Back to the Train

While I’m waiting to move into the apartment, I’ve returned to living on public transport. I’ve made a few innovations that have made things a bit more bearable than my earlier attempts.

I no longer allow myself to sleep at night. I achieve this by drinking copious amounts of coffee from the early evening throughout the night. I acquire it from the most unguarded of free sources such as: hotel lobbies, car dealership, and the like. Sadly, by the time I pilfer their coffee, most of the foodstuffs, such as digestive biscuits and breakfast cereals, have been polished off, so I’ve been rather hungry over the past few days. At times the hunger can be distracting, but that aspect seems to be diminishing with time. It seems that everyday I am becoming more and more a real life version of Dr. Zoidberg.

Instead of trying to stay awake for several days at a time, as I did in the beginning, I now sleep for one or two hours each day by taking a CTA bus with a long route and low ridership. The long route busses usually have built-in USB chargers, so I’m able to charge my phone while I sleep. The unpopularity of these routes creates a simulacrum of privacy; I’ve yet to wake up and find my things being or having been gone through. I’m constantly tired and I’m unable to think quickly or clearly at times. That having been said, the worst of my sleep deprivation symptoms, namely the realistic and relentless hallucinations, have been kept to a minimum. I’ve also noticed that I’m a bit less inhibited and risk-averse in this state.

I’ve been spending my nights on the train revising and refining my Spanish and Vietnamese language skills; skills which I regrettably allowed to lapse when I returned to the States.

My clothes are mostly freshly laundered. I’ve been using a sink to bathe—not exactly the hygienic equivalent of a shower, but better than nothing. An imam has allowed me to use his mosque’s foot bath to clean and re-dress my foot up to twice per day.

More Thorough Update About Mike

So, it turns out Mike had no real reason to be homeless. In addition to his government pension, he also had a sizable settlement from the incident that rendered him disabled. He had no knowledge of it until his new social worker informed him of it; it’s just been sitting in a trust for several years at this point. His old social worker, either through ignorance or negligence, never disclosed the existence of the settlement to Mike. Between his settlement, the interest it has earned while being untouched, and his pension, Mike will be able to live out his remaining years in the safety and comfort he deserves.