A Song For the Homeless of San Diego, and Everywhere Else

What Goes around, comes around, sometimes up sometimes down.
Enough hungry and homeless roam the land. Living in country bounty so plenty (How come they so hungry?)
Enough hungry people go to bed belly empty
Lord, God you know, it hurts so much you just can't cry.
River of tears long gone run dry
The sky is their roof, the ground is their belly.
Upon the concrete slab they lay their weary heads.
Lord, God you know, it hurts so much you just can't cry.
River of tears long gone run dry
You don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring
Life is on ebig road, we livin in a borrowed time

Israel Vibration- On Borrowed Time

Day 173: November 24th 2009. Mexico on the Mind

At first it was an idea and I thought it would fade away but it kept sticking and kept sticking. I thought, hey, maybe it was downtown San Diego, let me go try something new. So I did. I left my homeless community, Tobey and Ted and all the other people that sleep in my neighborhood and headed about 12 miles north to Ocean Beach.
I got everything I was thinking of when I got to Ocean Beach. There were waves when I got there on the morning of Sunday the 15th. I surfed all day on the knee high waves and I was ecstatic. Two days later the swell started picking up to overhead and I surfed the next 3-4 days until I was completely worn out. From about 6 in the morning until about 11 I would be in the water, until the wind started to pick up and turn the ocean into a mess, then I would go pump around the bowl or lay out in the sand and burn then head back into the water at about 3 until the sun went down at 5. Those were my days in Ocean Beach. The good beach life I missed, but then I realized that I didn't want to be done. I didn't want to settle there. I met some cool people, saw the reggae did it all but for some reason I still didn't feel satisfied. And the Mexico thoughts kept coming stronger and stronger everyday. The bottom line was that Ocean Beach felt like a vacation, and for a week that was great, but in the end I'm not travelling to be on vacation. Obviously that is a tiny part of it, but I'm travelling to learn, to be enlightened and chilling on the ocean, surfing and skating all day everyday didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. I'm gonna keep doing them forever, but why not do them somewhere new?

So I looked into and started researching. From San Diego to La Paz, Baja California is more than another 1,000 miles. If something doesn't start to show by the end of the week of the December the 5th, I'll be on my way to Mexico.

Also, one more thing, it is so imperative that I return home because without going back to the origin and being able to reflect on this knowledge I have acquired, they will be just that; facts that dont mean anything. Returning home will allow me to reflect on the bigger picture and turn that knowledge into important life lessons.

Day 163: Novemeber 14th, 2009. Ted's Story

Another cold ass morning and day in general. Had three layers on all day except after lunch at Vinny's. Thats where my adventure began.

I ran into cool Ted at Vinny's, we converstaed and when I told him I had a website, he got all excited. So he asked me if I wanted to put my shit in his storage, so I can get to the library and use a computer, I said yeah. That's really when I got to know Ted on that walk to storage, and the library after lunch. As he asked me later that day, "so now you really understand how I lost it all."

Ted's storage spot was a little 5x5 room with all that remained of his stuff. First we went through a gate with a keypad, then an elevator with a keypad, then through a hall with different storage compartments that made me feel as I was walking through a hallway with infinite doors in The Matrix. We put our storage, picked up a couple of his laptops, one of which he would let me use as long as I used it next to him, and then headed to the library. On the way there, I asked for his website and he told me.

"You are gonna think I'm crazy"
"Haha, yeah?"
"Yeah, but its the truth. tedisgod.com"
I didn't really show a reaction, I still didn't know what it was all about.
"I beleive I'm god. I am the resurrection of god in the human form" He didnt send the slightest hint of sarcasm
"hmmm..."

So wwe walked and he told me of his beliefs, which were wild, but I listened nontheless with curiosity. It was totally a Matrix style belief system where Ted/God created the technology to create humans somewhere else, then brought them down earth on spaceships and stuff. All this was revealed to him by angels on his 40 days/40 nights on his sailboat.

"I understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore. You would probably get a lot of heat for hanging with me. I've had some Mexicans try to kill me once. They cut me up and was bleeding real bad. Had to get 40 stitches."
"Damn, when was this?"
"About nine months ago"
"Its just so crazy to me how you prefer to lose it all, your job, your family over your wild beliefs."
"My family disowned me and they didn't even invite me to my mothers funeral."
"What you believe is what you believe Ted. Im not, not gonna talk to anymore because of what you believe, that would be ridiculous. I think you are a real cool guy and honestly, Im glad I met you. I don't have to agree with your beliefs to like you. There are certain things though, that are universal among humans with any belief I don't like, like arrogance and dishonesty. Those are things that make any human with any belief become unfavorable to me. And thats the truth"

Honestly, I like Ted. His website was a bunch of ramble that even grammatically didn't make sense and was very repetitive. If I had come across it before I personally met him, I probably wouldn't approach hime, that wasn't my first impression of him. He was a very well spoken guy and I knew he wasn't shitting me about anything he said. For now I'm listening to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SiT8rUJFxs

Day 162: November 12th, 2009. Homeless Day 4

It was a cold fucking day. All day. Temps in the low 60s, 50s and high 40s at night. There was a real a real cool ocean breeze that brought a windchill. It was mostly overcast all day. Real crapy day to be outside. I spent the day with Tobey. We did nothing really just tried to stay warm. He kept talking about making money at the airport but having to take the bus there even though its almost 3 miles from downtown and "looking like tourists". He wouldn't share his secret that was "taught to him 15 years ago when he was last in San Diego. "You'll be leaving with a pocket full of quarters after 3 hours. $20-30 in the day. But you can't tell nobody". He kept making me promise, though I dont know why, he never told me anyway. I met a man from Barrington, RI too; he couldn't believe it.

I signed up for an ID to get meals at St. Vincent De Paul's, locally in the homeless community known as "Vinny's", the local dining spot. Bright, red, orange ID. With it I can get my meal a day between 11-12;30 and access to showers, finally. As for storage so I can walk without a pack and get a job, still no luck.

The Situation

So Im here in San Diego and according to the title and my intent in the beginning the journey is over. But for some reason, I just don't feel it complete in myself. I feel like I can't stop here. I will definitely keep travelling, maybe even some more on the skateboard.

Day 160: Nov 11 2009. Homeless Day 3

Today is veterans day and nothing governement is open to honor those who fight to preserve 'freedom'. Its more like those who die to keep the rich in power and make them richer. Somebody is playing us all for a fool.

The day started out real shitty. I slept well but woke up real depressed. Another pre sunrise day before the cops came and harrassed us; gotta make a move on early. So I did and because its Veterans Days nothing was open. I went and laid on a harbor bench and passed out until noon. I got up and had no idea what to do. I sat and watched the ocean and contemplated returning home. I was not really impressed with San Diego. Expensive, overcrowded and noisy. The weather was fine on some days but still. I made it here and that was my goal. As I was contemplating those facts I saw a backpakcer walk past me. He was an older dude with a blond ponytail and a blue LSU hat. He sat on a bench two down from mine. To test the waters, I asked if he could watch my pack while I skated; in reality I would be watching from far.

"How do you know you can trust me?"
"I guess I dont"
"How long are you going to be gone?"
"10 minutes?"
It'll be right there"
"Cool. Thank you. Whats your name?"
"Tobey"
"Alright then, I'll be back"

I bought some Oreos and shared. And started a conversation. Tobey called himself a free spirit. He was from 'nowhere' and lived 'everywhere'. He was a 'survivor' and former Army corps of engineers. He wired his own radio together and a light that supposedly goes on forever. I could tell he was definitely a resourceful man, not with his teeth though. The left side at his top pallette was missing, and from the right incisor on, he had teeth that were black from the gums, and became dark yellow at the tips. We had some good conversations, about politics, acid, travels and such. It was good to have a person to really talk to in this urban jungle, and I know and he had knowledge that was useful. I also needed a person to watch my shit when I had to use the internet. So we spent the most part of the rest of the day together watching each others back. And at 730 we headed to the corner of Union and A hoping to score some dinner from the people who come feed us. Instead I had the pleasure of meeting Ted. He reminded me of the old man in Home Alone.

"So how'd you end up on the streets?"
"Oh. haha. It was along sequence of events"'
"What was the initial event?"
"Proabably a divorce. She took about 75% of everything and my two kids. Lost my home in Santa MAria. I used to own a software company that cloned Windows. Had to shut that down. At peak, I had about 35 emplyees. Been homeless for two yeats now."
"God damn, that sucks. Im sorry"

Ted was a real cool. He had crazy stories; the adventures of a computer geek really, but gangsta style. Microsoft was pissed at what he was doing and they tried to steal his source code like they did so many times to others. Even said, that when he was in Seatlle they sent somebody to try and kill him. Instead the guy beat the shit out of him until two people with dogs came and saved him.

That night when no food showed up, he took a bag of food in his pack out and invited me and Tobey to anything we wanted in there. We had a delicous dinner of rock hard onion bagels and ham sandwiches. Those are the homeless of America, at least San Diego

Day 159: November 10 2009. Homeless Day 2

I spent the most part of the day wandering the streets of downtown. I was waiting to hear from Subway but no luck. I went in and after the told me they needed closers the day before they said they weren't hiring today. I came across another large crowd of homeless people by the public library. Such a sad sight to see. It makes it hard for the smiling peron I am to smile. The homeless population here must number in the thousands. Some are mentally handicapped but from what I have seen the most have recently lost their jobs and homes in the recent economic downturn, while their executives enjoy raises and bonuses. What kind of fucked up shit is that? The woman that sleeps on the mattress behind me on A street parallel to the fence of a parking lot was telling me her story.

She lost her job and house on the same week. She lived in her van after and when she couldn't make payments on that too, the police came and took it and her dog from her and put her in jail for fighting back. With the last of her savings she bailed herself out and paid $150 to take her dog out. She carries everything she has left in a shopping cart. When we got up before the sunrise this morning, before people start to show up for work, and we are forced to leave, she apologized if she kept me awake at night because of her cough. When I asked where I coould get some breakfast, she gave me a banana, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a trailmix bar.

Before the end of my night as I was sitting on the corner of 5th and Market a guy offered me a subway sandwich. When I asked him why he did it he said that would hope someone would do the same if he was in my situation. Being homeless completely changes the concept of everyday struggles. Finding a place to shit in privacy is impossible. The public restrooms door is wide open, the toilets do not have their own doors. Fast food franchises make you pay a quarter at the door to enter like a phone booth and no private restaurant will let me in. Showers, you have to sign up for at a place called St Vincent De Paul and there is no provacy there either. I eat once a day and my body is in starvation mode; Im actually gaining weight, storing every meal I take in to the max.