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as recalled by egomaniac
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hen we finally hit the road it, was about 4 AM and we were determined to make it at least 40 miles, where we stopped for the night at Bobby's parents home in Covina. They called the cops when they saw us going through their trash but it was late and the cops sorted it all out by verifying our fingerprints. We finally hit the hay and rose for a quick shower and change of clothes the next day at 7.
Now we were on the road, down the 10 east for the ride of out lives. Our ride was cut short when the credit cards stopped working at the next gas station and we were forced to pay for gas out of our measly rent money. Turns out the credit cards were room keys for the European resorts that our bosses had collected 
from lavish vacations in the Alps. Eventually we were forced to wash dishes and cook greasy meals for truckers and small town locals after our rent money ran out. Every now and then we would strain the trucks leaking anti-freeze for that quick escape of being semi-drunk, but that feeling quickly passed and we were on the road again.
We made the most of the trip by stopping at places that were accessible to large trucks and seeing the country as we could. We saw a tornado and it almost flipped the truck. I had to drive through that nightmare while Bobby pouted and cried. I kept telling him to get a grip and everything would be OK. When we called the office to report it we were informed that all of the bosses were out sailing on the new company yacht that was purchased with salary cuts. It was then we were told to collect our wages at the end of the year in empty Naya water bottles and we could recycle them right next door. They were always thinking of us over there.
We stopped in cities like San Antonio and Baton Rouge. Bobby and I would go to toy stores and play with all the toys. We relived a childhood that was stolen from us by being raised on the road. We went to some clubs and told people we were driving a satellite for NASA. That worked until we tried to pay our bar-tab in crushed soda cans. Back to the kitchen to wash dishes. Nevertheless, we would always regroup and hit the road hard, trying to go out and see every town we stayed the night in.
When we arrived on site in Fort Myers we had to make the course appear for the skaters with nothing but zip-ties and wire cutters. The spectators (and staff) took turns spitting and throwing rocks at us. Those are some difficult working conditions, but it was better than the sweatshops -so we grinned and bared it. We each received a free Slim Jim for our work, too. We wouldn't have to go hunting that night!
We finished setting up the course and had to go do demos at local schools where we enjoyed another moment of fame. If kids are under the age of 10 and you do something they think is cool, they want your autograph. The roadies got to sign a few before it was time to work again. We finished working and went to bed at 10:30 in the morning. There were already messages on the machine from 9 AM saying that we had better be on site at 9:15. Haggard and unshaven, we stumbled to the site to make sure the competition went well. It didn't.
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