Generally Discontent

2:30 p.m.

And here I am on a big fat train rumbling southwards to Charlotte, North Carolina. Can't say I'm feeling too excited right now, sorta want to go curl up in a ball and die in a ditch somewhere, or at least sleep for twenty hours. Eh, it's not so bad. Just tired and sad. It sucked saying bye to Vani and Jay, Vani especially since we've become much better friends than we were when I arrived. Who am I going to sit around with all day watching cartoons and making jokes about various disgusting bodily functions now? Bleh.

But it is what it is, such is life and all that, and it's not like I won't be seeing them again. In other news, this train kinda sucks! It was twenty minutes late and instead of picking up time during the trip, it seems we're falling more and more behind. Just had a rousing bout of sitting still for fifteen minutes right after leaving Richmond, VA, but now we're chugging along so things ain't so bad.

The other reason this train sorta sucks is because it's frickin' packed! I get no window seat except here in the snack car, which I will talk about more in a minute. My car is pretty full, and I think I'm one of the few white people in there. Not that this affects me, really, but it is interesting. I don't know why it's interesting, but it is. I guess. I'm so tired that I don't know what the fuck right now. At least the view is nice, what with all the trees and...trees. Lots of trees. Uh.

Yeah, guess I'm just cranky right now. I'm sure that once I get down to NC and unload my crap at Seth's place I'll be feeling hunky-dory. Hell, I get to spend two weeks going to bars where the girls will have that wonderful Southern accent that gets me going. A Carolinian girl could be telling me that she's about to crush my nuts in a vice and I'd say, "Yes, please."

Anyway, let's talk about the snack car. Seems nice enough, normal enough for a train snack car. The first time I went in there to get something for breakfast, there was a woman sitting near the empty counter area wearing an apron. I assumed she worked for the snack car, but when she didn't get up or acknowledge my existence, I just figured she was doing some other job besides working behind the counter. The counter person must have been in the bathroom or something. Yup.

Nope. The sitting woman waited about three minutes before getting up and asking me what I wanted. Yay! I love shitty customer service! Meh. I got my sandwich and apple juice, sat and ate grumpily. The second time I went up, she was okay, got my drink in a timely fashion and whatnot. Third time, not so much. I ordered a drink and as she reached out her hand to get it, her other hand grabbed her cell phone, and there she froze. Staring at her phone while the one hand hovered inches above my soda. I stared at the back of her head, trying desperately to make at least one of her synapses fire with whatever latent telepathic powers I might have. She finally broke out of her trance and gave me my drink, but this lady sure ain't helping my mood. Not like this place is busy or anything. Whine, whine, whine.

Goddamn, I want a cigarette.

4:13 p.m.

Sweet fucking Christ, kill me. I'm pretty aggravated right now, for probably no good reason, aside from the fact that we're running about 50 minutes late, dammit.

Sat down for awhile, relaxed in the too-warm car (seems our AC isn't working so well), just vegged. Started feeling better, figured I was just being pointlessly bitchy, but hey, here I am in the South! Or getting closer and closer, anyway. Looking forward to it, can't wait to get there, can't wait to get off this fucking train.

But it was too warm to stay awake, too tired...nodding off, snapping awake, nod, snap, nod, sna- COUGH. Something caught in my throat and I was instantly awake, coughing my guts out, vaguely paranoid that I'd puke up my mostly-digested bagel sandwich all over the back of the chair in front of me, but I made it through the cough-fest okay. I was awake and annoyed and coughy and... Wait, not annoyed. Angry.

My annoyance at my coughing fit and the late train and the heat was instantly turned into blind rage when I was confronted with some horrible sound gurgling from the seat next to me.

It must have happened while I was napping and I hadn't noticed. The little, polite Indian lady sitting next to me had turned on her walkman and, instead of putting the headphones on her HEAD like they're supposed to go, she put them around her NECK and turned the volume up. What came crawling out of those headphones was not any ordinary music, nothing that anyone else might want to listen to. What I was suddenly confronted with was Kenny G-caliber smooth jazz cover tunes. What I heard was "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" rendered in a tiny, tinny, screeching saxophone that burrowed into my psyche and stomped my mind to death, starting with my childhood memories and working its way up. Fuck me.

This continued for awhile. I suppose I could have said something. Something like, "Please shut that off before I PULL YOUR SKULL OUT OF YOUR FACE!" But it's better that I grabbed my laptop and retreated to the snack car. Lot cooler in here, lot more leg room, even if it's filling up with old people and children right now. Bah.

But, regardless of how I may be feeling and overreacting, the train sure is better than a bus, especially on such a long ride.

4:46 p.m.

This train has it in for me, I'm convinced of it now.

The snack bar re-opened for business, so all the kids and old people formed a line, with me at the end. But we had a new snack car lady who seemed a lot more friendly and responsive, so the line moved along quickly. Maybe I just needed some food, I thought, Maybe that would make me less cranky.

Got a microwaved cheeseburger, some chips, and a Sam Adams, which seems to be the best meal combo I could possibly order from the snack car. Trudged back to my seat, past screaming middle-schoolers, only to find my seat was wet. Looked like someone spilled some water on it. Fine, whatever, I have an extra napkin. Fine. Wipe, wipe, wipe. Sit, sit, sit. Eat, eat, ea-

Motherfucker. Turns out the AC on the ceiling above my seat was leaking, and now it was leaking on me, a stream of water raining down from above as if God's most favorite cherub drifted down from the heavens in order to take a whiz on my head, and a cold whiz at that. FINE. I give up.

The food was decent at least, edible. Beer is good. Gonna be in Raleigh soon and I will have a smoke or I will kill someone. OH GOD SHUT UP MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS!

5:37 p.m.

We're gonna be about an hour late getting into Charlotte, fun fun fun. I talked to Seth during my glorious smoke break at Raleigh, and he's cool with showing up later. I feel a little bad a bout Seth, or staying at his place, anyway. Or, uh, I mean to say, I haven't had much contact with him about staying there beyond him saying yes initially, and me letting him know when I'd be coming down. I just don't want anyone to feel as if I'm taking advantage of them, though I doubt he'd think that. Plus, I have no doubt that we're going to have a great time. So, uh, okay I don't feel too bad.

Still sad, though. Vani called from Padonia Station to say hi. She's sad and having beers in my honor, so I might as well have another beer or two on this train. Never got drunk on a train before, and I'm not about to start. But a nice buzz sure couldn't hurt! God, it's so strange having so many great friends scattered all over the world. I seriously have to win Powerball or some shit so I can afford to have a private jet flying all over the place picking people up or whatever. Damn.

More people just got on, I don't know what stop we're at. It's strange - seems like nobody's getting off, only people getting on. My ass is still wet from the AC dripping on me. Ride, train, ride!!

6:28 p.m.

Okay, beer was a bad idea. I've become so used to drinking and smoking at the same time that I really, really want a smoke right now. Can't have one til I get to Charlotte, two-and-a-half hours. Fuck.

Wish I had a DVD or something, a movie to watch. Ah well. I have plenty of comics to read if I'm going to do anything. Also have my sketchbook if I want to draw, and the book Vani loaned me if I want to read. But I think comics are about all I can handle right now. I'm still tired and prone to dozing off. All this sitting around really kills you, sucks all the energy right out of you. Or maybe that's the beer. Huh.

7:16 p.m.

Less than two hours to go, if all goes well. I've switched to water and coffee since the snack cart is now too warm, so - combined with the beer - I'm back to being drowsy.

We're almost to Winston-Salem, where the cigarettes are made! Exciting! Well, I'm trying to get excited. Still sad as hell but not so annoyed anymore. Just before the sun set, I drearily glanced out the window to see a glowing yellow field, and on it was a cow, and another cow, and a horse, all grazing. And there, anticipating twilight, sat three great and ancient husks: broken down and rusted out pick-up trucks. I have arrived!

Well, that gave me a smile, anyway. Guess that's important.

I'm also pretty excited about not having the slightest clue what to expect in the next five weeks. Two weeks in NC, then Seth hands me off to Mike and Becky in Savannah, GA, and then on down to Florida. Well, no matter what happens, it should be a lot of fun. So yeah, so there. It ain't all bad.

8:05 p.m.

And here I am in Charlotte, NC! WOOOO!

Or at least that's what I'd be saying if we still weren't an hour late. Sigh. I burned my tongue on coffee, or re-burned it, since I had initially scalded it with espresso Friday night at Susie's birthday dinner. Yawn.

I'm just typing to hear myself type at this point. I don't have any profound thoughts today, nothing but big, uncarved blocks of emotion dropping all over the place. I still need to write an entry about comic books, or another about my obsession with poo jokes, or even another talking about just how fortunate I am to be able to do all this. I need to fix the map view thing, need to change the look of the site though I'm pretty sure that won't happen. Sure, I could do all these things while being so damn bored on this train, but I really don't feel like it. Besides, all the kids roaring in and out of this snack cart are really friggin' distracting. Don't these little monsters have parents somewhere?

Two more stops! Yay!

8:28 p.m.

Almost...there... Gonna shut this shit down in a few minutes and gather my stuff, also want to get away from the fine young thugs who are boozing it up in here and hitting on underage girls. Or something. Well, Seth's going to pick me up around 9 p.m. and he mentioned something about London Broil for dinner. Sounds good to me!

Of course, if I get mugged and murdered before I can find Seth's car, make sure someone feeds my fish. Thanks!