Robo Hobo Homo #092

While I was taking care of this business, Pally moved out and Andreski moved to the back hall. Have I talked about the back hall? Hold on, I will later. With those two gone, there were only four people in our emergency room. That meant I could move to a downstairs bunk and quit tripping over Wheelchair Guy. He's a good guy, but living quarters are especially tight when you're talking about someone in a wheelchair. Take the personal space you need and multiply it by 50% and that's probably just the down-payment on the personal space someone in a wheelchair needs.

I took a shower and when I came back, I had a fresh feeling, my duties in order, and a space of my own.

I did not, however, have enough time to get any sleep. I broke down and bit the bullet. Before arriving here, I drank a lot of caffeine. Like, "familiar with caffeine overdose symptoms," a lot. When I'd quit on the 14th, I'd lucked out that I hadn't lost a day to withdrawal. I was proud of the fact that despite the ready access to coffee a Purgatory Shelter, I hadn't had any.

Until that night.

Some mail had come in for me while I was gone. It was a letter from the Food Stamps guys about how I needed to set up an appointment for an interview. It didn't really say for what, but because of the weekend, it'd be until Tuesday until I could get in there and see what was up. I could have called, but I really don't find phone calls to be...satisfying or definitive.

Robo Hobo Homo #069

We have a guy here who has Parkinsons. I think. His hands shake a lot. I saw him eat a sloppy joe with a fork tonight. I've never seen him eat soup. He doesn't talk a lot.

Sometimes the things I see here suck not because I see them, but because for every one I see, there are hundreds--maybe thousands here in the US and beyond--that I don't.

Robo Hobo Homo #048

So a guy with a broken ankle arrived Monday. He got it while hiking around the mountain. I’m trying to help him around, but then he says that because he’s broke he’s going to need to learn how to get around on his own anyway. But then someone else helps him and I feel like a tool.

I haven’t gotten a chance to ask him about the mountain yet.

He’s a cool guy though. He might have even been trying to do what I wanted to do. There’s no telling, really. I would like to sit down and talk with him about the mountain. Show him my map. Try to understand the lay of the land.

He got a wheelchair on Thursday so he’s getting around better. Still makes me look like a tool though. Four months he’s going to be laid up. Being a cold, homeless queer is bad, but having a being homeless and having physical handicap? Damn.