6:00 a.m. I wake up. While I was getting myself ready for the day, I noticed some people walking towards me with a light. Five older people approached, they asked me if I slept on the beach, I said yes. They introduce themselves as the L-street Brownies, who go for icy swims early every morning in the ocean all year round. We have some conversation, and I get a short interview with Joe.
After I meet the L Street brownies I collect the rest of my gear and go to the Bathhouse to charge phones, upload videos, and write the blog. I take some time for a workout, and then I go to play pickleball, the door to the court is locked. I try the outside door to the pickleball court and get locked outside the building and have to crawl under a fenceand go around the front to get back into the L Street bathhouse.
Pickleball is supposed to start at 9:30, I go to leave around 10:15, as I’m leaving I see a woman passed with a pickleball racket and I ask are you going to play pickleball? She says yes, we talk to the front desk and one of the maintenance workers opens the pickleball court. The woman’s name is Deb and she and I have two intense pickleball battles where I win the first game and she wins the second.
11:15 a.m. I head out to meet my new camera guy LA who I met the first night of the project. We met at the Kenmore army and Navy store. We get a nice backpack for LA, and some other gear. Our interview with Freydis and Midnight is at 1:30, so we walk to St Francis house where I go and get lunch, which is meatloaf, potatoes, some hard beats, and grape juice. I had two servings. LA watches my stuff while I eat cuz I can’t bring it all into St Francis house.
After I eat, LA and I go to the square in Chinatown to watch the trivia man. A woman tells me that it’s the last time the trivia man will perform this year. LA and I got some videos along the way people singing and such it was a beautiful sight to see in the crowded city.
1:30 p.m. LA and I arrive at the Chinatown library. We meet up with Freytis and Midnight who are transgender homeless people who are in a relationship, a nice library woman sets up some chairs and we conduct an interview.
2:00 p.m. LA and myself walk an hour to my car in Dorchester. This is a good chance for us to talk and get to know each other better.
Take a Bike Leave a Bible
3:00 p.m. LA and I drive to East Boston to see Gary, my bike mechanic at wildcat bike repair in Chelsea. Gary sets us up with a nice Raleigh street bike for LA.
3:50 p.m. LA and I head out to drop my car off in Dorchester so we can ride to Park Street Church and have dinner. While we are on 93 South one of my coolant hoses blows, my car begins smoking and I have to pull over right on the highway as we’re coming out of a tunnel in a knotted cluster of highway overpasses. I’m stressed out, I start thinking of a plan so I call AAA to come to my car. I quit smoking 4 months ago, but the current circumstances caused me to ask LA for a cigarette. While we’re stranded on the side of the highway, a state trooper pulls up, the state trooper approaches the car and tells us that he has a tow coming. I exclaim that I had called AAA. The trooper says that I have to have my car towed to 100 Haul Street the state police barracks where I can have it towed from there by AAA. I called AAA and set up the tow to the new location. All in all the two tows went well. The mass DOT tow truck driver was really nice, and when we get to the state police barracks the AAA tow truck driver came quickly and towed my car to my friend’s house in Danvers.
6:07 p.m. LA and I ride out into Boston to get some gear that LA had stashed. From there we head over to South Boston where we will spend the night. It’s been a long day and we’re both ready to rest. We grab some food at Stop & Shop in South Boston. LA gets a membership at the L Street bathhouse. We find a nice spot to sleep, have some conversation and then it’s lights out for the night.