The judge said I won't

The judge said I won't have a public defender because there's no chance I'll go to jail. Also because the charge is a misdemeanor.

Testing the system

I met with the judge just before noon today. Without first having the chance to speak to an attorney, I was given the choice to plead either guilty or not guilty. The judge told me a guilty plea means I'll have to pay a $450 fine, which is not gonna happen without a fight. I wanted some time to think, though, before deciding on a plea. So when the judge gets back from lunch, I'll be officially pleading not guilty, which means I'll have to be back in Eloy on November 19th to meet with a prosecutor for some kind of preliminary hearing. I do intend to take advantage of my right to state-appointed legal counsel. However, if there is an attorney out there somewhere who would like to represent me pro bono, or at least give me some good advice, I'd like to hear from you. Or if anyone out there knows someone who could give me a hand, I'd really appreciate your help. You can call me at
614-738-3867.

Delayed again

So now they're putting off my court appearance until at least noon because the railroad cop apparently can't be here until then. However, I've been informed that the judge will be taking lunch at noon, so I'll possibly have to wait another two hours beyond that. It seems to me that the police officer, who himself set my court appearance for 9:00, should be held responsible for showing up on time, just like I was. I've had to figure out how to survive the last 11 days in a state I wanted to leave long ago, then find my way back to this nothing town for a court appearance, which I did. But he's allowed to show up whenever he wants, while I sit around for several hours? This is total bullshit! They asked me if I wanted to put it off until Wednesday, instead of waiting all these hours. No, I just want the court to have some integritah, and I want the cop to be held responsible and
accountable for his actions. Let's get this show on the road.

Eloy, Arizona

I had all kinds of weird dreams and thoughts last night. In one dream, OJ Simpson committed suicide by jumping off a building; presumably a prison. It's weird that my unconscious brain would dig up something like OJ Simpson because I have not had any significant conscious thoughts about him in years and I almost never have a chance to follow the news. All I know about current Juice events is that he was recently on trial for something in Las Vegas and I'm pretty sure he was convicted. --> I showed up at Eloy Municipal Court before 9:00 this morning, as directed, but I soon found out there is no court on Mondays. The clerk or cashier looked at my citation and couldn't find anything about my case in their computers or files. Eventually she told me that the judge is in a meeting and will see me at about 10:30. So I'm just waiting right now, bored as hell. Since the railroad cop apparently
is not going to show up, I have the feeling my punishment will be a wag of the finger.

At McDonald's, for some reason

At McDonald's, for some reason I thought about the song Superstar by the Carpenters. A minute later it was the next song to play on their Muzak.

I just wrote a long

I just wrote a long post, but fucking Blogger won't publish it. Maybe I can work it out within a few weeks, whenever I find some more free wifi.

Nevermind. I guess it published. I'm still really pissed off and sick of this Blogger shit.

Catching up

I found some free wifi for the first time in three or four weeks. Since no one gave me any shit for my last post, I'll try to catch up on the last week or so. Thanks to fucking Blogger, I lost a whole bunch of stuff I'd written here and now have to rewrite it. I really wish people would stop commenting anonymously, just so I can tell who's writing what.

All right. Here goes...

First, I sat around at a Flying J in Eloy, Arizona for about two days after getting busted on the freight train that I didn't even want to ride. The only reason I rode it is because about 20 people in Tucson told me the Flying J was only about 5 or 10 miles out of town. However, after walking about six miles out of civilization, I saw a billboard for the Flying J, telling me it was still another 32 miles up the road. So I stopped for the night and slept near what seemed to be a busy exit from I-10.

In the morning I went straight to the northbound on-ramp, hoping to get a short ride to the Flying J, but no luck. Nearly out of water but thirsty as hell because I was saving the few remaining ounces, a northbound train soon stopped at the nearby siding. I didn't plan to ride the train at first, but I might have been fucked if I'd kept trying to get a ride, so I walked down the frontage road and found a spot on the front of an empty shipping container car.

About 30 miles up the road, the train stopped. I was going to get off there anyway, but a Union Pacific police officer pulled up just as I stood up to dismount. You already know the rest of that story.

So after two days at the Flying J, some guy offered me a ride. I thought he was a truck driver at first, but he was actually a tramp with a car and a female companion. They were going to California, so they didn't mind taking me to Quartzsite, where I wanted to visit my buddy Otis, who operates a pizza trailer in the swap meet town. Making a pitstop in Phoenix to buy a bag of weed, they were offered a place to stay for the night, so they took me to the nearby Flying J and said they'd stop by to pick me up at about noon the next day. If they did stop by, I never saw them. So I spent two days at the Phoenix Flying J until getting kicked out.

From the Flying J, I walked about five miles to a Pilot station. Intending to eat and immediately find a place to sleep, I bought a couple hot dogs. Before I even finished my hot dogs, though, I had a ride to Quartzsite with a trucker.

Arriving at the Love's truck stop in Quartzsite at about 12:30 Monday night, I quickly recognized an employee in the dining area. It was Jessica Payne, who I'd met almost two years ago while trying to make it home from California for Christmas. (There is a picture of Jessica on the Photos page.) I said hi to Jessica and asked if she remembered me. She didn't remember me, but we began a conversation. I told her I was in town to see a buddy of mine--the guy who operates the pizza trailer. She asked if I meant Otis, and I said yes. So she asked me, "You haven't heard?" Then she told me Otis died of a heart attack a couple weeks earlier.

I was shocked. At age 58, Otis was in very good shape, both physically and mentally. I think he exercised quite a bit, too. So only a few minutes after arriving in Quartzsite, I found out that I had no reason to be there.

I needed to sleep, so I headed out of the truck stop and looked for somewhere to sleep, which is not very difficult in the middle-of-nowhere swap meet town. Still, I didn't get to sleep until about 2:00 am, which means I didn't get much sleep that night.

I spent the next two days sitting around the truck stop, hoping to get a ride to either Phoenix or Tucson. I finally got a ride to Tucson yesterday afternoon. I wanted to get out of the truck a couple miles before reaching the outer edge of Tucson, but my driver wouldn't stop for me. So I ended up having to ride with him all the way through Tucson and a little beyond, where there is a truck stop, leaving me about 25 miles from where I wanted to be.

I have almost no money right now, but I should be able to round some up. I hope I can find somewhere to watch the Penn State/Ohio State game Saturday. But even if I do, I have to start trying to get back to Eloy immediately after the game because I have an appointment with a judge early Monday morning to determine my punishment for Criminal Trespass, 3rd Degree. After that, I should be free to go wherever I want, although I might have to figure out a way to make a quick $175.

I guess that's about it for now. I get so sick of Blogger causing me to lose shit I've already drafted and redrafted.

Rest in peace, Otis Gunn.

--
Aimless
Aimless Video Evidence

I don't like Arizona and

I don't like Arizona and I absolutely don't enjoy doing this anymore. I've given up on humanity. Most Americans are stupid & miserable. The End.

Shower yesterday. First one in

Shower yesterday. First one in 46 days. A ridiculous record that will not be broken.

The train stopped right about

The train stopped right about where I wanted it to stop, but there was a railroad cop waiting for me. Now I have to go to court in 11 days.

Two trainhops in three days.

Two trainhops in three days. I just want this one to stop after 30 miles.

My suspicions have just been

My suspicions have just been confirmed: I am in downtown Tucson. Now to find a good on-ramp or truck stop (or whatever I end up doing).

Off the train at 2:30.

Off the train at 2:30. Have no idea where I am. Looks like some kind of city.

Hobo soundtrack

I've been on this train for almost nine hours now. When the train starts going really fast, like 50 or 60 miles an hour, the shifting of weight and the wheel imperfections start playing a song. On this spot of this train, the song is something like Dick Dale meets African drumming. It's kinda like on Space Mountain, how they have speakers right in your ears, blasting, coincidentally, Dick Dale. At least that's what they played last time I rode it, which was eleven years ago. This is better, though, because this whole monster is the speakers. It's a rush that, unlike Space Mountain, doesn't end after a minute or two. This is the American Dream and you can thank people like me for keeping it alive. You're welcome.

What a ride! I took that pic a few minutes ago, somewhere east of Yuma, Arizona. I don't know where this train is going, but it won't be going where I meant to go. Looks like Tucson probably; perhaps Phoenix first. Beautiful day for a train ride. And the only reason I'm riding it is because it stopped beside me when I had almost finished walking to the truck stop in Palm Springs.

Does this work?

There should be a short video of me, a freight train, a mouthful of sunflower seeds, and a big desert in this post. Did it work?

I'm riding the rails again,

I'm riding the rails again, baby. Eastbound Union Pacific out of Palm Springs at 10:00 sharp.

No death in the desert

I spent all day yesterday in Indio, mostly in the bowling alley of a casino, where I was able to catch some football on TV. Later I had a phone conversation with someone very special to me; someone I really haven't mentioned since seeing her in San Francisco a couple months ago. Even though I haven't written about her, I think about her all the time. I'm not going to tell the whole story here. Anyway, she called me mostly because I pretty much begged her to talk to me. Y'see, there's a lot I don't tell you here. One thing I think I've hidden well is the fact that I've been pretty messed up in the head for a while, for all kinds of reasons. Well, speaking with her for 20 minutes really helped me in that department, even though our conversation was very far from what I'd hoped for. Sometimes the mind just needs proper closure, ya know, and I received something like that. So I'm not gonna
walk off into the desert now. Instead, I think I'll try to get a ride to Quartzsite, Arizona.

Here in La Quinta, had

Here in La Quinta, had I not just been paying attention as I crossed a street legally, I absolutely would have been killed by a FedEx truck.

Please continue wasting water, California.

Please continue wasting water, California. We'll make more for you, just so you can have lots of green grass where there should be none.

If I can smell your

If I can smell your cologne or perfume when you drive by, you need to use less of it. I don't think I've ever gotten a ride with an Asian person.

Aimlesser

It's a good thing I hung around Rancho/Ontario yesterday because I realized I should get new shoestrings before wandering into the desert to die. I slept across the street from REI last night and bought those laces today, along with several energy bars to add to the 15 or 20 I bought yesterday. A really cool dude helped me today at REI; can't remember his name right now, though. Leaving REI, I bought a day pass and spent most of the day riding various buses toward Yucaipa. I got off in Colton after seeing a laundromat, but the water was shut off, so I couldn't exactly do my laundry there. I found another laundromat in Redlands, did my laundry, then ate at Shakey's Pizza, since I'm good on cash right now. Nonetheless, when I ordered, a lady named Anita offered to buy my pizza for me. Rock! At Shakey's I talked a few minutes with a very cool (and gorgeous) girl who was pouring the drinks.
I've actually been to this Shakey's twice before, with my good friend Jeff, when he lived out here.

More aimless than aimless

After a lot of walking and a couple bus rides Saturday, I made it to Rancho a little before 4:00. Low on cash, my first objective was to work the off-ramp just long enough to get comfortable. When I arrived, though, a car had just broken down in my sign-flying spot. Looking like it wouldn't be there long, I made a pit stop at the In-N-Out Burger next door. As I finished eating and neared the ramp, a tow truck was hauling away the kaput auto, so I was clear. (Omitting the details of this session, I made over $50 in 15 minutes because I rule.) I then walked to REI but shortly left for BW3 so I could watch the Buckeyes. (I found a $20 bill on the way there.) --> Early yesterday I went back to REI to see if there was any solution to my backpack problem. Speaking immediately to the manager (Adam, I think), he presented a solution that could fix my most immediate problem without exchanging
the pack. After I agreed to his solution, he replaced the hipbelt for me. Really cool guy. Thanks, man.

Very aimless

First I want to congratulate my cousin Jeff and his new wife Sunshine. Welcome to the family, Sunshine. --> I'd walked as far as Palm Springs by yesterday morning, with a lot of doubling back, covering at least 50 miles twice by foot, before I had to come back to Rancho yet again because my backpack is falling apart. These problems are structural, not cosmetic. I was planning to keep walking east into the vast, unsettled desert, but none of the SoCal REI stores have my backpack in stock. As a result, I'm gonna try to get a ride to wherever I can find a store that has what I need. Or I might just head toward the Gregory factory, which is somewhere in the Bay Area. This is frustrating. Maybe if I can find a store with my backpack in stock somewhere in the west, I'll head back to Palm Springs and resume my hike where I left off. I really feel like I need to challenge myself and disappear
into the brutal desert. --> Those Badgers just can't finish anyone off lately, can they, Badger?

Jeff, I'm happy to report

Jeff, I'm happy to report that the Pizza Chalet is alive and kicking. (For everyone else, that's a pizzeria in Yucaipa, where Jeff used to live.)