Post Guru

 What followed was a trail of disjointed events. I went home to the SF bay area for Christmas, then I tired to go back to work it out with her more, but my heart wasn't in it. So I spent some time in Tucson AZ where my niece who was 25 lived in a school bus with her guy and her young child. I worked a job in Tucson and saved up money to buy a car (hitched into town). Bought a car, saved more money then got the hell out of Tucson in July. Hot as HELL there. So happy when I got to San Diego. Metaphorically kissed the ground. 

Then drove to Fremont CA to spend yet another short time with my younger brother. Stayed until it got bad (not long) and moved into a crap hotel in San Jose. Stayed there long enough to save up money for an apartment, which I did. And at THAT point, I settled in to take stock of what had happened and where it might be headed.

So much water had gone under the bridge. I had went from a lost, unstable teen to a respectable working guy with a nice wife and a sports car. Then I went from that to some beaten down guy who drives north by himself to a place where he has no friends and no plan. From there, things almost unfolded by themselves. I couldn't stay by myself and the only friend I had was my brother. So I moved to Colorado. And of course I need to work, so that school. And at that school, that woman who led me to a teacher. 

So now I have a decent apartment in a low crime rate area of San Jose and I try to take stock of all of that. Just breathe and let the dust settle. A takeaway from all of that travel was I discovered I could make decent money just working part-time. If you're willing to work hard. There is a thing with state employment offices called Casual Labor and day jobs or short-term jobs come in and guys know about this and I forgot how the system works but people get jobs that way. You go in around 7AM and if there's a job that comes in, you can bid on it or first come, or whatever the system is. But I got plenty of work that way because I liked to work.  Digging, painting, pulling weeds, all sorts of menial jobs. But it pain my rent and kept me in groceries and gas money. And for a few months it was nice in that way. Personally I was struggling and was alone.

In early spring my back went out again and I couldn't work. I was eligible for a small amount of state aid but not enough for rent. I had to move into a cheap hotel. Somehow it didn't bother me. I had lived in very basic conditions before. Plus I spent most of the day outside. I could walk, just not work.

I had started to drive to Santa Cruz, a beach town, and spend time there, but I got tired of the commute so I decided I was going to live in my car for awhile. Not a very solid plan but that's what I did. You may be thinking "oh my God, he's homeless" which doesn't sound like a good plan. And it wasn't in my history. I always had a place, even if just a cheap hotel room. All I can say in my defense is this was deliberate. I had money. Not much but enough for food and gas. And when my back got better, I had work. The weather was good, I could rough it for awhile. Besides, I wanted some FUN in my life rather than just survival.

And I had some fun. Met new people, listened alot to street musicians, hung out in coffee shops, read books in bookshops, did a lot of walking. The next big change was about to happen which will take us to the next chapter.