Journal Entry #57 - Moving to or Traveling to Massachusetts

JOURNAL ENTRY #57

Name: Manley M Collins

Social Security Number: 5 7 9 – * * – 6 5 4 1

Date of Birth: 06/21

Place of Birth: Washington, District of Columbia

Country of Birth: United States of America

Date: August 1, 2020

Topic: Moving to or Traveling to Massachusetts

Good day my followers, stalkers, enemies, new people, crazies, professionals, or whatever human name you may adopt for yourself.

After enough photo blogging, it was time to get back to writing and telling my experiences  again.

I am still a resident of South Carolina and yes, I did state I would never return, but rash decision making can happen when you keep hurting and doing him like the past already did. Even though, I am not running for any political office...I still have my last umbilical cord to provide some type of service and see the countryside when it is time to take breaks from the Northern city life.  South Carolina do not get too hype up, I got Georgia too, just in case South Carolina decides to act up.

I started my trek to Massachusetts on the last day of July 2020.  Yes, this is during the pandemic.  I did not have much to take.  I dumped most of my tent and tarp stuff since I did not know the terrain of life in the New England city and state.

In South Carolina, I do give credit that folks did attempt to check on me and try to reconnect, but attempt taking my independence was not the best way to get me re-acclimated to South Carolina.  I did partial research on Massachusetts.

U-Haul, I was very angry when they were giving me the run around while on foot and Uber to find a 10 foot truck in the Summerville and North Charleston area, and I ended up with Penske 18 foot truck with only four (4) storage containers about the size of a coffee table.  Thanks again Penske for always providing modern and very comfortable ride and drive using your trucks.

One last act of anger was the neighbors at 277 Big Woods Rd tried to stick their dogs on me. I did not have gun or knives to kill them so I stayed by the truck.

A couple of things I had lined up on my trip was the attempt to install my loc extensions.  I booked a salon in Florence, South Carolina via an online app by a top stylist.  A day or two before the actual appointment she canceled because she stated it was not her specialty.  So that ended all stops in South Carolina.

I started the road trip. As normal, I rarely stop to eat or drink because I was focused on my destination.  I did stop through Washington, District of Columbia to pick up my final batch of mail.  It was loaded communications.  Thanks UPS Store for such a great unexpected gesture.  I found out a lot of information of what the Attorney General was busy doing to my business, and personal affairs.  During the pandemic, Washington, DC was almost a ghost town.  The roads were light.  Little to no people on the street, but Walmart, Safeway, and Giant were open though.  I attempted to re-book another hair salon appointment in Hyattsville, Maryland and that did not go well because it was canceled and speak to a different stylist in the same salon.  I spoke to the second stylist thoroughly, but I already was on the road and left the metropolitan area.  I traveled my usual secondary route to avoid most of the tolls from Maryland to New York.  I did stop by the United States Census Bureau in New Carrollton, Maryland to drop off my equipment, but no one was onsite except security.

New York City upgraded their EZ-Pass Holland Tunnel to just drive through using the EZ-Pass Express system.  That was a surprise.  I wanted to stop in the city, but it was the first time ever seeing New York City as a ghost city. No one was on the streets.  No traffic. Little to no activity.  However, I am very proud my delivery peers from Uber, DoorDash, Chowbus, and Grubhub for still delivering as essential workers.  I did get gas and keep rolling up Interstate 95.

I finally reached Boston, Massachusetts.  It seems a little different than when I first visited the city while living in New York City and Manchester, Connecticut.  I already researched the storage company so U-Haul did not have anything available, so I went with Cubesmart.  The real bad part research did not discover was the neighborhood it was located.  It was near the Massachusetts Ave and Melnea Cass Boulevard (Mass and Cass) or Methadone Mile or Recovery Road.  The storage store had a pretty diverse crew.

I did find my personal and business address in Boston, Massachusetts located downtown.  I did real good in finding the appropriate location of mail services with United Parcel Service (UPS).  I plan to have this address for a pretty good while.  The storage store had a pretty diverse crew.

Thank goodness I found my local gym Planet Fitness, which is all I could afford for now and they had plenty of locations I can explore.  St. Francis House was my first Boston day shelter encounter and developed a pretty good intimate, consistent professional relationship.  I am glad I am receiving services and donating the street money received from the public here.  It was clean, all the homeless smells, and well kept.

I turned in my Penske truck to the Braintree location. Thank goodness it was my first ride on the MBTA (T) system bus.  While waiting on the bus, I met some United States Census Bureau workers.  Yes, I was hired and trained in South Carolina by the United States Department of Commerce, United States Census Bureau.  I got the badge and received all the items, plus a government iPhone smartphone system.  However, when my transportation the Honda Metropolitan was taken, I had very limited mobility and the Berkeley County and Charleston bus system is not WMATA or NYC MTA operating all day and part of the night.  I did ask for a transfer to the Boston area; however, that never took place with the exception when they sent a field supervisor to collect my badge, equipment, and sign paperwork.  While standing at the Braintree MBTA (T) bus stop, I attended the First Baptist Church of Washington, DC Zoom church service until the bus arrived.  The trip was good and I reached the subway.

I slept on the streets because the weather was still warm. I did start to venture out to discover what was open and what was closed in Boston.  I did ask around about where the homeless go for services and stuff.  St. Francis House did provide almost all my basic needs from rest/sleeping and two meals to personal hygiene and underwear/clothing.  Since my storage space was located at a far distance from downtown, I had to compact life into one backpack.  Thank goodness for Uber and DoorDash because I was able to go right to work.  This was my first time since my first security officer job that I was able to take the job with me.  I also discovered I can take Uber and DoorDash to Europe with me.

This concludes the transition or move.  More and more is coming.