Aimless

You'll never believe this: The

2008-11-19T12:16:00.001-05:00

You'll never believe this: The trainhop-related charge was dropped... before my mom even called the prosecutor on my behalf. More later maybe.

An eternal headache

2008-11-19T02:02:00.001-05:00

Oh Jesus Christ, where to begin? First, I'm not gonna make it to Eloy and I really don't care. So I'll be in contempt of court, eh? Yeah, well Eloy is in contempt of Ryan. They've already taken a month from my life and they've probably cut some time off the end of it, too. I've been punished enough; they're not gonna get a cent from me. I might have gotten a ride if I'd been quicker to realize that some guy at the truck stop is way beyond a compulsive liar. I can't even begin to tell that story here. --> Today I watched a big truck push a BMW sideways about 300 feet, with the front of the truck against the BMW's driver's-side door. Got some of it on tape, too. The lady in the BMW was seriously freaked out and crying when the truck finally stopped, right in front of me. I really felt for her; I can't imagine the terror of what she went through. The trucker had no idea she'd even hit the
car, and if I hadn't been there, she probably wouldn't have stopped as soon as she did. Very surreal.

The one time I absolutely

2008-11-18T20:31:00.001-05:00

The one time I absolutely HAVE TO get a ride, it's beginning to look like I'm fucked. If I don't get a ride in the next 8 hours, I'm in contempt.

Family man

2008-11-17T02:39:00.000-05:00

This dude is Family Guy. Not only does he look like him, but he also kinda talks like him and has a very similar personality and sense of humor. When I told him he reminds me of Peter from Family Guy, he said other people have said that to him, but also that he has never even seen Family Guy. Kinda like me and Into the Wild, I guess. He's a trucker/firefighter named Tom.

What a messed up day, Part 1

2008-11-15T14:03:00.003-05:00

You have no idea what kind of shit I go through out here on the road sometimes. Let’s recap yesterday:

I already mentioned the citation for soliciting or whatever. That was early in the morning, and I really don’t think there will be any serious consequences when I don’t show up for court next year. The only reason the cop cited me is to keep some worthless bum out of Montclair forever. Y’see, he profiled me because I carried a large backpack, first writing a citation and asking questions later. When he figured out that I was actually a traveler, not a bum, he became a little less of a dick (but he was still a dick). After taking some time to think about signing the citation, I told him there’s no way I’ll be here in January 2009. That’s when he told me there will only be serious consequences if I show up in Montclair again.

Totally unnecessary bullshit.

Shortly after that, I took a bus to Rancho Cucamonga to put myself in position to see some football on Saturday before heading to a nearby truck stop to get a ride to Stupid Arizona.

In Rancho I ate at In-N-Out Burger. (I’ve been meaning to write a very detailed post about In-N-Out Burger for a while because In-N-Out is by far the best model of how to operate a business in this country. Maybe I’ll get to that sometime.) After eating, at about 5:30 pm, I became very tired and light-headed. It wasn’t lack of sleep or In-N-Out Burger that did this to me; I think it was a few short glimpses of direct sunlight that caused the strange feeling. So, as it was almost completely dark by this time, I began looking for a spot to set up camp for the night, or at least a place where I could lie down and rest a while.

Quickly finding an undeveloped desert area where I would not be seen at such an early hour, I began looking for a flat spot to put up my tent. As I walked around on the dirt and sand, I became more disoriented. I had tunnel vision and I felt very clumsy by now, but I knew I was close to finding a good spot. Feeling like I was in the early stages of a migraine, all I wanted to do was set up my tent and try to turn myself off.

I found a nice spot right away and began setting up. With my tent canopy unfolded on the ground, I assembled my tent poles, which only takes about 30 seconds. While putting together my poles, though, a light wind began blowing. The wind made it difficult for me to pitch the tent canopy, so I grabbed a couple stakes and stuck them through two corners of the tent and into the loose sand.

A couple minutes later, with my poles fully assembled in conjunction with the canopy and just a couple more clips to attach, a strong gust of wind came along and instantly I was running as fast as I could, chasing my tent south through the desert alongside I-15, toward a reasonably busy east-west road. As my tent blew across the road, about a quarter of a mile from my camp site, I was thankful that there was a gap in traffic, but I still didn’t know if I would ever catch up to the tent, especially because there was not a gap in traffic when I reached the road.

By the time I had crossed the road (with my head still not working properly), my tent had come to a stop, thanks to a chainlink fence. So I grabbed the tent and began carrying it back north, into the now constant wind. It was like I was flying 50 kites without a string. I worried that my tent poles would snap with the strength of the wind, and I also worried that I would lose my grip on the poles, possibly resulting in another chase.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Aimless
Aimless Video Evidence

Stuff

2008-11-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

Yeah, right. Like that girl will ever call me. --> I just received a citation from a dickhead Montclair cop for "Solicit from freeway offramp." Interestingly, I was walking down a surface street when he saw me and 'pulled me over.' Guess who is not going to appear in a Montclair courtroom on January 14, 2009. It wasn't me on the off-ramp and I really don't care if they put a warrant out for my arrest; I'm not going to be here. I may write a letter to the court or something, but I won't be here. And right now I really don't care if I make it to Eloy by next Wednesday. Fact is, I'm not a criminal, which is why I've NEVER been arrested for ANYTHING. And when I'm not on the road like this, I don't deal with cops, so I really have no reason to fear any prospective arrest warrants. I'm sick of this shit.

We're all Jekyll and Hyde

2008-11-13T21:00:00.019-05:00

Walking east on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena this morning, looking for a bus stop, I passed a very immobile man in a wheelchair--the kind of wheelchair with a control stick. The man had a sign that said something to the effect of "Please donate to stem cell research." Even though I am very comfortable with money right now, I walked right on by the guy without giving him anything. I felt like a dick before I even passed him because I knew I should've slipped him at least a dollar. I mean, how do you think I got the money that's currently in my pocket?

As I bought a cup of coffee a few minutes ago at The Coffee Bean in Upland, I found some money on the floor. For a moment I thought about keeping it without saying anything to anyone, but I couldn't just hold on to it without asking everyone if they were missing any money. So I asked the two girls behind the counter if they were missing anything. Nope. Then I asked the one other customer inside. He said he didn't think he was missing any money, but he looked inside his wallet and asked me, "Was it a 20?" His question was an adequate answer, so I handed him the $20 bill I'd found.

How many of you anonymous critics would've given up that 20? Better yet: How many of you anonymous critics, while living functionally homeless, would've given up that 20? (I don't expect you to answer. You already know the answer.)

JJ the crazy Cajun guy from Des Allemands called me this afternoon for the first time in quite a while, but I couldn't answer right then. I called him back about half an hour later, but I got his voice mail. I had been wondering lately if I would ever hear from JJ again, so his timing was interesting.

One of the girls working at this Coffee Bean is absolutely beautiful. She has the kind of beauty most guys probably can't recognize (because most guys are stupid). I want to tell her how beautiful she is, just so she knows at least one person sees it, but I probably won't because I'll end up saying the stupidest, most ass-brained thing possible. And it won't be adorably ass-brained, like a Ben Stiller character; it will be stalker ass-brained because I seem to have some kind of selective Tourette Syndrome whenever I dare talk to girls that attract me. She hasn't even given me "a look" or anything like that, though, so it really doesn't matter anyway. (But if you see this and I'm wrong, I'd love to hear from you: 614-738-3867.)

Oh yeah, and I returned my backpack to REI yesterday because it just kept falling apart. I couldn't exchange it for the same model because it's impossible to find the Palisade 80 in Medium right now. Luckily they had one Whitney 95 in stock. It's a little bigger than the Palisade 80, and it also costs $30 more, but I found an unplanned way around that. Y'see, I also returned my fifth(?) Therm-A-Rest Prolite 4 "self-inflating" sleeping pad yesterday because it lasted about 4 nights before getting a small puncture. This time, though, I exchanged it for a heavier, bulkier, more durable, and cheaper model. So even though I had to pay an extra $30 for the new backpack, I gained an extra $38 or so from the sleeping pad exchange.

Interestingly, I met a homeless guy/tramp last night that has a Palisade 80. He said he also has had problems with the hipbelt breaking, which was my major issue. (It's gonna happen with my new one, too, because the design is flawed big-time.)

I'm thinking about making a sign that says something like: "I'll use your donation more responsibly than God does." I need to figure out how to say the same thing in fewer words, though.

Also, I topped 1,400 walking-miles for 2008 yesterday morning, shortly after departing my temporary home near the Rose Bowl.

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Aimless
Aimless Video Evidence

Film crews

2008-11-12T20:07:00.013-05:00

I talked to quite a few people from the NCIS crew yesterday. Actually they initiated the conversations. One thing I've learned while watching film shoots around LA is that the people on the crews tend to be very cool and personable.

I'm seriously starting to consider moving to LA to try to get a job in the film industry. I don't even care what kind of job; I just think I'd like working in that environment, and I actually like LA a lot. If I happen upon any more sets while I'm around here, I may ask some of the crew members how to get a foot in the door for some kind of entry-level position.

At the NCIS shoot, unlike the other TV shoot I watched (Ghost Whisperer), all the main actors were on the set. The only name I know is Mark Harmon, but I recognized a very pretty actress and a young male actor, each of whom plays an NCIS agent.

I had never seen NCIS until recently, when I was stuck at a truck stop in Hell; I mean Arizona. If you didn't already know this, the TVs in truck stop driver lounges are almost always on either USA or TNT, which means Law & Order is almost always on. Lately, though, USA has been showing a lot of NCIS in the daytime. From what I've seen, anyway.

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Aimless
Aimless Video Evidence

NCIS

2008-11-11T16:00:00.000-05:00

They're filming a scene from NCIS today in downtown Pasadena. After I watch a little of this, I'm going to treat myself to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. A good meal like that is long overdue.

Excuse me... Colorado Boulevard.

2008-11-10T22:07:00.001-05:00

Excuse me... Colorado Boulevard.

This is weird: The heart

2008-11-10T22:03:00.001-05:00

This is weird: The heart of Pasadena (Colorado Avenue) actually feels A LOT like Manhattan, especially at night with reasonably cool weather.

No more Aimless

2008-11-04T01:52:00.000-05:00

For anyone who hasn't figured this out yet: Um, I'm almost certainly done blogging and this Aimless thing is effectively over, even though I'll be on the road for at least a little while longer. I'm just tired, lonely, mega stressed out, a little cuckoo, and I don't care anymore. --> To Amanda from Flying J, if you're out there: I'd really like to hear from you ASAP (like as soon as you read this). Your smile makes me feel good and your eyes seem to have spoken nice things to me, which I'm probably all wrong about, only because I feel like I want it to be true. Anyway, I'd just like to talk to you. I walked five unnecessary miles tonight, just hoping you'd be around so I might be able to talk to you a little bit. Obviously things didn't go as I'd hoped. (For everyone else: This Flying J has a rent-a-cop who thinks he makes a difference by kicking out very good customers simply because
they carry large backpacks.) Call me, Amanda. A few people think I'm a really nice guy.

The judge said I won't

2008-10-27T18:02:00.001-04:00

The judge said I won't have a public defender because there's no chance I'll go to jail. Also because the charge is a misdemeanor.

Testing the system

2008-10-27T15:45:00.000-04:00

I met with the judge just before noon today. Without first having the chance to speak to an attorney, I was given the choice to plead either guilty or not guilty. The judge told me a guilty plea means I'll have to pay a $450 fine, which is not gonna happen without a fight. I wanted some time to think, though, before deciding on a plea. So when the judge gets back from lunch, I'll be officially pleading not guilty, which means I'll have to be back in Eloy on November 19th to meet with a prosecutor for some kind of preliminary hearing. I do intend to take advantage of my right to state-appointed legal counsel. However, if there is an attorney out there somewhere who would like to represent me pro bono, or at least give me some good advice, I'd like to hear from you. Or if anyone out there knows someone who could give me a hand, I'd really appreciate your help. You can call me at
614-738-3867.

Delayed again

2008-10-27T13:39:00.001-04:00

So now they're putting off my court appearance until at least noon because the railroad cop apparently can't be here until then. However, I've been informed that the judge will be taking lunch at noon, so I'll possibly have to wait another two hours beyond that. It seems to me that the police officer, who himself set my court appearance for 9:00, should be held responsible for showing up on time, just like I was. I've had to figure out how to survive the last 11 days in a state I wanted to leave long ago, then find my way back to this nothing town for a court appearance, which I did. But he's allowed to show up whenever he wants, while I sit around for several hours? This is total bullshit! They asked me if I wanted to put it off until Wednesday, instead of waiting all these hours. No, I just want the court to have some integritah, and I want the cop to be held responsible and
accountable for his actions. Let's get this show on the road.

Eloy Arizona

2008-10-27T13:00:00.000-04:00

I had all kinds of weird dreams and thoughts last night. In one dream, OJ Simpson committed suicide by jumping off a building; presumably a prison. It's weird that my unconscious brain would dig up something like OJ Simpson because I have not had any significant conscious thoughts about him in years and I almost never have a chance to follow the news. All I know about current Juice events is that he was recently on trial for something in Las Vegas and I'm pretty sure he was convicted. --> I showed up at Eloy Municipal Court before 9:00 this morning, as directed, but I soon found out there is no court on Mondays. The clerk or cashier looked at my citation and couldn't find anything about my case in their computers or files. Eventually she told me that the judge is in a meeting and will see me at about 10:30. So I'm just waiting right now, bored as hell. Since the railroad cop apparently
is not going to show up, I have the feeling my punishment will be a wag of the finger.

At McDonald's, for some reason

2008-10-24T22:32:00.000-04:00

At McDonald's, for some reason I thought about the song Superstar by the Carpenters. A minute later it was the next song to play on their Muzak.

I just wrote a long

2008-10-23T17:09:00.002-04:00

I just wrote a long post, but fucking Blogger won't publish it. Maybe I can work it out within a few weeks, whenever I find some more free wifi.

Nevermind. I guess it published. I'm still really pissed off and sick of this Blogger shit.

Catching up

2008-10-23T15:01:00.013-04:00

I found some free wifi for the first time in three or four weeks. Since no one gave me any shit for my last post, I'll try to catch up on the last week or so. Thanks to fucking Blogger, I lost a whole bunch of stuff I'd written here and now have to rewrite it. I really wish people would stop commenting anonymously, just so I can tell who's writing what.

All right. Here goes...

First, I sat around at a Flying J in Eloy, Arizona for about two days after getting busted on the freight train that I didn't even want to ride. The only reason I rode it is because about 20 people in Tucson told me the Flying J was only about 5 or 10 miles out of town. However, after walking about six miles out of civilization, I saw a billboard for the Flying J, telling me it was still another 32 miles up the road. So I stopped for the night and slept near what seemed to be a busy exit from I-10.

In the morning I went straight to the northbound on-ramp, hoping to get a short ride to the Flying J, but no luck. Nearly out of water but thirsty as hell because I was saving the few remaining ounces, a northbound train soon stopped at the nearby siding. I didn't plan to ride the train at first, but I might have been fucked if I'd kept trying to get a ride, so I walked down the frontage road and found a spot on the front of an empty shipping container car.

About 30 miles up the road, the train stopped. I was going to get off there anyway, but a Union Pacific police officer pulled up just as I stood up to dismount. You already know the rest of that story.

So after two days at the Flying J, some guy offered me a ride. I thought he was a truck driver at first, but he was actually a tramp with a car and a female companion. They were going to California, so they didn't mind taking me to Quartzsite, where I wanted to visit my buddy Otis, who operates a pizza trailer in the swap meet town. Making a pitstop in Phoenix to buy a bag of weed, they were offered a place to stay for the night, so they took me to the nearby Flying J and said they'd stop by to pick me up at about noon the next day. If they did stop by, I never saw them. So I spent two days at the Phoenix Flying J until getting kicked out.

From the Flying J, I walked about five miles to a Pilot station. Intending to eat and immediately find a place to sleep, I bought a couple hot dogs. Before I even finished my hot dogs, though, I had a ride to Quartzsite with a trucker.

Arriving at the Love's truck stop in Quartzsite at about 12:30 Monday night, I quickly recognized an employee in the dining area. It was Jessica Payne, who I'd met almost two years ago while trying to make it home from California for Christmas. (There is a picture of Jessica on the Photos page.) I said hi to Jessica and asked if she remembered me. She didn't remember me, but we began a conversation. I told her I was in town to see a buddy of mine--the guy who operates the pizza trailer. She asked if I meant Otis, and I said yes. So she asked me, "You haven't heard?" Then she told me Otis died of a heart attack a couple weeks earlier.

I was shocked. At age 58, Otis was in very good shape, both physically and mentally. I think he exercised quite a bit, too. So only a few minutes after arriving in Quartzsite, I found out that I had no reason to be there.

I needed to sleep, so I headed out of the truck stop and looked for somewhere to sleep, which is not very difficult in the middle-of-nowhere swap meet town. Still, I didn't get to sleep until about 2:00 am, which means I didn't get much sleep that night.

I spent the next two days sitting around the truck stop, hoping to get a ride to either Phoenix or Tucson. I finally got a ride to Tucson yesterday afternoon. I wanted to get out of the truck a couple miles before reaching the outer edge of Tucson, but my driver wouldn't stop for me. So I ended up having to ride with him all the way through Tucson and a little beyond, where there is a truck stop, leaving me about 25 miles from where I wanted to be.

I have almost no money right now, but I should be able to round some up. I hope I can find somewhere to watch the Penn State/Ohio State game Saturday. But even if I do, I have to start trying to get back to Eloy immediately after the game because I have an appointment with a judge early Monday morning to determine my punishment for Criminal Trespass, 3rd Degree. After that, I should be free to go wherever I want, although I might have to figure out a way to make a quick $175.

I guess that's about it for now. I get so sick of Blogger causing me to lose shit I've already drafted and redrafted.

Rest in peace, Otis Gunn.

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Aimless
Aimless Video Evidence

I don't like Arizona and

2008-10-18T14:30:00.001-04:00

I don't like Arizona and I absolutely don't enjoy doing this anymore. I've given up on humanity. Most Americans are stupid & miserable. The End.

Shower yesterday. First one in

2008-10-18T11:21:00.001-04:00

Shower yesterday. First one in 46 days. A ridiculous record that will not be broken.

The train stopped right about

2008-10-16T16:22:00.001-04:00

The train stopped right about where I wanted it to stop, but there was a railroad cop waiting for me. Now I have to go to court in 11 days.

Two trainhops in three days.

2008-10-16T13:38:00.001-04:00

Two trainhops in three days. I just want this one to stop after 30 miles.

My suspicions have just been

2008-10-15T12:27:00.001-04:00

My suspicions have just been confirmed: I am in downtown Tucson. Now to find a good on-ramp or truck stop (or whatever I end up doing).

Off the train at 2:30.

2008-10-15T06:13:00.001-04:00

Off the train at 2:30. Have no idea where I am. Looks like some kind of city.