Cow pies, pizza pies

I'm taking the biggest nap possible. But when my watch beeps, that's about all I can fit in. I got only a couple hours of sleep, 'cause I was up drinking all night at Shawn's party. I assed out in my van for about two hours before I had to get up and go to work at 11. The sun was way up by the time I laid down. It was a damn good night. Brief and mild flirting got us invited along to pet enormous cows. That was a fucking masterpiece. As the sun is just asking to come up, we're tromping around with grocery bags tied to our feet, and getting introduced to holsteins on university property by girls in sexy shorts. And flipflops. Yikes on the flipflops, cause you could not take a shit-free step. There was a hose though, so fine.

This was my last day serving slices at the pizza job. I wasn't all there.
boss "Why is there no phone number or time on this delivery order." (oops?)
me "I checked Google. The number's listed." (okay?)
boss "Why didn't you take the number and time?" (blah blah blah)
me "Cause I'm super fucked up and tired." ('drop this right now' tone)

I really did leave on good terms. It really is a very easy job. It really does pay shit and isn't worth it.

Ants and bars

It's 7:21, and I'm outside making a little bit of money. Not much money - but on a beautiful day like today, making money is almost like getting away with something. This is my second pizza delivery that I've taken on foot. If you walk the delivery instead of riding the bicycle, it takes longer. That is a very good thing. More time outside. The foot delivery also helps if you like to look at a whole mess of ants doing ant-work. I did just that at 7:21, on the same block as the delivery. When it's nice outside, and you're watching a mess of ants, everything feels right like it should.

Headline: possible catatonic drinking scenario takes a swift turn for the best.

I went back to Newtons. The bar that exists where there used to be a "Newberry's" department store where, as a tiny little man, I looked at shitty toys and bought lighters for 50 cents. Now it's a swanky bar and restaurant, and as I said I went there again. It didn't take long for Hailey (dreadlocks, 26) a sincere and friendly traveler, to convince me that she is pretty cool. "Hard day?" she asked as I rubbed my head like it might have been just that. "Nope - easy as shit - every day is easy as hell." is something like what I said. Conversation followed. She introduced me to Tim the suited lawyer, and it didn't take long for me to be convinced of his genuine sincerity, and awesome views and ideas. I also met Matt, the guy who graduated high school in my sister's class, and was in a band that I liked a lot. I thought that meeting an actual plurality of people in Kennett Square who could hold a non-superficial conversation was unlikely. When I got to the bar, I expected to say "Lager" five times, and be done with it. But no. Talking and hanging out occurred instead. Hope is restored for future enjoyable social interactions everywhere. If it can happen in Kennett Square, then I don't have to move into a cave or under a pile of leaves.

However, this question remains: Is this type of scenario only possible at a bar? These people are also great outside of the bar setting, as I learned when we walked and sat and chilled and talked. But - how would I have met any of them if I hadn't decided to go into a bar? I know it's possible, but far less probable, especially at night in Kennett when I'm half desperate to do anything at all. Do I need to go to a bar to find people who don't hush up and avert their eyes? Should I be trying harder to dissolve pathetic social barriers? Should I get a big nasty tattoo that looks like a beard of black wispy flames? That was three questions, and I think the answer to at least two or three of them is yes.

Punch me in the face

It's another work nite. I'm discussing with a girl about whether the chicken parmesan is good or not. I told her that I liked it, and she accused me of possibly "just saying that." I told her no. It's actually good, and I eat it plenty. Then I gave her my guarantee; evidence of my sincerity. "If you don't like it, you can come back and punch me right in the face."

endless wipe down / 3wks till tour?

Pizza jobs are an endless wipe down. They are for me. The clock is running while I slowly make zero dollars and no cents. To make the clock go faster, I focus on wiping down everything in the restaurant constantly. That way I look busy and I'm focused on something. It works. I figure I can't just go on wiping stainless steel, counter top veneers and glass forever - it'll get old. So today I put in my two week notice. My job here lasted longer than I expected it to. I got a paycheck for $185 today, and I ate for free, and worked and accomplished very little. Not so bad.

I put in my two weeks here, and that sets a timeline in motion. I'll finish up in Pennsylvania, and probably (maybe, hopefully?) leave on my bicycle trip in three weeks. Let's say June 12. I'm not ready. I'm physically ready, and the bicycle will be ready after I bolt some cranks on. I've got my gear figured out. I don't know if I'm ready mentally. More specifically, the trip feels like nothing but a foggy notion. I know very well that pedaling out of the driveway will be a surreal foray into outer space. I'm going to check out Jupiter's moons.

Past the initial squeamish surreal churn into action, I suspect I'm going to have a great time. I don't feel like accomplishing anything else right now. A month or two of riding north and hiding in the woods seems to make sense. Technically, in my over-romanticized version, I could do this forever while scavenging and making just enough money to eat food and ride to new places - exploring, and seeing microscopically close every single detail. A major aspect of bicycle trips is the rose-smelling: meditative, contemplative, coffee consumative, sitting time. Unless you're going ultra-marathon, there's an abundance of time. You can think about endless hypothetical scenarios, and laugh at how ludicrous it is to be where you are when you are. I'm not looking for an epiphany. What I hope to gain won't strike quickly. I'm looking for a perception shift. I want to be happy with less, and comfortable existing at a moment in time rather than in a series of convoluted goals and worries. I'm going for survival on-the-fly; where you need almost nothing and experience almost everything. I want to spend time sitting and observing and being satisfied with just that.

Ringing up pizza

I'm hitting buttons on a cash register. The buttons have names of pizza slices. Some dude just got 'chicken bacon' among other things. So I captured this sacred little moment of my life here. Recorded for all time is the fact that I'm standing around pushing a button that says 'chicken bacon' on it.

I think I'm just about ready to start working on all these bicycles I have leaned up outside. A week's wages in one day is starting to look more appealing. I'm almost ready to leap (crawl) into action. I even started another blog that's going to have pictures and information on the finished bicycles. Blogs are good for organizing such things.

Chicken fucking bacon...

Walking a delivery

It's a working night. My watch started beeping right while I was walking back from a delivery on Market Street. The place was only a few blocks, so I just walked the pizza over and left the delivery bicycle parked. I really don't mind this job - and for me that's a huge compliment.

Baby's Mama

The phone rang. Papi's baby's mama on the line. He mouthed "my baby's mama" to me while she was talking in his ear. Maybe yapping. I picture yapping, but I have no way to know that. I drink several cherry cokes at work, and usually two slices of pizza. Usually means that this is my third night working here, and I've had two slices per night. If you want free pizza, come to Peace a Pizza while I'm working right before we close. There is a lot of pizza being thrown away.

Fking around in Kennett forever.

I just dipped a chip in some Athenos roasted red pepper hummus. I'm in Kennett at my folks'. They got me some really good hummus. I've been sitting around here doing nothing and feeling very slightly sick. Sick if you're a wuss, but perhaps "on the verge" of real sickness.

I'm not working on my huge stack of bicycles that I've stacked outside in front of the garage. Not a bit. I'm thinking about putting together for myself something that I actually want to ride: how about a really nice Trek 800? KHS Professional 531 racing cycle? These are works in progress, floating around half-assed and waiting for parts to materialize from thin air.

I got a Trek 800 21" frame in Burlington last June. 8 bux. I recently made a purchase of an old Raleigh "Mountain Tour" - from a response to my ad placed in the Wilmington News Journal. The Mountain Tour has SunTour friction thumb shifters, and some real simple DiaCompe cantilever brakes that I like. I could strip that stuff off and earmark it for me. I should. But the Northroad handlebars that I'm using have been drilled out to accept bar end shifters. Incredibly unique and badass. So I should get some bar end shifters. Instead, I just ordered some Silver Down Tube shifters from Rivendell last night. That's an aside - they won't work. But Rivendell has bar end 'pods' that fit them. Maybe I'll get them in the future when I'm rich again. Then I can have nice friction shifters for all my rides.

I'm also working on a really tall 63cm KHS Professional (w/ 57cm TT). This will be my road bike. It struggles to fit 700x32c Pasela tires. It's made to be race-y, and has very simple but thinned lugs (good craftsmanship). It also has forged SunTour dropouts, and full 531 tubing for the frame and fork. It's nice. I put a nice quality Campagnolo-hubbed wheelset on there. I bought that from another response to my ad. 8spd cassette included. Throw your hands in the air for friction shifting. Throw'em!

But I'm out of shape and I don't ride my bicycle much. Haven't ridden an inch since returning from Key West, except for the Peace a Pizza delivery bicycle. I don't have a bicycle I'm in love with, and I find any excuse to be a slob. Gotta work on that. Especially since I'm a nerd, and pre-7:21 today I spent a very considerable amount of time geeking around on the internet looking at the Furnace Creek 508 website, some "Rough Riders" website, and one I haven't seen before: The 3 Speed Adventure Society. Wow. 3 Speed Adventure Society... someone has been sneaking into my room and reading my diary!

Also: I didn't sleep in my van last night. I slept inside in a bed. That breaks the Dec 1 to Apr 25 streak of enjoying my sleep in a vehicle. Streak broken.

Let me continue to talk about how I spent $41 at bars in Kennett getting really drunk on Hop Devil. Completely ridiculous. Some lady was trying to prod me to 'smile' and seem real happy. I was reasonably happy, but my catatonic expression did not spell this out clearly enough. I told her I was being 'fucking introspective and shit.' I was sitting alone - obviously - right in the middle of the bar. She was flirting with some golf pro fuck across another lady. Maybe he wasn't a fuck - to be fair, he just looked like it. Well the joke is on her, 'cause I ended up smoking weed in my van with a girl from Scranton who knows Mike Quinn. Mikey. Life is not to be taken very seriously.

Two days after that, I saw Matt Emerson. Speaking in terms of physical appearance, the Army has turned him into an imposing figure. Always good to see childhood neighbor friends. Kennett is a fucking trip, g. I talked briefly with those who I have not seen in some time, then spent a lot more time drinking up a good tab alone. I think the combination of meat, beer, and weed has hurt my typically fantastic immune system. I blame meat the most. I think I was a lot healthier when I didn't eat meat. But that might have more to do with riding a bicycle.

Well I'm no scientist, that's not what I went to school for
And I'm not a doctor, so I don't know much about medicine - EL-P

Google Maps at Peace a Pizza

I'm looking at the computer screen at Peace a Pizza. I'm checking to see the location of the next delivery. I ride a Worksman delivery bike with a big metal pizza box attached over the front wheel. The front wheel is small to make space for this. Worksman bicycles are awesome. When I saw it parked out front, I applied right then. There aren't a ton of deliveries to be made - four tonight - but when I get to haul around on that bicycle it's awesome. I get to eat free pizza too.

Peace a Pizza: first day of work

I'm in the middle of washing a lot of dishes at Peace a Pizza in West Chester. I got a job here, and this is my first day of work.