How much longer?

The daily challenge is to get out and keep busy , whether it’s just walking through a mall during inclement weather for some sembelance of exercise or going to a cyber cafe and enjoy the freedom of no one looking over your shoulder.

Once my disability comes in I’m eligable for b.c. Housing; the trick is patience and going things day by day.

Meantime friendships and bonds are strengthening and there’s ALWAYS some creep that is universally dreaded. This creates the bond of mutual enemy , so to speak, and breaks down barriers between people who might not normally talk with each other.

Gordie Campbell and his team of thugs now refer to downtown east side residents (homeless) as “colourful”. Ya well ok gordie, you can mask things how you want but there’s more and more on the streets and in shelters every day…people who never ever imagined they’d be in such a situation. Needless to say they are having political eye openers and realizing B.C.liberals are wolves in designer sheep clothing.
The question is , how much will it take for the public at large to start THINKING and switch their vote to the NDP????

Too many still have a glen Clark hangover and don’t realize the party reform that Carole James has brought In. How to stress this , or do
We have to wait for the aftermath of the 2010 olympics for the public to lift off their blinders to wake up and smell the empty coffers?

Rememberance Day and Escape from Alcatraz

Today I got to ‘escape from alcatraz’ and be out of the homeless shelter for most of the day and evening…it felt grand! 

I went with my daughter, a couple of sisters,  to a park in east vancouver to watch the rememberance day ceremony and was very proud of my brother-in-law, Shane Simpson, who is the MLA for Vancouver East Hastings.  Shane laid a wreath and it seemed particularily poignant with so many of the world war two vets gone now and a population of british columbia citizens living in what amounts to marshall law (or war measures act if you want to get all canuk about it).  we fight now to preserve and protect the safety, rights, and common ground that makes (or is that made?) canada a role model nation.  there’s too much that has gone six feet under.

I may not have much for a north american, and i am grateful for food, clothing and shelter (in an institutionalized setting), but take away some of our basic rights and gordon campbell , you are asking for civil unrest.  if you support this man, your self interest goes beyond mere protection and supports the very core of greed.

i’m tired, but a good tired.  we went back to shane’s house and he is an awesome cook.  a shrimp and spinach salad,  oh gosh, i can’t remember the rest of the names of what he whipped up save for the fresh mussels cooked in garlic, butter and wine.   we all felt like fat piggies afterwards!!!!

shane is the real deal.  he grew up in east van.  he knows poverty.  he  is working and fighting for us, all of us, even those who support campbell because in the end shane’s efforts benefit all.    i urge you to support him (hey, maybe he’ll cook  you up a meal 😀  ). 

JOIN SHANE ON FACEBOOK

Where am I and What am i Doing?

I have no fucking idea, really, and perhaps it doesn’t matter save that it’s at ground zero and the playing field is as level as whichever way someone tips the gyroscope.

a friend was up to 1 in the morning helping staff cleanse his room because a new guy came in and despite the sanitation protocol, managed to bring in bed bugs.  then he was up at his usual 5am only to get to work and find there was none that day.  he was fricking tired but they lock the hall doors when breakfast is on so he couldn’t have a nap.

i was an idiot and lent my van to some jerk on the premise of earning $100 as he was moving stuff for a friend.   the 6pm deadline went by and i hunkered down around 11 not feeling worried about the van..intuition told me it was ok.   the keys were handed to me the next morning and i was pissed off and had every reason to be.  so the jerk says to me, ‘we will talk about this when we finish our cigarettes’.  i said , ‘wait, you think you’re calling the shots on when we talk?  wHAT kind of fucking asshole are you anyways, thinking you can actually  boss me around, you patriarchal son of a bitch?’.  he starts swearing and i’m not even going to give him a second of my time because who wants to waste even a second on an extreme jerk?  he was trying to plead what a hard time he had as he got ripped off by the people he moved and blah blah blah blah blah, thinking i’m actually supposed to feel sorry for him.

but he’s a pretty boy and smooth talker and i know he’s lying , just cuz he is…things don’t add up, time lines etc…..so i just say, ‘shut up and keep the fuck away from me’ and turn and talk to friends.  the guys are all wound up and hating the jerk and they all want a piece of him.  i’m fine with things, i was dumb to have lent my van, lesson learned, case dropped.

one of the workers comes up to me and starts lecturing me and telling me to go easy on the guy.  i tell the worker i’ve let things go and moved on.  the worker says, ‘ok, i advise you to let things go’.   patriarchal asshole syndrome is rampant.

jerk goes and tells the front desk that so and so broke into the lockers downstairs but it was really jerk that did it so a buddy cuffed him a good one and buddy  becomes a hero that day.  the other boys are being patient and waiting to drop the jerk good.  i can’t wait. jerk had taken my van and went downtown eastside to PROVE to everyone that he’s actually a ‘bad guy’ cause he talks all the time like he’s taken uber life skill courses and paid his penance and thinks he’s everyone’s councillor and friend only no one thinks that of jerk.  jerk now just sits quietly in the corner which is what he should have done in the very beginning instead of making a dirty splash and forming alliances.  he’s done himself in.

i escaped from alcatraz today and am at a coffee joint with internet and am sipping a hot chocolate.

And the Beat Goes On…

I’m still holed up at the homeless shelter and if nothing else, it’s a real trip being here.  There are characters supremeo, the wolves are out for your cigarettes every….minute….the vultures want ‘the kill’ on your smoke, you know, the last few drags.  some you know are good to pay you back, others you charge 50 cents, others it’s like, ‘i wouldn’t give you a smoke if it killed me’.

some are bitching because they got busted taking advantage of the system , but they just can’t see where or how…in their minds it’s all here just for them.  others are working overtime looking for a room, a suite, a job, anything.

there’s the able and the disabled.  there’s the top two floors that are b.c. housing and people have their own suites (the rules say we’re not allowed to talk with them).  there’s us on the first floor and we have to beds and two lockers , two tables and a sink.  there’s those in the basement (men’s dorm) with about 30 bunks and limited access.  there’s those sleeping outdoors behind a building , waiting for a bed to open.

the shit has hit the fan over internet usage…there’s two computers and they are only supposed to be used for looking for jobs and work.  too many have been hogging them for facebook and youtubes.  now we have a sign up sheet that limits us to half hour blocks or two blocks at a time but that’s your limit for the day.  interesting…now that that rule has come in the computers seem to be getting more use then ever.  it used to be fairly easy to boot someone off who was watching  a movie or whatever.  now that the games changed everyone’s using every last minute of their block.   observations of differences between regulations from above and self regulation.

cold and the flu are still flying about and they’ve finally got ‘proper’ masks in, the N95’s …..out with the hardware store dust masks (useless).  typical scenes like the young blonde woman coming in and every man and his dog trying to get into her pants.  the ‘pay for gay’ guy has gone.  one of the most obnoxious guys (i don’t know , he’s schizoid or something) FINALLY got the boot last night.  yay.

i like my buddies….a strong strong bond develops when it comes to survival.

the gordon campbell regime got it’s way with legislation that would see the cops force the homeless into shelter or jail in extreme weather.  the tyranical sociopathic government is perched to instate war measures (marshall law) bit by bit , inch  by inch, till the sleeping public is enveloped.

Armed forces choppers are being spotted from our smoking pit and the narrows had a frigate sail past today…all the security is getting in place for the olympics.

this is civilization?

Shelter Day Whatever

I’m not sure how long I’ve been at the homeless shelter for now.  5 or 6 nights?  There’s trade offs here…the beds are hard foam matts that are just not comfortable…no matter how hard you try.  It would be nice to have access to your room at  all times, but it’s understood that cleaning must take place and that’s a welcome service, believe me!!!!

the meals continue to be good and oh my, the donations are always pouring in with one craft bread place in particular bringing loads in every other day.  yes, we eat artisan bread 😀

Halloween was pretty uneventful, especially with most here down with colds , the flu, or flu shot reactions.  One only hopes not to get stricken and there are hand sanitizers on the wall that are very, very well used. 

Reading about Gordon Campbell and his olympic thugs brings it all home, er, ah, or is that homeless? and it’s great to read about protestors in victoria and other places.  north van isn’t exactly protest city and no one here seems to be tuned in to the protest circuit….when you’re in survival mode , eeking out events doesn’t take precedent.  whatevers.

the sun is shinging…it’s a good day.