July 5, 2021
Get me alone in a place with cable tv and I invariably end up watching the most gruesome stuff like 20/20 and Forensic Files. What is it that attracts humans to the macabre? Having known a few murderers in the Tenderloin (at least two before they committed their crime) I can say they were mostly sad or terribly disturbed people—except for one guy—a senior who came into the drop in center where I worked who had done a few decades in San Quentin after knifing a guy to death during a botched drug deal. He was actually kind of upbeat.
“Let me tell you buddy. It was either me or him and you know, from my perspective, him was better than me.”
Chuck was gruff but humorous except that every time he’d get his social security check he’d go to a bar, flash his cash and end up getting rolled on the street. He’d show up in the senior center the next day with a black eye or toilet paper stuffed up his nose. Okay, come to think of it, sad and terribly disturbed fit him pretty well if you scratched beneath the surface.
Anyway, landlocked and docked, this urban boondocker has a lot of time to couch surf but I actually haven’t been watching much tv—mostly just before I go to bed. Nothing like the sad life of killers to give me sweet dreams.
Actually, I’m a sucker for romantic comedies too. Adam Sandler has made some really bad movies but I’ve kind of enjoyed the ones I’ve seen him make with Drew Barrymore. Maybe she has a wholesoming effect on him. I watched “Blended” the other night. It only took about six hours—four hours of commercials and two for the movie. I did computer organizing in between.
Early on in this endeavor to visit all the places I lived with my family I said it may just end up being a journal about gas prices. Well, now that I am on a bit of a hiatus before visiting my last two places—Winchester, TN and Sewanee, TN—this might be a good time to show you my little gas chart:
As you can see my best fuel economy took place early on in the trip when driving away felt like a Sunday stroll and I crossed some great expanses as if I was just headed down to the local ice cream shop. 30.9 miles per gallon is pretty good for my old 2006 Ford Ranger. I estimated that I was going about 60 mph to get that. My worst average was in Tallahassee where I did a lot of city driving.
Finally, for you male urban boondockers I have found that a half gallon milk container and a binder clip is the best pee container to use while camping—no real aiming required and you can pretty much relieve yourself without having to get out of bed.
Spotty West Goes East 