Big Wheel Keep on Turnin'

I am going to get a bike, I think. My rehab course will be ending soon and I need to find some way of exercising to replace it. I can ride along the lakefront and do some light dumbells to keep my upper body in tone.

I test rode a couple today. It was a lot of fun riding around.

One life change down, a few hundred more to go.

The Thorazine Shuffle

It was after a couple weeks of seeing Ed on the corner, either when I went to the drug store or to Stella's that I had the chance to watch him. I began to notice that he had a route; he wasn't stationed full-time at the CVS. Ed marched his way up and down Broadway as far north as Addison and as far south as Diversey.

I also noticed that some days Ed seemed more mellow than others and some days he was positively manic. The slow days also revealed another clue about Ed. He walked in a stuttering, almost lurching way. That's when it hit me: the Thorazine Shuffle.

The Thorazine Shuffle is named after the well-known antipsychotic drug. It and its progeny have a suppressive effect not jusst on the parts of the brain that control emotion, memory, and cognition. They also have a significant effect on the physical brain as well. Imagine the dayroom in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Ed's just another one of the poor schmucks who can't support himself or live a normal life, but can't be institutionalized because of overzealous liberals. One of the homeless that greedy conservatives and smug libertarians walk by and snarl at because they could surely find some way to make a living and get off the public tit.

I need to do some thinking and reading now. More on Ed later.

Ed

I'd never had a homeless person introduce themself to me before.

He was just sitting on top of a newspaper vending machine when I came out of the CVS. I had the dollar in my hands from the purchase I'd just made and I tried to take care of the homeless whenever I could. So I handed him the buck and started down the street. Transaction closed. Let's move on.

"My name is Ed." He smiled at me, a big grin. "What's your name?"

"Sous Chef." I started off again. Again he caught me short.

"Thank you for the dollar." Ed smiled again and held out his hand to shake. I shook.

"You're welcome, Ed. Good luck to you, Man."

"Have a good day." Ed still had that grin.

Walking

I do a lot of walking these days. It's my primary form of exercise and also my main form of entertainment. I had forgotten how much I like wandering the streets and watching a million lives being lived.

In the suburbs, everything is driving distance. Just to run out and grab a bag of ice or a quart of milk is a three mile proposition. I used to spend so much time in my car, it's no wonder I felt cut off from everyone. I was.