never did get a call back, showed up an hour late for a 2am call time, still got in 5.5 hours and i didn't have to take a lunch. works for me. got paid. no direct deposit yet. about $450. more hours but only half at $19. i'll take another hit afer june 6th and i lose the surge $2/hr. oh well. i'll be putting money in the bank in june anyway.
washed up in security building bathroom, got to metro by 9am. brought pliers and removed the prong stuck in one of the outlets to the approval of a guy with one leg in a wheelchair. it's overcast out, actually a bit chilly with the breeze. but it'll take me less than an hour to recharge. i used the backup to surf the web for an hour and a half after i recharged last night and got drowsy after using the primary laptopan hour in the fedex lot. i could use a nap or two today, even with extra hour of sleep from 10 - 2:45.
my left elbow had a little ache after work. i covered my bases and took an aspirin from 2002 thinking it would help thin my blood in response. whatever as long as it helps.
it's nippy. in more ways than one.i think that instead of carnitas tacos i might try the rou bing at the arcadia ranch 99. i went there and decided to pass. tried h mart after that, and went back to von's which offers a series of specials on fridays. including sushi priced down from $7.49 to $5. scored a couple of those and ate at eaton blanche. slept in the car until 5:30, during which time it stopped being overcast and became bright and sunny - i woke up seriously sweaty in a hot car. went back to von's and scored a $5 18" sub sandwich. ate half back at eaton blanche with some sour cream & onion potato chips. read a bit more on the laptop and headed over to the metro to top off the battery. i like the idea of using the older battery to web surf at REI, then using the newer battery at fedex. i cn then recharge both simultanteously in the morning.
yesterday and today an ethnic asian guy first asked for money, then offered to sell me some of his stuff. i passed. now i'm beginning to regret not offereing him the other half of my sandwich. i suppose he won't come back this way tonight. it's become suddenly overcast as if someone had flicked a switch as that thought crosses my mind. almost ominous. it prompts an idea of someone who seeks comfort denying comfort to someone else. is this shame or inappropriate condemnation?
i didn't broach the specifics of my conversations with derek wednesday night or with dave thursday afternoon. i'm not sure i should now even though i've alluded to it by mentioning being comforted. i suppose i'll leave it at that for now. but it's going to be something that occupies my mind a lot in the days to come. maybe that's a legit part of the story - what you do when you have nowhere to stay and a lot of spare time spent in isolation due to this quarantine. the thing is, if i had a place to stay, with a place to cook, a bathroom, electricity and wifi, i'd continue to coast in my inertia resulting from my being emotionally damaged. i think i will go into it, but not tonight.
it's getting chilly again now that there is no sun. i'm glad i had the foresight to put on the hoodie i stored in the car. it occurs to me that it's one of the pieces of clothing given to me by a past landlord. i didn't stay with him all that long but one of my two pairs of jeans i packed were also given to me by him. while i would never have any dealings with him again, i suppose i should cut him a bit more slack.
a guy named scott came by, wanting to help me by offering me a chance to register for free housing. i told him i had a house sitting gig coming up in june, but thanks. scott seems to be reasonably well educated, i think it would be interesting to get to know him better, but he'll be getting housing for a month and i've got only 10 days to go before i get to house sit for 3 weeks... i wish him well.
Friday, May 29, 2020
05-28
it's now been four weeks since i moved out.
i woke up around 7am this morning. i started to fill out the 990 form derek printed and halfway through the first page, i decided to do a little more research and confirm whether i can just fill out form 990-EZ.
motivated by last night's conversation, i decided a change was needed, and since i could tap derek's wifi before i left, instead of looking for shade i decided to take a drive, and i ended up on the first turnoff on the angeles crest highway at 7:30. it's big enough to hold maybe 25 cars, and truth be told, there's not all that much of a view. the turnoff is at the end of a small ravine that runs maybe a mile before it reaches the main la crescenta valley and the rest of los angeles is obscured by haze. mainly this turnoff is a place for slower moving cars to pull off and let faster moving traffic pass them, but the number of empty beer bottles left on the turnoff along with other bits of debris suggest that the main usage of this turnoff is to come up after dark and drink and/or watch the submarine races, if you catch my drift.
it occurs to me that stopping here is a metaphor for my life at this point; wanting certain things and settling for inadequate minimums. i can stay here and attempt to gather my thoughts in relative solitude; in the last hour four cars have pulled into the turnoff, stayed a few minutes and moved on, or i could push on looking for something better. i think i will move on in a little bit, but for now it's more important to capture these thoughts while they're still fresh in my mind. still, i had the choice, settle for the first thing that meets my bare minimums or press on. i typically choose the former and i need to understand why i do so.
it's now about 8:30. i have moved a few miles up the highway. i've passed a few small turnoffs, one larger turnoff that already had one person there, and about 3-4 turnoffs that are on the other side; your view is basically hillside, and highway from these spots. i again am at the end of a small ravine, but that's all you can see from here. there's less debris, and it's all food related: take out bags/cups, plasticware, etc. there's even shade though it probably won't last more than another hour. the voices of four female hikers could be heard across the ravine after they'd parked and then headed up the hill for an apparent hike. yes, this place is better.
i do have some standards. i turned down both of two available bedrooms in a house in altadena that had no central air (which is a tough thing to choose in altadena). one room was only $800 including utilities but the room was maybe 8x10 and in hot weather, even unsuitable for just sleeping. the room i saw last night for which i was encouraged to apply did have its own private 3/4 bath and two sinks, but was on the top floor with a southern exposure and what looked like a rather inadequate wall A/C. paint was peeling and there were some disgusting looking stains in both sinks.
when it comes to seeking housing, i still believe that anything that sounds too good to be true is probably a scam, and i've not even bother to apply for any of these rooms. in this case i still believe that it's reasonable to be skeptical and not even bother. should i adjust my perspective and make room for the possibility that god is in one of these opportunities and pursue them?
i'm feeling a little drowsy. i think i'll take a nap until the sun (and its warmth) wakes me. but i hear the whine of a mosquito, so i'm going to head back down to one of the cliff side turnouts and let the breeze take care of that mosquito which just might infectious with some disease i don't need to get right now.
ended up back in pasadena; all the turnouts on the other side had no shade so i kept coming down the highway when i got pulled over by a sheriff. i assumed it was because i still haven't gotten my new license tags after getting the car smogged finally. the sheriff asked me for my last name, which i told him. he then asked me if i was living in an apartment, and i told him i was which i suppose was technically a falsehood, and then he said something i'm not sure i understood, something about running my license and coming up with some sort of warrant, but that i was free to go. perhaps i'm finally persona non grata at my old place? no matter, i have no intent of being seen there any more. i can tap the outlets at the metro, and in a couple of weeks i'll be house sitting at derek's until july.
the library is now allowing people to reserve books online, and come to the library and pick them up from 9:30am - 12:30am. perhaps i should take advantage of that, especially since wifi is apparently working at the library while it's open.
stopped at ralph's and picked up some day old fried chicken and have been noshing on it throughout the day. found a new place to nap: the two target stores near me have underground/covered parking and enough of it that if you park far away from the building no one else would be within 50 ft. of your car. unfortunately, i almost overslept my video conference appointment with dave at 1pm. i got within wifi range at 1:08. we discussed something that i identify as being a major issue and something i've spent a great deal of the day dwelling upon it. it explains a great deal of my inertia. but i don't know exectly how to proceed from here.
i'm a little worried that dealing with this will lower my overall energy level going forward.
stopped at eaton blanche and stayed there until i ran out of battery. got to the metro station around 5pm, and traffic on the 210 east was almost as heavy as it is during pre-quarantine rush hour. something has to give here. even the people who afford to stay home want to get out and do stuff.
mom has called twice today within a half hour. i don't think she remembers calling me twice due to her parkinson's.
it is now 6pm and there is no one else at the metro. they're probably all at pasadena presbyterian all eating restaurant made meals. god bless 'em.
got into a conversation with a regular here who was complaining about the behavior of some of the other regulars about how the foul things up, in some cases literally, leaving feces on the sidewalk, etc.
it's now 6:45. contemplating going and tapping REI's wifi and coming back and recharging. i can just recharge, go to REI and head down to fedex knowing i'll be back to recharge tomorrow morning. i'm regretting getting the fried chicken even if it was a relative deal at $6 for eight pieces. i could save the rest for tomorrow i suppose and grab a couple of mcdoubles for a change of pace.
i've called fedex twice and have yet to receive a call back confirming my start time for tomorrow. last week i called once, and got called back three times. go figure.
there's some guy who's showed up making some weird noises. i haven't looked at him, but i moved my umbrella so it's within reach of my right hand and poked the sidewalk with it a few times.
two guys showed up after having eaten korean food at the thursday dinner at pasadena pres. the older guy reminds me a bit of murph. feisty vietnam vet. he's eligible for VA housing but doesn't want to live there. apparently went broke paying for wife's cancer treatment.
-----------------------------------
i was supposed to hear back tuesday about the house on raymond. nothing. that's ok. though i think it might have been a good thing to be able to relate with women like dana & naomi (who was actually kinda cute) regularly. and the ad for the hot box in altadena is gone. i guess they found a renter for the room. so be it. at this point, i'd rather go another 10-11 days, then house sit for 3 weeks and apply a whole month's wages to my credit cards and work on grant requests.
i woke up around 7am this morning. i started to fill out the 990 form derek printed and halfway through the first page, i decided to do a little more research and confirm whether i can just fill out form 990-EZ.
motivated by last night's conversation, i decided a change was needed, and since i could tap derek's wifi before i left, instead of looking for shade i decided to take a drive, and i ended up on the first turnoff on the angeles crest highway at 7:30. it's big enough to hold maybe 25 cars, and truth be told, there's not all that much of a view. the turnoff is at the end of a small ravine that runs maybe a mile before it reaches the main la crescenta valley and the rest of los angeles is obscured by haze. mainly this turnoff is a place for slower moving cars to pull off and let faster moving traffic pass them, but the number of empty beer bottles left on the turnoff along with other bits of debris suggest that the main usage of this turnoff is to come up after dark and drink and/or watch the submarine races, if you catch my drift.
it occurs to me that stopping here is a metaphor for my life at this point; wanting certain things and settling for inadequate minimums. i can stay here and attempt to gather my thoughts in relative solitude; in the last hour four cars have pulled into the turnoff, stayed a few minutes and moved on, or i could push on looking for something better. i think i will move on in a little bit, but for now it's more important to capture these thoughts while they're still fresh in my mind. still, i had the choice, settle for the first thing that meets my bare minimums or press on. i typically choose the former and i need to understand why i do so.
it's now about 8:30. i have moved a few miles up the highway. i've passed a few small turnoffs, one larger turnoff that already had one person there, and about 3-4 turnoffs that are on the other side; your view is basically hillside, and highway from these spots. i again am at the end of a small ravine, but that's all you can see from here. there's less debris, and it's all food related: take out bags/cups, plasticware, etc. there's even shade though it probably won't last more than another hour. the voices of four female hikers could be heard across the ravine after they'd parked and then headed up the hill for an apparent hike. yes, this place is better.
i do have some standards. i turned down both of two available bedrooms in a house in altadena that had no central air (which is a tough thing to choose in altadena). one room was only $800 including utilities but the room was maybe 8x10 and in hot weather, even unsuitable for just sleeping. the room i saw last night for which i was encouraged to apply did have its own private 3/4 bath and two sinks, but was on the top floor with a southern exposure and what looked like a rather inadequate wall A/C. paint was peeling and there were some disgusting looking stains in both sinks.
when it comes to seeking housing, i still believe that anything that sounds too good to be true is probably a scam, and i've not even bother to apply for any of these rooms. in this case i still believe that it's reasonable to be skeptical and not even bother. should i adjust my perspective and make room for the possibility that god is in one of these opportunities and pursue them?
i'm feeling a little drowsy. i think i'll take a nap until the sun (and its warmth) wakes me. but i hear the whine of a mosquito, so i'm going to head back down to one of the cliff side turnouts and let the breeze take care of that mosquito which just might infectious with some disease i don't need to get right now.
ended up back in pasadena; all the turnouts on the other side had no shade so i kept coming down the highway when i got pulled over by a sheriff. i assumed it was because i still haven't gotten my new license tags after getting the car smogged finally. the sheriff asked me for my last name, which i told him. he then asked me if i was living in an apartment, and i told him i was which i suppose was technically a falsehood, and then he said something i'm not sure i understood, something about running my license and coming up with some sort of warrant, but that i was free to go. perhaps i'm finally persona non grata at my old place? no matter, i have no intent of being seen there any more. i can tap the outlets at the metro, and in a couple of weeks i'll be house sitting at derek's until july.
the library is now allowing people to reserve books online, and come to the library and pick them up from 9:30am - 12:30am. perhaps i should take advantage of that, especially since wifi is apparently working at the library while it's open.
stopped at ralph's and picked up some day old fried chicken and have been noshing on it throughout the day. found a new place to nap: the two target stores near me have underground/covered parking and enough of it that if you park far away from the building no one else would be within 50 ft. of your car. unfortunately, i almost overslept my video conference appointment with dave at 1pm. i got within wifi range at 1:08. we discussed something that i identify as being a major issue and something i've spent a great deal of the day dwelling upon it. it explains a great deal of my inertia. but i don't know exectly how to proceed from here.
i'm a little worried that dealing with this will lower my overall energy level going forward.
stopped at eaton blanche and stayed there until i ran out of battery. got to the metro station around 5pm, and traffic on the 210 east was almost as heavy as it is during pre-quarantine rush hour. something has to give here. even the people who afford to stay home want to get out and do stuff.
mom has called twice today within a half hour. i don't think she remembers calling me twice due to her parkinson's.
it is now 6pm and there is no one else at the metro. they're probably all at pasadena presbyterian all eating restaurant made meals. god bless 'em.
got into a conversation with a regular here who was complaining about the behavior of some of the other regulars about how the foul things up, in some cases literally, leaving feces on the sidewalk, etc.
it's now 6:45. contemplating going and tapping REI's wifi and coming back and recharging. i can just recharge, go to REI and head down to fedex knowing i'll be back to recharge tomorrow morning. i'm regretting getting the fried chicken even if it was a relative deal at $6 for eight pieces. i could save the rest for tomorrow i suppose and grab a couple of mcdoubles for a change of pace.
i've called fedex twice and have yet to receive a call back confirming my start time for tomorrow. last week i called once, and got called back three times. go figure.
there's some guy who's showed up making some weird noises. i haven't looked at him, but i moved my umbrella so it's within reach of my right hand and poked the sidewalk with it a few times.
two guys showed up after having eaten korean food at the thursday dinner at pasadena pres. the older guy reminds me a bit of murph. feisty vietnam vet. he's eligible for VA housing but doesn't want to live there. apparently went broke paying for wife's cancer treatment.
-----------------------------------
i was supposed to hear back tuesday about the house on raymond. nothing. that's ok. though i think it might have been a good thing to be able to relate with women like dana & naomi (who was actually kinda cute) regularly. and the ad for the hot box in altadena is gone. i guess they found a renter for the room. so be it. at this point, i'd rather go another 10-11 days, then house sit for 3 weeks and apply a whole month's wages to my credit cards and work on grant requests.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
05-27
woke up around 6:15. derek came out around 7:45 and asked me if i wanted bacon & eggs. i said yes, assuming he'd be joining me. he wasn't. i'm not a big breakfast person. but we got started on the shed around 8am and started loading it until about 2pm when we headed off to home depot to get a ladder and some pruning shears. then stopped at super king where we picked up some salmon heads, beef cheeks, etc. i cleaned and fried the salmon heads, grilled the collar, prepared the beef cheeks for a braise in the pressure cooker, then made a tofu salad with cucumber, tomato and a peanut butter dressing. macerated some fresh strawberries in red wine and a little sugar.
went to check out the bedroom with private bath at 9pm it's right on the alhambra/s. pas border. but the place was in the condition that the previous tenant had left it, which included nasty stains in both sinks in the master bath. that was the killer for me. plus the rate which i'd understood to be $750 including utilities was actually $800 and not including utilities and it being on the top floor with a southern exposure it just didn't scream "you should grab me instead of house sitting for most of the month of june.
the plan is to smoke a cigar after derek finishes getting caught up with work and celebrate singleness; he received a document dealing with child support. he took that to mean that the divorce was final. i'll sleep in the driveway and have to be gone before the ex shows up at noon.
went to check out the bedroom with private bath at 9pm it's right on the alhambra/s. pas border. but the place was in the condition that the previous tenant had left it, which included nasty stains in both sinks in the master bath. that was the killer for me. plus the rate which i'd understood to be $750 including utilities was actually $800 and not including utilities and it being on the top floor with a southern exposure it just didn't scream "you should grab me instead of house sitting for most of the month of june.
the plan is to smoke a cigar after derek finishes getting caught up with work and celebrate singleness; he received a document dealing with child support. he took that to mean that the divorce was final. i'll sleep in the driveway and have to be gone before the ex shows up at noon.
05-26
today was different.
worked from 1:15 to 9:00 including a half hour lunch on about 3.5 hour's sleep..
even though i knew i'd be going to derek's i decided to recharge at the metro. fell asleep while charging. fell asleep again and didn't even go grocery shopping until 4pm, and because of some domestic logistics, didn't even start cooking until 5pm and didn't finish cooking until almost 7pm.
during cooking derek told me he got a gig editing for apple up in cupertino starting on june 8th and he'd need someone to house sit for 3 weeks and offered that to me, which i immediately accepted.
dinner went well, the jambalaya was a hit, and i ended up staying at the park until after 9pm. forgot to get laundry into the dryer before dinner, so derek and i made arrangements for me to come back the next morning and help him finish putting together a shed in the back yard so he could move stuff off his front porch and into storage. i could then pick up my laundry tomorrow morning.
so i'll be sleeping in his driveway.
worked from 1:15 to 9:00 including a half hour lunch on about 3.5 hour's sleep..
even though i knew i'd be going to derek's i decided to recharge at the metro. fell asleep while charging. fell asleep again and didn't even go grocery shopping until 4pm, and because of some domestic logistics, didn't even start cooking until 5pm and didn't finish cooking until almost 7pm.
during cooking derek told me he got a gig editing for apple up in cupertino starting on june 8th and he'd need someone to house sit for 3 weeks and offered that to me, which i immediately accepted.
dinner went well, the jambalaya was a hit, and i ended up staying at the park until after 9pm. forgot to get laundry into the dryer before dinner, so derek and i made arrangements for me to come back the next morning and help him finish putting together a shed in the back yard so he could move stuff off his front porch and into storage. i could then pick up my laundry tomorrow morning.
so i'll be sleeping in his driveway.
Monday, May 25, 2020
05-25
happy memorial day.
after i recharged i decided to park on the street instead of staying in the carport. i woke up feeling a chill and instead of getting blanket out of the trunk i put my hood up, zipped up and grabbed a towel used to cover the milk crates in back. that did the trick.
woke up around 6:15, went to CA and tapped their wifi until 7, and went looking for a place to park. i tried green south of ralph's for about 45. then headed over to the pasadena central library lot. there's shade in the SW corner until abou 12:30, which happens to be in the third of the lot that is NOT taped off. apparently the building to the north has people still using the lot even though they're not supposed to. i'm not feeling any guilt. there was someone here earlier in a van testing out bicycles stored in the van. he left a while ago. it's noon. after having spent over $20 on food yesterday, i'm going to try and eat from my supplies in the back seat: bread, peanut butter and honey, a couple of oranges. i'm tempted to go back and recharge since i've already used up 55% of my new battery. it's a holiday; i should be home if i live there. plug in, go get a couple of burgers from mcd's, retrieve my laptop and head over to eaton blanche.
i gave in to my inner glutton and went to burger king for 2 whoppers and 2 8 piece nuggets for 48 & tax. i will probably regret this later... the plan is to read/nap & top off again betery-wise at the metro before heading off to fedex and makin sure i don't miss my 1:15 call time later tonight.
i already finished reading the baldacci novel but i last night i fired up the external hard drive and downloaded a series of author's books/series to keep me occupied if i want. that's the biggest challenge; the limited options without the libraries. with a source of electricity/wifi i can occupy almost all of my free time. maybe this time of enforced withdrawal will help me find more productive uses of this time.
i started a few more biographies on some of the people who come for dinner. i now have entries for (pseudonyms): 'rabbit' 'webster' 'wayne'. once i reach critical mass on one, i'll post i on the BK blog.
I'm staring at the last bag of nuggets from burger king ith a sense of dread. the two whoppers were more than enough and i'll need to go back to the car to refill the polar pop which is now just ice.
after i recharged i decided to park on the street instead of staying in the carport. i woke up feeling a chill and instead of getting blanket out of the trunk i put my hood up, zipped up and grabbed a towel used to cover the milk crates in back. that did the trick.
woke up around 6:15, went to CA and tapped their wifi until 7, and went looking for a place to park. i tried green south of ralph's for about 45. then headed over to the pasadena central library lot. there's shade in the SW corner until abou 12:30, which happens to be in the third of the lot that is NOT taped off. apparently the building to the north has people still using the lot even though they're not supposed to. i'm not feeling any guilt. there was someone here earlier in a van testing out bicycles stored in the van. he left a while ago. it's noon. after having spent over $20 on food yesterday, i'm going to try and eat from my supplies in the back seat: bread, peanut butter and honey, a couple of oranges. i'm tempted to go back and recharge since i've already used up 55% of my new battery. it's a holiday; i should be home if i live there. plug in, go get a couple of burgers from mcd's, retrieve my laptop and head over to eaton blanche.
i gave in to my inner glutton and went to burger king for 2 whoppers and 2 8 piece nuggets for 48 & tax. i will probably regret this later... the plan is to read/nap & top off again betery-wise at the metro before heading off to fedex and makin sure i don't miss my 1:15 call time later tonight.
i already finished reading the baldacci novel but i last night i fired up the external hard drive and downloaded a series of author's books/series to keep me occupied if i want. that's the biggest challenge; the limited options without the libraries. with a source of electricity/wifi i can occupy almost all of my free time. maybe this time of enforced withdrawal will help me find more productive uses of this time.
i started a few more biographies on some of the people who come for dinner. i now have entries for (pseudonyms): 'rabbit' 'webster' 'wayne'. once i reach critical mass on one, i'll post i on the BK blog.
I'm staring at the last bag of nuggets from burger king ith a sense of dread. the two whoppers were more than enough and i'll need to go back to the car to refill the polar pop which is now just ice.
finished eating, napped and the sun prompted a move to the metro to recharge back up to 90%, tapping REI to post, then heading to fedex for a 1:15 call time.
05-24
got to fedex by 8:30. a folks saw me so i got out, smoked a cigar with my laptop on the roof of my car.
somehow the sound got turned off on my phone, and i overslept! to 4:30. i went in anyway. they would have sent me home as it was a light day, but josh wasn't feeling well and i replaced him on the belt. turned that he had neglected to load half the trucks correctly, so i had to review all the packages he handled before i started loading any others. i still ended up putting in 2.5 hours to 7am and i got an easy day as my knee is still kinda sore...
turns out memorial day is a holiday for fedex, so i don't go back in unil 1:15 tuesday morning. i'll probably work both days this week to make up for the half day today and missing monday tomorrow. asked for my paycheck from friday and got it today. should be getting direct deposit next week. wow. i clocked 17.5 hours out of my 23 at $19.25. just a tad short of $500 take hom this week. i should be able to clear the BOFA credit card before the end of the summer, especially if i go to a 6 day work week. yay. and if chess comes back i can really put a dent into the discover balance.
the place selling gas at $2.39 wasn't open yet, so i had to settle for $2.43 across the street with 10% ethanol. now recharging and should be good to go . checked my bathroom stash and i do have aspirin, circa 2002! i took one anyway. will try an advil for the knee as well.
the black guy i met before was sleeping on one of the benches, a guy in a wheelchair was smoking near the bench downwind of the portapotty, so i went to the 3rd bench, only to discover that the outlets apparently don't work. approached the guy in the wheelchair and told him the other outlet wasn't working. he kept smoking for a while but moved off into the sun after a bit. i think he was talking on the phone.
i've blogged on this before; holidays don't mean much to the homeless. if anything, life is more inconvenient - most of the places at which they'd normally congregate are closed - but they are anyway because of the quarantine. for me, i think it's a day off without pay until i get enough hours under my belt. but my knee needs to heal, so it's probably a good thing.
this paycheck will take me over $2000. it'll be the first time i've had this kind of balance since mid 2016. assuming i can find a place here rent/utilities will run about $800, i can budget about $200 a month for gas/insurance, another $150 for groceries and another $50 or so doing some sort of weekly lunch event. $350 for my cards, that's $1500. if i can take home $450 a week that gives me about $300 a month i can apply towards my cards. and once chess starts back up that's an extra $200 a week, plus whatever i get at huntington. i could resume my downey lessons as well....
went and surfed REI but forgot to go into battery saving mode. decided to top off the battery before heading out. it's not like i'm in a big hurry to go somewhere. a gentleman i've seen here offered me his bench in the shade. i told him a little civility went a long way nowadays. he was kind enough to point out that one may need to hit the circuit breaker to reset the socket and i commented on how the circuit breaker button had been broken on the third outlet. we started talking about how some folks ruin it for everyone else. i said i was willing to give out a couple of extra power cords and he replied that addicts would just start hitting you up for free stuff kinda like a faucet. the point is that there are all sorts out here. you've got people with addiction issues, folks happy to game the system, etc. but there are some decent people out here.
i chose not to mention that the bench currently in shade is also downwind of the porta-potty. i was prepared; i'd brought an umbrella for shade and typing one handed is slow, but adequate for the mount of time it'll take to recharge. in battery saving mode, this battery will last over four hours. intersperse that with nap time and that takes me through dinner and a potential patio recharge. now to decide what to do for lunch. and where to cash my check. i'm sure there's a BOFA within two blocks of here.
it occurs to me that i *could* cook using aluminum foil and the heat from my engine. chicken/vegetables. there's probably plenty of internet articles to use as a guideline.
i'll mention in passing one ad that provided little detail and was kinda rude in his first response. i told him i'd rather sleep in my car rather than have a dick for a landlord. he responded illustrating what kind of dick he was. if i cared enough i'd have pointed it out, but he struck me as being the vindictive type in his response.
splurged/gorged on sushi which led to food coma until 4:30. eaton blanche park is a nice place to crash in the afternoon. there's always a nice cross breeze.
i'm really not hungry but want to get something to eat. a burger of some sort. i could munch on some granola but i'm also wanting another polar pop from circle k.
i finished 24 novels by david hagberg since mid april. i read his last one first but since it was a prequel i ended up reading them all in chronological order. i did this mainly to help the time pass in quarantine. ebooks are relatively easy to download for free on the internet.
gave in got more sushi at ranch 99. i'm clearly medicating.
i let a lot of people see me when i went back on parked on my apartment street after 7pm. i pretty much need to wait until 9pm before i show up to tap the outlet.
somehow the sound got turned off on my phone, and i overslept! to 4:30. i went in anyway. they would have sent me home as it was a light day, but josh wasn't feeling well and i replaced him on the belt. turned that he had neglected to load half the trucks correctly, so i had to review all the packages he handled before i started loading any others. i still ended up putting in 2.5 hours to 7am and i got an easy day as my knee is still kinda sore...
turns out memorial day is a holiday for fedex, so i don't go back in unil 1:15 tuesday morning. i'll probably work both days this week to make up for the half day today and missing monday tomorrow. asked for my paycheck from friday and got it today. should be getting direct deposit next week. wow. i clocked 17.5 hours out of my 23 at $19.25. just a tad short of $500 take hom this week. i should be able to clear the BOFA credit card before the end of the summer, especially if i go to a 6 day work week. yay. and if chess comes back i can really put a dent into the discover balance.
the place selling gas at $2.39 wasn't open yet, so i had to settle for $2.43 across the street with 10% ethanol. now recharging and should be good to go . checked my bathroom stash and i do have aspirin, circa 2002! i took one anyway. will try an advil for the knee as well.
the black guy i met before was sleeping on one of the benches, a guy in a wheelchair was smoking near the bench downwind of the portapotty, so i went to the 3rd bench, only to discover that the outlets apparently don't work. approached the guy in the wheelchair and told him the other outlet wasn't working. he kept smoking for a while but moved off into the sun after a bit. i think he was talking on the phone.
i've blogged on this before; holidays don't mean much to the homeless. if anything, life is more inconvenient - most of the places at which they'd normally congregate are closed - but they are anyway because of the quarantine. for me, i think it's a day off without pay until i get enough hours under my belt. but my knee needs to heal, so it's probably a good thing.
this paycheck will take me over $2000. it'll be the first time i've had this kind of balance since mid 2016. assuming i can find a place here rent/utilities will run about $800, i can budget about $200 a month for gas/insurance, another $150 for groceries and another $50 or so doing some sort of weekly lunch event. $350 for my cards, that's $1500. if i can take home $450 a week that gives me about $300 a month i can apply towards my cards. and once chess starts back up that's an extra $200 a week, plus whatever i get at huntington. i could resume my downey lessons as well....
went and surfed REI but forgot to go into battery saving mode. decided to top off the battery before heading out. it's not like i'm in a big hurry to go somewhere. a gentleman i've seen here offered me his bench in the shade. i told him a little civility went a long way nowadays. he was kind enough to point out that one may need to hit the circuit breaker to reset the socket and i commented on how the circuit breaker button had been broken on the third outlet. we started talking about how some folks ruin it for everyone else. i said i was willing to give out a couple of extra power cords and he replied that addicts would just start hitting you up for free stuff kinda like a faucet. the point is that there are all sorts out here. you've got people with addiction issues, folks happy to game the system, etc. but there are some decent people out here.
i chose not to mention that the bench currently in shade is also downwind of the porta-potty. i was prepared; i'd brought an umbrella for shade and typing one handed is slow, but adequate for the mount of time it'll take to recharge. in battery saving mode, this battery will last over four hours. intersperse that with nap time and that takes me through dinner and a potential patio recharge. now to decide what to do for lunch. and where to cash my check. i'm sure there's a BOFA within two blocks of here.
it occurs to me that i *could* cook using aluminum foil and the heat from my engine. chicken/vegetables. there's probably plenty of internet articles to use as a guideline.
i'll mention in passing one ad that provided little detail and was kinda rude in his first response. i told him i'd rather sleep in my car rather than have a dick for a landlord. he responded illustrating what kind of dick he was. if i cared enough i'd have pointed it out, but he struck me as being the vindictive type in his response.
splurged/gorged on sushi which led to food coma until 4:30. eaton blanche park is a nice place to crash in the afternoon. there's always a nice cross breeze.
i'm really not hungry but want to get something to eat. a burger of some sort. i could munch on some granola but i'm also wanting another polar pop from circle k.
i finished 24 novels by david hagberg since mid april. i read his last one first but since it was a prequel i ended up reading them all in chronological order. i did this mainly to help the time pass in quarantine. ebooks are relatively easy to download for free on the internet.
gave in got more sushi at ranch 99. i'm clearly medicating.
i let a lot of people see me when i went back on parked on my apartment street after 7pm. i pretty much need to wait until 9pm before i show up to tap the outlet.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
05-23
call time 3, got off a little before 8am. i've decided to start getting gas when i'm near a quarter tank since the commute by itself is 30 miles now. i pulled in at unik, saw that the parice had gone to $2.43 while the place across the street was at $2.39 - but i had only $3. that 1.25 gallons is about another 30 miles, so i have time to go to the bank today and draw a little gas money.
it occurs to me that i didn't get paid yet this weekend. have i already got direct deposit? i didn't get a email notification.
i slipped and fell onto a metal walkway at work. that hurt, but my knee seems more tender now. and i don't heal as quickly as i used to.
the inside of my left elbow hurts from time to time at work. but my heart rate seems to be about 70 now, so i assume i'm ok. probably wouldn't hurt to buy some baby aspirin and take one a day as a blood thinner. i think i might have aspirin in my supplies. i need to check.
got finished charging by 10:30, checked email at 11. by the time i'd gotten a reply back on the address at noon, i'd gone to take a nap and slept until 2:30. no harm, i met the potential landlord. they like me, but they've interviewed other people, they want to paint the room, so they'll let me know on tuesday who they've decided on. i've applied for a few other spots. we'll see.
stopped at circle k for another polar pop, coke this time, sushi from ranch 99, impulse stop at walgreen's to pick up my first new deodorant in years (i bought so many on sale at less than $2 and i've also been using every last bit before i throw them out, using toothpicks, etc. to scrape out the stuff stuck in the cracks. should have remember to check for aspirin and picked some up if i don't have any.)eating at eaton blanche park. contemplating go back to the metro for another recharge. it's only 5:30 and i've got 2.5 hours before it gets dark. aim for fedex around 9pm for my 2am call time. yeah, why not? hopefully this won't turn out to be my last post ever.
here by 5:35. surprised that there aren't more people here; just me and a lady at another bench. i discover that this bench is downwind of the portapotty while the remaining bench faces west directly into the setting sun. for once, i'm grateful for the mask, and particularly that i've washed the mask for the first time this morning.
i'm back down to about 40% not bad for 2.5-3 hours on the new battery, and estimated 1.25 hours to full recharge. ugh! the wind shifted due east for a moment.
it actually hasn't been all that hot today, so i've put on a hoodie in anticipation of being in full shade which i am now. no breeze, please...
more on the prospective landlord with whom i'd be sharing a bathroom, a stout black woman named dana lynne. i suspect she's (ugh! breeze picked up again) a believer. she worked in the pasadena public library system for eight years, so she might know more homeless people than i do! got a really nice pit bull mic named daisy. having been a meter reader for four summers, i knew better than to just open a gate and enter a yard. i rattled the cage, got no response, and then daisy came around the corner doing a 3/4 sideways canter and i knew i was in no danger.
if this is meant to be, i suspect this will stretch me.
a homeless guy walked up to the portapotty, opened the door, took a look/whiff, shut the door and asked me if i had a cigarette on me. i have to laugh; when a toilet is so bad a homeless person won't use it... this reminds me of derek and i reminiscing this past week about something 23-24 years ago when he rented a room from me in alhambra. he parked on the street beneath where the birds liked to sit on the power line, and the birds deposited a layer of droppings that covered the entire car: hood, roof, trunk, front and back windshield. you could not see the car. not realizing the car was his, i began speculating on the potential response of a worker at a hand car wash assigned to clean the car: "I QUIT!!!!!". the thing is, it wasn't until this week i finally understood that it was derek's car when he told me he tipped the guy at the hand car wash. et's face it: scatalogical is funny. and it's important to find reasons to laugh. i know i feel a lot better right now, even as everyone else must think i'm on something, laughing my head off muttering: "i quit!"
i'm actually started to get accustomed to being downwind of the portapotty. or maybe my own aroma is competing with it. washing up in the morning is nice that i feel fresher in the morning, but then i go through an entire day and show up for work that way. should i get in 15 minutes sooner and also wash up before work?
if i could find a free wifi spot in between the metro and fedex, it would be ideal; i could recount my day, then cut and paste it into my blog when i have wifi.
i just offered use of my power strip to someone looking for an outlet. it occurs to me that as i meet people here i can selectively advise people that i bring a hot meal to central park in pasadena on tuesday nights. and they can take the metro to the del mar exit. i have 2-3 extra power cords i just stored at karl's. should i consider bringing them here and giving them out?
disposable/rechargeable batteries for recharging a phone - there's be a market for that if the technology was feasible. but i expect that the price of the metals needed would make the expense prohibitive. i saw an aftermarket bicycle attachment that would not only charge a USB operated device, but it would also store a charge if nothing was plugged in. i thought it would be the answer for dave but he was already too discouraged to try after he found out i'd be moving out and depriving him of a fallback for charging his phone.
if only you could recharge a laptop from your car....
my knee hurts. i hope it (ugh! wind picked up again) doesn't affect my ability to get the job done tonight.
just finished novel #22 of #23 of the kirk mcgarvey series by (now deceased) david hagberg. i haven't reread any of clancy's stuff since he passed, but then he's got people continuing the story line of jack ryan jr. i've started reading the spy thriller works of these authors. and today i downloaded a new novel by david baldacci, #6 in the amo decker series. that gives a couple more books to read, but i either need to find another series to start reading, or start writing instead of reading. the writing makes more sense. the reading is just a means of making the time go by. the series is finite, and truth be told, not entirely believable to me. he's more a peer of clancy, but clancy's jack ryan is still the quintessential hero to me. but courtland gentry, pike logan, and others still interest me enough that i'll follow their stories. baldacci has a few characters i follow as well: puller, robie, decker, etc. (guh! wind picked up again).
i think i'm going to make it a rule that while i charge, i need to be writing, not reading.
now i'm eavesdropping on a conversation between two people taking about where to find food in the area. after the guy tells the lady she could probably find housing in pasadena as a single woman, i've chimed in to concur and to mention tuesday night in central park.
it seems like a natural extension of what i should be doing given my circumstances. Turns out the lady is hungry so i'm going to give her some nutragrain bars in the car; I'm up to 86% charge. once i get to 90% i'll call it and go back to my car.
i gave her 10 nutragrain bars and a couple of oranges. she was grateful, which was nice. she left, kept on talking to the guy who bragged he could eat for all week for free. he probably won't be coming to dinner, but that's ok. he told me that REI wifi is free, and apparently it is!
and that's where i'm posting from. i now have free access to electricity, wifi, and can go recharge if i need to with an extra battery of 2-3 hours to boot. i just have to not be a pest about parking in the REI lot.
it occurs to me that i didn't get paid yet this weekend. have i already got direct deposit? i didn't get a email notification.
i slipped and fell onto a metal walkway at work. that hurt, but my knee seems more tender now. and i don't heal as quickly as i used to.
the inside of my left elbow hurts from time to time at work. but my heart rate seems to be about 70 now, so i assume i'm ok. probably wouldn't hurt to buy some baby aspirin and take one a day as a blood thinner. i think i might have aspirin in my supplies. i need to check.
got finished charging by 10:30, checked email at 11. by the time i'd gotten a reply back on the address at noon, i'd gone to take a nap and slept until 2:30. no harm, i met the potential landlord. they like me, but they've interviewed other people, they want to paint the room, so they'll let me know on tuesday who they've decided on. i've applied for a few other spots. we'll see.
stopped at circle k for another polar pop, coke this time, sushi from ranch 99, impulse stop at walgreen's to pick up my first new deodorant in years (i bought so many on sale at less than $2 and i've also been using every last bit before i throw them out, using toothpicks, etc. to scrape out the stuff stuck in the cracks. should have remember to check for aspirin and picked some up if i don't have any.)eating at eaton blanche park. contemplating go back to the metro for another recharge. it's only 5:30 and i've got 2.5 hours before it gets dark. aim for fedex around 9pm for my 2am call time. yeah, why not? hopefully this won't turn out to be my last post ever.
here by 5:35. surprised that there aren't more people here; just me and a lady at another bench. i discover that this bench is downwind of the portapotty while the remaining bench faces west directly into the setting sun. for once, i'm grateful for the mask, and particularly that i've washed the mask for the first time this morning.
i'm back down to about 40% not bad for 2.5-3 hours on the new battery, and estimated 1.25 hours to full recharge. ugh! the wind shifted due east for a moment.
it actually hasn't been all that hot today, so i've put on a hoodie in anticipation of being in full shade which i am now. no breeze, please...
more on the prospective landlord with whom i'd be sharing a bathroom, a stout black woman named dana lynne. i suspect she's (ugh! breeze picked up again) a believer. she worked in the pasadena public library system for eight years, so she might know more homeless people than i do! got a really nice pit bull mic named daisy. having been a meter reader for four summers, i knew better than to just open a gate and enter a yard. i rattled the cage, got no response, and then daisy came around the corner doing a 3/4 sideways canter and i knew i was in no danger.
if this is meant to be, i suspect this will stretch me.
a homeless guy walked up to the portapotty, opened the door, took a look/whiff, shut the door and asked me if i had a cigarette on me. i have to laugh; when a toilet is so bad a homeless person won't use it... this reminds me of derek and i reminiscing this past week about something 23-24 years ago when he rented a room from me in alhambra. he parked on the street beneath where the birds liked to sit on the power line, and the birds deposited a layer of droppings that covered the entire car: hood, roof, trunk, front and back windshield. you could not see the car. not realizing the car was his, i began speculating on the potential response of a worker at a hand car wash assigned to clean the car: "I QUIT!!!!!". the thing is, it wasn't until this week i finally understood that it was derek's car when he told me he tipped the guy at the hand car wash. et's face it: scatalogical is funny. and it's important to find reasons to laugh. i know i feel a lot better right now, even as everyone else must think i'm on something, laughing my head off muttering: "i quit!"
i'm actually started to get accustomed to being downwind of the portapotty. or maybe my own aroma is competing with it. washing up in the morning is nice that i feel fresher in the morning, but then i go through an entire day and show up for work that way. should i get in 15 minutes sooner and also wash up before work?
if i could find a free wifi spot in between the metro and fedex, it would be ideal; i could recount my day, then cut and paste it into my blog when i have wifi.
i just offered use of my power strip to someone looking for an outlet. it occurs to me that as i meet people here i can selectively advise people that i bring a hot meal to central park in pasadena on tuesday nights. and they can take the metro to the del mar exit. i have 2-3 extra power cords i just stored at karl's. should i consider bringing them here and giving them out?
disposable/rechargeable batteries for recharging a phone - there's be a market for that if the technology was feasible. but i expect that the price of the metals needed would make the expense prohibitive. i saw an aftermarket bicycle attachment that would not only charge a USB operated device, but it would also store a charge if nothing was plugged in. i thought it would be the answer for dave but he was already too discouraged to try after he found out i'd be moving out and depriving him of a fallback for charging his phone.
if only you could recharge a laptop from your car....
my knee hurts. i hope it (ugh! wind picked up again) doesn't affect my ability to get the job done tonight.
just finished novel #22 of #23 of the kirk mcgarvey series by (now deceased) david hagberg. i haven't reread any of clancy's stuff since he passed, but then he's got people continuing the story line of jack ryan jr. i've started reading the spy thriller works of these authors. and today i downloaded a new novel by david baldacci, #6 in the amo decker series. that gives a couple more books to read, but i either need to find another series to start reading, or start writing instead of reading. the writing makes more sense. the reading is just a means of making the time go by. the series is finite, and truth be told, not entirely believable to me. he's more a peer of clancy, but clancy's jack ryan is still the quintessential hero to me. but courtland gentry, pike logan, and others still interest me enough that i'll follow their stories. baldacci has a few characters i follow as well: puller, robie, decker, etc. (guh! wind picked up again).
i think i'm going to make it a rule that while i charge, i need to be writing, not reading.
now i'm eavesdropping on a conversation between two people taking about where to find food in the area. after the guy tells the lady she could probably find housing in pasadena as a single woman, i've chimed in to concur and to mention tuesday night in central park.
it seems like a natural extension of what i should be doing given my circumstances. Turns out the lady is hungry so i'm going to give her some nutragrain bars in the car; I'm up to 86% charge. once i get to 90% i'll call it and go back to my car.
i gave her 10 nutragrain bars and a couple of oranges. she was grateful, which was nice. she left, kept on talking to the guy who bragged he could eat for all week for free. he probably won't be coming to dinner, but that's ok. he told me that REI wifi is free, and apparently it is!
and that's where i'm posting from. i now have free access to electricity, wifi, and can go recharge if i need to with an extra battery of 2-3 hours to boot. i just have to not be a pest about parking in the REI lot.
Friday, May 22, 2020
05-22
call time 3:15, done 8:45. they closed the men's resttroom right as we were being released. great timing. i used one of the restroom in the orientation area by the security gate. had someone knock while i was washing up, bu thtere are two bathroom so i didn't feel too guilty. drove to metro to charge batteries. my new battery was down to 6% and will take about an hour and 45 minutes to recharge. afer sitting in the sun for about 5 minutes, i unplugged the power cord, tucked everything back into my bag, went back to my car and got my beach umbrella. i've got the handle jammed into the bag which is holding it up. it's almost like wearing a hat, but it's doing the job.
called vaughan and asked him to check instagram forr carnita el momo. they're open. sophia's going to go as well - meeting at 12:30.
there's some old lady who's already had one guy tell her to go away. she's throwing the n word and f bombs. she approached me and i told her that i wouldn't talk to her if she used profanity. she persisted and suggested we copulate. i finally yelled at her to go away.
someone else approached me asking if they could use the other outlet. i offered to let them plug into my power strip and told him i'd be here until about noon. he did and then lay down nearby to take a nap. the old lady has finished ranting and has moved off.
i suspect they've not seen anyone with an umbrella for shade before. but then everyone else is on foot while i have a car and a job.
took a step back towards normalcy meeting with sophia and getting tacos at carnitas el momo, followed by a 3 scoop cone at fosselman's. napped from 2-5, then headed over to get wifi at CA uploading today and yesterday.
applied for a couple more rooms for rent. one sounds promsing. not available until june, but they're open to my feeding the homeless, rent $800 includes utilities. yay. is lynne male or female?
called vaughan and asked him to check instagram forr carnita el momo. they're open. sophia's going to go as well - meeting at 12:30.
there's some old lady who's already had one guy tell her to go away. she's throwing the n word and f bombs. she approached me and i told her that i wouldn't talk to her if she used profanity. she persisted and suggested we copulate. i finally yelled at her to go away.
someone else approached me asking if they could use the other outlet. i offered to let them plug into my power strip and told him i'd be here until about noon. he did and then lay down nearby to take a nap. the old lady has finished ranting and has moved off.
i suspect they've not seen anyone with an umbrella for shade before. but then everyone else is on foot while i have a car and a job.
took a step back towards normalcy meeting with sophia and getting tacos at carnitas el momo, followed by a 3 scoop cone at fosselman's. napped from 2-5, then headed over to get wifi at CA uploading today and yesterday.
applied for a couple more rooms for rent. one sounds promsing. not available until june, but they're open to my feeding the homeless, rent $800 includes utilities. yay. is lynne male or female?
05-21
woke up around 5am with a need for the bathroom, only to discover that they finally inspected the apartment and locked the patio door. fortunately, i had my contingency plan ready to go small pot about 8" in diameter, plastic bag and TP.
i guess i'll start washing up in the guardhouse bathroom after work. but not having access to a toilet for #2 after 8pm concerns me a bit. i had plenty of privacy in the patio area with a chair, but if i'm parked somewhere....
i better find a place to stay.
apparently i fell asleep reading last night, and my laptop battery depleted itself. looking for a decent charge, then pick up my new laptop batrey which got delivered from les. that will hopefully resolve one concern - i can recharge both batteries simultaneoulsy using my backup laptop.
this is the first time i've had to go so early all month. i'll need to monitor my food intake more closely. big lunches - good. big dinners - not so much.
did wifi at CA and then picked up my new battery from les. i had pages on chrome i didn't want to lose, so i went back to the patio, plugged in and swapped batteries. turned out my new battery wasn't fully charged so i waited and recharged it up to 95%. it's been an hour and a half or so, and i allegedly have almost 5.5 hours left. nice. and i have 2.5-3 hours on the backup battery. i can recharge them simultaneously using the backup laptop.
applied for another room listing. $800 including utilities, a private patio, pool & jacuzzi. they responded. it's in altadena, but the room is about 8'x10' with no central air. it would be brutal come summer even with the pool and jacuzzi. the other room is regular sized, but they want $800 + $100 utilities. maybe i'll feel differently in a week, but there's no way i could fit all my stuff in that room. there's a patio area that would be mine, but with no roof, i can't store anything out there. if it'd been a regular sized room at that price, i might have considered it more seriously.
i guess i'll start washing up in the guardhouse bathroom after work. but not having access to a toilet for #2 after 8pm concerns me a bit. i had plenty of privacy in the patio area with a chair, but if i'm parked somewhere....
i better find a place to stay.
apparently i fell asleep reading last night, and my laptop battery depleted itself. looking for a decent charge, then pick up my new laptop batrey which got delivered from les. that will hopefully resolve one concern - i can recharge both batteries simultaneoulsy using my backup laptop.
this is the first time i've had to go so early all month. i'll need to monitor my food intake more closely. big lunches - good. big dinners - not so much.
did wifi at CA and then picked up my new battery from les. i had pages on chrome i didn't want to lose, so i went back to the patio, plugged in and swapped batteries. turned out my new battery wasn't fully charged so i waited and recharged it up to 95%. it's been an hour and a half or so, and i allegedly have almost 5.5 hours left. nice. and i have 2.5-3 hours on the backup battery. i can recharge them simultaneously using the backup laptop.
applied for another room listing. $800 including utilities, a private patio, pool & jacuzzi. they responded. it's in altadena, but the room is about 8'x10' with no central air. it would be brutal come summer even with the pool and jacuzzi. the other room is regular sized, but they want $800 + $100 utilities. maybe i'll feel differently in a week, but there's no way i could fit all my stuff in that room. there's a patio area that would be mine, but with no roof, i can't store anything out there. if it'd been a regular sized room at that price, i might have considered it more seriously.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
05-20
i'd set my alarm for a 2:15 call time forgetting i was off today. people in altadena are up and about walking around by 6am, and i wanted to sleep a bit longer so i drove back to the apartment carport and slept there - to 7am.
i decided to deposit a residual check les had passed on to me last night ($23 for an hour of foreign syndication: danke, germany!) so i hit the BOFA in eagle rock and tapped the wifi at CA (also in eagle rock)
i left there after an hour or so and parked near the place i needed to go to re-smog my car (from october of last year - yeah, i know) and napped some more until 10am. got the car smogged, put the paperwork in the glove compartment in case i get pulled over again before the tag makes it's way to me. i wish the smogging had taken longer - i was recharging at their garage.
stopped at vons to use the restroom and picked up some more sushi for lunch. went to eaton blanche park (on del mar east of san gabriel blvd.) & sewed up the hole in one pair of jeans, ate lunch and the remainder of a bag of potato chips i had in the car. i need to start using up some of the stuff i have in the car. i can consolidate a few containers and keep the front passenger seat relatively uncluttered.
i'm more or less resigned to being in the car for the rest of the month. i might add a sixth day of work to the schedule, but i want to keep wednesday open after cooking, and getting caught up rest-wise. physically mainly, but this morning i spent some time on chess.com working on chess puzzles and also played a game of online euchre.
this takes me up to noon. if i change pants in the park bathroom, i can stitch up the holes in these jeans too. it's going to be a high of 75 today. i really don't need to spend a lot of time looking for shade as long as i keep the car windows open wherever i park. thanks to the brief recharge, i'm still at 42% charge.
1:45pm and i'm still at the park, having sewn up the holes in both pair of jeans (two of the three pairs of pants i have with me) AND having reorganized the car and cleaned out all the trash i could find. i vacillated on the recyclables; even though i won't see derek for a week, i decided to collect them in a bag.
i emptied one milk carton of the comforter it was holding, stashed the comforter way in back of the trunk, and consolidated all my fruit/snacks into that milk carton. it's my goal to deplete most of the snacks, especially the fruit, by the end of the week.
i think i've been more productive today than the rest of the year put together. and i've been able to do it but using the laptop for 20-30 minutes, then doing a task, and coming back. i think this is what i need to do to wean myself off the computer. truth be told, i'm probably as attached to it as others are to their smartphones.
a number of the neighborhood residents are starting to come to the park in the afternoon. one older couple are playing cards at the next picnic table. the husband isn't even wearing a mask, though the wife is still wearing hers. two older gents were playing tennis at the park, though truth be told, they spent more time talking than playing. the ones who showed while i was cleaning out the car didn't give me a second look as i unloaded the car and reorganized my belongings. i have a few things in the passenger seat, but i hope that between polishing off my cache of snacks, dropping stuff off at derek's or karl's i will eventually free up my passenger seat. that's one of the things i look at when identifying when someone is living in their car.
there are certain things that you know from having done them yourselves; wanting to have the stuff you use most accessible and within arm's reach on the passenger seat. stuff crammed into the back seat. i've got my stuff organized into milk crates covered by towels.
i'm on novel 20 of a 23 novel series. the author died last year, so there will be no more. i think i started the series in april, and i've been binge reading them on my laptop in ebook format to kill the time - which is why recharging the laptop has been such a high priority. i get maybe 2.5 hours on a full charge, a midday charge gets me to 5pm, and a late night charge gets me through the day, with nap times thrown in. i feel a nap coming on, and the shade has finally reached my spot at the east end of the parking lot.
finished napping at the park, decided to head west towards the apartment. stopped at ralph's picked up some cold fried chicken and a loaf of bread, thinking i'd go with fried chicken sandwiches. now eating at the pool.
charging the main laptop and using the backup planning on using a USB drive to transfer the txt file; there's method to the madness.
for reasons i can't explain, i got mad at a couple of yuppie housewives which stood there and talked blocking an aisle for a number of minutes. my walking past mumbling "yak yak yak" didn't phase them. they both probably drive expensive SUV's to boot. i console myself by knowing that i'd never marry someone so oblivious - and that someone so oblivious wouldn't be attracted to me anyway.
to be fair, i get the oblivion/provincialism; i just didn't care to be inconvienced by it.
the fried chicken is ok; maybe crunchier than i have a right to expect it to be. the reality is that i'm eating out of habit/boredom than out of hunger. in some ways the day is a letdown after having spent time with derek as well as with the homeless.
someone i will refer to as wayne showed up again still wearing what appear to be 46x32 jeans where 30x24 will probably fit, the pants rolled up about 4" above his shoes. he cuts a ridiculous figure but he's a kind hearted soul. i made chicken & shiitake mushrooms with miso & oyster sauce and as a special treat i added $5 of chinese sausage, forgetting that wayne will not eat pork. he politely refused and contented himself with a couple of hawaiian rolls while everyone teased him (and had seconds/thirds on the rice). i offered him some nutragrain bars, but he declined on those as well. afterwards, he took care to thank me for coming. so while i feel good that no one talked for the first three minutes of dinner because they were enjoying the food, it's offset by the fact wayne chose not to enjoy it. i wonder if i should ever let wayne know i've used pork fat to flavor the beans he's eaten.
it's people like that that make it seem not like a burden at all. but then they know what happened to me seven years ago and that i choose to continue to do this.
on the flip side, it's made me a pariah when it comes to finding housing. *sigh* no regrets.
i haven't talked about work much - at all, actually. it's a bit different from what i originally expected from three years ago. between the emergence of e-commerce and people ordering things online due to the quarantine, they really do need people. no surprise, i am the oldest person there. there's a young kid who started a week before me and when we work next to each other we just kinda mutually agreed we'd look out for each other's packages if we missed one or got overwhelmed. there's an inefficiency in the process as i see it. i think i'm going to document them as i see it and put them in a paper i'll send up the line. more experienced workers are used to be responsible for their own stuff and less into working as a team. so be it.
i just spent an hour putting together an analysis page on the process as i see it, identifying issues and putting out recommendations. I'll probably ask Matt a few questions to clarify the process before I submit it.
Haven't smoked a cigar in a while, so I lit one up in the parking lot and waved to the patrol car when it was early for its 9pm run.
I got a lot done today. But I think I'm going to go to a six day work week starting next week. That's be an extra $300 a month. Pay off the BOFA card first.
i decided to deposit a residual check les had passed on to me last night ($23 for an hour of foreign syndication: danke, germany!) so i hit the BOFA in eagle rock and tapped the wifi at CA (also in eagle rock)
i left there after an hour or so and parked near the place i needed to go to re-smog my car (from october of last year - yeah, i know) and napped some more until 10am. got the car smogged, put the paperwork in the glove compartment in case i get pulled over again before the tag makes it's way to me. i wish the smogging had taken longer - i was recharging at their garage.
stopped at vons to use the restroom and picked up some more sushi for lunch. went to eaton blanche park (on del mar east of san gabriel blvd.) & sewed up the hole in one pair of jeans, ate lunch and the remainder of a bag of potato chips i had in the car. i need to start using up some of the stuff i have in the car. i can consolidate a few containers and keep the front passenger seat relatively uncluttered.
i'm more or less resigned to being in the car for the rest of the month. i might add a sixth day of work to the schedule, but i want to keep wednesday open after cooking, and getting caught up rest-wise. physically mainly, but this morning i spent some time on chess.com working on chess puzzles and also played a game of online euchre.
this takes me up to noon. if i change pants in the park bathroom, i can stitch up the holes in these jeans too. it's going to be a high of 75 today. i really don't need to spend a lot of time looking for shade as long as i keep the car windows open wherever i park. thanks to the brief recharge, i'm still at 42% charge.
1:45pm and i'm still at the park, having sewn up the holes in both pair of jeans (two of the three pairs of pants i have with me) AND having reorganized the car and cleaned out all the trash i could find. i vacillated on the recyclables; even though i won't see derek for a week, i decided to collect them in a bag.
i emptied one milk carton of the comforter it was holding, stashed the comforter way in back of the trunk, and consolidated all my fruit/snacks into that milk carton. it's my goal to deplete most of the snacks, especially the fruit, by the end of the week.
i think i've been more productive today than the rest of the year put together. and i've been able to do it but using the laptop for 20-30 minutes, then doing a task, and coming back. i think this is what i need to do to wean myself off the computer. truth be told, i'm probably as attached to it as others are to their smartphones.
a number of the neighborhood residents are starting to come to the park in the afternoon. one older couple are playing cards at the next picnic table. the husband isn't even wearing a mask, though the wife is still wearing hers. two older gents were playing tennis at the park, though truth be told, they spent more time talking than playing. the ones who showed while i was cleaning out the car didn't give me a second look as i unloaded the car and reorganized my belongings. i have a few things in the passenger seat, but i hope that between polishing off my cache of snacks, dropping stuff off at derek's or karl's i will eventually free up my passenger seat. that's one of the things i look at when identifying when someone is living in their car.
there are certain things that you know from having done them yourselves; wanting to have the stuff you use most accessible and within arm's reach on the passenger seat. stuff crammed into the back seat. i've got my stuff organized into milk crates covered by towels.
i'm on novel 20 of a 23 novel series. the author died last year, so there will be no more. i think i started the series in april, and i've been binge reading them on my laptop in ebook format to kill the time - which is why recharging the laptop has been such a high priority. i get maybe 2.5 hours on a full charge, a midday charge gets me to 5pm, and a late night charge gets me through the day, with nap times thrown in. i feel a nap coming on, and the shade has finally reached my spot at the east end of the parking lot.
finished napping at the park, decided to head west towards the apartment. stopped at ralph's picked up some cold fried chicken and a loaf of bread, thinking i'd go with fried chicken sandwiches. now eating at the pool.
charging the main laptop and using the backup planning on using a USB drive to transfer the txt file; there's method to the madness.
for reasons i can't explain, i got mad at a couple of yuppie housewives which stood there and talked blocking an aisle for a number of minutes. my walking past mumbling "yak yak yak" didn't phase them. they both probably drive expensive SUV's to boot. i console myself by knowing that i'd never marry someone so oblivious - and that someone so oblivious wouldn't be attracted to me anyway.
to be fair, i get the oblivion/provincialism; i just didn't care to be inconvienced by it.
the fried chicken is ok; maybe crunchier than i have a right to expect it to be. the reality is that i'm eating out of habit/boredom than out of hunger. in some ways the day is a letdown after having spent time with derek as well as with the homeless.
someone i will refer to as wayne showed up again still wearing what appear to be 46x32 jeans where 30x24 will probably fit, the pants rolled up about 4" above his shoes. he cuts a ridiculous figure but he's a kind hearted soul. i made chicken & shiitake mushrooms with miso & oyster sauce and as a special treat i added $5 of chinese sausage, forgetting that wayne will not eat pork. he politely refused and contented himself with a couple of hawaiian rolls while everyone teased him (and had seconds/thirds on the rice). i offered him some nutragrain bars, but he declined on those as well. afterwards, he took care to thank me for coming. so while i feel good that no one talked for the first three minutes of dinner because they were enjoying the food, it's offset by the fact wayne chose not to enjoy it. i wonder if i should ever let wayne know i've used pork fat to flavor the beans he's eaten.
it's people like that that make it seem not like a burden at all. but then they know what happened to me seven years ago and that i choose to continue to do this.
on the flip side, it's made me a pariah when it comes to finding housing. *sigh* no regrets.
i haven't talked about work much - at all, actually. it's a bit different from what i originally expected from three years ago. between the emergence of e-commerce and people ordering things online due to the quarantine, they really do need people. no surprise, i am the oldest person there. there's a young kid who started a week before me and when we work next to each other we just kinda mutually agreed we'd look out for each other's packages if we missed one or got overwhelmed. there's an inefficiency in the process as i see it. i think i'm going to document them as i see it and put them in a paper i'll send up the line. more experienced workers are used to be responsible for their own stuff and less into working as a team. so be it.
i just spent an hour putting together an analysis page on the process as i see it, identifying issues and putting out recommendations. I'll probably ask Matt a few questions to clarify the process before I submit it.
Haven't smoked a cigar in a while, so I lit one up in the parking lot and waved to the patrol car when it was early for its 9pm run.
I got a lot done today. But I think I'm going to go to a six day work week starting next week. That's be an extra $300 a month. Pay off the BOFA card first.
05-19
got off around 8:30 or so. the right temple frame of my glasses came apart so i spent some time taping it back together before heading over to the santa anita metro.
it's a little chilly but an outlet is open and it's been quite pleasant until a female pushing a cart came by and went into a profanity laced tirade. i have no idea of how i could help her even if i wanted to try. she's moved on, but her voice is echoing through the 24 hour fitness parking structure across the street. looks like she's coming back.
and she did, but she'd run out of tirade. for some reason, couldn't get my mechanic's wifi, so i picked up some early lunch at vons, ate at the park and then napped until 2pm.
went grocery shopping for dinner tonight, and also picked up some fish tacos for me & derek.
he lent me his clippers and i shaved off enough hair to make a tribble from star trek. boy it feels nice to have that hair off my head.
as i was showering i thought about the lady at the metro station. it occurred to me that as long as she was angry, she'd keep shouting, but better that than for her to go silent because she'd given up from not being heard.
made chicken & rice with chinese sausage, oyster sauce/miso for dinner at the park. told them it was one of my favorite meals. no one talked about three minutes once dinner started. yeah.
came back to derek's, cleaned up the pots/cookers, folded my laundry, etc. and finished today's blog entry.
i'm taking two days off this week, but i may start doing six days a week starting next week.
tomorrow: get the car smogged (finally!) and patch up the holes in my jeans; can't wear torn clothes to work.
i'm clearly in thrall to my computer. maybe i should start spending the extra time in prayer?
it's a little chilly but an outlet is open and it's been quite pleasant until a female pushing a cart came by and went into a profanity laced tirade. i have no idea of how i could help her even if i wanted to try. she's moved on, but her voice is echoing through the 24 hour fitness parking structure across the street. looks like she's coming back.
and she did, but she'd run out of tirade. for some reason, couldn't get my mechanic's wifi, so i picked up some early lunch at vons, ate at the park and then napped until 2pm.
went grocery shopping for dinner tonight, and also picked up some fish tacos for me & derek.
he lent me his clippers and i shaved off enough hair to make a tribble from star trek. boy it feels nice to have that hair off my head.
as i was showering i thought about the lady at the metro station. it occurred to me that as long as she was angry, she'd keep shouting, but better that than for her to go silent because she'd given up from not being heard.
made chicken & rice with chinese sausage, oyster sauce/miso for dinner at the park. told them it was one of my favorite meals. no one talked about three minutes once dinner started. yeah.
came back to derek's, cleaned up the pots/cookers, folded my laundry, etc. and finished today's blog entry.
i'm taking two days off this week, but i may start doing six days a week starting next week.
tomorrow: get the car smogged (finally!) and patch up the holes in my jeans; can't wear torn clothes to work.
i'm clearly in thrall to my computer. maybe i should start spending the extra time in prayer?
05-18
mondays are traditionally the busiest days of the week, and today followed that rule. it didn't help that we were a couple of people down, so it was a brutal day, especially compared to yesterday. i was responsible for loading four trucks, but there were gaps as long as 15-20 minutes between packages, and i was done in four hours. i had only 3 trucks today, but i worked 7.0 hours and there was really no slack time at all.
it started raining just as i left work. i won't be driving a lot looking for shade. truth be told, i'd b perfectly happy to stay right where i am right noe - i'm at the the santa anita metro station, and i've jury-rigger a large umbrella to be held up by my briefcase & right arm as i sit on a plastic bag keeping my hiney dry while i'm charging my battery. my battery seems to be taking longer to charge with the overall life of the battery is being depleted.
actually, i'll probably end up back at the apartment in the patio while everyone stays in due to the rain. stop at the mechanic's to get wifi, grab some lunch, and chill. maybe today i'll see what fast food options still accept EBT.
it was disappointing to discover that two places that used to accept EBT: the burger king in eagle rock, and the popeye's on the eagle rock/glendale border, no longer do so.
as long as there's a place to stay dry, rain isn't such an issue. but with the libraries closed...
there are a couple of homeless guys who've placed a plastic bag over the outlet that they're using. i OTOH, have plugged a power strip into the outlet, plugged the charger into the power strip enclosed by the briefcase and running the charger out of the briefcase into the laptop.
the rain is turning into a light drizzle. the breeze is adding a wind chill factor that makes me regret not wearing a hooded sweaathirt. plus i only got less that 3 hours of sleep due to the 1:30 call time; i can feel myself getting drowsy.
i'm at 74% battery. that should be enough to get all the wifi time i need tdoday. the rain is picking up and it's getting colder. but the umbrella works!
i made it to 80% charge and bailed. good thing, as the rain became a steady drizzle. the A/C in the mercedes may be iffy, but the heat works just fine!.
got to my mechanic's and i actually dozed off while surfing the web, and slept a good six hours while my laptop battery depleted itself.
there was no evidence that it had rained at all - the streets were completely dry, the sun was out. granted, it's a bit chillier today than it's been for the last two weeks. i'll take the respite.
as a change of pace, i decided to try the carl's near where the folks looking for a roommate turned me down. they advertised accepting EBT, but apparently only the cash benefits, not food - my EBT got declined there. for a little bit, i was concerned that they'd cancelled my card entirely, but no worries, i stopped at ranch 99 market and picked up some sushi. i was so relieved that i went back in and picked up a lb. of chinese sausage to add to the chicken and rice i plan on making for dinner tomorrow night for the homeless; basically the same version i made for derek last week. i even bought short grain rice when i found it on sale at $10 for 5 kilos; anything less than $1/lb for short rice is a pretty good deal.
but back to the EBT thing. that's ANOTHER place that's advertised as accepting EBT, but doesn't. those getting EBT for a chance to get a hot meal (so to speak), are being deprived. if i can find someone willing to talk about how they spend their EBT, i'll try and describe how a typical month goes.
it started raining just as i left work. i won't be driving a lot looking for shade. truth be told, i'd b perfectly happy to stay right where i am right noe - i'm at the the santa anita metro station, and i've jury-rigger a large umbrella to be held up by my briefcase & right arm as i sit on a plastic bag keeping my hiney dry while i'm charging my battery. my battery seems to be taking longer to charge with the overall life of the battery is being depleted.
actually, i'll probably end up back at the apartment in the patio while everyone stays in due to the rain. stop at the mechanic's to get wifi, grab some lunch, and chill. maybe today i'll see what fast food options still accept EBT.
it was disappointing to discover that two places that used to accept EBT: the burger king in eagle rock, and the popeye's on the eagle rock/glendale border, no longer do so.
as long as there's a place to stay dry, rain isn't such an issue. but with the libraries closed...
there are a couple of homeless guys who've placed a plastic bag over the outlet that they're using. i OTOH, have plugged a power strip into the outlet, plugged the charger into the power strip enclosed by the briefcase and running the charger out of the briefcase into the laptop.
the rain is turning into a light drizzle. the breeze is adding a wind chill factor that makes me regret not wearing a hooded sweaathirt. plus i only got less that 3 hours of sleep due to the 1:30 call time; i can feel myself getting drowsy.
i'm at 74% battery. that should be enough to get all the wifi time i need tdoday. the rain is picking up and it's getting colder. but the umbrella works!
i made it to 80% charge and bailed. good thing, as the rain became a steady drizzle. the A/C in the mercedes may be iffy, but the heat works just fine!.
got to my mechanic's and i actually dozed off while surfing the web, and slept a good six hours while my laptop battery depleted itself.
there was no evidence that it had rained at all - the streets were completely dry, the sun was out. granted, it's a bit chillier today than it's been for the last two weeks. i'll take the respite.
as a change of pace, i decided to try the carl's near where the folks looking for a roommate turned me down. they advertised accepting EBT, but apparently only the cash benefits, not food - my EBT got declined there. for a little bit, i was concerned that they'd cancelled my card entirely, but no worries, i stopped at ranch 99 market and picked up some sushi. i was so relieved that i went back in and picked up a lb. of chinese sausage to add to the chicken and rice i plan on making for dinner tomorrow night for the homeless; basically the same version i made for derek last week. i even bought short grain rice when i found it on sale at $10 for 5 kilos; anything less than $1/lb for short rice is a pretty good deal.
but back to the EBT thing. that's ANOTHER place that's advertised as accepting EBT, but doesn't. those getting EBT for a chance to get a hot meal (so to speak), are being deprived. if i can find someone willing to talk about how they spend their EBT, i'll try and describe how a typical month goes.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
05-17
batching a series of posts today - typing my stuff and cutting and pasting when i have wifi.
--------------------
got off early; 6:30 which meant a total of 4 hours. i made some observations/suggestions to matt my supervisor. he asked me if i was interested in applying for a seasonal management position. hmm.
it's overcast with a fair amount of condensation on the car. it's been like this before where i assumed it'd be overcast all day but it hasnt been. i feel cheated somehow.
---------
running low on gas, so i thought i'd fill up on the way home, but i guessed wrong on the location of the station i wanted ($2.39/gal) so i headed back to my mechnanic's wifi. confirmed its location, and it turns out it's not that far from the open outlet at the santa anita metro station. so i stopped by to see if it as open, and it was. but i brought a power strip just in case.
the way the bench is pointed towards the east, i'm in full sun, but a small price to pay. i imagine that the bench is popular when the sun changes and the tree behind the bench casts shade on the bench. or i could just sit on the ground with my back to the tree in the shade. i think that's what i'm going to do, and leave the power strip visible on the bench. or lean against the tree and prop the laptop on the bench. i need to bring a portable chair. or a portable stand for the laptop.
but it's a relief to know that i have an alternative power source. and it's actually quite pleasant in the shade. might as well check to see if free wifi is available. might want to dig out my wifi antenna as that doubles/triples my effective range.
there's a 24 hour fitness across the street with wifi. if they reopen, no brainer to get a membership there, get power across the street & wifi to boot.
that song come saturday morning is still running through my head. the idea of just getting in the car and taking a day trip to santa barbara or solvang or san diego might as well be taking a trip to the moon.
i think everyone knows the world has been irrovcably changed. the only issue is the amount of denial about it. people on social media, especially FB, seem to be deepest in denial. but then they hav time to be sitting at home all day posting ad nauseum.
hey wait! there are actually THREE benches here, each with two outlets behind them. the bench in shade is occupied while the other two look like they see a lot more use after 1pm after the sun's moved. i think i can stake out one bench in particular just about any morning this time since i can bring an umbrella for shade.
if i went to a 6-7 day work week, i could start using a bathroom in admin building to towel myself off after work every monring, change shirts.
i realize at theis moment that i'm not wearing a mask. this could explain the looks i'm getting from a few folks, though to be fair the folks sitting on the bench in the shade are also not wearing masks. hmm. i could recharge after my morning wifi run, read in the afternoon, and recharge back over at the apartment later in the day, maybe even make a recharge run here after dark? probably not safe.
right now, i'm just happy to be getting a free recharge. yay.
more people started to show up after 12 when the shade was beginning to cover the benches. in other words, i should be good in the morning if i bring an umbrella for shade. if i can only find it buried beneath all the stuff in the car. but that means i can recharge first thing in the morning after work; which means i can recharge and head off and type somewhere before going to sleep. this works.
-----------------------
gas was only $2.29 a gallon; $25 almost filled the tank! that's a blessing because i'm putting a lot of miles on the car. ok, 40miles of it was driving to get the battery that didn't work, but i still put on something like 110 miles on in two days.
i'm looking for shade to park to stay cool, and there are people out there biking/running for exercise at 2pm. why?
fell asleep and napped until 4:45. went by ranch 99, picked up some food, ate it at the apartment pool, recharged at the patio and about to head out around 9pm, post this with some wifi access, and get ready for a 1am call time tomorrow.
--------------------
got off early; 6:30 which meant a total of 4 hours. i made some observations/suggestions to matt my supervisor. he asked me if i was interested in applying for a seasonal management position. hmm.
it's overcast with a fair amount of condensation on the car. it's been like this before where i assumed it'd be overcast all day but it hasnt been. i feel cheated somehow.
---------
running low on gas, so i thought i'd fill up on the way home, but i guessed wrong on the location of the station i wanted ($2.39/gal) so i headed back to my mechnanic's wifi. confirmed its location, and it turns out it's not that far from the open outlet at the santa anita metro station. so i stopped by to see if it as open, and it was. but i brought a power strip just in case.
the way the bench is pointed towards the east, i'm in full sun, but a small price to pay. i imagine that the bench is popular when the sun changes and the tree behind the bench casts shade on the bench. or i could just sit on the ground with my back to the tree in the shade. i think that's what i'm going to do, and leave the power strip visible on the bench. or lean against the tree and prop the laptop on the bench. i need to bring a portable chair. or a portable stand for the laptop.
but it's a relief to know that i have an alternative power source. and it's actually quite pleasant in the shade. might as well check to see if free wifi is available. might want to dig out my wifi antenna as that doubles/triples my effective range.
there's a 24 hour fitness across the street with wifi. if they reopen, no brainer to get a membership there, get power across the street & wifi to boot.
that song come saturday morning is still running through my head. the idea of just getting in the car and taking a day trip to santa barbara or solvang or san diego might as well be taking a trip to the moon.
i think everyone knows the world has been irrovcably changed. the only issue is the amount of denial about it. people on social media, especially FB, seem to be deepest in denial. but then they hav time to be sitting at home all day posting ad nauseum.
hey wait! there are actually THREE benches here, each with two outlets behind them. the bench in shade is occupied while the other two look like they see a lot more use after 1pm after the sun's moved. i think i can stake out one bench in particular just about any morning this time since i can bring an umbrella for shade.
if i went to a 6-7 day work week, i could start using a bathroom in admin building to towel myself off after work every monring, change shirts.
i realize at theis moment that i'm not wearing a mask. this could explain the looks i'm getting from a few folks, though to be fair the folks sitting on the bench in the shade are also not wearing masks. hmm. i could recharge after my morning wifi run, read in the afternoon, and recharge back over at the apartment later in the day, maybe even make a recharge run here after dark? probably not safe.
right now, i'm just happy to be getting a free recharge. yay.
more people started to show up after 12 when the shade was beginning to cover the benches. in other words, i should be good in the morning if i bring an umbrella for shade. if i can only find it buried beneath all the stuff in the car. but that means i can recharge first thing in the morning after work; which means i can recharge and head off and type somewhere before going to sleep. this works.
-----------------------
gas was only $2.29 a gallon; $25 almost filled the tank! that's a blessing because i'm putting a lot of miles on the car. ok, 40miles of it was driving to get the battery that didn't work, but i still put on something like 110 miles on in two days.
i'm looking for shade to park to stay cool, and there are people out there biking/running for exercise at 2pm. why?
fell asleep and napped until 4:45. went by ranch 99, picked up some food, ate it at the apartment pool, recharged at the patio and about to head out around 9pm, post this with some wifi access, and get ready for a 1am call time tomorrow.
05-16
got off work, napped a bit. for some reason the song "come saturday morning" kept running through my mind.
went to my mechanic's to tap his wifi. no new listings rentwise, followed up on one listing that seemed like a good match even though it wasn't available until may 25th. ordered another laptop battery.
headed over to west pasadena and decided i wasn't going to drive around that much today. tried my battery from the other laptop, it's got maybe a 1/2 hour charge at full. napped some more before heading to the apartment.
was out of there by 7pm, decided to stop by ranch 99 to see what they had on sale - a lot of the cold stuff goes 2 for 1 after 4pm. the sushi was gone, but there were a lot of combos from which i chose one spicy with tendon, pig ears, etc. and a non spicy with bean curd, tree fungus, etc. i ate when i got to fedex. i read for a bit but went to sleep around 9pm for a 2:30 call time.
i've noticed that i drive a lot slower on the freeway now. i'm happy to putt around at 60mph in the RH lane. when you've got no place to go, what's the hurry?
went to my mechanic's to tap his wifi. no new listings rentwise, followed up on one listing that seemed like a good match even though it wasn't available until may 25th. ordered another laptop battery.
headed over to west pasadena and decided i wasn't going to drive around that much today. tried my battery from the other laptop, it's got maybe a 1/2 hour charge at full. napped some more before heading to the apartment.
was out of there by 7pm, decided to stop by ranch 99 to see what they had on sale - a lot of the cold stuff goes 2 for 1 after 4pm. the sushi was gone, but there were a lot of combos from which i chose one spicy with tendon, pig ears, etc. and a non spicy with bean curd, tree fungus, etc. i ate when i got to fedex. i read for a bit but went to sleep around 9pm for a 2:30 call time.
i've noticed that i drive a lot slower on the freeway now. i'm happy to putt around at 60mph in the RH lane. when you've got no place to go, what's the hurry?
05-15
today was a little different; a favorite taco place of my carnitas el momo, reopened. i confirmed they'd been open today by checking their instagram feed.
invited a few folks to join me. vaughan showed up. i treated as part of thanks for helping me move.
vaughan couldn't get there until after 12:30, so i did a pseudo reconnaisance of various malls and food places. another place that accepted EBT before does not now: banh mi che cali, which is too bad; with their buy two get one free along with half off on their pho ga, you could actually get by on $180 worth of food stamps a month.
vaughan had a huge soft drink marked 99 cents and i asked him where he got it. he told me circle k, which apparently is the mobil equivalent to arco products. no more mcdonalds for the $1 large drink! circle k rules! and there's one on lake just north of the 210.
more and more people are out and about in defiance of the quarantine. i can only imagine the frustration of those watching the savings dwindle and/or their debts increase.
even though i got a pass from discover, it wasn't free since they merely added the interest to my total, i made a payment this month. will do the same with my BOFA credit card.
those 3 tacos really filled me up; i normally eat only two, but i decided to splurge. after two weeks in my car, i felt i needed it. besides, i still have over $320 left in food stamps. that will easily last me another month and a half. while i won't be eligible in june because of the $1375 limit, if i'm still homeless i should qualify.
it's about time to light a cigar, recharge and head off to work.
invited a few folks to join me. vaughan showed up. i treated as part of thanks for helping me move.
vaughan couldn't get there until after 12:30, so i did a pseudo reconnaisance of various malls and food places. another place that accepted EBT before does not now: banh mi che cali, which is too bad; with their buy two get one free along with half off on their pho ga, you could actually get by on $180 worth of food stamps a month.
vaughan had a huge soft drink marked 99 cents and i asked him where he got it. he told me circle k, which apparently is the mobil equivalent to arco products. no more mcdonalds for the $1 large drink! circle k rules! and there's one on lake just north of the 210.
more and more people are out and about in defiance of the quarantine. i can only imagine the frustration of those watching the savings dwindle and/or their debts increase.
even though i got a pass from discover, it wasn't free since they merely added the interest to my total, i made a payment this month. will do the same with my BOFA credit card.
those 3 tacos really filled me up; i normally eat only two, but i decided to splurge. after two weeks in my car, i felt i needed it. besides, i still have over $320 left in food stamps. that will easily last me another month and a half. while i won't be eligible in june because of the $1375 limit, if i'm still homeless i should qualify.
it's about time to light a cigar, recharge and head off to work.
05-14
i am recharging for the THIRD time today; i parked outside derek's again and discovered that a LOT of people take walks up and down that street by 7am.
i tried farnsworth park. it was interesting i saw a pretty unkempt guy just standing there on the sidewalk, then another relatively unkempt guy came by, and they struck up an informed conversation over the movement of the NASDAQ index. there's a lesson to had there, i'm sure.
i then went down to my mechanic's for wifi, and realized i had to recharge for a 1pm videoconference appointment using the WIFI at CA, kept surfing the web prompting a mid afternoon recharge, followed by one last internet surf looking up compatible batteries.
i think i found two vendors, one guaranteeing an arrival date on june 2nd. awaiting a replay from the other which happens to be in ontario and ships via fedex (yeah, it'll probably og through arcadia where i work) which hopefully means getting it by monday if i purchase it tomorrow. yay.
i have hopes in a response to ad with 2 people of faith in their 30's active in their churches looking for a replacement roommate. downside: not available until may 25th. in that case, i might offering someone with a room in pasadena a daily rate of about $30 just to use the room for electricty, internet & sleeping - no kitchen/bathroom. she wants $1000 a month for a separate back house with no plumbing. rumor has it she's the type of person who will wake you up at night to tell you you forgot to put the toilet seat down. i'd rather avoid her altogether. mattress, chair and some sort of desk for the laptop and i'm a happy man. a single bag of ice in my water jug, my bottles/pot for bathroom needs, and i can last 10 days eating PBJ sandiwches and takeout burning off the rest of my EBT which is still around $330.
anyway, now back recharging with an ETD of about 9pm down to fedex.
i realize i'm glued to my laptop more than i should be.
i tried farnsworth park. it was interesting i saw a pretty unkempt guy just standing there on the sidewalk, then another relatively unkempt guy came by, and they struck up an informed conversation over the movement of the NASDAQ index. there's a lesson to had there, i'm sure.
i then went down to my mechanic's for wifi, and realized i had to recharge for a 1pm videoconference appointment using the WIFI at CA, kept surfing the web prompting a mid afternoon recharge, followed by one last internet surf looking up compatible batteries.
i think i found two vendors, one guaranteeing an arrival date on june 2nd. awaiting a replay from the other which happens to be in ontario and ships via fedex (yeah, it'll probably og through arcadia where i work) which hopefully means getting it by monday if i purchase it tomorrow. yay.
i have hopes in a response to ad with 2 people of faith in their 30's active in their churches looking for a replacement roommate. downside: not available until may 25th. in that case, i might offering someone with a room in pasadena a daily rate of about $30 just to use the room for electricty, internet & sleeping - no kitchen/bathroom. she wants $1000 a month for a separate back house with no plumbing. rumor has it she's the type of person who will wake you up at night to tell you you forgot to put the toilet seat down. i'd rather avoid her altogether. mattress, chair and some sort of desk for the laptop and i'm a happy man. a single bag of ice in my water jug, my bottles/pot for bathroom needs, and i can last 10 days eating PBJ sandiwches and takeout burning off the rest of my EBT which is still around $330.
anyway, now back recharging with an ETD of about 9pm down to fedex.
i realize i'm glued to my laptop more than i should be.
05-13
woke up around 6am, decided to head down to hacienda heights and wait for the guy to wake up. he seemed to think i'd not show up until noon. idiot.
got down there around 7am, texted him, parked a couple of blocks away and fell asleep. was awoken by a sheriff who probably figured out i was sleeping in my car. he advised me to move on, so i went to the house and rung the doorbell. looks the house is rented out to a number of roommates, including the ebay vendor.
turns out the battery is NOT designed to be used with my particular laptop, and my laptop keeps dying with it after 40 minutes. but when i turn the PC back it, it either still shows 100% charge, or the laptop can't read the battery at all.
i've contacted the vendor seeking an exchange, and also told him i wasn't pleased i drove 40 miles round trip only to require an exchange. we'll see how he responds to that.
called the smog place. new machine is in, but will take 2-3 days to be calibrated. but i should be smogged by saturday. yay.
spent the afternoon stitching up the tears in shorts i hope to use for work. the good thing about not having a place to crash is that it forces you to find things to do. better when they're things that should be done, like cleaning the interior of the car. 3 years of dust, accumulated food on the passenger seat cleaned up. i also fixed the cup holder and figured out how to reset the clock. i think i know how to reset the odometer now too.
drove down to ranch 99 in alhambra where i used the restroom and splurged on $17 of sushi discounted down to $15 - they drop $1 off the price around 4pm.
went back to the old apartment and ate at the pool. there was someone in the pool and we had a conversation about the hazards of overcrowding in the pool given the quarantine. scheduling use of the pool would be inconvenient.
around 6:30 i lit up a cigar and watched the sunset on the bridge. i've decided to make that a ritual so i can then go to the patio after dark and recharge.
i can actually recharge the old and new battery simultaneously by putting one of the batteries in my backup laptop; i have adapters for both, and if there weren't two outlets, i'd use my extension cord which allows me to move into the far corner of the patio where there are walls on 3 sides. having put the bamboo curtain back up, i'm virtually invisible to everyone unless they actually enter the patio. there are security lights, but a pillar casts a shadow on the outlets so you can't see if anything is plugged in.
after i finish recharging the old battery, i'm going to put the new one in and see how long i can go on it tonight. i've already gone about an hour and a half without recharging it, and the t420 is supposed to be able to last up to 10 hours on a fully charged 9 cell. that would allow me to type pretty much all day. i need to start writing and working on my grant proposals.
if i have to, i can drive to either nearby target and park underground during the day for shade - or to sleep.
i'm grateful the weather was a lot cooler today. i changed back into long pants to mend my shorts, but i really didn't break a sweat today. i'll forego the washrag tonight.
the neighbor on the patio above me is carrying on a telephone conversation pretty loudly. he had no idea i'm down here.
still deciding on where to sleep tonight. don't want to sleep in the carport. i think i'll park on derek's street again; no one bothered me last night, and tomorrow night i'm back to work so i'll head back down to fedex.
got down there around 7am, texted him, parked a couple of blocks away and fell asleep. was awoken by a sheriff who probably figured out i was sleeping in my car. he advised me to move on, so i went to the house and rung the doorbell. looks the house is rented out to a number of roommates, including the ebay vendor.
turns out the battery is NOT designed to be used with my particular laptop, and my laptop keeps dying with it after 40 minutes. but when i turn the PC back it, it either still shows 100% charge, or the laptop can't read the battery at all.
i've contacted the vendor seeking an exchange, and also told him i wasn't pleased i drove 40 miles round trip only to require an exchange. we'll see how he responds to that.
called the smog place. new machine is in, but will take 2-3 days to be calibrated. but i should be smogged by saturday. yay.
spent the afternoon stitching up the tears in shorts i hope to use for work. the good thing about not having a place to crash is that it forces you to find things to do. better when they're things that should be done, like cleaning the interior of the car. 3 years of dust, accumulated food on the passenger seat cleaned up. i also fixed the cup holder and figured out how to reset the clock. i think i know how to reset the odometer now too.
drove down to ranch 99 in alhambra where i used the restroom and splurged on $17 of sushi discounted down to $15 - they drop $1 off the price around 4pm.
went back to the old apartment and ate at the pool. there was someone in the pool and we had a conversation about the hazards of overcrowding in the pool given the quarantine. scheduling use of the pool would be inconvenient.
around 6:30 i lit up a cigar and watched the sunset on the bridge. i've decided to make that a ritual so i can then go to the patio after dark and recharge.
i can actually recharge the old and new battery simultaneously by putting one of the batteries in my backup laptop; i have adapters for both, and if there weren't two outlets, i'd use my extension cord which allows me to move into the far corner of the patio where there are walls on 3 sides. having put the bamboo curtain back up, i'm virtually invisible to everyone unless they actually enter the patio. there are security lights, but a pillar casts a shadow on the outlets so you can't see if anything is plugged in.
after i finish recharging the old battery, i'm going to put the new one in and see how long i can go on it tonight. i've already gone about an hour and a half without recharging it, and the t420 is supposed to be able to last up to 10 hours on a fully charged 9 cell. that would allow me to type pretty much all day. i need to start writing and working on my grant proposals.
if i have to, i can drive to either nearby target and park underground during the day for shade - or to sleep.
i'm grateful the weather was a lot cooler today. i changed back into long pants to mend my shorts, but i really didn't break a sweat today. i'll forego the washrag tonight.
the neighbor on the patio above me is carrying on a telephone conversation pretty loudly. he had no idea i'm down here.
still deciding on where to sleep tonight. don't want to sleep in the carport. i think i'll park on derek's street again; no one bothered me last night, and tomorrow night i'm back to work so i'll head back down to fedex.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
05-12
finished my first full eek of work. i haven't worked that many hours in a week since 2001. as for the strenuousness, i just need to remember not to turn at the waist when carrying a heavy load, and not to bend over when lifting.
napped until 12:30, scouted the metro station in arcadia and found the open electric socket. there's also a porta-potty and a place to waste hands. that explained the homeless i saw around the station. it's usually not that obvious.
surfed the web until 3 got email responses back from yuri/kiyoko concerning my thoughts about guidelines for food and things like that. headed over to derek's to start dinner which consisted of chili & rice. served dinner, but it was surprisingly cold so a lot of folks didn't hang around long after eating.
got back to derek's and cleaned the pressure & rice cookers. ordered a 9 cell laptop battery after confirming i could pick it up and save some lag time in delivery. ended up talking with derek until 11pm. it was good to get caught up.
hoping the new battery will relieve a lot of the electricity concerns; a T420 on a new 9 cell is supposed to be able to last 10 hours. i'm getting maybe 2hours 20 miniutes tops with the current battery.
napped until 12:30, scouted the metro station in arcadia and found the open electric socket. there's also a porta-potty and a place to waste hands. that explained the homeless i saw around the station. it's usually not that obvious.
surfed the web until 3 got email responses back from yuri/kiyoko concerning my thoughts about guidelines for food and things like that. headed over to derek's to start dinner which consisted of chili & rice. served dinner, but it was surprisingly cold so a lot of folks didn't hang around long after eating.
got back to derek's and cleaned the pressure & rice cookers. ordered a 9 cell laptop battery after confirming i could pick it up and save some lag time in delivery. ended up talking with derek until 11pm. it was good to get caught up.
hoping the new battery will relieve a lot of the electricity concerns; a T420 on a new 9 cell is supposed to be able to last 10 hours. i'm getting maybe 2hours 20 miniutes tops with the current battery.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
05-11
so much for the 5.5 hour lmit. went from 2-9am today. started looking out for the other new guy's packages and he began to do the same. i think i'm fitting in.
napped until 12:30 tried a few places for lunch that allegedly accepted EBT including the banh mi che cali at santa anita & lower azusa only to discover that they don't. ended up trying a 3 po boy pack at ralph's. pleh.
went shopping for dinner for tomorrow at the park, stopped by derek's to get the beans soaking. he let me stay to recharge the battery and surf the web and a dinner invitation turned into me making chicken clay pot rice using his insta-pot. alas, it's smart enough to know when a crust is forming - which is what you want with clay pot rice, and it kept shutting itself off using the pressure cook setting. now trying the rice setting. it smells good.
and it *was* really good. kinda like chinese lo mai gai you typically order at dim sum, but with more flavor.
have a 1:45 call time.
napped until 12:30 tried a few places for lunch that allegedly accepted EBT including the banh mi che cali at santa anita & lower azusa only to discover that they don't. ended up trying a 3 po boy pack at ralph's. pleh.
went shopping for dinner for tomorrow at the park, stopped by derek's to get the beans soaking. he let me stay to recharge the battery and surf the web and a dinner invitation turned into me making chicken clay pot rice using his insta-pot. alas, it's smart enough to know when a crust is forming - which is what you want with clay pot rice, and it kept shutting itself off using the pressure cook setting. now trying the rice setting. it smells good.
and it *was* really good. kinda like chinese lo mai gai you typically order at dim sum, but with more flavor.
have a 1:45 call time.
Monday, May 11, 2020
05-10
happy mother's day. the first thing i did after i got off work was call mom. she's been diagnosed with parkinson's. this was the first time i experienced one of those phases.
she was worried about the car breaking down and how they were going to pay for it. i think that reflects how their money ran out and apparently they were denied medicaid. i have no idea of how things will turn out there.
before i got the job at fedex, someone suggested i take a leave of absence from feeding the homeless and go to milwaukee for a couple of weeks. perhaps i should have done so.
with the quarantine in place, fedex needs more people as e-commerce continues to expand as people are purchasing things on-line and staying home.
i made arangements to do lunch with a friend who also volunteers with the homeless on tuesdays. he knows my plight, even had a suggestion for temporary lodging.
i discovered that popeyes and burger do not accept EBT despite listings to the contrary. this shows how much extra difficulty other homeless are encountering.
it was cooler today. i napped for almost 4 hours and then waited until nightfall to come back to the patio to recharge, freshen up and change shirts.
no cigar tonight; for the last 3-4 days i've been smoking either on the patio or on the bridge as part of my daily routine. the cigar kinda says: i'm temporarily distressed, but i won't forego some of my routine from better cirumstances.
i picked up my stimulus check AND a residual check from big bang theory and deposited them. irony of ironies, i have more money now than in the last 4 years, and i can't find a place to stay.
everyone's just too afraid of contagion, and the few ads that are craigslist are mainly scams used to mine for phone numbers and email addresses. one poster is reposting their ad 3 times a day. i keep flagging them for violating the every other day limit, but craigslist hasn't stepped in.
work was surprisingly light today. if it's like this all the time, it'll be a breeze. i need to get direct deposit set up.
she was worried about the car breaking down and how they were going to pay for it. i think that reflects how their money ran out and apparently they were denied medicaid. i have no idea of how things will turn out there.
before i got the job at fedex, someone suggested i take a leave of absence from feeding the homeless and go to milwaukee for a couple of weeks. perhaps i should have done so.
with the quarantine in place, fedex needs more people as e-commerce continues to expand as people are purchasing things on-line and staying home.
i made arangements to do lunch with a friend who also volunteers with the homeless on tuesdays. he knows my plight, even had a suggestion for temporary lodging.
i discovered that popeyes and burger do not accept EBT despite listings to the contrary. this shows how much extra difficulty other homeless are encountering.
it was cooler today. i napped for almost 4 hours and then waited until nightfall to come back to the patio to recharge, freshen up and change shirts.
no cigar tonight; for the last 3-4 days i've been smoking either on the patio or on the bridge as part of my daily routine. the cigar kinda says: i'm temporarily distressed, but i won't forego some of my routine from better cirumstances.
i picked up my stimulus check AND a residual check from big bang theory and deposited them. irony of ironies, i have more money now than in the last 4 years, and i can't find a place to stay.
everyone's just too afraid of contagion, and the few ads that are craigslist are mainly scams used to mine for phone numbers and email addresses. one poster is reposting their ad 3 times a day. i keep flagging them for violating the every other day limit, but craigslist hasn't stepped in.
work was surprisingly light today. if it's like this all the time, it'll be a breeze. i need to get direct deposit set up.
Saturday, May 9, 2020
05-09
Another uneventful night sleeping in the fedex lot.
apparently there's a 5.5 hour limit on new hires, so they let us go at 8:30 even though there was work to be done. my first day i only a single truck to load so i didn't have to be concerned which truck i was loading when i did a scan. they gave me two trucks, and i wasn't told that i had to indicate which truck the scan was for. i ended up resetting the scanner for each package, so each parcel had to be maneuvered so that another scan could be done. now i know.
my stimulus check arrived in the mail, along with another residual check for dancing on big bang theory. i made $1000 for the two day shoot, and about $900 a year in residuals since. yay.
i take that back about not breaking $1375 since i forgot about the stimulus check. but if i'm working 5-6 hours a night (and another $2 bump for working this weekend - mother's day) even 75 hours at $17.25 will probably get me there.
i got carried away using the laptop and recharged this afternoon. changed the M.O. by parking on the other side of the building and reaching the patio by going around. charged for an hour and left. expect to recharge again tonight before heading off to fedex. with mother's day, they calling us in an hour early expecting a heavy load.
apparently there's a 5.5 hour limit on new hires, so they let us go at 8:30 even though there was work to be done. my first day i only a single truck to load so i didn't have to be concerned which truck i was loading when i did a scan. they gave me two trucks, and i wasn't told that i had to indicate which truck the scan was for. i ended up resetting the scanner for each package, so each parcel had to be maneuvered so that another scan could be done. now i know.
my stimulus check arrived in the mail, along with another residual check for dancing on big bang theory. i made $1000 for the two day shoot, and about $900 a year in residuals since. yay.
i take that back about not breaking $1375 since i forgot about the stimulus check. but if i'm working 5-6 hours a night (and another $2 bump for working this weekend - mother's day) even 75 hours at $17.25 will probably get me there.
i got carried away using the laptop and recharged this afternoon. changed the M.O. by parking on the other side of the building and reaching the patio by going around. charged for an hour and left. expect to recharge again tonight before heading off to fedex. with mother's day, they calling us in an hour early expecting a heavy load.
05/08
i parked at fedex again. my ex-roomie chris texted me around 9:15, so i called him and we chatted for a bit. that was nice.
the original start time of 1:15 was moved back to 2am and we went until 8am. the manager asked if i was coming back for the next shift. turnover must be pretty bad.
i was tired, but i wasn't hurting as bad as i was thought i might be. we had a mandatory lunch and they treated us to breakfast sandwiches and gatorade as part of some celebration. i might have been better off as that sandwich went through me and i had a near accident looking for a restroom.
i napped in the car for an hour and a half or so, and around 10am i decided to take surface streets back to pasadena and go to hmart (korean grocery store) thinking i might get some korean takeout there but i decided against it and went to mitsuwa. they had a line waiting and i wasn't in the mood.
parked across the street from my mechanic's and tapped his internet until 1-ish when that breakfast sandwich decided it wanted out. i was going to go to von's but THEY had a line so i headed to the park. it was a struggle trying to walk normally to the restroom but i made it. napped some more at the park, went back to the mechanic's and downloaded episode one of "billions", then headed down to ranch 99 in alhambra after 4pm which is when they start selling their premade stuff at a discount.
there was a short line there so i waited, picked up some sushi and a double order of cold chicken noodle. called derek and asked if he wanted one but he'd already started making dinner. i told him i call earlier next time.
went to a different park in pasadena, ate, and then washed up in the restroom there.
went back to the bridge near my old place and smoked a cigar waiting for until after sunset. greeted a few people from the complex, told them i was smoking on the bridge tonight instead of on the patio. sang a few worship songs on the bridge.
after sunset, went back to the patio to charge the laptop. i found out that a new 9 cell battery will go 10 hours, thinking of getting one online - then i can wait until 10pm or so and minimize the chances of being seen here.
will probably ask les if i can stop by after work saturday to take a shower. that should hold me until i go to derek's on tuesday to make dinner.
the original start time of 1:15 was moved back to 2am and we went until 8am. the manager asked if i was coming back for the next shift. turnover must be pretty bad.
i was tired, but i wasn't hurting as bad as i was thought i might be. we had a mandatory lunch and they treated us to breakfast sandwiches and gatorade as part of some celebration. i might have been better off as that sandwich went through me and i had a near accident looking for a restroom.
i napped in the car for an hour and a half or so, and around 10am i decided to take surface streets back to pasadena and go to hmart (korean grocery store) thinking i might get some korean takeout there but i decided against it and went to mitsuwa. they had a line waiting and i wasn't in the mood.
parked across the street from my mechanic's and tapped his internet until 1-ish when that breakfast sandwich decided it wanted out. i was going to go to von's but THEY had a line so i headed to the park. it was a struggle trying to walk normally to the restroom but i made it. napped some more at the park, went back to the mechanic's and downloaded episode one of "billions", then headed down to ranch 99 in alhambra after 4pm which is when they start selling their premade stuff at a discount.
there was a short line there so i waited, picked up some sushi and a double order of cold chicken noodle. called derek and asked if he wanted one but he'd already started making dinner. i told him i call earlier next time.
went to a different park in pasadena, ate, and then washed up in the restroom there.
went back to the bridge near my old place and smoked a cigar waiting for until after sunset. greeted a few people from the complex, told them i was smoking on the bridge tonight instead of on the patio. sang a few worship songs on the bridge.
after sunset, went back to the patio to charge the laptop. i found out that a new 9 cell battery will go 10 hours, thinking of getting one online - then i can wait until 10pm or so and minimize the chances of being seen here.
will probably ask les if i can stop by after work saturday to take a shower. that should hold me until i go to derek's on tuesday to make dinner.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
05-07
decided to try parking at Fedex and sleeping there. first spot close to building was too noisy, moved to far end and then moved car after waking up. i think i'll do that going forward.
got off around seven am, decided to sleep, woke up arounf 9am when it started to get hot. need to remember to put up towel for shade, move car back to far end of lot. this can work.
towel off and recharge in pasadena, head down to fedex, set alarm and be ready to go.
as long as i can tap this patio outlet i can live with this.
i could have moved in with this guy fred except for his apprehension that i might be a health risk. so i signed up for a free covid-19 testing which was this afternoon at 2pm at lincoln park.
got there exactly at 2pm and there was a line of cars that had to be at least a half mile long. and it was 95 degrees. no shade. i probably burned of half a gallon of gas just idling.
114 minutes later, i was done and rewarded myself with a large coke and two mcdoubles from mcdonald's.
powerade on sale for only $.49 if you buy eight, which i did, which will probably last me a week at work. i still have over $400 on my EBT. a week into may. i'll probably have to give up the EBT since i'm likely to break $1375 this month, especially if i cash my stimulus check. boo.
the day went by quicker with tasks to accomplish, even if all it did was wait in my car for two hours.
but that's what makes this so much harder under quarantine, nowhere to go, no one with whom to interact, etc.
got off around seven am, decided to sleep, woke up arounf 9am when it started to get hot. need to remember to put up towel for shade, move car back to far end of lot. this can work.
towel off and recharge in pasadena, head down to fedex, set alarm and be ready to go.
as long as i can tap this patio outlet i can live with this.
i could have moved in with this guy fred except for his apprehension that i might be a health risk. so i signed up for a free covid-19 testing which was this afternoon at 2pm at lincoln park.
got there exactly at 2pm and there was a line of cars that had to be at least a half mile long. and it was 95 degrees. no shade. i probably burned of half a gallon of gas just idling.
114 minutes later, i was done and rewarded myself with a large coke and two mcdoubles from mcdonald's.
powerade on sale for only $.49 if you buy eight, which i did, which will probably last me a week at work. i still have over $400 on my EBT. a week into may. i'll probably have to give up the EBT since i'm likely to break $1375 this month, especially if i cash my stimulus check. boo.
the day went by quicker with tasks to accomplish, even if all it did was wait in my car for two hours.
but that's what makes this so much harder under quarantine, nowhere to go, no one with whom to interact, etc.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
05-06
NOTE: even though they're practicing social distancing of a sort, a lot of more people are getting out of their homes and walking around together. i think there's a lot of impatience in a lot of folks out there.
got to orientation this morning in plenty of time, but i followed a series of cars who were headed to a differnt company and i ended up parking a good quarter mile away. so i went back on moved my car on the lunch break they gave us. actually, it wasn't a lunch break for us as it was for the training staff. we were done by 10:30 so that was four hours plus whatever we make tomorrow. but instead of 5:30, we have to be there by 4am. if i'd known i would have scheduled the covid-19 test earlier than 2am which will probably be the hottest time of the day on the hottest day of the week.
good news: we're getting an extra $2/hr until june 6th. that bumps my rate tp to $17.25 for the first month. yay. moreover, we can request more days than five if we want; i can ask for all seven days a week. we'll see.
also, it's friday 3am through tuesday 3am, so i can be done with the week, sleep and then head over to derek's to bathe, do laundry and cook, though not necessarily in that order.
i got about $165 added to my EBT this month. after splurging on sushi today at von's i have almost $415 in my EBT account.
and with the first week over, i don't see myself making $1375 this month, so i get to keep the EBT coming. i can live with that.
i know using the patio can't last forever, but by hiding in plain sight no one here questions my presence smoking on the patio or being at the pool. i even wave to the night patrols. last night the patrol asked me if it was quiet here. and i told them it was.
i felt a little bad about the cigar i lit around 6pm, since i heard a window on a floor above me close, so i took a walk over to the bridge over the 134 and smoked while watching the traffic go by.
there was a station wagon parked on patrician way with it's back hatch open, and a older gentlemen with white hair was picking up trash by the side of the road. after walking by the station wagon, and looking at a disarray not dissimilar to the one in my own car, i realized he was picking up disposbles.
the number of disposables makes me wonder just how many people are sleeping in their cars parked on this street; the bottles and cans started where cars routinely park outside our building every night. and i saw another guy get out of his SUV, pull a clean shirt out of the back, change into it. he waved to me as he can back into his SUV and drove off. it might have been someone i saw at the pool today.
the point is: it's not just me here, though i might be the most flagrant in terms of visibility. but a lot of people are hurting. i'm now sure that the neighbors who used to have the carport space next to mine did in fact move out before the end of april. i now have *two* carport spots i can use, and with the 3rd shift schedule, i can pull into the carport after dark, plug in my laptop, and nap in the car while it charges, and be out of there at 2:30 in the morning to make by 3am shift.
the new challenge becomes where to find a shady place to park when i get off work and need a place to crash. i'm thinking of asking derek if he minds my parking on his street. the trees provide shade pretty much throughout the day.
no new leads, and i had to sift through a lot of bogus ads offering rent way below market requiring us to give them legit email addresses. one such ad resulted in an email account i created just for that situation to be shut down; i suspect the ad maker used my email address to send tons of spam.
i can imagine that there are plenty of people desperate for a place to stay that they're susceptible to ads like these.
people preying on others' misfortune gnaws at me.
i've managed to recharge my laptop completely by 7:15pm. i'm thinking of heading out and tapping CA wifi for acouple of hours and coming back after dark. this seems like a good idea, even if i might drawn less attention if i hadn't just gotten out of my car and put my laptop on the hood and just started surfing away....
got to orientation this morning in plenty of time, but i followed a series of cars who were headed to a differnt company and i ended up parking a good quarter mile away. so i went back on moved my car on the lunch break they gave us. actually, it wasn't a lunch break for us as it was for the training staff. we were done by 10:30 so that was four hours plus whatever we make tomorrow. but instead of 5:30, we have to be there by 4am. if i'd known i would have scheduled the covid-19 test earlier than 2am which will probably be the hottest time of the day on the hottest day of the week.
good news: we're getting an extra $2/hr until june 6th. that bumps my rate tp to $17.25 for the first month. yay. moreover, we can request more days than five if we want; i can ask for all seven days a week. we'll see.
also, it's friday 3am through tuesday 3am, so i can be done with the week, sleep and then head over to derek's to bathe, do laundry and cook, though not necessarily in that order.
i got about $165 added to my EBT this month. after splurging on sushi today at von's i have almost $415 in my EBT account.
and with the first week over, i don't see myself making $1375 this month, so i get to keep the EBT coming. i can live with that.
i know using the patio can't last forever, but by hiding in plain sight no one here questions my presence smoking on the patio or being at the pool. i even wave to the night patrols. last night the patrol asked me if it was quiet here. and i told them it was.
i felt a little bad about the cigar i lit around 6pm, since i heard a window on a floor above me close, so i took a walk over to the bridge over the 134 and smoked while watching the traffic go by.
there was a station wagon parked on patrician way with it's back hatch open, and a older gentlemen with white hair was picking up trash by the side of the road. after walking by the station wagon, and looking at a disarray not dissimilar to the one in my own car, i realized he was picking up disposbles.
the number of disposables makes me wonder just how many people are sleeping in their cars parked on this street; the bottles and cans started where cars routinely park outside our building every night. and i saw another guy get out of his SUV, pull a clean shirt out of the back, change into it. he waved to me as he can back into his SUV and drove off. it might have been someone i saw at the pool today.
the point is: it's not just me here, though i might be the most flagrant in terms of visibility. but a lot of people are hurting. i'm now sure that the neighbors who used to have the carport space next to mine did in fact move out before the end of april. i now have *two* carport spots i can use, and with the 3rd shift schedule, i can pull into the carport after dark, plug in my laptop, and nap in the car while it charges, and be out of there at 2:30 in the morning to make by 3am shift.
the new challenge becomes where to find a shady place to park when i get off work and need a place to crash. i'm thinking of asking derek if he minds my parking on his street. the trees provide shade pretty much throughout the day.
no new leads, and i had to sift through a lot of bogus ads offering rent way below market requiring us to give them legit email addresses. one such ad resulted in an email account i created just for that situation to be shut down; i suspect the ad maker used my email address to send tons of spam.
i can imagine that there are plenty of people desperate for a place to stay that they're susceptible to ads like these.
people preying on others' misfortune gnaws at me.
i've managed to recharge my laptop completely by 7:15pm. i'm thinking of heading out and tapping CA wifi for acouple of hours and coming back after dark. this seems like a good idea, even if i might drawn less attention if i hadn't just gotten out of my car and put my laptop on the hood and just started surfing away....
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
05-05
cinco de mayo. woke up at 8am, headed straight over to the mechanic's. told me to wait another day before getting the car smogged. tapped his wifi for an hour, then slept at the park until i headed over to derek's, bathed, did laundry. enjoyed a couple of glasses of ice water. i miss ice.
scheduled a covid-19 mouth swab test 2 pm on the 7th. 3-4 day turnaround but hopefully a clean bill of health will make it easier to find a place to stay.
finished cooking, about to take stuff to the park, bring stuff back to derek's and get ready to start orienation tomorrow morning at 6am.
scheduled a covid-19 mouth swab test 2 pm on the 7th. 3-4 day turnaround but hopefully a clean bill of health will make it easier to find a place to stay.
finished cooking, about to take stuff to the park, bring stuff back to derek's and get ready to start orienation tomorrow morning at 6am.
Monday, May 4, 2020
05-04
the weather's getting hotter again. it'll be 90+ on thursday, the day before i start at fedex.
i woke up earlier at 7:30 and decided to send the email to fred about the room in san gabriel.
it was a little weird being parked in the CA parking with CA staff coming in and out and i left.
but this time my mechanic was open and i decided i needed to get the check engine taken care of. i need to take in back tomorrow morning to confirm, but it looks like it's fixed. plus i was a quart low and my rear brake pads needed to be replaced. cost me almost exactly what i got for the EVL.
NOW i understand why it sold when it did. and it gives me comfort to get a reminder that i'll get what i need to keep going, despite getting turned down by fred today because of what i do with the homeless.
do i mention that? i guess it'll depend on why; do i want their sympathy, or do i want their prayer support?
no regrets.
i woke up earlier at 7:30 and decided to send the email to fred about the room in san gabriel.
it was a little weird being parked in the CA parking with CA staff coming in and out and i left.
but this time my mechanic was open and i decided i needed to get the check engine taken care of. i need to take in back tomorrow morning to confirm, but it looks like it's fixed. plus i was a quart low and my rear brake pads needed to be replaced. cost me almost exactly what i got for the EVL.
NOW i understand why it sold when it did. and it gives me comfort to get a reminder that i'll get what i need to keep going, despite getting turned down by fred today because of what i do with the homeless.
do i mention that? i guess it'll depend on why; do i want their sympathy, or do i want their prayer support?
no regrets.
Sunday, May 3, 2020
05-03
i drove over 30 miles yesterday, including 5 miles round trip to CA for wifi, but otherwise did not leave pasadena. but with nowhere to go, you have to keep moving.
first off, finding shade is a priority. then the sun moves and so does the shade. and there are ony so many places you can park and fit in. mainly the parks.
the best location i'm comfortable with is the park in east pasadena where there's a bank of trees. there's also an open bathroom. most of the other parks don't have shaded parking. i suppose i could victory park, but that's about the same distance as the other park.
but at least i have a reason today; i have a buyer for the EVL violin stored at karl's and they'll be by around 3-4. with an extra $300 i can splurge, maybe even rent a room monday night?
NOW i understand why people are willing to blow their GR on rooms for a couple of nights each month.
if the libraries open, i can cope, but with NOWHERE to go, it is really really hard. especially being an extrovert.
-------------------
sold my EVL electric violin for $260. i was asking $300 but since i paid only $170 before i fixed it up i can't complain.
i was going to show it at the the place i had it stored, but my friend preferred that i not bring strangers to his house. i respect that. met her at my old place and plugged into the patio outlet and charged the laptop at the same time.
now over at the pool. it's gotten warmer and a few families are also using the pool. i know the pool code, so i must be legit, right?
i rewarded myself with sushi. i still have more left on my EBT card than i officially started with and i get another $194 in a couple of days.
i applied for a couple more rental opportunities on CL, but just how they were worded made me suspect a scam, but i'll apply as long as they don't ask for my real emal address or my #.
if the outlet at the pool worked this would be perfect.
first off, finding shade is a priority. then the sun moves and so does the shade. and there are ony so many places you can park and fit in. mainly the parks.
the best location i'm comfortable with is the park in east pasadena where there's a bank of trees. there's also an open bathroom. most of the other parks don't have shaded parking. i suppose i could victory park, but that's about the same distance as the other park.
but at least i have a reason today; i have a buyer for the EVL violin stored at karl's and they'll be by around 3-4. with an extra $300 i can splurge, maybe even rent a room monday night?
NOW i understand why people are willing to blow their GR on rooms for a couple of nights each month.
if the libraries open, i can cope, but with NOWHERE to go, it is really really hard. especially being an extrovert.
-------------------
sold my EVL electric violin for $260. i was asking $300 but since i paid only $170 before i fixed it up i can't complain.
i was going to show it at the the place i had it stored, but my friend preferred that i not bring strangers to his house. i respect that. met her at my old place and plugged into the patio outlet and charged the laptop at the same time.
now over at the pool. it's gotten warmer and a few families are also using the pool. i know the pool code, so i must be legit, right?
i rewarded myself with sushi. i still have more left on my EBT card than i officially started with and i get another $194 in a couple of days.
i applied for a couple more rental opportunities on CL, but just how they were worded made me suspect a scam, but i'll apply as long as they don't ask for my real emal address or my #.
if the outlet at the pool worked this would be perfect.
Saturday, May 2, 2020
05-02
surviving. good thing my church has 24/7 wifi. i've managed to find a couple of semi-open outlets so i can recharge my laptop. if those become non-accessible there are also outlets to be found around any metro station - check the bottoms of the light poles. some of them still have accessible outlets that can be plugged into.
haven't been noticed by the powers that be yet. it helps that our apartment was/is on the far side of the complex with our own carport structure.
there are 8-10 places in the carport, with one spot assigned to each apartment in this wing. ours is the farthest on the right, closest to the building.
our apartment is the only one with a patio that one can access from outside. there's an outlet on the patio and the power was not shut off.
i should also mention that we didn't bother to lock the patio door - i elected to use the restroom last night. i carry a small roll of TP in my pants pocket at all times.
the patio has a small cubbyhole at one end, and with the bamboo curtain blocking the closest open space, i am virtually invisible from anyone passing by, including the patrol that comes through the parking lot around midnight. that patrol is used to seeing my car, so they take no notice of it parked in the carport.
we left a lot of things behind for scavengers, but a desk chair was left behind, so i grabbed it and put it in the cubbyhole.
so i have a place to sit before it gets dark while i read an ebook on my laptop, as i plug an extension cord into the socket and run it over to the cubbyhole.
after dark, i move out and prop my laptop on the rail and continue to read/type/watch a video i downloaded to the laptop. if i had wifi here (and i'm tempted to ask my next door neighbor if i can tap theirs) the only inconvenice would be sleeping in the car, which i'd gladly do to save $800+ a month at this point.
according to the manager, the plan is to shampoo the carpet eventually. i expect that that will result in the patio door getting locked. but i'll still have the pool access until they change the code. and with the quarantine in place, i don't think anyone is going to use the pool for quite a while.
i splurged on store made sushi yesterday for lunch at von's. i was hoping to be able to their seating space next to the starbucks inside the store, but that area was partitioned off. %#*@
no tables outside either, so i couldn't sit down and tap their wifi. i don't even know if it's running. the pasadena public library wifi is down. didn't expect that.
but my church wifi has been reliable. it's about a 2.5 mile drive from my old apt. call it $.50 in gas for free wifi until my laptop battery gives out. or i get too hot sitting in the car with no shade.
drat. i was hoping to use the outlet at the pool, but it seems to be out. i can still eat lunch here.
figured it was better to be away from the apartment during the day since there's no power from the pool outlet (crap). i certainly don't expect the carpet cleaning to occur before monday so i've got at least two more nights tapping my out let.
i stopped by ralph's picked up a bottle of ginger ale. i forgot to mention that breakfas/lunch consisted of a can of sardines left over from my roommates along with 4 slices of bread. i expect that this will be my main meal of the day. last night's snack was an apple sprinkled with powdered cinnamon.
i expecting that the more sensible eating combined with the fedex job will result in lost wieght which in turn will reduce the diabetic symptoms.
i find it ironic that my sister is lamenting not living it up because i suspect that with the physical condition that comes with old age, she can't enjoy it fully anyway.
i mean, i'm younger and my metabolism is so much slower i couldn't possibly eat as much as i did when i visited france 20 years ago. i expect i'll overeat one meal a week if/when we start going out for lunch again.
i'm back at the park on del mar near karl's house. the folks i saw yesterday aren't here. i suppose that they rotate.
i wonder if i should try and figure out where my tuesday regulars are and try and learn about them. i went by the park and there's a foursome of people on bikes who seem to have made those tables their headquarters. they've been to dinner a couple of times, but they seem to be the kind of people who've chosen their lives, if you know what i mean.
i contrast that to the regulars who are grateful that i'm there with a humble meal, where passers by will ask things like: "is there more meat?" to which i typically respond: "maybe if you bring some."
oddly enough a former regular told me that she'd supply if if i'd cook it. i was hesitant in large part that would require regular communication and a means of contacting me that might get passed around.
my mentor cautioned me about maintaining a healthy boundary between me and the people i'm trying to help. i see the wisdom in that.
i'm grateful that it's still only may - the weather is comfortable, and i need only a hoodie at night to stay warm; the hood limits the heat loss.
i wonder the people living in cars have weekday and weekend routines. i know it's saturday but after weeks of quarantine, it's just a means of tracking the week.
as i said before. not having regular access to wifi hurts a lot, but losing access to electricity is what is really going to hurt. i wonder if i'll have a chance to recharge at work. better yet, shower facilities like they did at the electric company.
with battery saver mode on, i've been off an on with this laptop since 9:30am and it's almost 12:30 at this point.
i tried going to bed at 11pm last night and i napped briefly but i powered the laptop back on and finished reading an ebook until about 1am, slept until about 9 this morning. headed over to CA (church) to get wifi for about an hour, went to the pool and starting typing only to discover that the pool outlet was apparently dead. should have tried the other outlet.
decided it was best not to be too greedy and so i'm on the road. i have another battary and another two laptops, but i figure i've got a half hour left - 2.5 hours is better than i expected.
so here i am. i know i should try and be productive by writing with no internet. perhaps i should sleep now so i can recharge and be writing at night to help prepare my for my new schedule. not that sleepy right now, though i did find a primo parking spot in the shade at the park. i could crash until 6-7 and head back to the apartment carport around 7:30..
i forgot to mention that i make cinnamon tea by filling a tea maker with water, a cinnamon stick, and leaving it in the back window, letting the sun heat the water. i try to drink it at night to make sure i'm hydrating properly, and refilling it from the apt. kitchen tap as long as that's available. if i have to use a fountain, i can do that, or i can refill it from a bottle.
i try to drink a bottle of water every morning, with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, using it to wash down a couple of acai pills. the acai, vinegar and cinnamon are my homeopathic attempts to deal with the diabetic symptoms.
haven't been noticed by the powers that be yet. it helps that our apartment was/is on the far side of the complex with our own carport structure.
there are 8-10 places in the carport, with one spot assigned to each apartment in this wing. ours is the farthest on the right, closest to the building.
our apartment is the only one with a patio that one can access from outside. there's an outlet on the patio and the power was not shut off.
i should also mention that we didn't bother to lock the patio door - i elected to use the restroom last night. i carry a small roll of TP in my pants pocket at all times.
the patio has a small cubbyhole at one end, and with the bamboo curtain blocking the closest open space, i am virtually invisible from anyone passing by, including the patrol that comes through the parking lot around midnight. that patrol is used to seeing my car, so they take no notice of it parked in the carport.
we left a lot of things behind for scavengers, but a desk chair was left behind, so i grabbed it and put it in the cubbyhole.
so i have a place to sit before it gets dark while i read an ebook on my laptop, as i plug an extension cord into the socket and run it over to the cubbyhole.
after dark, i move out and prop my laptop on the rail and continue to read/type/watch a video i downloaded to the laptop. if i had wifi here (and i'm tempted to ask my next door neighbor if i can tap theirs) the only inconvenice would be sleeping in the car, which i'd gladly do to save $800+ a month at this point.
according to the manager, the plan is to shampoo the carpet eventually. i expect that that will result in the patio door getting locked. but i'll still have the pool access until they change the code. and with the quarantine in place, i don't think anyone is going to use the pool for quite a while.
i splurged on store made sushi yesterday for lunch at von's. i was hoping to be able to their seating space next to the starbucks inside the store, but that area was partitioned off. %#*@
no tables outside either, so i couldn't sit down and tap their wifi. i don't even know if it's running. the pasadena public library wifi is down. didn't expect that.
but my church wifi has been reliable. it's about a 2.5 mile drive from my old apt. call it $.50 in gas for free wifi until my laptop battery gives out. or i get too hot sitting in the car with no shade.
drat. i was hoping to use the outlet at the pool, but it seems to be out. i can still eat lunch here.
figured it was better to be away from the apartment during the day since there's no power from the pool outlet (crap). i certainly don't expect the carpet cleaning to occur before monday so i've got at least two more nights tapping my out let.
i stopped by ralph's picked up a bottle of ginger ale. i forgot to mention that breakfas/lunch consisted of a can of sardines left over from my roommates along with 4 slices of bread. i expect that this will be my main meal of the day. last night's snack was an apple sprinkled with powdered cinnamon.
i expecting that the more sensible eating combined with the fedex job will result in lost wieght which in turn will reduce the diabetic symptoms.
i find it ironic that my sister is lamenting not living it up because i suspect that with the physical condition that comes with old age, she can't enjoy it fully anyway.
i mean, i'm younger and my metabolism is so much slower i couldn't possibly eat as much as i did when i visited france 20 years ago. i expect i'll overeat one meal a week if/when we start going out for lunch again.
i'm back at the park on del mar near karl's house. the folks i saw yesterday aren't here. i suppose that they rotate.
i wonder if i should try and figure out where my tuesday regulars are and try and learn about them. i went by the park and there's a foursome of people on bikes who seem to have made those tables their headquarters. they've been to dinner a couple of times, but they seem to be the kind of people who've chosen their lives, if you know what i mean.
i contrast that to the regulars who are grateful that i'm there with a humble meal, where passers by will ask things like: "is there more meat?" to which i typically respond: "maybe if you bring some."
oddly enough a former regular told me that she'd supply if if i'd cook it. i was hesitant in large part that would require regular communication and a means of contacting me that might get passed around.
my mentor cautioned me about maintaining a healthy boundary between me and the people i'm trying to help. i see the wisdom in that.
i'm grateful that it's still only may - the weather is comfortable, and i need only a hoodie at night to stay warm; the hood limits the heat loss.
i wonder the people living in cars have weekday and weekend routines. i know it's saturday but after weeks of quarantine, it's just a means of tracking the week.
as i said before. not having regular access to wifi hurts a lot, but losing access to electricity is what is really going to hurt. i wonder if i'll have a chance to recharge at work. better yet, shower facilities like they did at the electric company.
with battery saver mode on, i've been off an on with this laptop since 9:30am and it's almost 12:30 at this point.
i tried going to bed at 11pm last night and i napped briefly but i powered the laptop back on and finished reading an ebook until about 1am, slept until about 9 this morning. headed over to CA (church) to get wifi for about an hour, went to the pool and starting typing only to discover that the pool outlet was apparently dead. should have tried the other outlet.
decided it was best not to be too greedy and so i'm on the road. i have another battary and another two laptops, but i figure i've got a half hour left - 2.5 hours is better than i expected.
so here i am. i know i should try and be productive by writing with no internet. perhaps i should sleep now so i can recharge and be writing at night to help prepare my for my new schedule. not that sleepy right now, though i did find a primo parking spot in the shade at the park. i could crash until 6-7 and head back to the apartment carport around 7:30..
i forgot to mention that i make cinnamon tea by filling a tea maker with water, a cinnamon stick, and leaving it in the back window, letting the sun heat the water. i try to drink it at night to make sure i'm hydrating properly, and refilling it from the apt. kitchen tap as long as that's available. if i have to use a fountain, i can do that, or i can refill it from a bottle.
i try to drink a bottle of water every morning, with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, using it to wash down a couple of acai pills. the acai, vinegar and cinnamon are my homeopathic attempts to deal with the diabetic symptoms.
Friday, May 1, 2020
05-01
decided to go for a drive - and gotpulled over for not having my 2020 license sticker. looks like i'd better get that taken care of.
anyway, i'm parked back in the carport and ready to keep typing until i nod off, and the win 7 laptop recharges. apparently i'm good for only about 15 minutes on that old battery.
i guess i should spring for a new one if it's going to give me a decent charge time.
i realize that i have no idea where no hard drive is. and i forgot to transfer my epub files down to my local drive.
and i can't find my external hard drive. all my backup documents. sigh.
------------------
found the external hard drive.
went to sleep about 1am lept until 11am.
checked out the vons - the seating area has been partitioned off.
ditto for the starbacks on colorado in eagle.
however, i stopped at a park and struck up a conversation with some other folks living in their cars. invited them to dinner. here's another segment of society i can tap into. they said park in industrial areas to avoid cops. also mentioned something about getting a tag to advise cops you're sleeping in your car?
napped at the park, got rid of stuff i decided i didn't need in the car.
now blogging using wifi at church in eagle rock. plan on napping in the carport again tonight, hopefully tap the outlet unless the power has been shut off.
anyway, i'm parked back in the carport and ready to keep typing until i nod off, and the win 7 laptop recharges. apparently i'm good for only about 15 minutes on that old battery.
i guess i should spring for a new one if it's going to give me a decent charge time.
i realize that i have no idea where no hard drive is. and i forgot to transfer my epub files down to my local drive.
and i can't find my external hard drive. all my backup documents. sigh.
------------------
found the external hard drive.
went to sleep about 1am lept until 11am.
checked out the vons - the seating area has been partitioned off.
ditto for the starbacks on colorado in eagle.
however, i stopped at a park and struck up a conversation with some other folks living in their cars. invited them to dinner. here's another segment of society i can tap into. they said park in industrial areas to avoid cops. also mentioned something about getting a tag to advise cops you're sleeping in your car?
napped at the park, got rid of stuff i decided i didn't need in the car.
now blogging using wifi at church in eagle rock. plan on napping in the carport again tonight, hopefully tap the outlet unless the power has been shut off.
04-30
well, internet is down, but i still have juice, so it's about 9:13, waiting for chris to get back and finish cleaning up.
everything i'm keeping is either in the car, at bruce's derek's, or karl's. my car is a bit fuller than i want it to be, but i'm ready to be there for a month.
all i have left is to pack up the laptop, put it in the car, and move the chair and desk out to the tree lawn, turn in the key and we're out.
while there's naturally the kind of thing you expect with having to move out with nowhere to go, there's a sense of relief that everything's out before the deadline.
i left some stuff behind though:
- my volleyball signed by all my team members.
- souvenirs from my drive across the US, trip to france, trip to boston, etc. etc.
- college bowl trips;
those things were so long ago, it's like they happened to another person. and even if i kept these things, they remind me of no one.
i was going to hold out until midnight and keep journalling here since the internet is out, but i might pull out a cigar and smoke while watching the traffic go by on the bridge.
it's going to hard to go without internet/electricity. i really am hoping the starbucks in vons near roosevelt will be available. either that or the one in eagle rock with the outdoor seating with outlets.
i guess i'll check the one on sierra madre tomorrow since i have the fan to drop off.
i have plenty of time to think of how to respond to my sister. but trying to praise her feels too much like enabling.
hey! i can go outside and plug into the patio outlet and use this chair. yay. it'd be nice to get some internet but you take what you can get.
i thought ahead and downloaded some unread ebooks to my local drive so i have things to read - as long as i have juice. but if i have juice, i'm likely to have wifi.
everything i'm keeping is either in the car, at bruce's derek's, or karl's. my car is a bit fuller than i want it to be, but i'm ready to be there for a month.
all i have left is to pack up the laptop, put it in the car, and move the chair and desk out to the tree lawn, turn in the key and we're out.
while there's naturally the kind of thing you expect with having to move out with nowhere to go, there's a sense of relief that everything's out before the deadline.
i left some stuff behind though:
- my volleyball signed by all my team members.
- souvenirs from my drive across the US, trip to france, trip to boston, etc. etc.
- college bowl trips;
those things were so long ago, it's like they happened to another person. and even if i kept these things, they remind me of no one.
i was going to hold out until midnight and keep journalling here since the internet is out, but i might pull out a cigar and smoke while watching the traffic go by on the bridge.
it's going to hard to go without internet/electricity. i really am hoping the starbucks in vons near roosevelt will be available. either that or the one in eagle rock with the outdoor seating with outlets.
i guess i'll check the one on sierra madre tomorrow since i have the fan to drop off.
i have plenty of time to think of how to respond to my sister. but trying to praise her feels too much like enabling.
hey! i can go outside and plug into the patio outlet and use this chair. yay. it'd be nice to get some internet but you take what you can get.
i thought ahead and downloaded some unread ebooks to my local drive so i have things to read - as long as i have juice. but if i have juice, i'm likely to have wifi.
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