1990 - Spartacus Truckin'

1990 -1991 - Spartacus Trucking - New York City

Multi inebriated individuals delivered high end furniture to the rich, and crap to the poor. (the poor tipped better), occasionally not dropping it.

Highlights included, but were not limited to:

- crashing 2 different trucks without a driver's license or work papers and not even getting a ticket. Don't ask me, ask the cops.

- changing my spartacus trucking t-shirt lettering with permanent marker, so it would say 'skateboarding'

- co-truckers, Dean Jones and John Lyons, who also worked at Spartacus would form the NYC line-up of the Space Juniors.

- fucking up my back for life carrying an Ar-moire up a walk-up and getting stuck on the corner, couldn't let it go.

- the secondary warehouse in Bushwick, located on Troutman between Wyckoff and Irving displayed a constant array of junkies and crack heads practicing their intake activities in broad daylight. Although, I was a junkie trucker at the time, this was new to me. I lived on the lower east side, so I'd definitely seen my share of users shooting between cars, and had been on the long lines waiting to by dope, such as Ave B and 2nd street at 6:30 and such, but to see such a concentration of active users on one block at lunch time was unreal. It was like an outdoor shooting gallery. It felt like you were allowed to drugs in public, but only on this one block. Sideshows included mega amounts of trash, prostitution, nudity, and everyone's favorite, incontinence. The cops would drive by and through the speaker they'd say "clean it up, clean it up" to which our entertainers would scatter into stoops, crevices, and corners only to return a minute later. Then a young kid walked down the block and sold them all another round.

- co-worker Robert taking LSD on the job. Also held the record for damaging high end furniture and not getting fired.

- co-worker, Chris Acosta's stories of love, lust, and debauchery (mostly at the limelight, where I worked during the evening.

- driving to South Carolina in the truck with Dean Jones, who would later become the drummer for the NYC line-up of the Space Juniors. Stopping by a guitar store somewhere down there and regrettably not buying a red, 1988 mosrite with Semmie's signature on the back of the neck. It was $400.

- driving as an illegal alien with no driver's license and getting to learn the five boroughs and many other things that can't be mentioned here, such as certain activities at Hunts Point in the South Bronx.

- sleeping in the truck

- jonesing for a couple of days on a non-stop drive to Florida with fellow trucker, Joe Alvarez, who would hide his coke under the horn cap in the center of the steering wheel. Hoping the summer sun would heal my track marks and I wouldn't get busted for having no papers as we drove through the Georgia weigh station. Constantly asking me to "teach him rock n' roll" during our 48 hour return stretch. I would scan the channels constantly and only managed to find Ragdoll by Aerosmith and Rock On by David Essex, to which Joe would constantly attempt to sing with Cuban accent over and over on the way back.

- the main warehouse was located on Nth 5th St in Williamsburg. When I would catch the subway there, the L train was empty, nothing like today. At the time there were very few residents in the area, and those that were, were Polish families, and artists looking for more space. Bedford Ave had a Salvation Army, where I bought some albums, but other than that, this was an industrial neighborhood. There were very few lunch options, and I only remember one deli on Berry and Nth 6th street, Nick's Deli. One day while working in the warehouse, a van stopped outside and through out a tiny kitten. I kept her in the warehouse all day and then drove her back to Manhattan in the truck end of day. I had her for almost 19 years, Munchie girl, (also known as monya bonya, mopar, squeezems, punchems, etc....)