poverty Insights' article.

Later................Dave

"5 Away From 20K..............&..........It's Raining Out So I'm Staying In......................."

2011-11-29T13:17:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon;

Well....the title says it all. Five more hits and we reach 20,000 visitors, and except for running to the Giant to use the restroom , wash up, make coffee, and grab some

'el cheapo' packaged deli ham and a bag of rolls I have not nor do I plan to, go out of the shed into this nasty ass rain.

I woke up at 6:30 am., a short hour after falling asleep, barely able to hear the alarm from my phone over the pounding of the rain on the roof and the steady patter of the drips through the roof. I reached out and turned it off and went back to sleep. At 9:30 am. I sat up, woke up enough to peer at the time, assess the noise level and rate of the rain on the roof and the amount of 'hissss' from wet rubber on wet asphalt coming from the cars on Reisterstown Rd., 'did the math', and concluded..."no effin' way!"...and fell back asleep before reaching full consciousness.

It was 11:38 am. when my body said 'either get up or wear Pampers' and I headed over to the Giant.

Now, time for breakfast, adding some ham to the 'Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella w/ Fresh Spinach & Basil Pesto on Focaccia Bread' from the Starbucks.

Later.......................Dave

"FANfare..................Cop Chop.....................Insomnia Insanity......................Drip Drama..................................."

2011-11-29T02:20:00.014-05:00

Good Morning;

Well it's 2:21 am. and sleep is nowhere on the horizon. The more I lay there attempting to fall asleep, the more all those tiny little voices on the very edge of hearing and comprehension amped up their whispering campaign of self doubt and recrimination, dredging up and re-examining the cold dead corpse of all the mistakes that were thought to be dead and buried and put to rest at last.

Rather than go screaming out into the night to play in traffic or drive an ice pick into my ears to make them stop, I'm hear finishing the post from earlier this evening to take my mind off them.

So...2 minutes after I get to the corner, the Mt. Royal Ave. side because the other side was being double teamed by the 'phony homeless drunk duo', a blond haired woman in a silver car pulls up to me and asks "Are you Dave?". When I answered in the affirmative,

(hey sometimes I don't admit to it....there are some spooky folks out there with Internet access!..............lol!),

she hands me $2.00 and tells me she reads our little blog, and says keep the candy bars.

Thank you kind stranger, that made my day!

In the short hour that I was out there 2 other people handed me cash and also said keep the candy. I was starting to feel good about the day and was looking forward to rush hour from about 3:30 pm. to 5:30 pm.

The general consensus has been positive as regards just asking for money vs. it being a transaction, small though it is. As one woman put it, "If I have this dollar, which I am going to give to 1 homeless person out of the half dozen I see on my ride home, I'd rather give it to someone who shows at least a semblance of initiative as opposed to the guy on the same corner in the same clothes, day after day.

That positive feeling lasted about an hour and $12.00 until the cop who pulled up and said "what are you doing?" and when I showed him the sign, (because I try not to disrespect the police and stand their right in their face so they are forced to take action, I usually fold the sign and put it down and take a drink of water or wipe my face, etc. until the light changes and they pull off), and said "just ,trying to make an honest dollar", and he said "you gotta roll out and move along".

I packed up and went down to the bus stop under the bridge to catch the #13 to East Baltimore to go see Monkee and get another couple days worth of meds. It's gotten to the point that instead of a month's supply, I getting a week's, due to cash flow.

(3:04 am.)

uh oh....hold on.....

okay I'm back...the 'new' drip shields/guides/runnels had to be adjusted...it's raining hard here right now... damnit!

(3:25 am.)

Just when I come up with an idea with possibilities and some legitimacy I seem to have lost the one particular location where traffic flow, diversity of commuters, comfort zone, accessibility, and safety are all acceptable. Yes, there are other corners in the area that could be of equivalent value, but I am only familiar with one.(the 'T' intersection right where the Light Rail stop is at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, where Howard St. turns into I-295 and Conway St. ends at the entrance to the parking lot.) I have been told that there have been people up the road a bit on Reisterstown Rd. at the traffic light at the Beltway, I-695, ramps, which I may scope out in the morning rush hour...if I can sleep and wake up.....and the rain is not too heavy.

(4:00 am.)

oh crap......gotta another one to fix....

and that was fun......NOT!

(4:15 AM.)

The 'ex' does not have the car this week during the day so she cannot bring Rachel to the library as I had hoped so we could hang out there and walk over to Quiznos for lunch. IF...and it's a big 'if' at this point...the weather and my body cooperate, and I either get lucky up the road, or get the energy and ambition to get moving REAL early and make it down to North Ave. for the rush hour, (and for the 6:00 to 2:00 shift by the police), and get enough cash I'll swing by Mt. Washington and pick up Rachel and take her out to lunch.

Where depends on the intake for the morning, and whether I'm coming from here or in town.

And I just realized I HAVE!!! to get to doctor's ASAP to not only get my prescriptions renewed, but I need to talk to her about the returning symptoms in my feet and also about the pain in the abdomen which has steadily been increasing.

Anyway, I'm starting to fall asleep at the keyboard and the rain has stopped...for now. I'm getting back in the bag and giving it another try..

(4:41 am.).

Later........Dave

(5:04 am.)

"Late.....Later.............Latest.............."

2011-11-28T19:52:00.003-05:00

Good Evening;

So...I'm here at the coffee shop just about to start typing a short post when Anthony hands me a couple marked out sandwiches....

--I'll be back in a few minutes--

Okay, I'm back...

It was a case of honest desire being trumped by autonomic bodily needs this morning. I was up at 5:45 am. and got dressed to go out and hit the corner, but since the Giant opens at 6:00 am. I sat down on the sleeping bag for a minute....or 240! It was almost 10:00 am. when I woke again, and I felt like I had been "rode hard & put away wet". Everything ached....where it was not in actual pain.

By the time I got unkinked and moving it was nearly 11:00 am.

After going to the Giant and making coffee, washing and using the facilities, I felt halfway human. I went over to Quiznos and ate and felt close to normal, except for the now constant ache in the upper right abdomen.

By the time I finally got down to the corner and held up the sign it was 1:30 pm.

OOPS! I have to pack up and leave now, it's close to closing time and out I go to catch the bus....

To be cont'd......

Later...............Dave