So I’m in Billings right now and going to be for a little while. I walked over to the bar/restaurant across the parking lot from the hotel I’m in. First of all, BILLINGS HAIR! The mousse, the crispiness, Jeez. The female mullets! That’s a reason ALONE to move. Second, I bought cigarettes from a machine (yes, they’re still in bars in this state) for 6 dollars. Decent if I was in Chicago, relatively expensive while I’m here. But WTF. Then I gambled on the machines for a little bit. We have those to here too. That’s another aspect of Montana which only serves to eat out the economic middle of the state. Sat next to a Native American couple. Again, not unusual. Put in 5, won 10. Put in 5, won 15 then worked it down. If you put money into a machine, consider it gone and then enjoy. Don’t expect it to come back. And then the bar closes around 12:30 or 1 because everyone left. Woo-hoo! Rock the house till the break of dawn! And on the jukebox were country and heavy metal/rock. I haven’t heard that music forever. For about a year. That’s forever for me.
More after the jump...
The motel and bar which I’m at is down from the airport on 27th street. It’s the main street that runs down from the Rimrocks (large rock cliffs running along the north side of town) through downtown and the hospital district and to the highway on the South Side of town. There’s not much of a bus system here. They exist, but never in a way that you really know how to use them. I think they’re main goal is to get people out to the mall and back.
Tuesday was my father’s angiogram. It went according to plan, they went in, looked around, took some pictures and got out. What they found was less “according to plan.” Three major arteries blocked to some degree. They call it “multiple artery blockage” or something. It’s like marketing. One name becomes too well known and/or feared in the populace so they have to change it. So instead of a triple bypass surgery, my dad is going to get a multiple arterial… blah de blah. But yeah. Though the surgeon did a good job of explaining most of what is going on, it did get complicated to a point where I decided I need to know more about how the heart works. And for once in a long time, I actually need to find “time” and “place” to go on the internet since the Wi-Fi is a bit sparse here in Billings. Hell, I don’t even have a coffee maker or hair dryer in my motel/hotel room. Had to bring my old 4-cup coffee maker from my parents’ house. The plastic one that somehow had rust in it.
Back to my Dad. Next Tuesday he’ll have heart surgery and then stay in the hospital between 4 and 7 days in both the ICU and ATU (whatever that means). My flight back to Chicago will most likely be changed to sometime after the surgery. My therapist’s idea for me to stay here for a little while but not too long is kind of useless now. Can’t say exactly how I feel about all of this. The majority of me isn’t thinking about the future of this. The future doesn’t exist to that part of my mind and I like it that way. Other parts predict and attempt to plan what will happen. Neither way of thinking is particularly pleasant but like I said not thinking of the future is preferred. Nevertheless, I called my best friend in Wisconsin last night to make sure that if anything dramatic or dire happened, that he’d come to Billings.
In the meantime, I don’t really know what to do. If I was in Chicago, I’d be going to therapy and then painting in my downtime, getting material done for my Incomplete. Don’t really have that kind of material here in the hotel room. Or space. Canvas, gesso, turpentine, brushes, tubes of paint. I ain’t got those here. We’ll see what happens.
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