Lunch time in Houston, and I wasnt feeling hungry but not having done any exploring for a couple of weeks, I had the itch. Driving around in a rather rough section of town and feeling a bit desperate, I settled on what I figured would be a rather mundane explore.
After getting a few shots of the office section I made my way back outside to get to the warehouse. The original building had an add-on built onto it so I figured I would start there and make my way to the main warehouse. The place used to be some type of auto parts or repair facility and looked pretty empty but had some interesting graffiti.
I entered the add-on and immediately noticed that it was a bum nest. As soon as this realization hit me, I had the shit scared out of me by a screaming woman with a thick Boston accent who came out of nowhere. She was flailing her arms around and rushing towards me yelling questions about who I was, what I was doing there etc.
I reached for my pepper spray before she got too close, held up my other hand and in a very calm and soft voice told her that I was just there to take pictures. More yelling and screaming, more explaining and a few questions about her life and the building. She seemed somewhat paranoid so I moved and continued to speak very softly while she made accusations of gangland threats and beatings from the local police. I asked about the cops and she said that 2 weeks ago they beat her up, took her money and she had video. This little tidbit piqued my interest so she and her boyfriend then struggled to show me the evidence that was contained in a suitcase housed in a shopping cart. Frustrated at not being able to produce it readily, she then begins to verbally then physically assault the boyfriend, who took it quite well. After about 45 seconds of this he finally shoved her back and I'm thing to myself, "Oh shit", so I said, "Ya' know I believe you - its ok."
I then got a tour of their little home, and got to meet their 3 dogs. After about an hour of more rambling stories (sorta like this one...), I was finally able to break away long enough to finish photographing the rest of the building. As I was leaving she brought me a gift (see last picture).
What I thought would be just another boring explore, turned out to be anything but!
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Photo Removed by Peptic Ulcer as you could find this location based on information it contained.
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Photo Removed by Peptic Ulcer as you could find this location based on information it contained.
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Can we ever know if you never ask
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My parting gift - I have no idea either...
