"Angels In America......................Liquid Air...................."

Good Morning;

Well I'm back at the library again this morning after a trip to the Giant to wash up, shave, shop, and make an eagerly awaited deposit in the "Bank Of Back River". 

(Talk about blessed relief!
One good episode of serious constipation really puts certain physiological priorities into their proper perspective:

When the body was first created, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control all of the body's responses and functions."

The feet said, "We should be Boss since we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go."

The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money."

Finally, the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So, the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work.

Within a short time, the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic, and the brain fevered. Eventually, they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed. All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the shit!

Moral Of The Story: You don't need a brain to be a Boss----any asshole will do.

Last night was so foggy that the air at times seemed to change from a gas to a liquid! After I dried off the picnic table behind the library, opened the case for the portable, digital TV and turned around to plug it in and turned back....everything was dripping wet again. Once the TV was on and warmed up it was OK, but the cords and antenna stayed beaded with running droplets of water, as did the table and the surface of my bags. I ended up alternately watching TV and nodding out until close to 2:00 am. when I went around the corner to layout the cardboard and my sleeping bag and blankets. Barry and Mark were already there and passed out and snoring, with any smooth surface covered with water. Barry's sleeping bag, Marks down jacket, (which he had wrapped around his feet??), and their assorted cups and bottles, Mark's strange bike, (a folding bike with a friction drive motor mounted on the rack over the rear wheel, I am not sure if it had a tiny gasoline engine or a battery pack), his golf spikes, (which seemed to be his only pair of shoes--?)...etc.

Any 'soft' items looked to be getting soaked through, paper bags, blankets, cloth, etc.; and I know that Barry's sleeping bag, like most nylon shell types, will only remain water resistant/repellent for so long, and they had been there since at least 10:00 pm., 4 hours earlier.
When I laid out my stuff I did not have these problems, probably because of the combination of being under the awning with the bigass security light that was powerful enough to dispel the fog in a small 'enclosed' local area, and this allowed them to equalize or acclimatize to the same temperature as the surrounding air....though the plastic garbage bags covering my folded cardboard and the one that I had been using to haul the sleeping bag around in did get beaded up.

It was so warm at 2:00 am. that I was sleeping on top of the bag barefoot. At around 4:15 am. the temperature dropped and I crawled into the bag after pulling on my socks as it began to rain. The shower was heavy but only lasted about 30 or 40 minutes. I woke up every hour on the hour until I began the process of getting up, dressing, and packing up at 8:00 am.

And that brings us to the start of this post, then back to here.
As soon as I finish up here, and that is very soon, because I'm falling asleep at the keyboard with my fingers on the keys, spitting out random letters......making the screen like what the laptop is doing........lol!

I ran into my friends Gerry and Malka as I was coming in and say and talked with them for a bit. They told me they saw the latest City Paper column and commiserated with me on the passing of the shed to the great 'junkyard in the sky'..........LOL!)

At the Starbucks yesterday after I left here I ran into my friend Michelle who teaches at MICA. We caught up a bit on events and she also expressed condolences about the shed. We are meeting next week to discuss this idea she has about having me come and talk to her class about living without a home and read some of the blog posts-columns-and/or- my poetry. The overall theme of this semester's class is "Home", in various iterations, including the 'absence of ..'
More as it develops.
As she was leaving I asked to borrow $5.00 so I would have enough to get the tickets for "Disney On Ice" on October 24th, which is opening night and half price/bogo ticket day. When I got down to the First Mariner arena box office it turned out that prices have gone up since we went last winter, and I was still about 2 bucks short. When I told the girl in the booth to go ahead and try to find the best tickets she could in the cheap seats and mentioned that she had waited on me the last few time I had been down over the past 2-1/2 years for the ice shows and the circus she looked up and recognized me. Even more so when I mentioned how this was a continuing traditionbwith both my daughters and on to my grandkids, and asked her to do the best she could because I was on the street, and this was something really special to us.
She played with her ticketing computer and was able to get me the good seats for  $16.00, almost $14.00 cheaper than the half price rates!!!
(And a funny coincidence...HER name is Jennifer!)
Times up gotta go
Later...................................Dave



"Rain Delay..........................."

Good Afternoon;

So.... I'm sitting here in the library dozing off at the keyboard. It's that kind of day out there, gray, dark, raining steadily and at times coming down like Niagara Falls. I've been here at the library since around 9:00 pm. last night, when I walked over after John dropped me off at the Giant.
I watched TV until about 1:00 am. and tried to get the power cord to work on the laptop,....with no luck. :(
Then, with a double load of cardboard beneath me I fell asleep as soon as I got on top of the sleeping bag. I woke up sometime during the night and crawled inside, but have no memory of doing so. I was awakened just before 6:00 am. when it started to rain, gently. At a bit past 7:00 am. it started to come down in buckets, luckily with almost no wind. I moved everthing over about 8 inches so it was up against the wall and went back to sleep until 8:00 am. when the 'Shufffling Gray Horde' began to arrive early for the senior center.

At 9:00 am. I came inside and have been checking the rain to see if has let up any so i can head over tp the coffee shop.....or at least down to the Giant to make a cup of coffee and grab a bite to eat.

Times up for now..

Later..............Dave 

"Week In Review........Fantastic Fan .........................Laptop On Life Support.................."

Good Morning;
Well......It's been more than a week since the last post, and that has been due to a variety of circumstances.
One of which is that I have just been so damn tired in body , mind, heart, and soul.
I have not been 'feeling it' as the saying goes, and I also think my muse is off on another one of her extended 'lost weekends', and until she stumbles back, bloody eyed and trembling, and sleeps off the hallucinations and DTs........my creative inspiration is on hiatus.

So....a quick recap of the missing week.....
Last Sunday (the 23rd) I had just arrived at the Starbucks in Mt. Washington after a mostly sleepless night behind the library fighting the laptop keyboard to a standoff, trying to write and send off the current City Paper column, (see previous post for link). My phone buzzed and it was Jenn with an emergency text pleading for help in moving them from the apartment in the m-i-l's basement in Monkton to the house they are renting near Hampstead. The torrential rain on Saturday halted the move and on Sunday everyone bailed on their promises to show up, and they had to return the truck that evening. After bolting down a quick cup of coffee and a sandwich I headed to Hunt Valley on the train to be picked up.

When we got to Monkton it was late afternoon and the air was cooling down. Inside it was warm and stuffy because of the piss poor job of construction that covered over the windows, allowing NO ventilation. So I ended soaked to the skin and alternately burning up or freezing and shivering with cold chills.....NOT a funtime! We finally got the truck loaded and unloaded and went back to Tom's mother's to bathe, (the boiler would not light at the new place). As I was getting out of the shower and toweling off I realized I had somehow lifted, twisted, stretched, or pulled something in my back and shoulder, on top of exacerbating the arthritis and host of other musculo-skeletal issues I am dealing with. Why the f*ck is it always ME the old fart with the messed up, broken down body that ends up showing up when all the younger unreliable, irresponsible "friends" don't?

In any case, Jenn had needed me to watch the grandmonsters Monday night and Tuesday, Tom needed help on Thursday night picking up a washer and dryer he was buying form some guy in Hanover Pa., (in the pouring rain of course....lol), and again Friday watching the kids.....so it was 10:30 pm. Saturday night the 29th before I got back here to Pikesville, and spent the next few hours puttering around the Giant, the gas station saying hello to Daniel, watching a little TV, and scavenging clean cardboard to lay on, (which is pretty much a nightly thing, because once I saw Barry take and use cardboard I had stashed....well, between his urine/feces/tobacco stink, and his history and indifference to insect infection..I was NOT taking the chance of his having used any before me

Yesterday, Sunday the 30th, I was up and on the road early to meet Evan from the City Paper at the Giant with the balance of the cash due from my check for the column. Then it was over to the East Side to see Monkee and get 'bupes' for the next 10 days, back on train, (buying a monthly bus pass while at Johns Hopkins station), to old Ct. station to catch the bus to Pikesville and the RiteAid to get 4 more prescriptions refilled, then back on the bus, to the train to Mt. Washington and the coffee shop. John gave me a ride back to the Giant and I waited out the next wave of storm cells, hoping it was the last of them, and that the sidewalk by the library was dry. It was , and after spending a few hours watching TV and fighting the laptop, I laid the cardboard out and the blanket, and then the sleeping bag and went to sleep. (After a half a dozen semi-coherent attempts by Mark the Crackhead Caddy to start a 'conversation'[?], which I ignored.....because listening to his 15 minutes of pissed off muttering and grumbling and talking to unseen companions beats the hell out of having to beat him over the head with a board...literally!...to get him to disengage from an unwanted conversation!!!)

Today dawned sunny and cool, but warmed up rapidly as the sun rose above the State Police Headquarters complex and I was at the Giant and in the bathroom by 9:00 am., shaving, washing up, making coffee, and putting on fresh clothing from the skin out. It made a big difference in the way I felt....as did the conversation I had with a young woman as I was stowing my bags and prepping my coffee.
She was watching me and walked over and asked "Are you Dave?"
I took a closer look at her 4-5 year old son, did the mental math, and came up with'Too Young....I'm Safe'....( Hey I've been celibate so long that I'm about to become a 'Born Again Virgin'...{You didn't know?....After 7 years of celibacy, jail time NOT included, you get your 'cherry' back!}........[again...but to use a well worn phrase....'that's a story for another time'.....lol!]...........and answered "Yes", she then went on to say that she reads our little blog here and enjoyed it. Well I enjoy having my ego stroked as much as anyone, (and when a beautiful woman does so.....that's a whole slew of 'bonus points'....so this added to an already nice day!...(and the way things have been inside my head recently...."NICE" is the equivalent of 'freakin' awesome'!

So Lauren,....for reading, recognizing, and approaching me, (and your generosity), .....many thanks!
"For All You Do....This Blogs For You!"
;~)


And by the way, I'm at the Library because the power cord on the laptop just died too....and the battery is good for 7 minutes......so I'm not a happy camper.
And it seems that each day another piece of clothing rips, tears, or just plain disintegrates.
My nerves are so shot right now that I've chewed my fingernails bloody, almost down to the first knuckle....and the frustration of having an inoperative computer....and no place to leave it....is not helping.

Anyway, times is nearly up here and I've babbled enough......

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

Gimme Shelter - Columns - Baltimore City Paper

Gimme Shelter - Columns - Baltimore City Paper

"Melatonin Meltdown..........................................."

Good Evening;
 Well.......I ended up with about 2 hours sleep this morning in a 3 hour period before the sun, nearby activity, and my back woke me up.
I hit the library for  an hour or so then jumped on the buses to the Starbucks. A lazy tired day here just basically trying to stay awake.

It rained like hell here for about 15 minutes around 7:00 pm., enough to give everything a good soaking, and raised the humidity so that things will stay damp. Like the cardboard that I had stashed away to use as a mattress. I have no idea where I'm crashing out tonight and it's probable that I will not be online once I leave here because of the extreme damp, same for the benches and the ground by the library.

OEekaey EIe'm tiereed oeef coereereectueeeeeeeeeeeeeeineg foere aeeeell the damn eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'sE

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

"Where I Did NOT Spend My Summer Vacation............................"

Good Evening;
This is a copy of a letter sent to the editor of the Baltimore City Paper
from a resident at Baltimore's Code Blue Homeless Shelter:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 10:50 AM
Subject: Letter to the Editor SHELTER CLIENTS TREATED LIKE JAIL PRISONERS
To: letters@citypaper.com

APRIL LOVELL
CODE BLUE SHELTER
BALTIMORE, MD

CODE BLUE SHELTER PROBLEMS

Comments: FROM APRIL LOVELL AND
APPROX 100 RESIDENTS STAYING AT SHELTER.

WE ARE WRITING IN REGARDS TO THE

CODE BLUE SHELTER

HARRY AND JENETTE WEINBERG FOUNDATION.

LOCATED AT

620 FALLSWAY, BALTIMORE MARYLAND 21202


THE COMPANY RUNNING THE SHELTER IS CALLED     (JHR)



THE CONDITIONS ARE UNBEARABLE, FOOD & MEALS ARE LIMITED TO CERAL IN THE MORNING EVERY DAY AND NOTHING ELSE, NO LUNCH,

AND A SMALL BAD TASTING FROZEN TV DINNER IN THE EVENING.



RULE AND REGULATIONS CHANGE FROM DAY TO DAY AND A PERSON WHO DOES FINDS A JOB AND GETS

OFF WORK ANY TIME AFTER 1:00PM CAN NOT GET BACK INTO THE THE SHELTER MOST OF THE TIME AND HAVE TO SLEEP ON THE STREET.



THE COMPUTERS WHICH THERE ARE ONLY 4 OF THEM, 2 FOR LADIES AND 2 FOR MEN  ARE BEING TIED UP BY CLIENTS

WATCHING MUSIC VIDEO'S, LISTEN TTO MUSIC AND WATCHING PORN WHEN THEY BE LIMITED TO SEARCHING FOR JOBS, HOUSING AND

STATE AND FEDERAL ASSISTANCE AND BENIFITS.



IF YOU HAVE A DOCTOR APPOINTMENT ITS THE SAME SITUATION, YOU CAN'T GET A BED OR GET BACK IN THE SHELTER AFTER 1:00PM.



THIS IS SUPPOSE TO BE A 24 HOUR SHELTER AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET IN OR OUT AT ANY TIME TO GET A BED.



THEY HAVE NO COFFEE AVAILABLE FOR US AND WILL NOT ALLOW US TO HAVE OUR OWN COFFEE AND SELL COFFEE TO CLIENT AS

WELL AS CIGARETTE, HOWEVER THEY MAKE A PROFIT WITH TWO COKE MACHINES AND INE CANDY AND SNACK MACHINE.



WRITING OUT A COMPLAINT GRIEVANCE TO THE DIRECTOR DOES NO GOOD WHEN YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT AS YOU NEVER HEAR

BACK ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT. THE SHELTER DIRECTOR SPENDS MORE TIME GOING OUTSIDE SMOKING CIGARETTE THEN HE SPENDS IN HIS OFFICE



THE STAFF IS VERY RUDE AND THE TREATMENT HERE IS WORST THAN BEING IN JAIL.



WHITE CLIENTS ARE TREATED WORST.



YESTERDAY EVENING THEY HAD A FIRE DRILL IN THE POURING DOWN RAIN WHICH WE HAD TO STAND OUTSIDE FOR 2 HOURS GETTING WET.



I COULD GO ON AND ON, BUT YOU NEED TO HEAR FROM THE CLIENT AND SEE IT PERSONALLY.



COULD YOU PLEASE HAVE A REPORTER OR/AND A TV CAMERA CREW COME OUT AND INTERVIEW THE CLIENTS AND COMPLAINTS.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

APRIL LOVELL

cc:

BALTIMORE SUNPAPER

CITY NEWS PAPER

WBAL TV

WMAR TV

FOX 45 TV

FOOD BANK OF MARYLAND

SOCIAL SERVICES

  Deja Vu? 

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

(And I just wish to state that I do not know this person and have no idea who the  other "approximately 100 clients" are, and while many of their experiences

  parallel mine, these are independent complaints.)

"Friday Was Flyday, Up, Down, & Across Town.....And Back........"

Good Morning;

So I'm about to pack up the TV and the laptop, wander down to the gas station and try to use the restroom. Not so much a matter of access as ability.... :(
Then back up here to the other side of the library to find a place to lay out my sleeping gear where the Sun won't be in my face at quarter to 6:00 am. like the past few times I slept here....twice accompanied by Babbling Barry supplying color commentary to his invisible audience. I am exhausted but have not been able to get to sleep until just before dawn.....here, and at Jenn's.
The effects are cumulative too.

Turned in a draft of a column to Evan at the City Paper for next week by e-mail from the library about Noon, then went down to their offices and picked up a few bucks as an advance on next Fridays check. I stopped at the coffee shop for the rest of the afternoon and evening, then down to Monkee's for a couple hours of chat and catching up, and picked up meds to last through Wednesday. Then back up to Pikesville, the Giant, and here behind the library.
I've been on bus, subway, light rail, lr, lr, b, b, s, b......all for $1.20.
Can't beat the day pass the MTA came up with, (of course the scheduling and 60% of the driver's attitudes aren't worth a bucket of cold spit...).

Anyway.....stick fork in me hon, I'm done!

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

"Return Of The Nightwriter........................"

Good Morning;

Well....another night out here behind the library with the TV and the laptop with the keyboard from Hell.
I was over Jenn's, for one of the last times at the apartment at her m-i-l's house, from Monday night until this afternoon. It was a typical one night planned, three nights actual, visit. Except for somehow  pulling a muscle in my neck/shoulder, not getting any sleep, being at the bottom of a depression cycle, and running out of meds and experiencing the beginnings of withdrawal......it was a good time.

I stopped and saw Monkee and got a 'bupe' so I'd have meds for Thursday and Friday. I have a column to finish and send as soon as the library opens at 9:00 am., and then go down to the City Paper offices to see Evan. He told me he could get me advance, which will be a lifesaver right now.

It feels strange having to think where to spend the night each night again.
I looked around at the pavement on the side of the library and StinkyBarry was there laying down his cardboard as I was setting up at the picnic table, about 10:30 pm. About 1:00 am. I was putting some in the dumpster and saw that AlkyMark the Caddyholic had stumbled over and crashed out too. I was hoping that the local police patrol's preference of the side parking lot and his paranoia towards the cops and having people watch him sleep would keep
   him away, after his reactions last week.

Well I'm getting tired of spending a third of my time on this laptop backspacing and erasing 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's !
So it's now time to finish, (maybe), watching "The Blues Brothers-2000" then   haul my tired old ass around the corner and lay down myself. It's too late to scope out anywhere else tonight and it's starting to get chilly too.
The sleeping bags and blankets are freshly washed and calling my name.

Later.........Dave 

"Monday..........First Day Of the Year - 5773............"

Good Afternoon;

So....I'm here at the library about to head over to the coffee shop for a few hours, then Jenn is picking me up after her HG and we're heading back to Monkton. She needs me to watch one or both, (Depending on whether the DMV has finally sent out her change of address cards for her driver's licence so she has an'official' piece of mail to show the Baltimore County Public School bureaucracy so Ed can be enrolled in the elementary school that actually abuts their property at the new house. They are still in the process of moving in bit by bit as time, vehicles, and finances allow, so until she has that paperwork, Ed is in limbo.), of the grandmonsters tomorrow morning, and possibly again tomorrow night. So I'll be staying there until Wednesday morning or early afternoon....("Weather" or not I need to monstersit or not!!.....lol! Have you seen the forecast for Monday night through early Wednesday...? 'Gonna rain like a sumbitch!')

Anyway...I'm outta here for now, I just found and borrowed enough coin for bus fare for today...finally....(and it was only 95 cents I needed, but it's Rosh Hashana and nobody Jewish I knew was here in Pikesville at the Giant, library, or elsewhere, and I did not run into any of my 'goyim' friends 'til late.....lol). I wish it had been earlier so I could have made it to SSA and DSS when I had somewhere to leave all my bags and sleeping gear etc. It's too late now, the person who was going to let me leave them in the back of her store is gone and the other managers don't know me.

Maybe more tonight from Jenn's.......

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

"Here Today....Gone Tomorrow,--Tomorrow Hell, Gone Tonight!!!...& ...You Have The Right To Remain Silent Fool!--Freakin' Use It! ..... & .....Uncomfortably Numb.............."

Good Evening;

Well..........I'm outside the library again tonight after spending a lazy, (except for the ecstasy and agony of watching the Ravens play, then lose, to the Eagles), day at the coffee shop.

I spent last night until 4:00 am. watching TV and playing on the laptop out here too.....after getting a big shock when I got off the bus and found only an empty lot and a blank wall! Now after the events of Friday and Friday night it was only to be expected.....but damn....that was quick!

So I ended up sleeping on the pavement on the side of the library.
It was like Grand Central Station last night! Besides Barry aka Rainman aka StinkyUrineMan who I knew was there, I was unpleasantly surprised to find Mark the AlkyCrackHead Caddy passed out in his sleeping bag a few feet farther down.
I moved to the far end, and since I was in my sweats, just laid out some cardboard and blankets and stretched out thinking I'd get 4 or 5 hours sleep.....NOT!
At 10 minutes to 6:00 am. 'Rainman' was up and babbling away at full volume about freakin' camera shutter settings ..... TO NO ONE!  After a couple of shouted "Shut The F*ck Up!"s went unheeded I had to get up and head to the benches out in front. About 20 minutes later  he wandered off towards the 7-11 and I went back and dozed on and off  for 2 hours then got up and packed and stopped in the Giant before catching the buses to Mt. Washington.

John gave me a ride back to Pikesville after the Starbucks closed and I stopped in the Giant and made the mistake of engaging Mark the CrackheadCaddy in simple conversation because he happened to be standing next to me. I couldn't get rid of him when he saw me here at the table, once when he first found me and again a few minutes ago when he came around geeking out all paranoid about the cop car that came and sat in the lot. It was either just before or just after shift change and is a normal thing as they catch up on paperwork etc. But of course she was 'sitting and staring' at him.
What a textbook example of the massive death and/or irreparable damage of brain cells due to 'hittin the pipe'!

Speaking of the police..... I had a visit last, (Sat.), night from my buddy Officer Ransom. We talked for a half  hour or so before he had to speed off with lights and siren going, joining 3 other cars flying up Reisterstown Rd......if only Mark knew......lol. Then there really WAS a cop staring at him!......lol!

Okay....it's getting to be that time of year, (and night), and my freakin' fingers are getting "uncomfortably numb" and starting to hurt, same as always when the temperature drops below 60 degrees......and for which the neuro-docs have never found an explanation.

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

P.S.......Welcome new follower John!

"Back To Sleeping Under The Stars .................. AKA. .............. Pray Hard For A Long Indian Summer....."

Good Afternoon;

Well.........my son-in-law just left here with half a dozen bags of 'stuff' that I grabbed from the shed last night, mostly cold weather, (booo....hissssssss!!), items like the other, heavier, sleeping bag, quilt, blankets, etc. Some copies of magazines and newspapers, and the little bits of extra clothing I have. Most will go into the attic of their new home that they are moving into bit by bit, and some to where they are now at his mother's so I will have clean clothes to change into after showering when I go up there Monday night with Jenn after her HG meeting. She needs me to watch the kids on Tuesday and maybe Tuesday night, so I will be up there until Wednesday midday.

I have been here at the library, out back on the picnic table until about 4:00 am. Then laying down on the side of the building, (luckily upwind from Barry!!!), until about 8:00 am., then either on the bench or back under the portico in the shade organizing and re-bagging my possessions, until 2:00 am., then in here for the past hour on the computers.

I have one days bus fare and I think I'm heading over to the coffee shop because I haven't had any caffeine yet today. I'm pretty sure I can scrounge up bus fare for Sunday and Monday while I'm there.
It looks like dinner is the last veal patty and/or bagels, with a late night snack and breakfast tomorrow from the "Dunkin' Dumpster".

As for sleeping arrangements.....it looks dry for the next few days, so I'm just going to crash out again beside the library after I am done watching TV out back.

I knew that something was about to happen with the shed because of the way everything else has been heading downhill, from mental health to money in the past 2 weeks. The City Paper column being one bright spot shining like a beacon through the shitstorm that is my life. The Urbanite publishing my essay in it's very last issue is typical of the 'up-down-no middle ground' yo-yo effect I call life.

Anyway, that's about it for now......

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

'Urbanite' shutting down at end of September, publisher says

Good Morning;
Well, This explains why I can't find a copy!
As soon as I get an essay published.....they go out of business!
'Urbanite' shutting down at end of September, publisher says

Scroll down to 4th essay
http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/baltimore/what-youre-writing/Content?oid=1476992

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

"Hit The Road Jack.......OR.....The Shit Has Hit The Fan................."

Good Evening;

So.....I'm sitting here outside at Midnight, behind the library, again.
Ho hum....yawn, you say, so what, that's nothing new.
Ah....but this time everything from the shed that I want to keep, (out of the surprisingly large accumulation of 'stuff' that was in there) is in 10 trash bags, an Army duffel bag, and the 2 bags I carry with me on a daily basis, all sitting in, on, or around a shopping cart from Giant!)
What you say....but why?

Well, back up to this morning when I was awakened by a strange buzzing vibration and noise. I thought it might be the landscaping crew with a weed-eater cutting around the fence and walls. I got up, dressed, packed, and got ready to leave the shed. As I checked through the peepholes in the wall and door I saw demolition/construction company trucks in the lot, the door to the office building open, and men going in. The noise that woke me was a jackhammer and it's compressor being used inside the building.
I was in the process of slipping out and locking up when one of the workers saw me. He did not say anything or seem to pay any attention to me so I just headed around the corner and up to the Giant.

And when I went to use the restroom, John, the porter, had it blocked off like a HazMat site. He put on a disposable face mask, gloves, boots, and a plastic apron and headed in with the heavy duty, high pressure water hose from the warehouse to spray off the walls and floor and fixtures that someone had splattered with feces after they used the urinal as a commode.
This has been a recurring and escalating situation, that just happened to peak on a morning when my nerves were on edge and my gastro-intestinal system in urgent need of immediate relief. After I and a second 'shopper in need of relief' checked to be sure the ladies room was empty, (and drafted another random customer to act as doorman, promising to return the favor), I was able to partially sedate the evil-mutant-ninja-robotic-butterflies that were terrorizing my stomach lining......(enough to begin to dissolve it with coffee.....lol!). 

And do some low, low budget shopping. A $1.00 loaf of white bread, because there was nothing cheaper on the 'day old' rack, and a 4 pc. package of 'fully cooked breaded veal patties' for $1.59,[actually they're not half bad-(with the white bread, if you put enough mayo on it I can eat most anything.....lol)-with some marinara sauce and melted provolone/mozzarella/Parmesan cheeses on a toasted sub roll or focaccia bread. With the "Dunkin' Dumpster" doughnuts, and the 1/2 dozen bagels I was gifted with, this is food for the next few days.
But I am off on another tangent.

After the Giant it was over to East Baltimore to see Monkee and pay her a few dollars on the debt and grab a couple days worth of meds, which still leaves me short when these are gone because of the gap between then and the refill date. The day just kept getting better. Then, the bus back up North Ave. was ridiculously late and so overcrowded that although I was able to get a seat in the very front so I would be able to get off at the Light Rail I had to put my shoulder bag on the floor in front of me, with one leg on the side of it with my foot hanging down the stairwell, and the other foot on my bag. Needless to say the bus was the one that was filled with 15 or so women already high as hell from their daily dose, coming from the Methadone Clinic with their weekend "takehomes"...which they were in the process of selling and/or trading....when they weren't falling out of their seats...... face first! By the time the bus got up to the District Courthouse it was like being in a can of sardines! Maybe half a dozen people got off but 20 forced their way on, to the point that the door would not shut at first, until some people twisted and wriggled around. Even though the driver tried to stop well before or after the stop when people wanted to exit the bus, people STILL bumrushed the front door, and did the 'ghetto slide' sneaking in the back door. Meanwhile, there was a big dude  mouthing off and trying start trouble... a fight... or both, with "white boy this" and "white boy that", about my bag and where I was sitting.

Eventually I got to the Light Rail unscathed and made my way to the coffee shop. I ate, drank coffee, read the paper and my book, and caught up on a sh*tload of e-mails.  After 6 hours of no keyboard problems the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee key began f*cking up again just before closing.....and since I started here outside tonight.
It has been a real p-i-t-a trying to type this!

But, you don't care about all that, do you? You just want to find out WTF!!

happened with the shed!
Well.......I caught the 9:55 pm. bus from the Old Court subway station and got off across from the gas station and hit the "Dunkin' Dumpster" to 'reload'...lol. After that I crossed the street heading for the shed.
As I came around the corner I had a bad feeling and saw the edge of a construction dumpster. My heart was racing and felt like it was in my throat as I saw another dumpster under the carport and the awnings from the office building piled in front of the shed door. I walked closer and saw that the door and frame had been torn and twisted apart and ripped open. This nearly brought me full circle to this morning and had my stomach doing flips and flops. I unlocked the lock and salvaged it and my chain and went inside the shed. Amazingly it looked as if nothing was touched. I grabbed some plastic trash bags and started putting things I wanted to keep into them. I ended up leaving a bunch of books, some clothes that don't fit, a couple umbrellas and some miscellaneous crap. I may slip back in there in a few minutes to see what else I may want. The first time I was most concerned about just getting in and out quickly.

In any case, this keyboard is driving me crazy!....gotta go!

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

P.S.  and I guess you've noticed that I have not addressed WHERE I and my possessions are going next....ummmmm,
Your Guess Is As Good As Mine!

P.P.S. and that 'light at the end of the tunnel' that I thought was a sign that this episode of depression, et. al., was beginning to abate.......NOT!
It was just the headlights of the express bus on the "Highway To Hell!"

"It Came From The Abyss........."

Good Evening;
 

Well..... I know I have not posted much of anything of my own for the past week or so, and I apologize for that. It has been a really bad couple weeks inside my head.
This has probably been the worst episode of depression/anxiety/DPD in...???, 3 or 4 years, at least. If I had went in to see the doctor there was about an 80% probability I would have been "invited" to check in somewhere for 'observation'.....and that's just not gonna happen right now.

I should be back with some sort of rundown of the past week or so tomorrow or Sunday, now that the pendulum has swung back to where I feel more of an urge to reach for the computer.....rather than the cyanide...  :)

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

"One Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words................................"

Good Afternoon:

A link to a post from my (Internet) friend Nadia's blog;

http://www.thehomelessgirl.com/2012/09/the-homeless-photographer-of-instagram/

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

"What You're Writing............"

Good Afternoon;
A link to my essay in Urbanite Magazine,
 on the subject of- Companionship
Scroll down to 4th essay.

What You're Writing

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

"Dead Tired...........Dead Sore..................Dead Broke................OR.............Dead Normal!...................."

Good Evening;

Well................it was another one of those days when it was 1:30 pm. before I could even summon up the energy to get up and move about.
It's Saturday, and there was nothing I had to do, I was just so tired, and everything seemed toe hurt all at once, and again....this particular episode of depression is kicking my ass.

I went to the Giant to wash up and shave, [which although not as good as a long hot shower, helps like you would not imagine......usually :(  ], and borrowed a dime to get one of the $0.79 packages of lunchmeat. That and a bag of donated bagels is the menu for today...tomorrow, it just bagels.

I stopped at the library for a bit then grabbed a bus to the subway, hoping to miss the rain.....which I ALMOST did....twice!............lol!

It's closing time here at the coffee shop, and I guess it's back to the shed, as I'm guessing everything will be too wet to sit outside...and too cool also, for shorts.

I am supposed to go over Jenn's to watch the grandmonsters tomorrow because she and Tom are going to see RUSH, at Jiffy Lube Live, way the hell and gone down in Virginia.(Damn they win a lot of free tickets!!!...lol!)
I have to find bus fare to get to Hunt Valley on the Light Rail, as I don't have a monthly pass again this month, and I down to my last 20 cents.
Something will come up somehow....gotta check all the payphones and ticket vending machines on the way back to Pikesville....lol!

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

p.s...............oh and btw....this is post # 1400
that's a lot of babbling!................lol!

"A Day With Rachel....................&................Where's The Thunder?............"

Good Evening;

First, Thank you to 'John', and if I did not reply to your e-mail, it probably got lost in my junk folder as spam because I did not know it was not. I'll answer any that I get, (except obvious hate mail....lol), if you place the word 'Homelesscide' in the Subject box it makes it easier to spot when looking through 5 dozen scams. :~)

Well.....I'm here at the coffee shop again after spending the better part of the day at Rachel's, (her mother's), house. I asked her mother last night if I could shower and do a load of laundry and spend some time with Rachel today. She said yes and we made arrangements that I would be picked up around 9:00 am. at the Giant, as she had some shopping to do. I got to wash, etc., and work with Rachel on some of he school work. 

(She is home schooled....and I am not 100% happy with that, but luckily she is very bright and there is more of a concerted effort to follow a 'real' curriculum than was the case with the "ex'es" other 2 girls.)

About 3:30 pm. I caught the bus down to Mt. Washington and here I've been.

And just as a bit of curious irony....
Tuesday night as I was passing by Fords Ln. on Park Heights Ave. on the bus I saw the road being closed off by a police car, and fire equipment u the street.....LOTS of fire equipment! I thought it was farther up the street from the apt. bldg. we used to live in but a text msg. from Jenn told me it WAS my old place, (and the site where this journey began).
Not only was there a large blaze there on Tuesday night, but at 8:30 am Wednesday morning the fire department was there again.
The place was vacant and had no electricity, no gas, and no water, and was boarded up completely on all ground floor doors and windows.
The investigators are not making any definitive statements yet..... but?!
The building was up for auction for tax liens at least once that I am aware of, and rumor has it more than once.

Hey...how about a bit of trivia?
Do you know one of the slang terms for arson for profit?..:

???????

I make no claim that this is the cause, it may have been squatters with candles or a camp stove, or crackheads, junkies, or tweakers with a flame, a dropped cigarette....who knows?
I guess the Arson Investigators and Fire Marshalls will let us know.

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

"A Good Day To Stay Asleep..........Shame It Was Not Longer........."

Good Evening;

Well............I almost caught up on my sleep today, waking at 7:00 am. to take morning meds and falling back asleep until Noon, then going back to sleep until 2:30 pm.

It was not a good day for me and I was not able to go out and deal with other people until about 5:30 pm., when I went to Giant, washed and shaved, and spent my next to last $2.00 on food.
Then I sat outside the library eating and reading until I finished the book I was involved in.

So I have 10 minutes here on the library computer until closing.

And nothing much more to say......it really is a BAD day inside my head.
Maybe later tonight if the wifi connection behind the library is not as fickle as it has been, I'll have more to write.....

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

"Graveyard Giggles..........."

Good Evening;

http://citypaper.com/news/columns/tales-from-the-crypt-1.1368198

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

"Riding With Ozzy................'When You Peer Into The Abyss****The Abyss Also Peers Into You!'............"

Good Morning;

So....I'm at the library again today, and it looks as if I'll be here if I want to post anything other than a link to the blog. The keyboard on the laptop has become such a hassle that using it for more than 'click and point' mouse work is more trouble than it's worth.

A short recap of the past week...
I went to Jenn's on Friday to watch the grandkids, staying until Labor Day
Monday. I've written about staying there enough already, the only thing I have to say about this visit is that I could not get any restful sleep... a situation that is still ongoing, back at the shed.

They have a new place to live now, and are in the process of moving stuff bit by bit over to it. A full scale move with as many friends as possible especially those folks with vans or trucks, and the rental of a U-Haul for the big items is in the works, date TBA. They will be out from under the batshit crazy, unsanitary, dirty, and completely unhygienic m-i-l soon, and not a second too soon!

They are moving west across the top of Baltimore County to Falls Road to a 120 year old 2 story with finished attic and dirt basement farmhouse, (which has been in a bunch of motion pictures....I'll find out exactly which ones soon). It's about 5 minutes longer from the Hunt Valley Light Rail, so access is not that much different from where they are now.

On Labor Day I was supposed to take Rachel to the Maryland State Fair, but the weather, particularly the torrential downpours and thunderstorms that kept popping up from the time Tom dropped me at the LR at Hunt Valley and continued all afternoon once I got to Rachel's mother's and the awful, miserable, nasty humidity between the rains, put an end to that idea. We spent the day at her mom's just hanging out, watching TV, and playing really fun board game where you have to build railway lines across the continental U.S.A. with her mother. I ordered out and treated for a delivery pizza and french fries, (REAL!!! FFs!!....Yummmmmmm!!), from the Mt. Washington Subs And Pizza And Indian Food carryout, and it was pretty damn good. I caught the last bus at 8:03 pm. back to Pikesville and sat out in front of the library for a while reading and watching TV until the battery ran down, then hit the shed. It was so hot and humid I HAD to go buy batteries for the little fan I have,....at 2 minutes to Midnight/closing at, the Giant! Which means I ended up paying almost $7.00 for 4 D cell Dura-Max batteries. But it was necessary, because there was no where else dry to lay down, and I HAD to lay down and get off my feet.

Tuesday, after another bad night of almost no sleep, it was up at 8:00 am. and take morning meds and try to get back to sleep. I was up at 10:00 am. and about to leave the shed and peered through the peepholes to be sure there was no one in sight. Just as I was about to open up, 3 vehicles pulled up and people got out and began walking around and looking at the office building. It seemed to be a real estate guy, an architect/engineer, and 2 contractors. When they all went inside I popped the door slipped out with my bags and ran the chain back through the holes and locked it back up, then headed over to the Giant to wash up and shave. After puttering around there for an hour, (and grabbing up a great bargain...there were containers with a bunch of 2 inch square little deli meat sandwiches in them for $0.99, I took some over to the scale out of curiosity and 4 0f them weighed between 1/2 and 3/4 of a pound each...so I snatched them up. I paid $2.00 for 4 and got over a pound of meat, mostly rare roast beef, with a little turkey and ham too. Even after peeling away the moist and almost soggy squares of bread there was still a pound of meat. With a loaf of Giant rye bread and a handful of mayo packets...this was breakfast/lunch....it was after 4:00 pm. before I finally ate, dinner, and late night dinner!) Then it was over to the RiteAid to drop off a prescription, then here to the library to check for any e-mails, then on to the buses and over to the coffee shop.

Like my time at Jenn's m-i-l's, I've written enough about a regular day at the coffee shop...so...at 9:00 pm. it was back on the train to the train to the bus to Pikesville, the picnic table behind the library, TV, late night dinner, and a 2:30 am. stop at the gas station to use the restroom before laying down and trying to sleep....
Which bring us to today.....I hit the Giant on the run at 8:00 am. to use the restroom, came back to the shed and changed and dressed for the day and gathered my bags, went back to the Giant for coffee and lunch meat...(there were still the little sandwiches, but they were both too small and the bread was too far gone, turning to mush, for me.....someone must have ordered a platter and never showed up to get it, that is where these came from I guess, and they had to try to salvage some profit from them).
Then I went to the RiteAid to pick up my prescription, I stopped here at the library, and now I'm leaving to head to East Baltimore near Johns Hopkins to get another weeks worth of one of my other meds.
After that I'll most likely stop at the coffee shop.


As you might have guessed from the past few posts, yesterday's in particular, I'm not in the best of places right now....and that covers the field from Physical to Emotional to Mental to Spiritual. A deeper than the norm fall into the abyss of depression combined with the "contact high" stress that I have been absorbing from the abnormaly extensive time recently spent at Jenn's during their little excursion, "Goin'Off The Rails On A Crazy Train", and a slew of other outside influences not for publication in such a public venue, and I'm feeling as stable as a bottle of nitroglycerine in a blender.

But on the lighter side of all the suicidal ideations.....check out today's (Wednesday Sept 5th 2012) edition of the Baltimore City Paper, page 9, for my latest "Homelesscide" column - 'Tales From The Crypt'
(Link To Be Provided Later Today...OR go to www.citypaper.com, click on columns tab, scroll down and ckick on 'Tales From The Crypt' - HOMELESSCIDE)


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

"Gremlins.......Major Depressive Episode............Ideations..........................Exhaustion.............."

Good Evening;
Well................I'm still alive, and it's a real 'iffy' thing
right now, the depression isee kicekeing my ass!E
And thisee kyboeaerde ie not hlping. Plus I can't get any truly restful sleep ofe late. I'm about to geive up!
SCREEWEE IT!

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

Good Evening;

WantE!Eeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noe...

NEED!!!!!!!!!!!E

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2012/09/02/logitech-washable-keyboard/

Lateeeeereee\eeeee........................Dave

"The Pale Blue Dot......................"

Good Afternoon;
So........2 links to 2 versions of Carl Sagan's famous monologue: 
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?efbid=406842779376772&set=a.352867368107647.80532.352857924775258&type=1&theater

http://vimeo.com/22582065

Read....Listen....Stop....Think

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

"Stupid KEeeyboaeerd..........................."

Good Evening;
So.....I'm at Jenn's for the weekend. Tonight they are out signing lease on new placee to live.

HOORAEY! NO MORE BATSHIT CRAZY TO DEAL WITH!!

THISE KYBOAERDE SUCKS

LATEREEE...........................DAVE

"How About a Quickie..........?"

Good Evening;
So...areal quick post because the library is closing and my laptop is fucking up;
as in--eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Met my friend Frayda here tonight and she gave me a whole bunch of nice shirts that were being given away, what ever I don't fit into is going to one of the "clothing banks" for the needy/homeless.

Went to Monkee's and got another weeks worth of meds this morning, picked up my other scripts at RiteAid too.

Had a great meeting with Margaret from HCH yesterday, I truly love competence!

Went down to the City Paper and got money for the next column being published on Sept. 5th, and did an emergency repair on my jeans shorts with cheap ass 'duck' tape...that's right it was not true 'duct' tape, but a knockoff. And......the repair did not last the train ride back to the Starbucks!..........lol!

Remembered I had an almost new pair of khaki shorts in the shed, about a size or two too small,
it's amazing what a shoelace through the front beltloops will do in a pinch!

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

"Donut Holes Al Fresco..........Don't Try To Lay No Booogie-Wooogie, On The Queen Of Rock And Roll!..........."

Good Morning;

Well....another night and morning in my outdoor office. Except for the mosquitos and not being able to sit around in your underwear it's pretty cool. But then again, maybe those two items cancel each other out....lol!

It's actually quite cool and breezy and I'm about to head over to the shed. Dinner was carry out Munchkins from the "Dunkin' Dumpster" with a mayonnaise sanwich for desert.....yeah things are tough right now all around.

I'm going to have a column in next week's issue (Sept. 5th) of the City Paper. I was told I can get an advance, but I'm not sure how much yet. Food, Bus Pass, Meds , and hopefully enough to take Rachel to the Maryland State Fair on Labor Day, and next week can take care of itself.

Jenn texted me asking if I could ride herd on the grandmonsters Friday afternoon  and Saturday morning because they have meetings and work, and again Sunday for a wedding, so it's up and back twice to the insane asylum, and the batshit crazy m-i-l, ...who I was just informed, called up Jenn's grandmother, (MY mother), in Delaware and spun a packet of lies to try to enlist her in the ambush that batshit crazy setup when Jenn and family were told they had to get out.
I'm told that she was told basically..."Oh?, well......bye!"


Today at Noon I am meeting with the HCH caseworker at the coffee shop.

So I'll be back this afternoon with an update....
Later.........................Dave

"Winken, Blinken, And Nod ........................................... God Bless The Child----..........."

Good Afternoon;

So....I'm sitting here in the coffee shop and watching this woman who has to be at least 11 months pregnant or carrying a litter of a dozen or more.
She is nodding out over her Frappucino and has spilled one already.
The regional manager and her superior just happened to walk in here today as she
almost inadvertently used her long curly hair as to mop up the spill.

She is not causing any trouble, but there is concern for her, and for the baby's safety because she is unsteady on her feet and falling off the stool, or the commode, (when she was in the restroom for 15 minutes or more), is a distinct possibility.

Jenn and I saw her yesterday on the corner of Falls Rd. & Northern Pkwy. panhandling, (and as a professional critique I must say that her sign, about the size of a newspaper, unfolded at the middle but not opened full width, is printed way to small to read from more than 2 foot away and contains way to many words to read at a stoplight....I could not make out what it said from the passenger seat). I am not sure if she is actually homeless or just playing off the pregnancy to the very last second to get high.

All three levels of management are now standing outside the store talking to her after helping her down the three steps to the plaza area. She is no longer nodding out, but her speech cadences and semi-coherent lapses are indicators that is still high. The little I overheard earlier as she ordered her drink and then complained that it was not the same as she usually got, and ended getting both drinks for the price of one sounded like the work of a seasoned hustler.

The two upper level managers are still outside with her, as if waiting for something or someone, and probably keeping an eye on her for liability reasons.
I wanted to offer to help in some way, but she was giving out a very strong, 

"don't approach me" vibe. I've been texting Jenn, and talking to Kinsey about ways to help someone who is not yet ready to ask for help. About the best I can do is write own the day and time of the women's NA meeting right across the street and offer it to her.

Now there are 2 Baltimore City Police officers talking to her, (I had thought they might have called a taxi).....now all three are gone and the managers all all inside. I went out to look and if they put her in their patrol car and took off, they did it awfully quick.

The one thing to hope and pray, (or wish if you don't pray), for is that the (VERY) soon to be born child does not spend it's first weeks of life detoxing, and that it's development was not retarded in any way by the chemical abuses of the mother.
I must say though that she looked 'healthy' and clean, not gaunt, scarred with sores from picking at her skin, or full of track marks, and her hair, body, and clothes were clean and did not smell.

Except for the pregnancy part, I can claim to have, "been there/done that",
and even though I have no desire to go back, I have empathy for where she is, what she's going through, and shared the fear of both the known agonies of detox, and the unknown future without the drugs that become so much a part of life, that even thinking of life without them is terrifying.

Gotta run, more news if I hear any,
Later....................................Dave

"Hey........YOU!!!..........."

Good Afternoon;
 Well I'm here at the Starbucks in Mt. Washington and the first thing I see in my Inbox is this article from Poverty Insights:

Hey You!....

Back soon,

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

"Close Encounters Of The Law Enforcement Kind ...............OR............ Guilty Of Being Innocent............."

Good Morning;
So.....I'm sitting here behind the library watching the movie "Chicago" on
the portable digital  TV, and a Baltimore County Police car pulls up and the officer walks up and looks around at the TV and laptop plugged in and the
magnetic antenna stuck on the upright of the awning. He asks the usual questions one would expect, basically;
What's up, what are you doing, who are you, etc. All quite polite and non-aggressive, and of course asks for ID, which I give him. I am only having the normal panic attack one gets when one sees the "Oh Shit" lights in the rear view mirror. Then 2 other Police cars pull up...

AND THE PARANOIA MACHINE KICKS IN FULL SPEED! 
("Now THREE cops are here...think I'M FUCKED")
and for NO REASON AT ALL! .......LOL!!!!!!!!!
Old habits and reactions die hard I guess!

The other 2 officers left in their cars and Officer Ransom(e?) and I chat for a few minutes, he mentions that he's never seen me before. I reply with a comment that a low profile and not doing anything illegal or unlawful or annoying is how I like to live. We did the "do you know" game about some of the other people here on the street in the Pikesville area, and then he took off too.
A very polite, professional, and pleasant young man and except for the excess adrenaline boiling in my stomach, a not unpleasant encounter......lol.

I think I'm going to go see if the shed has cooled off enough to lay down in.
("Chicago" is ending and it's starting to drizzle.... And there is a good possibility
that there may be a thunderstorm, according to The Weather Channel)

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

"Tired Of Being So Tired..............."

Good Evening;
Well....I'm back in town and at the coffee shop. Jenn just dropped me off after 4 nights an 3 & 1/2 days at her place. Tom had picked me up around quarter after Midnight on Thur./Fri. night.
It was typical of most visits of late, their underlying fear, worry, and anger about having to move coloring everyone's thoughts and actions, even if only subconsciously....and the batshit crazy m-i-l acting as if everything is normal.

Nothing much I really feel like writing about now. I'm just so damned tired all the time recently, partly from the effects of the start of the downhill slide on the depression rollercoaster, and partly...??I don't know what??.

I submitted another story to Evan for column # 4 in the City Paper an I'm praying he runs it because I'm dead effin' broke. Waiting to hear from Monkey to see if I'll be able to pick up a couple 'bupes' tonight, because I'm out of them as of last night.
Tomorrow I need to get to D.S.S. and refile the Foodstamps and TDAP claims, and to recertify the Medical Assistance claim, (especially the M.A. claim because there is some weird shit going on,AGAIN!, with my Gastro-Intestinal system.).

I meet with the woman from HCH on Wednesday here at the coffee shop again.

And that's it for now.....
Later..............................Dave

"Bag And Baggage............"

Good Evening;
Well....This is a link to 'NY altnews' on a major issue facing the newly homeless and some companies that are walking the razor's edge
of legality profiting from it:

http://nyaltnews.com/2012/08/homeless-pack-shelters-storage-brokers-seek-stuff/24014/

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

"Once More Unto The Breech........Or..........Hope Springs Eternal........."

Good Evening;

So......from Henry V to Alexander Pope and here I go again. 

My meeting with the young woman, (forgot to ask her if I can use her name, so I'll err on the side of anonymity for now), from Health Care for the Homeless, (HCH), was, in my opinion a rousing success. I felt that there was a true sense of interest, empathy, & compassion on her part and that I was not just another nameless number, and that a connection was made.
She was well versed and familiar with the procedures and pitfalls of the S.S.A. and what needed to be done and how and when in filing an S.S.I. claim. With the basic information gleaned from this meeting she is going to restart the initial process. Once that is begun we can walk into an S.S.A. office and get the documents required for the TDAP claim at D.S.S.

Tomorrow I'm going to D.S.S. to refile for FoodStamps and Medical Assistance, and  get the forms to be filled out by the doctor for the TDAP.
I can use the HCH address with a c/o in her name as a mailing address.

For the first time I feel a confidence in an advocate and a sense of hope in navigating the process with the help of those who know what they are doing.

Which is a good thing, because last night was HELL! I tried to roll over from sleeping on my left side to my right side and woke up literally screaming in pain. My left lower back, hip, and upper left leg felt as if someone had jammed a knife in me......and began twisting it and jabbing it in and out.
(And YES, I DO know what that feels like....and I have the scars to prove it!)
THEN.....I reflexively tried to sit up, in one continuous motion.....
Well I must have blacked out for a minute or two. When the dizzyness and confusion cleared I sat up, then pulled myself to my knees an stood up in stages by hanging onto the shelves in the shed. I stood there until the pain faded to a dull throb and carefully lay back down and took a dose of the muscle relaxers and pain meds, (ibuprofen and 'bupe'), and went back to sleep, eventually.
Either tomorrow after D.S.S., or Friday, I need to get back to the doctors to get a referral for another MRI to determine what is going on with the tumor on the Sciatic nerve......whether it has enlarged greatly or twisted around the nerve.
I switched over to the boots I got from Monkee, so I am standing and walking level and my feet are flat not on a sideways incline sloping outward because of the way the heels wear, that has helped some, but I can feel something is 'not right'.

Anyway, it looks to be yet another beautiful night to be 'camping out'.....though I'd love to find a nicer "campsite".........lol!
And it looks as if the 'picnic lunches' are going to be from the "Dunkin' Dumpster" for the ?????? foreseeable future, as I have bus fare for 2 days then that is the end of all my cash. If...IF, I am lucky I may, MAY get my Foodstamps expedited and get them on September 7th. If not, then it will be October 7th.
(And there is the chance I will get a column next Wednesday, but most of that will go to the State Fair with Rachel)


Anyway...I want to actually catch the 9:03 pm. bus...which is usually 15 minutes early, so........

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

"Walking A Mile In A (Dead) Man's Shoes....... & Pain And (Possibly) Gain..."

Good Evening;
Well, I'm here at the coffee shop about to pack up and head over to the bus stop. It's been a rough day after a BAAAD night. I was in such pain in my lower left back and hip from the damaged sciatic nerve that I was damn near in tears. I could only find one position lying own that relieved the pressure and that was after downing a handful of Ibuprofen and Flexeril and a 3rd  dose of 'bupe' (which is really rare for me).
Sleep came in short random periods, and waking up frequently and standing up for a minute then lying back down was the norm. I finally got up for goo about Noon when I heard someone on a cel phone outside the shed. After waiting 30 minutes for him to finish fighting with his wife/girlfriend an take off I rolled out and over to the Giant for an hour, then the library for an hour, then after catching a bus just in time to make a connection...which typically for the MTA never showed up, I waited another hour for the bus over here.

A couple good things did surface today... 

I have a meeting tomorrow with a rep. from HCH to see about having them take on my case with D.S.S./S.S.A.

I got an e-mail from Evan at the City Paper stating that if I got him a column by next Tuesday he just may be able to get it in next week's edition, which means I will be able to take Rachel to the State Fair.
(But Donations are STILL accepted and appreciated....just in case, y'know)

And wearing, for the first time, the boots I got from Monkee that belonged to her late husband, a pair of real Timberlands, with practically no wear on them, are a big help in relieving some of the back pain. They are a size 11-1/2 Normal Width
replacing the size 11 Wides that I was wearing...of course what I REALLY  needed were a size 11 Normal Width, so it's a tradeoff...these grip my feet across the foot while allowing some slippage up an down and back and forth, while the previous pair from Walmart allowed my feet to spread and flatten with slop across the instep. But as long as I go slow and watch my footing this pair does help by eliminating one outside factor in my back pain.

Gotta run now.........
Later.................................Dave

"Late Night Lunacy.........Sunday With Rachel........................"

Good Morning;
So...I'm back in Pikesville and sitting out behind the library gain tonight.

I got dropped off at the Light Rail yesterday afternoon by my son-in-law around 3:30 pm, (after spending most of the week there.... [I've come to realize that I can get very little if any creative writing done up there in Monkton, because of the tension that has now morphed into anger and barely concealed hate that is permeating that house..],...), and then went past Monkee's because I was out of meds. I only picked up one because I was out of cash until today when I met Evan to get the balance of my money from the City Paper. (And then went past again this morning to get enough for the next 10 days) After Monkee and I talked for an hour or so yesterday I jumped back on the bus then the train and went to the coffee shop for a few hours. I ended up missing the bus and took the train to the train to the bus to Pikesville, getting back to check out the shed for the first time since Monday.

After swinging past the Giant and the gas station I headed over to the library, planning to plug in as usual, but when I saw a person sitting on the steps with a Game Boy or similar type video game player plugged in, and smoking a cigarette, as I started across the parking lot. I about faced and headed across the street and around the corner to a bench near the Staples. I was ticked off to find someone in "my" spot, (even though I know it's public property). As I was sitting on the bench  trying to decide whether to just hit the shed and crash out or wander around for a while, since it was so nice and cool for the first time in months, (as it is again tonight). 

I saw a guy walking up the street on the other side and realized it was the Russian kid Ivan I've mentioned before, and that he was the one behind the library. We talked for a minute, (I try to stay on civil terms with him, even though I don't fully trust him, based on past experience), and I said I was going over to watch TV and he headed to the gas station to get a soda. As I got the TV set up and sat down to make a sandwich he came and asked if I needed both outlets. I told him no and he plugged in his game unit and asked to watch "The Unit" with me. I said no problem and told him I was about to eat as soon he finished his cigarette because the smoke really bothered me.
He said no problem and tossed the butt away.

As soon as I got the TV tuned and a sandwich made he lit up another cigarette and I got up and pulled my plug, packed quick and dirty, bagged the food, and took off with out a word, and nothing was said by him either. I ended up on the bench by the library front entrance and ate my dinner and watched TV for 1 hour and 45 minutes until the battery failed.
When I came past the picnic table on the way to the shed about 2:30 am. he  was gone. And I haven't seen him tonight either.One of the reasons I try to keep my distance is that on any given day there is a 50/50 chance that he is likely to be busted for dope. I can't afford the 'guilt by association' that would come with that.

Today on the train on the way back from Monkee's the 'ex' called and asked if I could and wanted to come by the apartment to spend the afternoon with Rachel, shower, and hang out for a couple hours. She and her boyfriend, (partner, lover, live in companion...???? what do you call it these days), were going to the last performance of the play he was acting in an the cast party.
Well of course I said yes and timing worked out just right too, as the train pulled into Mt. Washington she happened to be right around the corner on the way home, so I did not have to wait an hour for the bus running on a Sunday schedule.

Rachel and I had a nice low key day playing board games, watching TV, and having lunch together. When they got home from the cast party about 8:30 I got a ride to the bus loop in Mt. Washington and caught the #27 bus to the Plaza Metro station, where I had a 30 minute wait for the bus up here to the library.....and we're full circle. I've been watching CH 13 since the 11:00 pm. news came on, an it's time for bed now.

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

"How Facebook and Twitter Are Helping the Homeless"

Good Morning;
A link to a story on "The Atlantic/Cities-Places That Matter" website:
How Facebook and Twitter Are Helping the Homeless

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

"Who Needs Sleep.......... Read 'Em And Weep.......... The Write Stuff ??.........".

Good Morning;
So...I'm at Jenn's again, meaning her B.S.C. m-i-l's house. I've been watching the grandmonsters and messing up my already out of whack sleep patterns. How messed up you ask? How about breakfast and my first cup of coffee at 2:00 pm.!!!

Anyway I think I'm leaving Saturday morning, and I have to roll out by Saturday evening because I'll be out of meds and need to get to Monkee's Saturday night.

Things here are still the simmering stew pot of barely suppressed negative emotions, which I'm trying to stay out of being caught in the middle, because believe me NONE of the principals involved want to hear my unfiltered and unvarnished opinions on the matter. So I'm just getting as much shower and laundry time as possible while I still can, 'cause who knows where Jenn and family will end up. (I have heard Pennsylvania, just over the Maryland line being discussed.

Anyway....as you can see I had column #3 published in the City Paper this week, http://citypaper.com/news/columns/panhandle-tales-1.1358802, with any luck I'll be able to get some cash this weekend. I received an E-mail from someone at HCH and I hope to meet with her early next week when I am back in town. I also got a voicemail from someone at "Word On The Street", Baltimore's independent, grassroots, 'homeless focused' newspaper..http://wordonthestreetbaltimore.wordpress.com/..another thing which I will be looking into next week. A writing workshop was mentioned, and I THINK an invitation to submit something. (Bad reception here in the basement, and the fidelity of the low budget TracFone recording leaves a lot to be desired!)

The Maryland State Fair is a week away, so I definitely need cash quick, I'll
have to see if I can coax Evan into another column next week.  ;-)

Anyway....I need to jump in the shower and rinse off...(Because I CAN!!)... these freakin' hot flashes and cold sweats are not only driving me crazy, but they combine with the fabric softener and laundry detergent residue that is always in the clothing after washing, (Even after a triple rinse.), and it makes the very cotton cloth of the tee shirts feel heavy, dense, and cruddy.

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

"City Paper..........Column # 3............."

Good Morning;

So... read it online;
http://citypaper.com/news/columns/panhandle-tales-1.1358802

or pick it up Wednesday at one of a bazillion locations,
Column # 3 of "HOMELESSCIDE", 'Panhandle Tales'
is out today.

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

P.S......NOT my title, I submitted it as
"Cash In Hand".......lol!

"P.O.V.........Present, Future, Past

Good Evening

Well.....it truly is a lovely night out tonight. Cool with a pleasant breeze, low humidity..a little cloudy, but for once I can sit here without worrying about rain from them. I wish I had a cold beer and a warm body next to me...(preferably a female human within the socially acceptable age parameters)..., and we're sharing a big old chaise lounge on a --- rooftop deck or balcony overlooking city lights,
the porch of a cabin in the mountains with a view that goes in forever, or hammocks in front of a beach shack/bar/restaurant in the 'Islands', (French Polynesian or Caribbean, I'm easy....lol!),...[or "Oz"].
But.....

I've got the TV plugged in and I'm channel surfing between WMPT 67-2 airing a  public tv documentary show, "P.O.V." a collection of short films by various film makers, the one on now is amazingly beautiful and strikes a chord within me with it's haunting solitude of the South Australian salt flats at Lake Eyre. He is using real time and elapsed time videos, and  a series of automatically controlled time lapse stills, synchronised to the Sun by an equatorial mount. Incredible!
So many places left to see.......

http://www.pbs.org/pov/salt/#.UCh1FXojk8g.blogger

And I'm skipping across the channels to the WJZ 13 News, a cornball movie on WUTB 24-2 from 1979, "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh", and "Law And Order" on  24-1.

Now a segment on the people who design and create "glass eyes"...so cool!
Now a segment on a man who has the most vinyl records in the world, over 1,000,000 LPs, and 1,500,00 45s....over 80 % of which is no longer to the public according to the Library of Congress. It is a designated 'Archive', and he can find no one at all willing to buy it and take it on to preserve it after he is gone.
How can either the industry or museums be so blind?!

Okay one half of my weekend TV addiction, the weekend version, part 2,
 is now on.... "Criminal Minds".

Back to PBS and a segment on a job I used to have, cleaning out houses that were foreclosed on, abandoned, or where the owner died. It can be a dirty and dangerous job, and yet both extremely heartrending to be trashing people's lifelong memories, and,...rewarding. If while cleaning everything out you are able to recognize and grab something and save it from destruction and return it to the owner/next of kin, (which was why I got fired from the temp. agency that worked for banks and mortgage companies-- whose only concern was speed....and hired on by a privately owned company that worked mainly for investors, lawyers and estate liquidators and funeral homes-- and where everything was sorted into 4 categories: trash.., scrap/recycle.., cash value/salable.., intrinsic value/heirlooms). If I could still do the required physical work required I might be there still.

 I'm babbling and going off on all kinds of tangents, and the wifi here is slower than molasses and it's taking minutes  for each 'auto save', so I'm gone.

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

"Flat Out, Flat And Out............."

Good Afternoon;

So....when I signed off this morning I barely got packed up and down to the gas station to make it to the restroom,....barely!
I got back to the shed at 5:30 AM. and got to sleep by 6:00 am., waking at 8:30 am. to take morning meds. I went back to sleep until 12:30 pm. when I looked at the time and figured 'the hell with it, it's Sunday and I have no place to be, no cash to spend, & no reason to get up' and went back to sleep until 2:30 pm. This is the longest period of downtime I've been able to be flat on my back in months, the recliner at Jenn's does not count because some part of my body always aches when I get up and I'm never really oun asleep. When I got up, cut my toenails and changed into fresh clothes from the skin out. I ended up at the coffee shop about 5:00 pm. and here I sit. It's near closing and I need to start packing up.

Later........................Dave  

"The Good, The Bad, & The Batshit Fugly..............."

Good Morning;

Well I'm sitting out here behind the library again tonight watching TV and futzing around on FB and the 'net. The one thing I'm not doing though is tweeting. I have deactivated my Twitter account and withdrawn from the HEaR ME Tweet And Tumblr Project.
Besides my ingrained dislike of Twitter in general, and having no passion for the tweets I was posting, it was becoming a tremendous time waster. I also looked closer at the details of the grant proposal after the grad student whose PhD. project this is informed me of the need for an analytics program to find out details about the tweets, and those 'following' and those I 'followed'. After   looking into the tool he was recommending, www.kred.com , and a bunch of others and found that the information tracked and the breadth and depth of the search is way too intrusive for both the tweeter and the reader, and in my opinion, kind of creepy. Between this and just not feeling in any way connected to the medium of "micro-blogging", the 'carrot' of the phone (a Blackberry clone.....meh..) and the minutes aren't worth it.

So.....it's been about a week since the last real post. Let's see, (sidebar---hav you eveer noticd how har it is to writeeeeeeeeeeeeeee without using th leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteeteeeers "e" an "d".... I'm just sayin', so you can visualiz what I'm aling with on th hardwar front!)
on Monday I commented on a post from Jenn on FB that basically started out with a generally humorous statement about someone needing a slap upside the head, that morphed into "with a sock full of nickels" that ended up being "wrapped around a chair".
When I mentioned that she seemed to be having a touch of anger issues, it came out that her batshit crazy m-i-l had told them they had to get out of her house and given them 30 days to do so.
C U Next Tuesday!
Well...when I half jokingly said "So I guess this isn't a good night to ask if I can ride back with you after your meeting and shower and do laundry?" She said "Why the hell not? At this point who cares what the bitch thinks" 
Circumstances, such as my s-i-l Tom getting sick with the same chest infection that almost cost me my lungs the week before from severe, uncontrollable coughing, exacerbated by his history of bronchitis and me having to watch the kids while Jenn took him to the doctor, then all of us, kids included, seriously oversleeping one morning, afternoon, and the next day, (Wednesday) Jenn having a meeting in the evening and asking me to stay and watch the kids again to give Tom a chance to rest, intervened so that I didn't get out of there until late Thursday afternoon. The whole time I was there I was able through both luck and planning to avoid contact with the m-i-l, and stay in Jenn and family's basement apartment, not wanting to get dragged into the middle of the conflict, and also because I don't want to be put into a situation where the temptation to speak my mind allows the emotional part of my brain to duct tape the logical side to a chair and tell her what I really think of someone who puts her grandkids in jeopardy.
Watch this space after they are safely moved out for the REAL dirt.

Actually this week looks to be a bit of a repeat with me going up Monday night to bathe, leaving Tuesday and returning Wednesday evening to stay through Friday because Jenn's best friend is going in for surgery and Jenn is driving her to and from the hospital and staying with her for the first night home.
Hey, if I'm going to lose my one consistent shower and clean clothes facility, again, I'm going to use it up to the end!
This has been the worst stretch of the whole time I've been out on the street, I just have not been able to stay dry because of the heat and the lingering extreme humidity.

On the up-side....last week the retired head of Health Care for the Homeless was in the coffee shop one day and called me over and asked if he could speak to me. We had met casually before and he was familiar with the blog and had just read the first 2 columns in the City Paper, (I think # 3 is this Wednesday). He mentioned that he had read about my trials and tribulations with S.S.I. and asked if I would mind if he could try to hook me up with someone who might be able to expedite the process and guide me through the paperwork maze.
"WOULD I MIND???" My face is bloody from banging my head against the bureaucratic walls......what o you think?......lol!!
So I am awaiting a call, text, e-mail, and or visit from this person, more as it develops.....

The wind has picked up, it poured earlier and I was an am still under the awning behind the library at the picnic table that I pulled under just before the clouds burst and damn near flooded me out. Another inch and the water in the loading dock sunken ramp area would have been all over the sidewalk and flowing under the library staff entrance. It's almost chilly now so I am heading over to the shed to try to sleep.
 I am 6 cents short of bus fare for tomorrow and have a couple donuts, a can of tuna and a bag of ramen noodles as food until Monday night. I need to find at least $15.00 for meds from Monday through Friday, (or I'm not going to be able to help Jenn out), and bus fare for Monday because still no Foodstamps or TDAP.
It's been a long, hot, nasty, sticky, underfunded summer!
And one way or another, work, beg, borrow or steal.....
I need to get hold of about $100.00 +/- by the end of the month to take Rachel to the State Fair, we have not been able to get together as much recently, but the Fair is an important tradition and a legacy carried down from Jenn and I to Rachel and I, and passed along to Jenn and her kids, (and when I ended up back in my oldest daughter and my grandkids lives....it happened by "coincidence" that they were at the Fair on the same night out of 8 days and nights that Rachel and I went!)...and now we try to purposely make arrangements to meet up there.

Too tired to think of the rest of what I wanted to write.

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

"Excuses And Apologia........................."

Good Evening;
Well......still alive and (feebly) kickin'!
Time, logistics, hardware problems, etc. have kept me from posting.
Oh yeah, and rain, a whole buttload of thunderstorms catching me
at the wrong time and place over the past couple weeks.

The coffee shop is closing, but I'm hoping that the wifi at the library is at full strength later tonight, if not then, see you Saturday.

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

"The Cyclical Nature Of Homelessness..............."

Good Afternoon;

A link to video from the NCH, (National Coalition for the Homelessness)

http://youtu.be/sZZ7lEEkREg

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

"Steam Pressure......Or Now I Understand Why There Are Emergency Relief Valves!!!!........"

Good Afternoon;
Well...I'm here at the Starbucks in Mt. Washington and I'm learning the literal meaning of "hot under the collar". The A/C here is not, (and here's a phrase that I have heard way too much of in my life...[and yeah, pride would have me deny it, but honesty/openmindedness/willingness, humility, and a buttload of guilt force me to acknowledge the painful truth of the concept...
"if the foo shits--wear it" ].....lol!)..."living up to it's potential"! The thermometer inside was reading 82 degrees, but behind the counter, between the steam from the espresso machines and the hat of the brewers and all the compressors for the refrigeration units...it had to be pushing 90 degrees in spots. Meanwhile, just before the point where the A/C would kick on I am sweating through my shirt, particularly at the neckline. My head and face begin to bead up as the humidity rises and I just cannot get to where I feel dry. Then the A/C will cool it own to barely comfortable for a while, and the cycle starts again. I stepped outside to go over to Whole Foods and the heat and brightness were like a blast furnace.....and leaving the nice and icy cold market was worse for the huge contrast between indoors and out, but....at least re-entering the Starbucks felt good now.......for a while......lol.

This 'moistness' was the same thing I was feeling Friday night outside all night, and all the way to downright soaked in the shed when I tried to sleep.
Last night was not as bad because of a good strong breeze blowing all night long. I sat out behind the library until near 3:45 am. watching TV and rewriting and sending off the latest column for the City Paper to Evan. I went and sat on "MY" bench in front of the library, planning on laying down and skipping the shed, but I nodded off sitting up and slept that way until sometime after 5:00 am. when I stumbled down to the shed thinking that it may have cooled off enough to lay down inside since it was actually windy and almost 'cool' out...and I desperately wanted to lie down. Luckily it had, and I fell immediately to sleep, a deep solid sleep, for the first time in days. I woke up about 8:45 am. because it was getting too warm inside....and all of a sudden I really needed to get to the Giant and,...uhhhh, perform my morning meditations, .....as in,...."sit and think"....lol!

I was able to catch the 10:18 am. bus to meet up with the 10:35 am. bus here, arriving at the, unheard of for me recently, hour of 11:15 am.
I got extremely lucky that there was actually the one table open I prefer when I walked in. Actually the place was relatively dead for a Sunday morning, even more so in comparison to the past month or two because there has been a string of weekend swim meets at Meadowbrook that must have been regional or national level finals, flooding the coffee shop with so many customers that the pastry case looked a swarm of locusts had gone through it devouring all that lay before them, like a Biblical plague.

It rained like hell about an hour and a half ago, dropping the temperature while it rained and for a whole 15 minutes after. I preferred the wind which had blowing for a couple hours to the steamy calm out there now.

And it's closing time and I have to pack and head over to the bus top because John has not come in this evening to offer me a ride as has been happening pretty frequently of late.

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

"The July - August Transition Post................."

Good Afternoon;
Well...it's a hot and sticky, nasty-ass Saturday in August here in Baltimore. The basic Mid-Summer Mid-Atlantic Mess from New York to North Carolina. The type of insanity provoking heat and humidity that makes one easily understand why Congress is in Recess for a month......'cause looking at some of the bullshit that comes out of D.C. when the weather in pleasant one can barely imagine the logic twisting WTF? craziness they'd be regurgitating now!!!

So.... to recap the past week beginning with Saturday the 28th of July, when due to some seriously late oversleeping, the resulting lack of motivation and ennui on both mine and Jenn's part and the threat of thunderstorms forecast but never developing, which did give a certain legitimacy to our rationalizations....I never left Jenn's. And since I was supposed to be returning Sunday night anyway.....why bother.

Jenn, Tom, and the grandmonsters left Monday around 3:00 pm. for  2 nights and 2 days at a hotel near Hershey Park and a mini-vacation, and I stayed at their place to petsit the cats and the dog. It was pretty uneventful considering that her m-i-l is a balance of senility/stupidity/batshit crazy/& a poor, foul, non-existent!! sense of hygiene and basic sanitary principles.

Which is probably the reason I started to get sick on  Tuesday with a scratchy throat, headache, & fever, that graduated into a full blown, chest wracking, lung clenching cough Tuesday night. By Wednesday I was in whatever the medical term for a "pre-pneumonia condition". When the cough began to come in spasms that too vividly reminded me of  what I went through just before I slid into full blown Pneumonia that had me in the ER and on the surgeon's 'to do' list I combed through both Jenn's and my own fairly well stocked, (in both quantity and variety), medicine bags and on Wednesday evening, when the cough was at it's worst, and when they got home, for safety precautions, dosed myself with both systemic and symptomatic remedies, from Zithromax 7/7 antibiotic, to Triaminic Cough Strips, Nsaid fever reducers and analgesics, Mega C vitamins, and my normal meds which include generic Flexeril, and Buprenorphine. This heavy duty 'quick and dirty', though well reasoned and researched, treatment has seemed to work, because after finally getting to sleep Thursday morning about 5:00 am., and sleeping for close to 12 hours, waking and getting 2 more hours in, except for residual soreness in my lungs and chest muscles, a raw throat, and a rapidly tapering off and finally disappearing cough, I was  much improved. Another 3 days of  Z-Max and I'm one with the anti-biotic, and have already stopped all other symptom treatment meds.
I just have to remember NOT!!!! to take really deep breaths 'cause the chest and lungs are still sore.
Jenn dropped me at the light rail yesterday about 3:00 pm. and I cruised by Monkee's to pick up a couple 'bupes' to get me through the weekend. Money is beyond tight, it is non-existent, so I don't know what I'm going to do after that.

Last night I was at the coffee shop until close and John gave me a ride to the library, where I sat out back until close to 4:00 am. Then I went and checked out the shed. Most of the cardboard 'ceiling/leak deflector panels' had fallen in in one of the thunderstorms that had passed through Pikesville in the past week, but I ha expected that. I had snagged heavy, heavy duty box that had been part of a shipping crate for a FedEx/Kinkos copy machine that was about 25 foot long when unfolded, and almost 5 foot tall. I had to cut it into panels and wedge it into the angle of the roof an the wall on one side and between the wall and the top shelf on the other, and tear down the parts that did not fall down. A hot. sweaty, and dirty job. After I went to the gas station and washed off I had to strip to the skin and I put on clean, dry, but raggedy clothing to sleep in and tried to lay down  and sleep. No such luck....too damn hot, I was almost soaked through again. When I went out into the 80 degree weather....it was probably 15 degrees cooler!. I walked back to the library, thinking to sleep on "MY" bench and Barry/Rainman was on it, smelling so foul that even if I was so inclined it would have been impossible to sleep near him.
I went around to the front of the library and sat and dozed on one of the benches under a tree, unable to let myself lay down in full sight of Reisterstown Rd., (as the two other homeless guys in the little park area a few yards own do), for both safety and ???...'face'-'self respect'-'appearances'...??? don't know what you' call it, but I have always preferred the 'out of sight-out of mind' model of 'sleeping rough'.

Anyway......I'm done here and the damn 'd' and 'e' keys are skipping, (if you see a word that looks wrong.....try adding a 'd' or an 'e'....or both...lol!


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

"SShhhhh!!!........'THEY' Will Hear You!.........."

Good Morning;
So........I've been at Jenn's since Friday and the past couple days I've been sick as a dog.
Here is a link to Poverty Insights and Joel John Roberts:
http://www.povertyinsights.org/2012/07/31/the-conspiracy-of-homelessness/

Back soon as I feel better with a complete update of the past week.

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