So, I've spent exactly three weeks out here since I left that awful housing project downtown, and all things considered I'm doing remarkably well given the circumstances; I managed to land on my feet instead of on my ass.
I've settled on a loading dock near the freeway confluence in Northwest Portland, with my foxhle buddy R— who fled that failed camping experiment beside the freeway shortly after I did. The company that owns this property has allowed the homeless to sleep on its loading dock for as long as I can remember: the rules are simply 1) GTFO by around 6:30 AM (except on Sundays, when we can sleep in and loiter all day) and 2) don't mess the place up. We're the only guys living there; occasionally some random stranger overnights down at the other end, but other than that the place is ours. Nobody wants to join us because today's homeless are dysfunctonal dopers and nutters who insist on erecting permanent structures — there's a small compound of such structures across the street and down the block from us. As you can see from the photo, thanks to my disability benefits I'm well provisioned with a cot, an air mattress, a sleeping bag, and a pillow (R— sleeps on a sleeping bag on a foam mat inside a two-person tent). It gets a little noisy at times, and last night it got kind of sketchy when some guy in the compound down the street busted his car horn and screamed threats at us for an hour, but for the most part it's alright and once I get my peper ball projectile pistols to add to my stun baton I feel reasonably confident I can deter or defend myself against most assailants. One worry of mine is that eventually the streets will get more dangerous after the homeless have been herded into the city's mas encampments, because the only ones out here will be those who can't behave well enough to stay in shelters or camp sites or be housed.
Not only that, but I'm going to start washing dishes at a nearby Mexican restaurant on Friday, working fridays and saturdays mid-shifts. I'll only be working fifteen to sixteen hours a week, but I'll need to take extra care not to let myself get victimized by Morlock zombies or let myself get stupid and drunk or sleep deprived. In fact, I may need to use one or two spots in the neighborhood for daytime napping to ensure I can adequately perform on the job. Whatever it takes. I hope it works out for me! Figuring out taxes earning income from work while collecting disability benefits will be educational.
