The health scare was a real wake up call for me. I realized that if I was to outlast the stupid weed laws, then I would have to make sure I stayed healthy. The healthcare system is run by the government and that being the case, it would be near impossible for me to access it without an I.D. With this being the reality I faced, I knew it was all up to me if I wanted to last. I quit drinking alcohol, cut out all junk food and started following a strict regiment of exercise. I was determined to not let my health be my downfall. One thing that I would not be quitting was my love and enjoyment of the cannabis plant. Not only had I never had a negative health experience with it, I had long thought of it as a benefit to my health and I had read nothing in any medical journal to dispute that. I was also beginning to see it more and more as a spiritual sacrament, one vital to understanding our connection to the universe, and besides that, I still really loved it. Before long I was feeling better than ever and life was feeling easier than ever.
Once again life became fairly uneventful for a while, the summer rolled in and life on the boat was very peaceful. There was a family of swans that would visit the boat daily in search of bread and I would always have a few pieces for them. The boat had a 1 foot concrete skirt that surrounded it and when the wather was nice I would open the window and Ms Kitty would go out and sit on it. I knew the road was too busy for her to venture on to so I was not worried about that. I was also not worried about her falling in as I had always known cats to be very nimble on their feet and she had a foot of space to deal with. One day while I was laying on the couch in a ganja induced fog, I heard a strange splashing outside. Having lived on the boat for a few years now I had gotten used to all the sounds of the canal and this one sounded somewhat different. Usually I would ignore such splashing but something told me to check it out and when peered out the window, the fog instantly evaporated. There was Ms. Kitty in the water struggling to get back up but the concrete border was too high out of the water for her to reach, and she looked nearly out of energy. Without hesitation I was out the window and into the water grabbing her as I went in and lifting her back onto the border. She ran straight into the boat where she would stay for nearly a year until she built up the courage to venture back out again. She became very attached not wanting to leave my side, it felt very good but also caused me to ponder on how I could ever leave this little creature behind. I concluded that my journey would have to last as long as she did.
When pool season came around we went to a new home pool hall. The Nes only had the one table and you needed at least two to play in the league. Frans had worked out a deal with a place in the neighborhood to let us play there for a fee, but now we had a better offer. Two guys that played on one of the other teams in the league had just bought a pool hall of their own and offered us free play and practice. Their names were Etienne and Ayden and they were both fellow lovers of the game. They were great friends and the pool hall took off immediately. Sometime in early fall, word came around that they were looking for a cleaner for the place, since I was on friendly terms with both guys I thought I’d check it out. I talked to Etienne and he hired me straight away. The job was to clean the place up 5 days a week and keep the pool tables clean and for it I would get 8 euros an hour and all the free pool I could play. It was nowhere near the kind of money I made at the hotel but that didn’t matter because this was my kind of place! Just as I had hoped I fit right in, before long I felt like one of the family. The guys had big plans for the place and I felt like I was in on something that could be very special. I would still keep my duties with Frans and the Nes but now I had a way to make some extra cash and play unlimited pool, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Somehow I had found myself in the weed friendliest city in the world doing the two things I loved most in the world, smoking bud and playing pool, I was truly a blessed man.
Life was rolling along nicely for a while and I was playing pool non-stop. My friend Tim and I re-ignited our spiritual debates while playing for hours, we had a great time but neither of us was able to budge the other on what their beliefs were. Tim was very conservative in his Christian views and I came from the science and eastern philosophical side. We may not of convinced each other of our ‘truths’, but we had a blast doing it. One day after I had been at the pool hall for about 6 months with no problems, Etienne comes up to me and says that we have to talk. He was a decent boss but was very intimidating and I instantly wondered what I had done wrong. I was partially relieved when he told me that there was a T.B. scare and that all the employees would have to be tested. He went on to say that it was a regular customer and that they would not be telling any of the other customers so as to not create a panic that would be detrimental to the business. I explained that I did not work during opening hours and that my potential for exposure was zero. Adding that if they were not going to tell people who were playing right next to the guy to be checked, then it must not be that bad and that I would be opting out of any tests. I had no faith in the medical establishment and was not interested in their outdated methods. He got a real serious look on his face and told me that everyone would have to get tested and that if I refused I would not be able to work there any longer.I thought about it for a few seconds and then told him that I would finish work that day and hand in my keys. He tried to talk me out of it but I was firm, no test! In the end we shook hands and parted ways on good terms, I had no bad feeling towards either of the guys or the place, but I had to stand my ground.
I was now back to only my job with Frans, it was enough to keep me going but I had gotten used to the extra money from the pool hall and now it seemed I was broke all the time. I would have to find something else to supplement my income, but I had no idea where to look. I started telling everyone I knew that I was looking for something and to let me know if they hard anything. I was hoping with all the connections I had made over the years that someone would hear something to sort me out. Days turned to weeks and not a word from anyone, I was starting to get very anxious. I was still able to pay rent and buy food but the pool tourneys were becoming more like work and less fun knowing that I had to win if I wanted any extra for that week. The pressure of having to win was too much sometimes and I started doing something I hadn’t done since my gambling days, choking. I had to find something soon or my love for pool would start suffering. The answer came in a most unexpected form when one day out of the blue I get a call from someone I hadn’t heard from since my days rounding up tourists for the hotel. His name was Duke and he had done the same thing as me for a rival hotel. He and another former runner, Eric, had gotten out of the street level work and started renting out apartments. They had expanded to half a dozen and were looking for someone to help in the cleaning. I was sceptical to get into cleaning up after tourists but when he said they would give me 12.50 an hour, I jumped on board. It was a nice relief to know that I would once again have some extra cash in the best city in the world.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run