I'M A CHANGED MAN

And I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. Let me explain ( better go pee or get a beer-or both, this might take awhile ).
I got a phone call from a guy today that you can't really call a friend, We know him, he's a musician and he has been in the periphery of our circle for years. About 5 years ago, he fell off the planet. When he resurfaced, he was a mere shadow of his former self. Was it mental illness or cocaine? I have no idea. The last time I saw him we were down on 6th street getting our Mark Davis (ROCK STAR) memorial tattoos ( miss you Mark ) and he looked a little better than the last time I saw him, meaning (at my estimation) he had lost no more teeth and looked like he had gained a few pounds...he still had that look in his eyes though...not unlike a racoon you inadvertantly caught raiding your trashcan. All of us were drunk, we embraced on the street and went our seperate ways.
So...this afternoon, on the way home, my cell phone rang ( and by rang I mean played Cypress Hill's " Insane in the membrane" or whatever it's called ) and the conversation went like this:
PHONE: "Insane in the membrane! Insane in the brain"! Over and over while I attempted to drive, find my phone, and answer it.
ME: Hello?
GUY: AnneMarie?
ME: Hello???
GUY:That's alot of static...is this Rob?
ME: Yeah...who is this?
GUY:Oh, hey Rob, it's XXXXXX, I was talking to XXXX and he gave me your number...I'm in a short term crisis right now and I have a favor to ask, either you can help me out or not, if not, I'll understand.
ME: What's up?
What's up is basically this...The house he was gonna move into today turned out to be a "hot" house...I can only guess that by "hot" he means drugs are involved. His short term crisis translates to he needs a place to crash "for a couple of days" inside or out.
The last time we did this for someone, I would find him sleeping in our hammock in the back yard weeks after the "couple of days" had expired... he would just be there as if by magic when I'd go to retrieve a pair of socks off the clothesline...there he'd be with his bag of clothes and hygiene products snoring away, and I would be quiet to not wake him ( in MY OWN backyard) it was unsettling to say the least. Back then we had dogs that were not people aggressive, plus they knew the hammock guy. He finally went back to the valley or something.
These days we have dogs that ARE stranger/people aggressive...This is "out" number one, it just wouldn't work. Inside or out.
So, the call ended with me shining him on and wishing him luck.
A year ago, we would have put him up in a hotel or a KOA campground or given him money for food... we would have done something to help. But, these days, we can barely keep ourselves afloat. The times of altruism have passed in this house for now. We just can't afford to be as generous as we once were.

(angry,bitter portion deleted...)

Special veterans day "stoned guy with a skink on his head" tomorrow...send your questions NOW DAMMIT or I'll make up some shit...the THC levels are wavering...whoa:)