Walking up my street this morning, I watched a small white pickup truck crash gently into the back of the behemoth truck in front of it. It looked like the white truck was evading the big truck’s having stopped abruptly, because it was angled off to the left. I watched them both pull off to the side of the road. As I was passing, this huge guy in a sleeveless shirt gets out of the big truck and the first thing he says to the driver of the white truck, whose right headlight is smashed, is “don’t worry about it.” The big truck is unscathed.

I kept walking, and before I even got to the light, the big pickup truck, probably meant for professional hauling, was passing me and driving away.

As I continued on to the N-Judah, I passed the usual homeless encampment behind the Safeway. It looked to be about five times larger than usual, tents made from shopping carts stretching along the sidewalk for about thirty yards. I walked in the bike path. I don’t quite know why this annoys me so much. It’s either the way the city refuses to take care of these people, or the way they refuse to take care of themselves. Maybe both. I know it isn’t that simple, and that it takes a whole lotta shit to get a person to this point.

When I moved to California nine years ago, I was homeless, with no job, no place to live, and about $800 to my name. But there was never any question that I would get my life together as soon as possible. I know that not drinking or using drugs had a lot to do with that, as well as the family and social support that most homeless folks do not have. Like I said, many factors contribute to someone choosing this life, most of them don’t have to do with money. Depression, hopelessness, addiction. Bah. So yeah. San Francisco, urban homeless capitol of the United States. Come visit, you’ll see!

Moving on. . . Saturday Brian and I painted my new bedroom. It was green, now it’s a warm tan, much brighter. Checked out the new apartment some more. The ex-tenants left us a couple of George Foreman grills, a bunch of canned tuna, and a collection of hideous wine glasses. Also all the cupboards are baby-proofed, which is extremely annoying to those of us without babies. We’ll be tearing those things out.

After three hours of painting we went to get pizza and walk around in my new hood. There’s a cheese store and a wine store. A supermarket! Two bookstores! Yay.

Yesterday I stayed inside most of the day, packing, cleaning, you know. I finished the first pass at my editing assignment; it was tortuous, but afterward I felt like my brain had received a nice massage. Mmmm.

We watched The Others yesterday afternoon. It was creepy, but I am still pissed that there were plot spoilers online and that I inadvertently read them. Oh well. Nicole Kidman is a good actor.

Now it’s Monday and I’m at work. I have a teeth cleaning in a week, time to start flossing after lunch, huh.