Good Afternoon;
It is another beautiful day outside, and I am in a surprisingly good mood for no special reason, this is most likely a result of, first-the weather, second-for the fifth consecutive night, actually getting a decent, solid sleep, and not waking up worrying about the cold, I actually "slept in" for 4 of those days, not hitting the coffee shop until after 8:30 am....and boy did I catch it this morning from some of my friends and some of the staff, the consensus of their comments being..where have you been, and, don't do that again!!!..LOL. But in all seriousness, the 'warm and fuzzy' feelings I received, from their concern really struck a chord, to be thought enough about, and enough so that folks are asking about me, if i have been seen, am I OK, etc.... is a boost to self-esteem, and an impetus to move forward, inspiring thoughts to the effect of "if these people care enough about me, don't I owe it to them AND to myself to care about me also?"...Baby steps maybe, but it has also spawned thoughts such as,"Damn..I like writing this blog...what do I do when I get out of this situation, what can I write about and what do I have knowledge of that people will want to read. Getting ahead of myself possibly, but it is looking forward at least.
The funny thing is..for some reason most of the people who seem to care the most are all women..Married women...HAPPILY Married women!!!..LOL..as you've heard me say before.."story of my life...a day late...and a dollar short..."..LOL
This is cool..while I am writing this I get an e-mail from Facebook asking "are you THAT Dave from Milford Mill High...'74???"..(of course it is from a married woman...LOL..must be happily..it's been 30 years..I was at the wedding!), it is from old friends from school who are now out in San Diego, who I have been thinking of recently. Hello Heidi and Terry!!!! That is twice for Facebook!...Coincidence....I'd rather call it synchronicity and serendipity.
Observations;
Went out to the corner where Howard Street turns into 395 at Conway St., in front of the Camden Yards Light Rail Stop, on Tuesday afternoon, because I was out of meds and need to pay for more, I have been out there a few times before and had no hassles. Well this time I was out for about 45 minutes and a "Downtown Partnership" uniformed employee (they are a cross between a rent-a-cop and an information directory..[who do not know SH*T about where or what in the city], chases off a crazy fellow from the other corner who is ranting and raving at the cars, and cursing those who do not give him anything...{I've got no sympathy..or empathy, sorry, assholes are assholes, homeless or not..he was crazy NOT mentally ill!}, and motions to me to come over to him..across 8 lanes of rush hour traffic..I don't think so! I just got back on the Light Rail and headed up to North Ave....(oh, I did have 3 people stop in the whole time I was there, if you're curious..43 cents...$1.00...and...$5.00). So I stayed at Mt. Royal for an hour and 15 minutes, until it started to rain and six or seven cars stopped and I got another $8.00 and a bag of uncounted coins. So I had enough to cover meds for a few days, which also lifts a huge weight off my mind.
The things I wanted to comment on are;
1)-- these so called 'helpers' from the D.P. seem only to exist for the purpose of running off 'unsightly' people from the tourist areas. I have asked them for directions to both attractions..(while with Rachel, all clean and presentable), and to shelters and 'Healthcare For the Homeless' and to "Baltimore City Homeless Services", and to other such locations.......with my sleeping bag and duffel bags, and in neither situation did I ever get correct information, or most times even civil answers.
2)--while I have been out on the street curbs and corners the past few times I began counting cars, and people using cell phones and texting..all at 'rush hour traffic'.....of a total count of approximately 4,000 cars, trucks, AND MASS TRANSIT BUSES!!!, over 2,900 were on a cell phone, of those 1,700 were texting!!! I did not make any scientific survey, and do not know if these numbers are consistent throughout the day and night..(but I am going to expand my time frames to get a feel for it)..or if 'rush hour' and folks heading home are more prone to "I'm Leaving now..and What shall I pick up for dinner'..type calls. But with all the debate and maneuvering going on in the political arena and the newspapers, this is more of a issue than I had thought. When the woman almost hit me a few weeks ago, I had written it off as "Pikesville!!!!!" and, when it happened in the 'hood, as "ghetto" problems, seems to be more widespread.
Especially!! on the buses!!, more than half the drivers in a two week period, on routes all over the city, were on the phone for more than 60% of the time I was on their bus...and a third of those were texting, if not typing while driving, ALL observed were READING while the bus was in motion. I am going to start noting, route #s, bus #s, block #s, times, and when possible, badge #s....and keeping track for a more factual, and less anecdotal report or article. I also plan to try to observe the speedometers and record that information, and if I can talk someone into getting ahold of a radar gun...and making both random and scheduled readings... OH YEAHWhen Rachel and I were on the subway (Metro) Thursday, we sat in the lead car looking out the front window, AND into the driver's cab...HE WAS READING THE PAPER...AND TEARING OUT COUPONS!!!...In the aftermath of the California commuter train wreck not so long ago, it turns out that the driver was texting......are these trains so sophisticated that they do not need drivers??? if something was on the track, or in the tunnel ahead, and the driver is not looking forward..what happens?? Did someone not get killed just recently, on the above ground section in a short tunnel at Sudbrook on the Metro??? FYI>>We moved to the rear car..safest place in a head on wreck!!!!....OK I'm DONE for now...
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE DATA!!
Well, obviously I have no lack of topics or opinions...LOL,
but, man the title of this blog is just so Cool...!!
Thank you again for reading me..I'll try to be back tomorrow..Sunday..
But...you know how busy the library gets..............Dave
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