Friday, 11/19/21 — Sandia Park, NM — Introducing Colby Brandt

Three nights at the Bernalillo KOA now and the dogs have been barking nonstop the entire time. How do people live in this neighborhood and not lose their fucking minds? The only way I'd managed not to snap was by reminding myself that I can leave anytime I want, unlike these poor bastards locked into 12-month leases and dead-end jobs they hate, just like I used to be. Sure, maybe I don't have a home or a bed or a toilet to call my own, but also I'm not trapped, and I'm grateful for that.

I was also grateful to have figured out what was actually wrong with my transmission. After waking up freezing the day before I'd shivered my way out of my tent and taken a long hot shower, the kind where you stand there with your eyes closed leaning against the wall wondering if you should cry, or scream. Then I'd done my laundry and walked down South Hill and turned right on Richardson and crossed the tracks and turned left on Camino del Pueblo and walked into T & T Supermart because I was out of food and beer and that was unacceptable. Everything on the shelves in there was about 1.75x what you'd pay at a Walmart, except for the beer which was somehow cheaper.

On my way to T & T I'd realized why I could always hear dogs barking. Every single one of the run-down mobile homes I'd passed had a fenced-in yard with a guard dog in it. Pit bulls and German shepherds everywhere, and they all looked like they sincerely wanted to eat me alive. The second one of them gets into it, it triggers all the others, hence nonstop barking. On my way back as I was walking along Richardson wondering how high German shepherds could jump the thought suddenly occurred to me—how long has it been since I checked my transmission fluid?

"So when I got back to the KOA I pulled out the dipstick and it was bone-dry," I said to Janelle. We were having brunch at the Range Café a couple blocks from where I'd done my grocery shopping the day before. Huevos rancheros for her, breakfast burrito for me. I'd been a bit hesitant to meet my mom's old schoolmate from her Venezuela days, but it was turning out to be a fascinating conversation. Like me Janelle was a writer and an atheist/freethinker who'd grown up a child of missionaries in a foreign land, and then moved to the U.S. and rejected religion in adulthood. What a pleasure to share a meal and stories with her; I was glad my mom had decided to connect us when she heard I was in the ABQ area.

After brunch I killed some time in the gift shop, bought a sweet yeti sticker for my car, and then drove out 165 through Placitas and way up into the Sandia Hills. My transmission was functioning much better now that it actually had the proper level of fluid at its disposal. There was a dearth of campsites available but I finally found something workable in a little powerline access area. I don't think I'm technically supposed to be camping here, but there's a rudimentary firepit so if a ranger gives me shit I'll just act dumb and play my not-from-around-here card.

After dark I was browsing the Punks on Hive market looking for interesting characters to add to my collection when I noticed one named Colby Brandt and of course I had to have it. Bleep had it listed for 700 Hive which was way out of my range, so I contacted him on Discord and long story short, we ended up arranging a trade: Capri Cobb for him, Colby for me. Awwwww yeah, Christmas came early this year: