It's all pretty solid

I did my first night of pedicabbing last night. I got all the paperwork in order, didn't read the handbook (as per my apparent policy), said that I didn't read it, took a lap around the parking lot of a bank, and was set loose. The man in charge, Tate, said the important thing is just to relax and have fun. So I went off down Duval St. ringing the little bell. Pedicab guys always ring the little bell. All night. At first, I was sort of wondering what I got myself into. New jobs always feel very unnatural. But I'm extremely invested down here at this point, so I'm sticking to it. And by the end of the night it was fun.

It's interesting to note that I am the only American person doing this job. The only one. All the guys are from South America, except for the Australian guy (so far as I know). They're students or some such here to make money for a few months. Also interesting to note is the cost of renting a pedicab from the company that has me on the roster. $500 per week. Yikes. I made about $100 last night at a very lukewarm work pace. I can do better... but yikes. That is not adding up to very much money at all. Everybody claims that it's dead right now, and it will pick up exponentially in a few weeks. If I were to drop out, I'd lose my claim to one of the bikes, and I wouldn't be here to make my fortune when the boom comes. I believe the season will definitely pick up, and I hope it's big bucks. I've heard $1000 can be done on New Years, and if I stay through April I can make $10,000. I don't know how accurate that is, but as I said I feel very invested and I'm sticking around for at least some kind of real money. My first night of 'rent' was free since I'd never ridden a pedicab before. My second night is also on the house because of what happened in the next paragraph.

There are five new guys from Argentina starting, and they need to take the test to get a US driver's license. Tate asked what kind of vehicle I have, to see if it could be borrowed. They could rent one, but a couple of the guys aren't 21, and somehow that won't fly too well. Even if someone else rented the car? I don't know why not - but anyway. I told Tate I've got a box truck, and it wouldn't be too good for taking a test, especially parallel parking. He mentioned he'd comp a nights rent. I told him I'd help, but I didn't know if using the box truck would really be helping. Well I met the South American guys at the Sheraton at 11, and showed them all about driving Truck House. Then we went to the DMV. The situation was clearly ridiculous, and we were told for various reasons that the test could not be taken in a big old truck. A guy there said the South Americans could use his car. It took more conversation than that, but that's what was said. Wow. He prepped them in native spoken Spanish, and they were in serious luck. That's a hell of a guy. I called Tate a little later to brief him on this update. I didn't have any assurances that there was something in it for me, but Tate sounds like a standup guy. He thanked me for my effort and comped my rent for tonight. Which I need. Cause I'm not seeing how I'm going to do much more than break even for a couple or a few weeks, and that might be tight.

Flash back to when I was talking to Tate about the possibility of borrowing my truck. He asked if I'd found a place to live. I told him that I had not. He pointed out a couple options - a place he had, a friend with a boat. I told him "you know what I'd really be looking for.... is a nice parking spot." He caught the drift, and with no specific words about living in a truck he told me about a great private lot that should be quiet and legit. I'm somewhat skeptical, or rather I don't want to get my hopes up too much - but he's showing me the spot tonight.

To further type more stuff, I'll say that I have high hopes for the pedicab job. Though it isn't currently lucrative, it's a lot of screwing around on a bike in the middle of a street of chaos. Not bad. I ended up mostly quoting flat rates to people. I made them up, and that's fine. It was slow - you could go an hour with no rides - so I tried to make the rides happen, and by the end of the night was very ready to try for another ten bucks wherever possible. I picked up three drunk girly girls. They weren't sold on a ride, but after a few exchanges we worked out $10 flat rate and no tip. I told them I'd charge $5 with a $5 tip so they wouldn't have to feel cheap about not tipping me. I took them to Sloppy Joe's and on the way we got plenty of applause and hooting. I hooted too, and made some of my typical boisterous noises. One persistent giraffe got a drink order and ran ahead. He was waiting with the drinks. The girls said they'd buy me a drink. The night was pretty much over, and I like drinks, so yeah. I'll flash forward and say that this was a good example of how I am absolutely incapable of putting on the phony-slick even when appropriate, called for, wanted, and easy to pull off. My arm totally got molested by boobs. Then I danced about 75 feet away from a girl while thinking to myself how I was having fun for the wrong reason. It was fun like watching yourself in the circus. I was somewhere up by the ceiling observing this whole scenario, and I was amused. Somebody needs to import some campfires and genuine souls down here. Sloppy Joe's is certainly not my scene. Neither was the strip club that the Brazilian guys went to after I extracted myself from those females. My brain keeps observing my body from afar, and I'd really like to get my feet onto the ground and meet a person. But I'm not too picky. Right now I'll take a situation if I can find myself in it, and be thankful. Even if I'm watching myself from somewhere else.

I was sitting here (right here) in the cab of Truck House in the shade of a hotel, and a couple came up to the window and asked if I was in the paper. They fucking spotted me. I thought that was very impossible, though the possibility has been joked about and mentioned. I was talking to Steve Pugmire on the phone when it actually happened, and he had just mentioned the possibility. I said I hoped it wouldn't happen, and I thought it very unlikely. Well two minutes later, I'm shaking hands with a couple through my window. I gave them a brief tour, and the guy gave me a $20 "donation." You know I'm not turning down money. No how! They were very nice and supportive and made me promise to buy a specific slice of pizza. Goodness me, yo.