"Myths and legends die hard in America. We have them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men's reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of "the rat race" is not yet final."
HUNTER S. THOMPSON
I very much enjoyed being on Gambling With An Edge and talking with Frank and Bob. I'm glad I lost the internet signal just before I went on. I probably wouldn't have sounded spontaneous if I were going from notes. But some things got said in the present tense for which I cannot take credit for.
I haven't hopped a freight train in at least 16 years. I do smell, as Bob suggested, because every morning when I jump out of the shower, I spray on this cologne named after the shortstop for the New York Yankees. I'm clean cut, clean shaven, except for a well trimmed mustache. My wardrobe is small for traveling purposes, but it's not "Salvation Army Special" anymore; it's J.C. Penny's and Herberger's.
Yes, I still don't drive, a decision I made 22 years ago and stuck with it. If I hadn't quit driving I probably would have killed myself, or someone else, or at least did a long stint in prison, so I have no regrets. I didn't do an Archie Karas, have a long successfull ride beating the casinos, but then eventually bust out and fade back into oblivion. I'm still putting down my poison. But as the title of Frank's book suggests, it's a secretive world.
At present I'm "on the road." I love Great Falls but a man cannot eat by bread alone. I always have to go and make some money. The road is much different today than it was so many years ago. Instead of freight trains and thumbing interstates, I use jets, Amtrak, Greyhound, Taxis, shuttles, city bus lines. I pack one piece of rollaway luggage and my laptop.
I use Mom & Pop hotels mostly because they are the best at providing what I need at the right price; cable television, internet, refrigerator, microwave (I pack my own coffeemaker and little Georgie Foreman Grill in the rollaway), laundromat, close proximity to a super market, must be on the busline.
It was great working all that comp in Nevada but I work other jurisdictions today. In order to go back to Great Falls and sit on my butt I have to outrun about a $2000 a month nut that the travel, lodging and meals cost me today. In that respect I guess I have succumbed somewhat to the tyranny of the rat race.
