Joplin Missouri

I rolled into Joplin really early this morning. I may have gotten two hours of sleep; certainly not as much as I needed. I already needed some make-up sleep before last night, so today hasn't exactly been fun. Mostly I've been sitting around at the Pilot station, not getting a ride. But I did have a nice multi-hour chat with Rece (pictured), who came in to Wendy's at least five hours before he was scheduled to work. I think it's cool that I am able to interact with people 15 years younger than myself as peers, not as kids. I have the same kind of thing with people decades older than me, too. Our culture places too much importance on age and age difference. Despite the fact that I haven't gotten a ride yet, it really hasn't been too boring or frustrating being here all day, I guess because I've had a lot to think about. I'm not sure what all I've been thinking about, though, other than
the molestation... Leaving Joplin a little before 9:00. Don't know where I'm going yet.

I'm not ripe

This morning my ride got a little fruity with me. I'm not going to tell the whole story here, but basically he somehow convinced himself that he had permission to fondle me through my jeans. Well, he didn't have permission, nor will any man ever have permission to fondle my dick in any way. After I calmly informed him I'm not into dudes, he said, "I'm not, either. I just thought we could get each other off." Um, I don't think so. Not even an attractive WOMAN would get a piece of me that easily. I didn't know how to react, but I chose not to be combative. Had I freaked, however, I would have been justified. As a guy, you just don't go around trying to rub other guys' cocks without clear permission, especially if you know they're fully hetero. And of course you don't go around touching women's "things," either... This is not a gay issue. I have no problem whatsoever with gay people,
unless they try to molest me... Most same-sex sex offenders are straight.

Another good day

Right now I'm riding with a trucker, heading to Joplin, Missouri. His name is George. We're in Indianapolis (8:39 PM). I'm actually using his laptop to write this. He just told me he has a masters' degree in Psychology.

(This post will probably be very schizophrenic because I'm typing and talking at the same time. Also I'm not writing for a long time in between sentences because we're talking so much.)

I got a ride from Huber Heights to the Ohio/Indiana state line at about 6:30 from a South African gentleman in an Audi. His name is Sean Minnie. He was very cool. I may have more to say about him later.

Terre Haute at 8:43 CDT. Hey, this is the first time I've been out of the Eastern time zone since beginning Aimless.

After Sean dropped me off near the Petro station, it took me almost no time to get a ride with George, which means I'm having a string of good days. (Wow, all the shit I've been through, and I consider the last two days good?!?) Actually I've had at least three flippin' incredible days in a row. Everything is good.

You know what that means, right? It means I have some nasty shit coming my way. It has to mean that. (We're in Illinois now.)

Luke, I will answer your question soon. I don't think I know the answer yet. I haven't had a chance to think about it how it was.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

The junk man

Ahh, my old familiar friend, the on-ramp (I-70 & Old Troy Pike). It feels different this time. Maybe it's because it's kinda new again, or maybe it's because I just had the biggest two days of Aimless up to this point... At about 4:35 PM I began making a new kind of difference. As I stood beside a broken beer bottle, I thought, "Gee, that kind of reminds me of the semi-circular scar on my right wrist, from when I fell on a broken beer bottle at age 10, completely severing five tendons. I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else. So I think I'm going to pick up as much trash as I can, then put it all in a nice neat pile where someone else can come and easily get rid of it all." Then I started doing it. I'm proud of myself for doing this and I'm going to make it a habit whenever I find myself standing alone beside an on-ramp. I have picked up enough to fill a trash bag. It's little
things like this that change the world. (It'll surely make cop encounters a little more pleasant, too!)

My first solo kick-down

I got a knock on the door this morning from the Riverside Police. They were very cool; they didn't even tell me to pack it up. I would have been gone already if it hadn't been raining. Once I left, I kept an eye out for the guys, but I didn't see them anywhere. I started walking a different direction than the three of us had been going, so I know I won't see them again... Up the road a few miles toward Huber Heights, I spotted a Donatos. What do you think I did? Yup, I walked in and asked the manager David if they had anything they were going to have to toss. He then produced a large thin pepperoni pizza (my favorite) and allowed me to take whatever I wanted. I should have taken a little more than I took. He also gave me a cup for a drink. Yesterday before we went into the other Donatos, John said every Donatos he'd ever asked for food gave him something. This is the first time I've
asked anyone to give me food or anything else. I'll probably do it more frequently now.

A new direction

It rained heavily 3 times yesterday. We got stuck in 2 of the downpours, so me and my stuff got pretty well drenched. My backpack has almost no water resistance, so that's not what I needed... The guys spend most of their time "spange-ing" for beer money, so I've spent a lot of time sitting around doing nothing as well as spending more money than usual because it has kept me away from my usual revenue & nourishment sources. I've bought them some stuff, too, so I'm getting kind of low on cash. I'm glad I did it, though... Last evening they got a quick $5 from a couple cars, so they went straight to the carryout to blow it all on beer. They said they were going to the woods to drink it, but I stayed where I was. A few hours later I went looking for them, but I couldn't find them, so I put up my tent and went to sleep. Haven't seen them since. They may have ditched me but I doubt it. I was
about ready to split from them anyway... It rained all night and my stuff got even more drenched.

Wright-Patt

Upon leaving Donatos we resumed our march toward Dayton by walking along the edge of Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Long story short, the Air Force police came to see us (that is, me) because apparently it IS illegal to take photographs in the United States of America. They said because I was just off the road (in the grass), I was on US government property and subject to different laws than usual. In other words, they fucked with me for an hour and 15 minutes. The main guy told me I had to give them my tape, even though I showed him there was nothing on it that showed even a square foot of the base; even though I told him I'd gladly let him watch me erase all the footage I'd taken from land adjacent to the base. (Of course, that's exactly what we ended up doing after their investigator showed up and watched it.) The whole ordeal was a bunch of unnecessary bullshit. These people are
supposed to be protecting me and my freedom. Instead they're stripping me of it... Fear your future.

From Dayton

We got a little sleep last night under an overhang in front of a church in Enon. (It was raining.) This morning we started walking toward Dayton, arriving in Fairborn just before 11:00 AM. Ronnie and John (his name is not actually Bill) were hungry but didn't have any money, so we went into a few fast food joints to see if we could get any "kick downs" (free food). No luck, so we tried again at Donatos Pizza. Having worked a couple years at Donatos, I thought we might have a good chance there because I knew each Donatos is supposed to make two large test pies every day just before opening, to make sure the ovens are working right. Sure enough the Donatos manager (Nick Reiter) took a peek at one of the pizzas sitting in the pass-thru and handed it to us. It was a large Works on a thick crust. While we were outside eating, someone else brought us a sub that had been made wrong. That was
cool. I think the Donatos people really felt good about doing something nice for us. I hope so.

Enon, Ohio

We didn't get arrested last night; we just got caught and kicked off the train in Enon, Ohio... You wouldn't believe the shit that's happened to us over the last couple days even if you'd been there watching it all. Fortunately my camera has been there to catch it for you. Yes, I did get footage of the Clark County Sheriff's deputies finding us in the box car and some of what happened thereafter. I thought I had 20 or 30 minutes of that stuff (holding the camera as if it was off so they wouldn't suspect anything), but apparently I accidentally hit the pause button a couple minutes into it. I was so disappointed when I realized I didn't get it all, but when I watched the footage I did get, I was thrilled because it's incredible. The guys agreed. The people in Enon treated us almost like celebs. We're gonna be legends in that town. We've walked about 8.5 miles so far today, from Enon to
Riverside. If you think yesterday wasn't crazy enough, wait till you hear about today. More later.

We got busted.

We got busted.

Slow train

This train has spent much more time stopped than it has spent moving. We're still not even to Springfield. I don't think it had even reached 35 MPH until about now. It's about time. Now get me to Indy so I can feel like I'm accomplishing something... I seem to appear kind of pissed off in the picture, do I not? Well, I'm not. I guess I just look like that whenever I hold part of my body outside of a moving freight train. Try it and see how you look... This thing is truckin' now.

Choo choo

I ran into Ronnie and Bill again a few hours after they took off to make some money. We sat around and shot the shit for a while before the Pilot manager evicted us. We then headed to the nearest railroad tracks to catch us a train to Indianapolis. Well, we found that train and we've been on that train, motionless, for at least three hours now. (It's actually not quite that simple.) ... The train began rolling at 2:14 PM. Wow! I mean WOW!!! I'm riding a fucking freight train! And believe me, this is part of the story. This is a big part of the story. I am not worried about wasting tape right now because these tapes will be priceless. Whatever doubts I had about Aimless's future, they're gone now. This is for real! I have work to do now.

Bad train

I ran into a couple characters here at the Pilot station a little bit ago. Ronnie Burton (18) and Bill (27) are what you might call young hobos; they hitchhike and ride the rails. Two years ago Ronnie had a bit of a run-in with a train. The train won, so now the lower part of Ronnie's left leg is a metal rod. He was 16 when the train ran him over. I got at least a half hour of footage of them. It might be pretty good stuff... I've been up all night and I'm really tired. Hope I get a ride soon.

Premature adjudication

Jay told me some girl he works with said I seemed creepy because of how I looked at her. When he described her, I knew exactly who he was talking about because the place only has a handful of people working the floor at any given time. I thought it was kind of funny that she particularly would think I looked at her creepily because I barely looked at her at all, even though she walked by me dozens of times and I am a very field-dependent person. Now, I can understand why Lidia may have thought I'm sorta creepy because I know I kind of came off that way with her. Regardless, she's stupid IF she has concluded fully that I am indeed a creep, because I also gave her more than enough evidence to suggest it would be worthwhile to delay judgment. Hey, if she wants to make inaccurate premature judgments, I'm not gonna stop her, but I hope for her sake that she eventually realizes it's wise not
to judge people so quickly. Doing so lets a lot of great people slip through the cracks.

That old familiar feeling

The hat in the picture is just like the hat I lost in SC, except this one is green. (The other one was blue.) This one is my dad's, but he let me use it... This is the first time I've been at a truck stop in a couple weeks, but it feels like it was just the other day. It feels a little weird hanging out at a truck stop in my hometown, especially only a few miles from my high school (and about a mile from where I bowled in junior leagues). I'm only a few hundred feet from neighborhoods where a lot of my high school friends lived, although I am about 15 miles from my mom & dad's house, which is also where I lived when I was in high school. (Toward the end, that's where I usually was INSTEAD OF high school.) I've never done this anywhere in Ohio... Jay, I have a favor to ask you: Will you take a peek at a ground beef package/container where you work and tell me what brand it is? Y'know, I
might be a restaurateur someday, and when that day comes I'll need to know what brand of beef to buy.

This moment feels very familiar,

This moment feels very familiar, as if I've lived it once before in a dream or something.

Leaving Columbus

This picture is of me and my pal Jay Rivers (docrivs.blogspot.com) outside his condo in downtown Columbus. I took it just before riding with him to Mac's Cafe in the Short North, where he works. Right now I am about four miles down the road as I head to a truck stop on Wilson Road at I-70, where I intend to find a ride as far west as I can get. As I've said already, I think I'll head toward the Pacific Northwest, but I'll accept a ride to Los Angeles or San Diego if someone offers. I still have at least another two or three miles to walk, which should take me an hour or less. All right, I should probably start walking again so I can get the hell out of C-bus. Oh yeah, ComFest was pretty boring. It's certainly not what it used to be.

Forget her

I'm hanging out at Jay's condo in downtown Columbus today, now alone because he just went to work at Mac's Cafe. Mac's hamburgers totally rule. Jay treated me to one of them yesterday. It was the first hamburger I've had there in at least a year (because I uncharacteristically ordered fish & chips Saturday).

I was planning to leave Columbus today, but Jay and I haven't hung out in maybe a year, so I decided I'll stick around for another day. Tomorrow I'll probably try to make my way to a truck stop on the west side of town and wait for someone to offer me a ride at least 1,000 miles west/northwest. (No Kansas!) But who knows if that's what I'll actually do.

I do like the idea of getting really far from home ASAP this time because I won't end up having to take the same route out and back like I did on Leg 1.

* * * * *
Jeff Buckley was so amazing. His voice was beautiful and his songs are incredible. Even the songs he covered are better than the originals, which is even more impressive because he covered really great songs like Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Beautiful as it is, Cohen's original version can't even touch Jeff Buckley's cover.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

I've been thinking a lot about the encounter with the drunk girl last night. Was she trying to hit on me? Did she interpret my response as a total lack of interest? And did she walk off out of embarrassment? That's how it seemed, and I know how it feels to be in that role. I almost never attempt to initiate conversation with women who attract me, so naturally I suck at it. And on the rare occasion that I do approach someone who attracts me, I usually make an ass of myself. Is that how she felt? Is that why she walked off? When I approach someone, I tend not to give up so quickly; I try to redeem myself, but I usually worsen the situation. Then the door slams shut forever. Well, I would have given the drunk girl more of an opportunity to accomplish her objective. I'm not so quick to judge because I know first impressions tend to be inaccurate, especially in situations like that, where
there may be a very large emotional weight complicating things. That's one thing I like about myself.

Drunk girl & hockey

A drunkish girl walked past me last night as I sat beside my gear at ComFest in Goodale Park. She stopped and said, "That's so hot." I replied, "Excuse me." Again she said, "That's so hot." I asked, "What is?" She then pointed and said, "That." I guess she was pointing at my backpack, but I'm really not sure, nor am I sure what she could've possibly meant by saying my backpack is hot. She looked kind of puzzled as she walked away. Then, when she was about 50 feet from me, she turned around and looked back at me, still puzzled. I guess she must have been hitting on me or something. I wouldn't know, though, because I am totally incompetent at both sides of that game. It was dark, but she actually looked pretty cute... They've been having the NHL draft at Nationwide Arena this weekend, right next to the park. Usually the arena provides a lot of the parking for ComFest, but that is surely
very limited this year. There are probably tons of people parking at least 3 miles away from the park.

Beer good! Thanks, Jay (Docrivs),

Beer good! Thanks, Jay (Docrivs), for the fish & chips and two pints of Harp. You've now made the credits! (I always knew you would.)

In the arms of ME

More than one person I've met on this journey has speculated mysteriously about my origin. "Maybe he is an angel," they've wondered.

Maybe I am an angel.

There is one specific person out there who needs to know me. In her heart she knows it, but she won't listen to her heart. I should have already said to myself, "If she's going to be like that, then fuck her." But maybe I'm her angel.

Listen to your heart, Lidia St. Mark.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Leg 1 Pics

There aren't many, but here are some pictures from Leg 1. I had to keep them small because there isn't much room left for me on the server. (I'm going to delete some old stuff today if I get a chance, to make more room for things to come.)

I may not leave today, for two reasons: 1) I still have a lot of stuff to do; and 2) It's cool and raining. If I do leave, I'll probably ask my mom to give me a ride to ComFest.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Leg 2

Hey, is this picture any good? Did it even publish? As y'all may have noticed, my hair is now about six inches shorter than it was in the most recent pic because my mama done cutted it for me this morning. She had it looking pretty horrible there for a while, but I think she fixed it up nicely. I took the picture here in the waiting room of the doctor's office that botched my appointment, which I scheduled way back on April 27... I've been feeling a little bummed out lately. Don't feel real confident about the direction I've been going with this, and my people/social skills have been shit. I've made a total jerkwad of myself in the eyes of someone I really wanted to impress, and the whole mess bothers me quite a bit. So maybe I'm not as free as I've led on... I'm taking off again tomorrow, beginning Leg 2 with a weekend at ComFest in Columbus. I think I'll probably head really far
west/northwest when ComFest ends... (Radiohead rules.)

Grand Strand

Looking at my web stats, I can tell that I have a reasonably regular reader from Myrtle Beach or nearby. Just wondering who it is, assuming it's someone I met there. Marialyn? Billy? Joe?

Let me know who you are, eh.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Head issues

Sometimes I wonder if maybe I have a mild case of Tourette Syndrome, particularly when I read some of my blog posts. Y'see, the thoughts in my head don't sound as mean or profane as some of the stuff I end up writing (or saying). I really don't know why it comes out that way, just as I don't know why I so easily embarrass myself when I write e-mails to people like Lidia. I also have some quirks that may be described as tics. Nothing major, but it does make me wonder occasionally.

The dermatologist people took a chunk out of my nose Monday. If you know me and have spent time around me, you may be familiar with the mole on the side of my nose. (I rarely notice it myself because my nose is kind of positioned below my eyes.) Well, there isn't a mole there anymore because they gouged a big ditch for a biopsy. I'm supposed to give it a lot of attention for two weeks to make it heal correctly, but come Friday I'm not going to be able to give it all the attention it requires, due to time limits and the unnecessary weight the supplies will add to my pack.

Whenever I get several days to relax, I still hurt pretty constantly. It's like all that weight on my back compacts me over time and now my body needs to spring back into its normal shape. The feet especially.

Lidia, I don't know if you read this blog regularly, but I'm 99 percent certain you did read the posts to which I linked in my e-mail to you. (See, I'm probably about to embarrass myself again.) I can't read your thoughts, but I feel like you want to say much more to me than you have already. Maybe you're just hesitant because the public nature of your job makes you an easy target if you don't say precisely the right things in private e-mails. I don't know, but I need to forget you again if you don't start participating a little more in our correspondence. I'm going to remove your last name completely from this blog, OK. I really want to hear from you again.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Florida residents vs. OSU fans

I have met some people along my trek who surely thought I was a nice guy when they met me but changed their minds after reading some of my shit-talking about the state of Florida or religion or whatever. Hey, that's their prerogative. I don't like saying negative things, but negative shit happens and sometimes negative things need to be said.

For anyone who I may have pissed off by saying Florida is full of assholes, I have a very good analogy for you:

I am a very big Ohio State football fan. A lot of other college football fans hate Ohio State, largely because they think Ohio State fans are a bunch of assholes. They're right! Of course, not all Ohio State fans are assholes; I don't think I, as an Ohio State fan, am an asshole. But a lot of OSU fans are dumbfuck assholes who pick fights with opposing fans and otherwise spend a lot of time making the rest of us look pretty bad.

So when I hear someone from Florida, Texas, or Nebraska say they hate OSU football because OSU's fans are a bunch of assholes, do I get pissed off? No, I say, "Unfortunately you're right, and it's really embarrassing sometimes."

If you live in Florida and you are not an asshole, you have no reason to be pissed off or offended by what I said, just as I have no reason to be pissed off or offended whenever I hear someone say OSU fans are assholes. If my words do piss you off, then you're probably one of the assholes and I don't give a flying fuck what you think, nor should anyone else.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Statistics and whatnot

When I returned home Saturday evening, my parents had already left town, first to attend a birthday party for my young cousins, then to see my grandpa for Fathers' Day. One of the first things I did after I returned home to an empty house with an empty swimming pool was weigh myself three times. First I weighed myself carrying all my gear, with each water bottle filled. Then I weighed myself carrying only the backpack, without the camera bag or its contents. Finally I weighed myself without any of my gear, fully dressed and wearing shoes.

When I left home on April 22, the combined weight of me and all my stuff was about 217 or 218 lbs. When I returned home, the combined weight of me and all my stuff was 223 lbs. So either I gained weight or my gear gained weight, right? It seems safe to assume that I didn't gain weight, so apparently I acquired about 6 lbs of new stuff during the trip. Are you with me?

Well, I weighed 168 lbs on April 22, but I only weighed 161 or 162 lbs on June 16. So when I left I was carrying about 50 lbs of gear on a 168-lb body (168+50=218), but when I returned I was carrying 61 lbs on a 162-lb body (162+61=223). On April 22 my gear weighed about 30 percent of my total body weight. On June 16 my gear weighed about 38 percent of my total body weight.

I was very shocked to realize I'd acquired over ten pounds of new stuff during my trip.

There have probably been some times when I have carried even a couple more lbs of stuff, like when I've had multiple cans of ravioli in the backpack. (I had no ravioli when I returned home and weighed myself.) But I'm not trying to make you think I carried around 61-63 lbs on my back at all times. There are some asterisks to address now.

* I almost never carried four full bottles of water (1 liter each) because I would drink the water pretty rapidly. I imagine on average I probably carried about two full bottles of water. That's a difference of over 4 lbs right there.

* The camera bag and its contents weigh about 7 lbs. I almost always carried the camera bag with my hand, not on my shoulder or back. That's another seven fewer pounds on my back than the statistic may have suggested.

So instead of carrying 61-63 lbs. on my back on a regular basis, I probably carried something more in the neighborhood of 50 lbs on my back.

Just because I didn't carry the camera bag on my back, though, it doesn't mean I wasn't carrying its weight. In fact I did have to carry it at all times, so my gear's total weight, on average, was somewhere between 55 lbs and 60 lbs toward the end of the trip.

So where did all this new weight come from?

I began the trip with 3 water bottles, but I returned with 4. That's over two pounds right there.

I began the trip with 12 videotapes, but I returned with 29, plus some packaging. (I don't know how much that weighs yet.)

I also acquired 3 books along the way, as well as a pretty big stack of tourist/traveler literature from various areas... One additional pair of swimming trunks... Three baseball caps in place of one Aussie style hat... One additional belt... Dozens of business cards and other small pieces of paper...

There are also some other things I can't think of right now. Maybe later, when I separate stuff from the backpack.

* * * * *
When I finally sat down in front of the computer yesterday to fetch the previous week's e-mail, I was surprised to see that Lidia had sent a response to one of my messages. In her message dated last Tuesday, she didn't say much, but I honestly didn't expect to hear from her ever again. So what should I make of it? I don't know, but here's how I see it: If she had absolutely no interest in knowing me, she wouldn't have replied... EVER. But she did reply, so I suspect she at least has not written me off as a complete loser. And that matters to me. I have no rational reason to give a shit one way or another, but I really do care what Lidia thinks of me... as long as she does think of me.

When I said it was time to forget her, I wasn't bullshitting. I really did leave the thought of her in the past the moment I left Allan and Ann's house eight days ago. But as soon as I saw her e-mail message yesterday, I had a brand new crush on her, even though I have not met her in person. I can neither explain it nor rationalize it, but I believe I adore Lidia [last name removed] and I really hope to hear from her again soon.

* * * * *
Driving to and from a doctor appointment today, I learned something about how Aimless Leg 1 has changed me: I am now incredibly patient. Big difference from before. I was probably more patient than the average person even before I left, but I am ridiculously patient now. I'll probably have a lot more to say about this before long.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Comments

For some reason, I have not been receiving e-mail notification of blog comments lately. Anyone else having that kind of problem with Blogger?

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Paranoid

I've been looking at some of the blog entries I've made during the trip and I just realized I left out a very important word in one of them. There was a post in which I said I made a sign that read: "Please get me out of this stupid city. (I am not a terrorist.)"

The sign actually said: "Please get me out of this stupid, paranoid city. (I am not a terrorist.)"

The stupid, paranoid city was Lake Mary, Florida

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Complete

I'm home. Leg 1 of Aimless is DONE! (I absolutely cannot believe this: THERE IS NO FUCKING WATER IN THE POOL!!!)

Saturday timeline part 2

Leave McDonald's at 11:04 AM. I should be home in maybe seven or eight hours, at which time I will immediately dive into the swimming pool, probably naked. The trail out of London to the east is gravel, so no mile markers. I have to leave the trail after about 5 miles and switch over to Ohio Route 665 for approximately the final eight miles... Trail crossing over Spring Valley Rd. (near 665) at 12:40 PM. Break 12:40 to 1:27. I wonder how many miles my mom has put on "my" car since I left. It was at 14,000 when I left. (She put on 2k when I was gone last year.) I bet it's at least 17k now... 665 & Glade Run at 2:14. Only 8 miles left. Break from 2:19 to 2:57. Break from 3:58 to 4:18. I dreamed of Missy Green last night. I am in so much pain right now, you can't begin to understand... Enter Franklin County at 5:25! Less than three miles left, but I'm gonna sit here for an hour.
(ThermaRest. Disregard that.)

Saturday timeline part 1

Leave Marker 25.0 at 8:05 AM. Marker 25.5 at 8:15. Marker 26.0 at 8:25. Marker 26.5 at 8:35. Marker 27.0 at 8:46. Marker 27.5 at 8:56. It was three years ago tonight when I shot X X 9- 72 X X X X X XXX for 246, followed by X X X X X X X X X XXX for my second career 300 game. (That's 20 strikes in row to finish the night!) For the night, I went 171, 200, 246, 300. When I shot my 300, my partner Bobby shot 277. Our opponents shot 311 to our 577. Why couldn't they shoot 540 or something? I mean we could have scored 45 or 50 pins below our averages and still won. Marker 28.0 at 9:05. Short break. Leave Marker 28.0 at 9:19. Marker 28.5 at 9:28. Marker 29.0 at 9:38. (End trail.) McDonald's at 10:00. 14 miles to go.

Friday conclusion

Marker 19.0 at 8:21. Marker 19.5 at 8:31. Marker 20.0 at 8:41. Marker 20.5 at 8:51 . (It smells like cow shit everywhere around here.) Marker 21.0, free Willy, smoke, and rest at 9:01. Leave Marker 21.0 at 9:28. Marker 21.5 at 9:38. (My butt cheeks are starting to hurt because they've been rubbing together for almost 20 miles.) Marker 22.0 at 9:49. Marker 22.5 at 9:59. Marker 23.0 at 10:09. (I'm at least halfway home now.) Marker 23.5 at 10:20. Short break. Leave Marker 23.5 at 10:42. Marker 24.0 at 10:52. Marker 24.5 at 11:03. Marker 25.0 at 11:13. So there we go: 23 miles today, give or take half a mile. And I don't feel too bad right now. I'm probably about 5 miles from the center of London, leaving another 14 from there to home. Gonna try to be asleep by 12:00, be up by 7:00, and on the road by 8:00. That means it will probably still be breakfast time when I hit London. Nowhere to
eat between London and home, so I might have to buy a can of ravioli or something for the road.

Fishbone

Brad Perkins just called me. You may recognize his name from some blog comments (especially if you're him). Well, Brad said he was checking in on Aimless just about every day before I left. But when I stopped linking to new blog posts on the front page, he thought I hadn't written anything new, so he kinda stopped checking. I guess he must have checked in again recently and discovered that I've been VERY busy with the blog. (I think I've written maybe 200 entries since I left.) I just thought that was pretty funny. It was real good to hear from you, Brad. Well, it's 8:00, so I have to start walking again. Gonna try to get maybe another six miles down the road tonight. That would total 23 miles for today, leaving another 19 to go tomorrow. (I really, really hurt right now. Tomorrow's going to be a bitch.)

Friday's timeline part 2

2:25 PM - Lunch break is over, walking toward US 42 & South Charleston... 3:51 - Finally made it to S. Charleston-Clifton Rd. & US 42. Man, that road is a lot longer than I remember it being. I am at least 13 miles closer to home than I was this morning. Looks like two or three more miles to South Charleston, where I'll be eating chicken for dinner. I was right here the last time I saw my parents on 4/24. Right now it's time for a smoke break... 4:21 - Break is over; walking on bike path to South Charleston... 4:29 - Milemarker 16 (from Xenia)... 4:43 - Mile 16.5... 4:54 - Mile 17.0... 5:04 - Mile 17.5... 5:15 - Mile 18.0... 5:17 - Short break (on a bench!). Can almost smell the chicken... 5:32 - Break over... 5:58 - I have my chicken in my hands and I'm about to chow. (No, I'm not going to choke it.) We're gonna take at least a two-hour break right now because I've walked about 17
miles so far today. I have to walk at least four more before I set up camp.

Friday's timeline part 1

9:08 AM - Leave Yellow Springs station (US 68 & Dayton St.) via Ohio Route 343... 10:36 - Main St. & S. River Rd. in Clifton (break)... 11:12 - Break over, walking along S. River Rd... 1:16 PM - Lunch break: S. River Rd. & Selma Pk. Gonna eat ravioli straight out of the can. When I walked this route on April 25, I had to take at least six breaks. Only two today, plus an additional two miles. I'd estimate I'm nine or ten miles down the road already. I feel fine except for my feet. This body is turning into a machine. Strange! I feel very good about my chances of making it home tomorrow, maybe even pretty early. After lunch I'm going to take S. Charleston-Clifton Rd. to US 42, sticking with the trail that parallels 42 all the way to London.

Let the pain begin

I'm sitting at the Yellow Springs station right now (8:00 AM), ready to walk at any time, but not in quite a hurry. Gonna try to walk at least 21 miles today to get halfway home. You may remember it took me 4 days to walk from home to Yellow Springs 8 weeks ago. Now I'm going to try to make it back in only 2 days. It'll be tough, but I think I can do it. I just sent Duke a TXT message, asking him to direct Miss Pathfinder to this blog if he sees her. I think she WAS on a date when I saw her last night, but it didn't look serious. It doesn't matter anyway, though, because I just want to meet her. I'll probably want to date her if I meet her, but right now I just want to meet her. So if you see this, Miss Pathfinder, I hope to hear from you soon.

Close encounter

Miss Pathfinder walked past me tonight at about 7:45. Unfortunately, she was walking with a guy. The question is: Was she "with" the guy or was she merely with him? I don't know. All I know is they weren't holding hands. While they were inside Tom's market, my once-sorta-famous acquaintance Greg "Duke" Dewey pulled up. (Duke was the drummer for Country Joe & the Fish.) When they came back out, I asked Duke if he knows who she is. He said he knows a little about her. He said he knew her dad and he kinda confirmed some of my suspicions about her personality. (Good things.)... I smiled when she walked by. She looked like she wanted to smile, but I can't say she actually did smile. She's pretty neato, I think. I wonder if she noticed that I'm in better shape than when last she saw me.

Missing

Viewing this blog on someone's laptop earlier, I noticed the sidebar is missing. I don't know how long that's been going on, but I hope it returns once this post publishes. That's all for now.

Yellow Springs, Ohio

Unhappy headlines today in Yellow Springs: Antioch University will be closed from 2008 to 2012. It's also the headline on the front page of the Dayton Daily News. The good news is that it could mean more sales for Robert Paschell, with his "Titanioch" t-shirt, which I believe has a drawing of an Antioch building sinking like the Titanic. When I saw the shirt I asked him when, in his mind, Antioch sank. He said either the 50s or 60s, so I guess it's been a long time coming.<p>I met a woman this morning in the men's restroom of the "depot" who randomly found the Aimless blog shortly after I left YSO in April. We'd actually spoken briefly when I was packing up camp to leave town, but I never told her about the web site or anything. (She was in the bathroom hanging a new art display.)<p>I think it's about time for Miss Pathfinder to come around.

Buckeye State

Ivan dropped me off in Fairborn at I-675 & Dayton-Yellow Springs Road at about 7:30. I immediately went to the nearby Skyline Chili restaurant for dinner, where I called Jeff (currently residing in Wisconsin) to let him know I was only a moment away from being served his favorite cuisine. (You won't find Skyline very far outside Ohio.)<p>My server, Zach Davis, took quite quite an interest in Aimless and sat down to chat with me for a while. We talked so much, I held cheese coney #2 for at least ten minutes without taking a bite. He ended up bringing me another one for no charge. That was cool. And for that he gets his name in the credits.<p>I guess I'm only about two miles from Yellow Springs now, so I should be camped out in my favorite camping spot not too long after midnight.<p>I'll tell ya, you meet some interesting folks at the truck stops sometimes. I need a camera crew with me
sometimes, to capture our conversations in ways that I can't. Aimless could so easily be a huge series.

...And my city was gone

I got a ride at about 11:50 with Ivan Angelov. He's Bulgarian and he's taking me to Dayton. I don't know exactly where yet, but anywhere will be fine. I guess I should look at a map to find out what exit might be good for me.<p>We just stopped for lunch in Corbin, KY. I'm hoping to be in Dayton by about 6:00.<p>Forget what I said last night about WWJD. Don't do something nice for someone just because you think Jesus would do it. And don't do something nice for someone just because I told you to. That would be insincere.<p>Instead, do something nice for someone out of the kindness of your heart. Do something nice for someone because you sincerely want to make the world a better place, at least for one person at one moment in time. It might just make the whole world a better place for everyone, at every moment in time. Do something nice for someone because it makes you feel good.

We all need to change

I'm not just frustrated anymore; I'm totally fucking pissed off. Not because I can't get a ride or because people won't do something nice for ME. No, I'm pissed off because about 0.01 percent of the American population jumps at the opportunity to do something nice for someone. That's ONE HUNDREDTH of ONE PERCENT!!! As a nation, is that what we're all so proud of? Well, it fucking disgusts me, so I'm going to start taking every chance I get to do something nice for people. I invite you to join me. So peel off your retarded-ass WWJD sticker and DWJWD. Give someone a ride. Give someone a dollar or five. When you see someone who looks like they need some kind of help, ask them what you can do to help them. God damn, just do something nice for someone, will ya!?! We're all so fucking arrogant. Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe that's why the rest of the world hates Americans? They
are not assholes; WE ARE ASSHOLES!!! Only we can change that.<p>Was that deep enough?

Blah blah

Man, I figured 3+ days would be more than enough time to get me from Exit 36 to Yellow Springs, but here I am only about 100 miles from where I began Sunday afternoon (functionally only 60). Even if I get a ride right now, all the way to Dayton, there's almost no chance that I'll hit YSO by tomorrow at a reasonable time. Forget the fact that I had hoped to walk approximately the final ten miles. A ride now gets me there at 3:00 or 4:00 AM. Then where do I sleep? Or do I get any sleep on the way there? It doesn't matter anyway because I don't have a ride yet. Yes, I am frustrated right now. Very frustrated.

Dammit, that resend button is

Dammit, that resend button is in the stupidest place.

Thanks but no thanks

I've turned down two shower offers and one food offer today. I also turned down a food offer yesterday. Why? Because I wasn't hungry when the food offers came my way and because a shower would further decrease my chances of getting a ride in a timely manner. Besides, I don't stink. If I really needed a shower, you can bet I would have taken one of the offers.

Y'all probably don't realize how much trouble it can be to prepare for a shower in a truck stop when all your belongings are packed into a backpack. You just about need to turn the thing inside out to access all your bathroom items and clothes, then you have to do it all over again when you're done. And if you forgot anything (which usually does happen), you probably have to go through it all again. It's a lot of work and it takes a lot of time. Oh yeah, and you must do it in a very small space while trying not to get your stuff all wet.

I'm still in Knoxville. Figured I'd be gone by now.

No longer stranded

Larry from NC and Jennifer from PA picked me up a little after noon and brought me to Flying J at I-40/75 Exit 369 (west of Knoxville, I guess). Got here at about 2:00. Looks like there are 11 functional diesel islands here plus a line of trucks out into the road, so I don't expect to be here too long. There are also another two truck stops on the other side of the interstate. Larry gave a few "shout outs" on the CB before he left, to help me find another ride, but that didn't seem to work this time. I just want to get back on the road, so hopefully someone will offer a side soon. If I can just get a ride to Dayton sometime tonight, I'll be very happy.

A perfect example

Guess who's still at I-81 Exit 36 in Tennessee. All you have to do is hold your fingertips up to your temples for a second and let a name come to mind... Did you do it? Did a name pop into your head? If the name was Ryan, you won!!! As always, there is no prize, but don't you feel a sense of accomplishment now? Y'see, Aimless is good for your self-esteem, and I'm glad I can offer you these opportunities.<p>Have I said anything deep lately?<p>If I don't get a ride anytime soon, Allan and Ann will be through here at about 2:00 to get me at least to I-40.<p>I think I missed out on a few chances to get closer to Ohio last night. When people ask me where I'm going, I say I'm trying to get to Ohio or something like that. Most of them assume I want to go north from here, but I need to go south first to get to I-75 in Knoxville. If anyone asks me today, I'm just going to say "Knoxville." Then
after they offer a ride, I'll be more specific.<p>PS - The guy in that truck didn't offer me a ride.

Boredom

(I'm sending this both to the blog and to Allan.) Allan, if you and Ann head back to the lake Tuesday, you might want to give me a call because I might still be here at Exit 36. I'm not having much luck getting a ride here, and it would be a shame if y'all drove right on past me. Oh, wait... I guess you don't actually drive this way to the lake, do you? (To blog readers: The last blog post was not meant to carry a derogatory tone toward truckers. I think truckers are all-right people; I was just pointing out something that's very true among a large percentage of truckers.)

Scenes from a truck stop

A tour bus and a couple trucks pulling "Allan Jackson Tour 2007" trailers pulled in here at about 5:45. Earlier today some Brooks & Dunn trucks went by me, too. I wonder if they're touring together. (I wonder if I know any of their stuff.)<p>It just blows my mind how many truckers I see carrying HUGE hot/cold cups into the truck stops to refill their favorite drinks. I'm talking half-gallon huge or even bigger. I don't know if they fill up with coffee or pop or what, but I think one thing's for sure: it ain't water or Gatorade. I don't know how they can drink that much of ANYTHING, at least just sitting there for hours. And many of them wonder why they're so fat. Really, they do.

Fun fun fun

Damn this is getting unfun. I'm still at Exit 36, feeling really stranded. It's not ridiculously hot outside but it is reasonably hot and humid. The T(&)A truck stop is a dump with no AC, but the Pilot truck stop is fucking freezing inside. I'm at Pilot in the Subway dining area, which is nearly hidden from everyone who might even think about offering me a ride. But I can't get a ride when I stand around the truckers' entrance, either, and at least I can sit here. In addition to all that, there's not enough traffic at this exit to warrant two truck stops. As you may have guessed, the two truck stops are also about half a mile from each other, on opposite sides of the interstate. Urgh!

Regulars

I'm really curious to know how many people read this blog regularly and who they are. If you read it regularly, would you please leave a comment or send me an e-mail (even if I already know you're a regular)?<br><br>Having to be back in Columbus every two months for a doctor visit really sucks because it limits my options on days like today. If I didn't have to worry about time right now, I could just take off walking like I did so much in the beginning. But I can't do that because I need to get a ride toward Ohio (and it's illegal to walk along the interstate). Consequently, I get no chance for important exercise, nor do I have much opportunity to meet or interact with people. Plus I'm stuck in a pretty boring place, where I've been for about 20 hours already.<br><br>If I could just get to Knoxville or anywhere on I-75, I would probably be in pretty good shape.

Mor-nang in the moun-tains

What is it about this one chick that's made me go all irrational thinking like? Is she really something special or am I just being stupid? Maybe it's both. Whichever it is, it's time to forget her. Time for Ryan to forget her and time for Aimless to forget her. She had her chance with both, but she passed on each (unless she's e-mailed me since yesterday afternoon).

Cops are no fare

As far as I can recall, only two cops have ever given me rides anywhere. They were both in Tennessee: 1) Last Tuesday near Dandridge; and 2) Last Christmas Eve near Lexington. I didn't want the X-mas Eve ride, but I was illegally walking beside I-40 (as shown at the very end of the Quasi-Aimless trailer), so I didn't have much of a choice there. Those are also the only cop encounters I've had in TN. (Yes, the subject line is a pun and it was very intended.)

Fear & honesty

I'm beginning to think the availability of mobile blogging is taking away from the documentary because if I couldn't mobile blog, I would spend more time talking to the camera, sharing my thoughts and emotions with the eventual viewers. When I blog, I don't talk to the camera. I don't know; I just feel like I'm not doing it right sometimes. But then if I fill up 200 tapes with just about anything, I'll almost certainly end up with some kind of presentable story. That's the genius of this project.<br><br>I know I come off like an asshole with some of the stuff I write, but I absolutely have to do it. If I don't, I'm only sharing half of the story: the side that makes me look like a heroic protagonist. Now, I admit I am a very nice guy, but I'm not perfect. Aimless is an honest story, and one of the things that will make it great is that honesty. Honesty is compelling; if not in the real
world, certainly on your TV screen. It's something we rarely see. (Watch Chappelle on Actors Studio.)

Is atrophy the word?

I think all this lazing around the last few days has made some of my new leg muscle (of which I'm so proud) disappear. I've probably put on a few lbs, too, thanks particularly to the pizza I mega-chowed on earlier today. It's funny how all the hard work can all be for nothing if you're not careful. I better not eat much the next couple days because I want people in YSO to notice the difference when I show up there.<br><br>Does html work when I use tags this way? If so, there should be more than one paragraph here. If not, you have already seen the tags not working. (Don't answer my question; it was like rhetorical or something.)<br><br>Anything else to say? I still have a few hundred characters left.<br><br>I feel like I've been cheating on Miss Pathfinder simply by thinking about Lidia. Welcome to the lonely world of Aimless Ryan. What no one seems to realize is: That is precisely what
makes me such a good catch. Hey, I just want to find the right girl someday. Maybe it's one of them.

Well, my great uncle Fred Allan Sensabaugh dropped me off here at the TA truck stop (I-81, Exit 36) at about 3:45. Aunt Ann stayed at home, so I said goodbye to her there. I really like spending time with them, as do my parents. They'uns is good people. It's always kinda hard to leave them because they always make me feel so welcome. Understandably, Allan had a tough time just dropping me off at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere. (It's OK, Allan. I'm fine.) Well, it's time to try to get to Ohio now, so I gotsta go.

Time to leave TN

I should be gone already but I'm not. I'm waiting for Allan and Ann to get back with a pizza (which we will likely eat) before they take me to a truck stop or something. They spent most of this morning at church.

I'm just gonna try to get toward Dayton, Ohio, I guess, which shouldn't be too difficult because I'm probably about five hours away. Then, from somewhere in or near Dayton, I may walk to Yellow Springs. Hope I can get there by reasonably early Wednesday. I'll probably stay in YSO for a day or two before walking back home 41 miles or so. This time I'm going to try to walk that distance in only two days instead of the four days it took me to get to YSO when I started. That'll be good for me because I haven't walked much in the last ten days or so.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

The crush

I've e-mailed Lidia, the reporter, a few times since I've been here at my aunt and uncle's house, with no response. The last message I sent (yesterday) said, paraphrasing: "I won't bother you anymore because, as you can probably tell, I sorta have a crush on you and it's making me feel like a jackass."

Like I said before, it's just a temporary obsession. It's harmless and fading.

Now that I've said I won't bother her anymore, though, I want to ask her some serious questions about her job, "off the record," like: Do the objectives of Fox affiliate stations mirror those of the Fox News channel on cable? If yes: Do you hold the same (or similar) political views that your employer projects to its viewers (or are you just there because they offered you a good job)? If you're just there for the job (and you disagree with the "news" they may be manufacturing), does it drive you nuts?

I'd certainly reword the questions to make them more open-ended, and there are surely more questions I'd like to ask, but I think you get the picture.

Oh, I'm so full of shit; I just want an excuse to talk to her and get to know her.

(The voice in my head just told me: It's not gonna happen, dude. Forget about her.)

* * * * *
One more thing: I plan to leave here tomorrow and start heading back toward Ohio to take care of some things and take a short, comfortable break from Aimless before kicking off Leg 2 at Columbus's Community Festival (Comfest) June 22 (I hope) at Goodale Park near downtown. I have so much stuff to do at home, though, like watching all my tapes to take note of everyone's names and whatnot. I'll probably also look for some good footage to put on YouTube or something, too. I hope I'll also find some time to just chill out by the pool.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

I, Agenda Pusher

If you come here often, you've probably already read most of this, but I like Jay's commentary on Ryan, Agenda Pusher.

I learned today that I have my own isms. Isms rule!

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Revolution

I've spent some time checking out Lew Graff's blog, Revolution, today. He's a really good writer and has interesting things to say in a very objective kind of way. I also think he "gets" a lot of the stuff I say, which is evident in his post aimless blog. (For example, I know Lew is 100 percent sure he is not one of the subjects of my shit-talking about Florida. Besides, he's from Michigan.) I left a comment on that post, but it may not show up for a while because Lew "screens" his comments.

I like Lew. I'm glad I met him.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Flash

Here's another one, with the flash on. Pictures I take of myself always come out looking shitty, as do pictures in which I pose (like the ones Mom takes). Conversely, I tend to like "action" shots of myself, meaning pictures someone took of me that I didn't know they were taking.

My eyes look so funny in both of these shots.

Haircut

For those of you who have never seen me with my hair down, here ya go. I think I'm probably going to ask my mom to take off about six inches here in a week or two. That's all I have to say about that.

Travis Beechler

Travis called me yesterday. He's the guy for whom I painted in Naples. I was surprised to hear from him because the last time we talked was face to face.

Anyway, you may remember that I left an apology after saying I felt kind of cheated after only getting paid $60 for nine hours of hard work. I doubt that Travis ever saw either the original post or the apology post, but they will both be there for as long as this web log exists. Even though I've already posted that apology, I want to add a little more because as far as I'm concerned, Travis is good people.

Here's how I met Travis and his wife Terri:

I was walking around in the Everglades. They saw me and thought I might want a ride, even though I was off the road exploring. So after they drove by, they turned around and came back to check on me.

It was Travis's birthday that day and they were just driving around aimlessly, with no particular destination in mind. When I got in the car they asked me where I might want to go. I said I'm going anywhere and everywhere, so Travis pulled out a quarter for me to flip. He said heads means Miami and tails means Immokalee (I think that's spelled right). I flipped heads, so off to Miami we went.

On the way, we stopped at some roadside attraction in which they paid $3 apiece for us to see a bunch of somewhat exotic animals like gators, a peacock, some parrot-type birds, several pythons, etc. They were all caged, of course. Later on, Travis pulled off the road into the entrance to a state or national park. They could see that there was at least one gator in one of the swampy areas beside the driveway, so they let me out to get some pictures while they looked for a place to park. A couple minutes later they joined me and we were gone within about another 5 minutes.

We entered Miami and headed toward Fort Lauderdale, where we ended up at a casino/dog track. Travis quickly turned $5 into $20, then gave me the $20 voucher. He said if I end up with more than $20, just give him the $20 back and keep the rest; if I end up with less than $20, keep it. Shortly after hitting the slots, I was up to about $60, but I was back to $20 when we left. Inside the casino at the nearby horse track, I ended up blowing the whole $20 as well as another $5 or so of my own money.

After leaving the casinos, Travis and Terri also treated me to dinner at the Olive Garden. It was something they were going to do even if they hadn't picked me up (because it was Travis's birthday), but they didn't mind treating me. That was nice.

Anyway, that's the quick version of my time with Travis and Terri. I don't like how I sounded in my post from the library in Naples, so I hope this kind of makes up for it. Also, now you know a little bit more about Travis and how he fits into this epic adventure.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Longer mobile posts

I think I can now post longer entries from my phone. For some reason if I send a PIX message rather than a TXT message, the message can be 1,000 characters instead of just 160. I can also send pictures from my phone that way, too (duh), which apparently are stored somewhere on blogger.com rather than aimlessmovie.com.

That will be nice; it'll keep the phone bill down.

Here's one I sent several days ago. It didn't appear until now, though, because I didn't claim the blog until now. Then I told blogger to send it to this blog, so here it is.

...That's strange. The link won't work for me. Maybe it just needs some time. If anyone follows the link successfully, please leave a comment saying so. If it never starts working, just scroll back to June 2, 2007 and look for a picture of my hideous face.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

For the record...

Most of the cops I've encountered on this journey have been very cool to me. I've said it before and I will say it again (unless it changes). Usually they go by the book, running my drivers' license to make sure there are no warrants out for my arrest and whatnot. Every time they do it, though, they come up with nothing on me (because I am not a criminal), and most of them end up expressing quite an interest in what I'm doing. They usually end up asking me a lot of questions about Aimless, nicely.

However, a few cops have been assholes to me. Whenever that has happened, I've written about it here because this is a web log of my adventure. Whenever it may happen in the future, I will write about it again, just as I will write about the cool cops I encounter.

If you don't like the fact that I write about every side of this adventure, then tough shit. There are no rose-colored glasses here, and I do not play favorites. (I mean, why would anyone say nice things about people who have fucked with them for absolutely no reason? The way I see it, I can ignore it, thus perpetuating it, or I can talk realistically about the things that happen to me, which may actually make a positive difference.) I also will not change my methods or my personality for the sake of attracting sponsorship. I just call it as I see it, and that is one of the things that makes Aimless great.

* * * * *
While I'm talking about cops, I want to tell the story of what happened two nights ago, when my ride dropped me off a couple miles from my aunt and uncle's campground:

Shortly after I began walking down the road toward the campground, I reached an intersection. Having been there only once before, I knew I didn't want to go left and I was pretty sure I needed to turn right. The other option--straight ahead--appeared to be merely a driveway or an entrance to perhaps another campground. There was almost no lighting, so I couldn't tell that it was actually a road. Then I took a right.

After walking about two miles down the road to the right, I was beginning to feel pretty sure that I'd chosen the wrong road. Then a Jefferson County Sheriff's deputy pulled up on the other side of the road. He ran my driver's license and all that, eventually asking me to describe the place I was trying to find. Once I told him, he assured me I wasn't going to find it on that road. So after all the routine stuff, he let me put my stuff (and myself) in the back of his cruiser, then drove me back to the intersection and drove down the road I couldn't see before.

Pretty quickly I knew we were on the correct road. I just didn't know if I'd recognize the entrance to the campground. Well, when we approached the first campground, I recognized it as the one I'd been to before.

Long story short... I found my aunt and uncle's camper reasonably easily, thanking the deputy before he drove off to continue doing his job. That was about 2:00 AM. If not for his assistance, I would have been pretty screwed, probably getting no sleep that night and waiting at least until sunrise to call my aunt (still not knowing if they were even at the campground).

I sincerely appreciate your assistance, Mr. Deputy, and I wish I would have asked for your name so I could properly thank you. If you ever read this, please respond so I can include your name in the credits.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

You see what I'm dealing with?!?

There is a new comment on one of my short mobile posts, probably from "Deputy Dawg" or one of his retard cohorts. I believe it's worth viewing again. Oh yeah, and I commented, too.

Maybe the comment from this anonymous moron pussy will better help you understand why I occasionally write some pretty angry-sounding posts. Just try to put yourself in my place for a moment and think about how it might feel to be hassled by these fucking pricks all the time.

I'll get me some footage soon enough. Maybe I will go back to Florida, because that kind of footage would mean big money.

Does anyone out there know how to interpret these things?:
152.163.101.13
152.163.100.19
152.163.101.19
206.188.0.22
66.94.237.181
cache-rtc-aa15.proxy.aol.com
cache-rtc-ae09.proxy.aol.com
cache-rtc-ae15.proxy.aol.com
fasta.monitor110.com

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Lidia [last name removed]

The reporter I mentioned a couple days ago is Lidia [last name removed]. (Yeah, she IS real purdy-like.) I got a chance last night to respond to her question: "What is your documentary about?" Unfortunately, I was so wacked-out sleep deprived that I was unable to spit out my thoughts effectively in my e-mail message to her.

(Damn, she's pretty, don't you think? I'm dying to get my hands all over her countertops and baking chamber so I can make her a hot, mouth-watering pizza.)

Obviously she could not do a story about Aimless right now even if she wanted to because I am now in Mt. Carmel, Tennessee (probably at least 200 miles from her). But I was never worried about that, anyway. If any news crew wants to do a story about Aimless, that's cool, but I don't have my heart set on it or anything like that. Lidia, on the other hand, has repeatedly invaded my mind the last couple days. I have not met her in person or spoken to her, but I did see her walk by, and sometimes something like that can be a bit moving.

Temporary obsession, I guess. It'll probably go away within a week, though, if she doesn't contact me again. Besides, in a week I should be back in YSO, where maybe I'll see Miss Pathfinder and finally conjure the courage to approach her. I may not have mentioned her in a while, but I think about her very regularly.

If you read this, Lidia, this post is a small example of what I was talking about when I mentioned freedom. Y'see, a year ago I couldn't have said any of this unless I was completely anonymous. Even then I may have held back a lot because I lived in fear of what people might think. Now I don't. And let me tell ya: You look good to me and you seem like you have it together upstairs, so I can't help being attracted. And it's not because you're on TV, either.

I think I've been pretty clear about that, so call me sometime if you suspect there might be any kind of reciprocation. Hey, I'm just out here trying to meet the right people; maybe you're one of them.

Update: Actually Mt. Carmel (near Kingsport) is only about 150 miles from Greenville via I-26.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Oh yeah, I got here

Oh yeah, I got here @ 2 AM. Didn't want to wake anyone, so I put up my tent. Even though I didn't tell them I was coming, they knew it was me.

I'm out on Douglas Lake,

I'm out on Douglas Lake, hanging with my great uncle Allan as he trolls for crappie. No crappie yet, but he's thrown back about 10 drum(s).

I'm in TN, outside my

I'm in TN, outside my aunt & uncle's camper. The reporter sent me a couple messages tonite. I'm thinkin' she may have been real purdy-like.

To everyone: If anyone thinks

To everyone: If anyone thinks lower of you only b/c you do kind things for a mildly naughty speaker, you have NOTHING to be ashamed of. THEY do.

A local Fox TV crew

A local Fox TV crew did a story right next to us today. "My guys" told them about me & got a biz card from a reporter. I sent a short TXT to her.

If you've wondered, the new

If you've wondered, the new tapes haven't wiped out my funds. I'm actually very comfy now, thanks to Michael Miller, Cheri/David Bungart, & Anon.

Jay called about an hour

Jay called about an hour ago. 1st we've spoke in a while. He had some good ideas re: Aimless shirts & stuff. I dug the excited tone of his voice.

I think Ashton wants to

I think Ashton wants to talk, probably when his shift ends @ 4. Looks like I'll end up hanging around here all day b/c it could be a good story.

I'm finding a lot of

I'm finding a lot of "conservatives" are actually VERY liberal. They just THINK they're conservative b/c they watch Fox/O'Reilly, listen to Rush.

I'm back at the 'Roo

I'm back at the 'Roo station. Gonna head toward TN later. Ashton works at Quiznos at 10:30, so maybe I'll get a chance to let him speak his mind.

Way to go, Luke

Hey Luke,

Way to finish strong in Provo to end up near the top. Keep it up. I want to see some more top 10 finishes.

--

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

My current whereabouts

After talking so much shit about Florida and flooding readers with apparent negativity, I want to do a 180: Where I am now doesn't suck. In fact, this place has been like an emotional pot of gold for me. The problem is, I can't really say where I am right now because my host is worried about other people finding out that they're associating with me (because I write "fuck" sometimes). Anyway, I'm within a couple hours of Charlotte, Columbia, Asheville, and maybe Atlanta, too. So maybe you can figure out that puzzle.

Anyway, this town has been incredible to me, both the last couple days and a month ago. The story takes place here. I want to say more, but I can't do it in such a cryptic way.

Ashton from Quizno's: If you by any chance are reading this, I want your phone number so we can try to coordinate the things we talked about. I got a great deal on 6 tapes today at Best Buy--$3.50 each--and I want to let you guys tell your story to my camera. I want to hear about Jessie Wright, too, if you want to talk about him.

Everyone else: If I didn't write about him before, Pastor Jessie Wright was the manager of the local Kangaroo truck stop when I came through here a month ago. He was really cool to me in a whole bunch of ways when I was trying to get a ride at his store. Additionally, I watched him lead by example as he swept and mopped the floors and did the kind of work most managers would make the "associates" do. Really good guy.

In the time since I was here before, somehow Jessie managed to get fired. That didn't make any sense to me, and the Quizno's workers also thought very highly of Jessie. Sounds like something fishy is going on at Kangaroo, and I believe someone told me Jessie is preparing a racial discrimination lawsuit (he's black).

I hope everything works out for Jessie, and I would like to help him--maybe tell his story or something--if I can.

(Fuck.)

--

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Walking vs. riding

In a comment, Jay asked:

What percentage walking/riding do you do to get from town to town? I understand that your goal may be to cover large distances in a short period of time, but maybe just walking through towns, sticking to the local roads, will offer you more rides? Or, have you already tried that? Just curious.

* * * * *
I want to answer this more thoroughly when I get home for a short break in a couple weeks, but it changes a lot. At the beginning I walked 70 miles before accepting a ride. Lately, though, I've been walking very little because I've been at truck stops, looking for a ride to somewhere specific.

Sometimes it depends on where I am. In Florida my forehead was blistered from the sun's daily pounding, so I tried to remain in shaded areas as much as I could. Additionally, in and near the Everglades there is almost nowhere to walk, for two reasons: 1) There aren't necessarily any roads going anywhere; 2) You could easily end up in the middle of nowhere, with gators all around and no clear safe place to set up camp. (I don't know enough about gators to feel comfortable doing that. I don't think they are very aggressive, but I really don't know.)

I have walked about 280 miles so far. I just checked myself out in a mirror for the first time, after looking at a "Before" pic I took of myself on Day 1 or Day 2, and WOW! The gut is almost gone. The titties, too. It's amazing.

More about this in a couple weeks. (Remind me if I forget. And Jay, this will be the year of the Aimless Comfest. I'll be there the whole time, on the job. It will be "the shit.")

--

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Lew Graff

Remember Lew Graff? He's the pastor who gave me a ride across Alligator Alley and bought me fish & chips. As I said before, he's a really good guy (and a native of Michigan). Well, here's the URL to Lew's blog. And here's a post he wrote about our encounter.

--

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Stupid cop

Below is an e-mail I received, apparently from a cop in Jacksonville. Which cop? I don't know; my paranoid ass can't keep track of all the cops who have never had the slightest justification to arrest me.

First Name: Deputy
Last Name: Dawg
Email Address:
City: Jax
State: Florida
Daytime Phone:
How Heard: I met your sorry ass.
Comment / Question:
Thank god your liberal ass is out of our state. Do me a favor, take your paranoid conspiracy driven ass to Cali and stay there. You are a two face person. I thought u were for real but your not, just trying to push your agenda. Oh, stay away from Michigan too. BTW OSU sucks!!!!!!!!!

* * * * *
I can't help it if your state is full of total assholes, dude. If you were not one of them, I probably made it very clear that you were not one of them. So if it bothers you that I think assholes are assholes, go ahead and be an asshole about it.

Yeah, I'm trying to push my agenda of doing nice things for people. Clearly that is too difficult for you. (I never claimed to be Jesus, so I'm allowed to talk shit about assholes.)

And use your real name next time, pussy.

--

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

Someone's about to get a

Someone's about to get a big Aimless surprise.

I turned down an offer

I turned down an offer for food & an offer for $$ THU. What the hell was I thinking? Now I really need it. (I know, but I earned the Blizzard.)

The bad news is: I

The bad news is: I only have $27 & about 45 minutes of tape left. So if I find a real good deal on a 6-pack, I'll be broke. Gotta find work ASAP.

I'm so not even close

I'm so not even close to FL right now it feels like heaven. But I've been wearing my last pair of socks for 3+ days; I REALLY need to do laundry.

OK, so what happens if I send a message this way? If this gets through, I'll be able to write posts with 1,000 characters instead of just 160 characters. (Please work.)

A picture

Hey, is there a picture here? There should be, I guess, but I don't know where it may be stored.

When I get stuck in

When I get stuck in truckstops like this, I often feel like the Tom Hanks character in The Terminal. Sometimes it sucks, but other times it's OK.

Rev. A. Perez confirmed my

Rev. A. Perez confirmed my suspicion that Sonny's Pizza is history. (4 those of u who know of my 2005 trip to Charleston to work 4 the retards.)

I got a ride &

I got a ride & a SHOWER!!! 1st shower in ___ days. Fill in the blank with correct # of days between showers to win no prize. Thanks Angel Perez.

Despite the fact that I've

Despite the fact that I've bought 3 meals & smokes here, Pilot's manager is trying to run me off. I have video of the asshole doing it, too.

OK, no more bitching for

OK, no more bitching for a while. I should be able to get where I can rest for a few days soon. Then I can start anew & forget FL ever happened.

I think about Earl a

I think about Earl a lot (the guy who took me from Phoenix 2 Memphis, see trailer). I hope he's doing well. Hope our paths will cross again soon.

Y-day's ride brought me to

Y-day's ride brought me to Pilot in Brunswick, GA. Could've had 3 rides south but none north. Found a spot to sleep @ 12. Now I'll try again.