In Turn, Renewed

Goddamn COLCHICINE.

I get up having to go. Tiredly I rise and get my clothes on, take a roll of toilet paper, and don't forget the key to the apartment! Remember kiddies, when using the bathroom, DON'T forget the key to the apartment. I go to the Northwest bathroom first, shut the door and lift the seat only to find it stuffed with toilet paper. Backed up with it. Now I ask you, what kind of greasy kid's stuff is stopping up a toilet with TP? Who in their fucking right mind?? It must be the kid of someone who doesn't live here. I head over to the Southwest bathroom. It's locked. Nice. I head down to the Eastern bathrooms, both on the Northeast side of the building. The first bathroom's light is out. It's past dawn, and there is light in the window, but I want to have the light on. My stomach twists violently. It's time.

I go to the second bathroom, which is clean, pristine and well lit...but the door doesn't lock. Fuck! Sit on the shitter where everyone can walk in on you. Probably during the 'wipe'...that's the most humiliating time to get interrupted, during the 'wipe'. Or sit in the dark. I knew there would be a day here where I would find some flaw in all four of the bathrooms on the eighth floor. I go to the dark bathroom and handle my business. Damn COLCHICHINE.

I took a double dose of the shit last night because my gout is starting to move into the foot, bags and all. A good double shot should do the trick. The one drawback. It kills your appetite, causes nausea and...well you know the rest. Fuck uric acid.

I had a long day at the office yesterday, but I did have the chance to install and configure a router, which was the greatest of fun. I still don't know how some people call that work. To me, it's like playing with yourself. You can spend hours doing it and it keeps getting better. Although I pulled a bonehead and locked myself out of the router. Not all the way, just far enough that I had to call customer service and bother with them. Only to find out that if I would have thought about it for just a little I would have realized HOW TO GET BACK IN myself. That was both a learning experience and a waste of time.

Earlier in the day I went to Western Union to pick up the stipend from my mother and then headed to the office. Afterwards I was free to shop!! I went to Circuit City to try to buy a digital camera but found nothing but confusion and no sales help. The place was run ragged with shoppers getting in the final closeout sales. Circuit City was going out of business. I read about that but I didn't REALIZE it until I walked into the store. It was far too chaotic for me to stay, I went next door to Best Buy and out of the thirty or so choices, I found mine in five minutes. I've always been that way when it comes to shopping. I'm never bewildered nor confused with selections. I have a narrow list in my head as to what moves me, and I follow it. Price, performance, looks. It takes just seconds. The sales help was right there. I bought the little motherfucker, a Cannon Powershot A10000IS for less than $200.00 dollars. What a fucking steal. I took some drawbacks. The damn thing is not rechargeable but needs AA batteries...but that's why it's so cheap. It's just before the newer models. Middle of the road, that's the way of a true Hobo.

It's snowing in the city. A thick snow, but one that cannot stick to the streets well. It is drawing into some heavy slush, and some sidewalks are just dangerously slippery. I skated to the Associated Supermarket to get some Lean Cuisine for dinner, but when I got home I didn't want to eat. My stomach was all churning waste. But I choked two down anyway.

In the morning I had cleaned and straight- ened and prepped for the Department of Housing to come, and tossed out the trash. I was nearly completely finished. I had one more piss bottle to toss and to fold some dirty clothes and make the bed, when the doorbell rang at 10:20!! No 12:00noon, 10:20 in the am!! I jumped up, hid the piss bottle and then opened the door. No one was there. I frowned for a moment when, "HPD Inspector!" bellowed out in the hall. A short, energetic Black man in coveralls walked in with a clipboard. "Is everything working?" I looked at him, yeah, I think so. "You can just tell me, I don't have to come in," he says. I open the door and allow him entry. Everything is fine. "Refrigerator works? Water?" He walks in and opens the refrigerator, looks at the sink. The refrigerator makes noise, I said. "It keeps stuff cold though, right?" Yeah, yeah, it does. "How abut the fire alarm, it works?" I suppose so. I don't smoke in here. He laughs. "Well, that's it, have a great day. What room is this??" I tell him, and then he is gone. The whole thing lasted all of two minutes.

I stood flabbergasted. I expected two or three people walking in and looking about with clipboards and questions. Instead, a super duper once over. Whatever. I return to my laptop. Today is an historic day. I tune into streaming video coverage of the inauguration on the Internet. Damn, the Internet is fucking amazing. There are just so many people in the Capitol, and the Great Mall. It's amazing. The Presidential powers gathering on the West Front of the Capitol building. Quite impressive.

This is history in the making people. People will be asking where were we during this time. Time is ticking though, and like watching the INDY 500, one watches with a sense of trepidation. There could be such catastrophe, such horror in a seconds worth of violence. People talk about snipers and assassination attempts, but I think that's remote. What I think is more realistic are pipe bombs among the millions of people gathered. If you ever wanted to kill a large number of Americans wholesale, this is it. Be careful out there people.

The gathering storm, or the coming dawn.

Sorry to be so grim.

See you after we have a new President.

Hobobob