What is the setting in the opening pages of the book, Factotum?

New Orleans provides the novel's first locale, as Henry Chinaski arrives by train with just a cardboard suitcase, takes a room opposite the Gangplank Café, is hired by magazine distributor R. M. Heathercliff, but quits when he demands a raise. He takes a lower-paying job in a newspaper ad department but is let go because he takes too many beer breaks and is not a college student, which the fat department chief seems to think is imperative. Henry then catches a train bound for Texas.