Paul Lineberger, 61, has been in Slab City for 17 months. He had a military upbringing, and at 19 was training to become an evangelist in No. Carolina. He left that behind and worked for 14 years for the painter Shirl Goedike, also living in Nice as a photographer of artists, even traveling on the Concord. His car recently broke down in the area and he left all of his wordly possessions in it and started a new chapter.