Most of the people on the street this time of year are in shelters.  I have my own private little home on wheels.  Which is great, but no one wants you in their neighborhood, in their parks, near their schools, near their businesses.  And the cops don’t want you anywhere else.  And you’re quite conspicuous.

Last night a nice, compassionate cop found me in one of the rare locations where only the police could possibly be bothered by my presence, and said I was welcome to stay that night, but recommended I keep away from the area for a few days since it’s being patrolled due to some vandalism.  I guess he was suggesting other officers might not be as understanding.  I try to stay on the move to avoid attention as much as I can, anyway.  But I was in a lot of pain today, and exhausted, and didn’t heed his warning.  I thought he might have said he would be patrolling tonight, too… but apparently not.  I was half a asleep, still in a lot of pain, around 10:00 pm when I was roused by a more aggressive and less understanding officer…  Now somehow almost four hours later, late in the night, I am hoping to get some sleep behind a grocery store.  I investigated a couple of the “good cop“‘s suggested places to try staying, and I just didn’t have the guts to stay in the Hilton parking lot (which had warning signs about sleeping in your vehicle), and a shopping center he suggested was just—well, a shopping center… they can work out in a pinch, on occasion, but certainly not the most comfortable for me or my cat.

And all the driving around makes me nervous, too—at 50-60 cents/mile in gas—on my income…which I could soon lose.