Deposition Aftermath

It is such a relief to be done with the depositions and the infernal list of documents to produce. You have no idea--as I have said previously, don't ever get injured! Anyway, I'm processing things in my mind now that this milestone is passed. You would be proud how I handled the Brandon problem last night. I spoke with him briefly, and offered to drive up to Harrisburg to retrieve him and his belongings from the evil place that keeps putting him on the street. What I learned is that "they" like him now so he wants to stay the weekend, then come mooch off me later. And he wanted to know that if he does everything I "tell him" to do, can he go back and visit his cousins? I told him, "Son, you don't have to 'visit' them because you aren't leaving." LOL

I like Tara's comment about living in a van so people won't want to stay too long. Loved it! But I don't have the van yet. So I'm going to mooch off my peep's in Missouri and get a van there. I bailed Brain out of jail and he owes me a couple of thousand dollars, which I'll take in trade while fixing up a van. Getting serious now, I'm selling the sleep number bed, the air conditioner, TV, and some furniture this weekend. I'm clearing the house I share with my crazy roommate, and I'm trying to leave by Thursday this week, after the 4th of July. This should be fun. And If I get a start date for the job I'll come back at that time.

So it's time to clean my old self up and get busy taking pictures of sale items. Then I can post them to craigslist. While that is bubbling I'll clean the car out. It is full of books I want to list on Ebay. That will make room for loading up the stuff I'm not using this weekend, to store at my son's apartment. When you are moving out on a crazy roommate you have to do it with stealth. I won't leave her totally in the lurch moneywise, but when she sees a box leave the house she is always perturbed. It's guilt on her part. She knows she didn't fulfill her end of the roommate contract.

Have you ever had to move out with stealth? Post a comment and tell me about it. Sometimes you just have to melt away into the darkness.

Deposition Day Done

My nerves are still vibrating, mainly from the drive into Philadelphia on the Surekill Express and back. That is the local euphemism for the Schuykil Express. It is pronounced "Skoo-kyl". We call it the other, for valid reasons. It is a two to three lane highway that should have been a four lane ( on each side! ) that runs from Philly to the rural "burbs" extending out to King of Prussia. We made it there, and back.

I'm drinking a Heineken, catching up on e-mail and stuff, and trying not to process too much yet. This was a major milestone in my case and it is a relief to get it over with. Not sure if we are going to see settlement stuff happening soon or just a year of prepping for a trial. If I could spend the next two days getting ready for a trip to Missouri I would. But it looks like I'm still giving birth to a 19 year old tonight or tomorrow. What should I do?

If I take Brandon in and stay here that's great, but I don't have the job yet. This is killing me, the waiting and the wondering. If I leave I'd have to take him with me and I'd still be responsible for getting him back to Pennsylvania in five weeks for his own legal matters. If I don't take him I risk alienating his mom and step-dad who are key to my accident case. Also if I leave now I risk alienating my son who is hoping I'll stay and take over his apartment. So if I leave now I will have given up on the legal matters.

I have to stay put another few days. Monday should be the last day I have to wait for news on the job. So I'll post more next week. It's time I concentrate on me, and clearing that house so I can go when I want to go.

Deposition Day

Tomorrow is to be the last Deposition Day, hopefully. It seems that each deposition necessitates more "discovery" which means I have to find more paperwork to support or refute various claims. And it seems that today is the day I'm supposed to definitively find out about one of the jobs I interviewed for several weeks ago. If I get the job that is ten minutes from my son's apartment then I will move back in with him and take over the lease. There won't be a trip to Missouri or an immediate move to being vehicularly housed. If I don't get the job I plan to move to Missouri in my car with minimal stuff that supports my online business. The rest would stay in storage in this area. I'm ok with either plan. But I'd really rather just have my accident case settled, in my favor, and have about $120,000 in my tiny paws to rebuild the purposeful and intentioned life that I want. By 6:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, I will know which of my intentions will be the fork I take in the road.

I could have left anytime, but I think that waiting until the last deposition was the optimal plan for navigating through this period of my life. It seems to be such a ridiculous juggling act. I guess that is what makes life interesting. Running away and being a hobo was never really a very good option. My son would like me to stay in the area and he is in the National Guard which surely means a trip overseas at some point. So if staying here would make him happy, then that is what I will try to do.

Well, I have the rest of this day before me. I'll primp for the deposition tomorrow, get my laundry done, and load more miscellaneous stuff that can go into storage at the apartment. Then I'm staying overnight with my son to prep him for tomorrow. I could also do more paperwork (what fun!). Just think. By this time tomorrow I'll be getting ready to drive into the city with my son for the deposition. In another 48 hours I'll have a whole new set of worries to replace tomorrow's angst. I still think I'll need a valium, but of course I don't have any and that is for the best. We'll need our wits about us.

Ok, Ms. Unfazed, get up and get going!

More Consolidating

Screw it, I almost posted my last musings regarding the events of the week. And another wrinkle was added to the fabric of my life yesterday. My friend Lisa from Georgia called me frantically yesterday and stated that her 19 year old son was "homeless" and would I run up to Harrisburg and get him. What I did was get the phone numbers of those involved and arranged for him to be sent on a bus to King of Prussia this morning. So he will either be here around noon, or around 3:30 pm. In either case, my day is going to be wicked fun.

I'm still taking the cats to a friend's house for safekeeping tonight. But it looks like the move out will be postponed, oh and I got late news yesterday that I am still in the running for the lead role of three jobs at one place I interviewed. It is a contract-to-hire, which means about 3 months of good dollar per hour money until they "own" me. And with no idea regarding when the accident case might settle in my favor (if at all) I think I will have to take the job. It is 10 minutes from my son's apartment and my son wants to move, so I may just take over his apartment until the uncertainty factor subsides. Gee, every move I make seems to be so blasted expedient. I am getting tired of it.

Another wrinkle regarding my friend's son Brandon, is that he is a witness to my accident. I heard through the grapevine that the defendants want to take his deposition but his mother stated that she doesn't know his whereabouts and he doesn't have an address, which is kind of true. So I'm stuck with also "not knowing" where he is. He probably has nothing material to add, but I will quiz him today before I decide officially if I should produce him. And my son is being depositioned Friday so he also cannot know about Brandon. I've already been depositioned and as long as I'm not officially asked about it I can just keep my mouth shut. I will pick Brandon up at the bus station and keep him sheltered for the time being. Probably at the roommate situation.

So I have to figure out how I'm going to organize things. If I get news of the job this week then I can afford to stay at the roommate situation through August while trying to take over Dawg's apartment. That would ease the situation because then I wouldn't need to cause any drama there right now and my son would be happy that he can move out early to be closer to his job and girlfriend. But my roommate's daughter might be coming home from Texas the first of August and neither of us would want Brandon to be there. So, what to do, what to do?

If I had a camper van I'd stick him in there....LOL

Consolidating

I don't like having to censor myself on my own blog today. But the rapid changes are coming to a head as of Thursday this week--today is Tuesday--so I should keep my actual plans to myself until Friday. I share a computer with a roommate in a situation that is bizarre, though she seems oblivious to my blog. I try to "leave no trace".

You really don't know someone until you live with them. I can get along with anyone and I do, but there are things I will not put up with. We have been here for seven months and she has not unpacked anything. That wouldn't be so bad except that *everything* is piled up *everywhere*. And she pays her share of the rent and expenses later and later each month because she is blowing money. And she's on Match.com dating everybody she can, all at once, and is planning to bring strangers here constantly.

I kind of think the fact that the house looks like a warehouse will fend off serial visitors for a bit, at least long enough for me to consolidate. To top it all off her abusive ex-husband-to-be threatened me with a pool cue in a local pub with no warning, because he feels like he is entitled to abuse her and then her friends by default. I was so angry I could have beaten him to a bloody pulp with that stick--but I will deal with him after I'm done with my own thing. Never do anything that messes up your own stable situation. That is the best rule in life.

The cats are going to a friend's house Wednesday night, until I can get on the road next week. Each day I take a little bit to my son's apartment, but plan to get a small storage room Wednesday. I'm taking stuff to his house tonight, stuff that won't be noticed, then in the morning I'll get the storage room. The stuff is still important for my online business, else I'd ditch it. If I can pull it off tomorrow I can take three loads to storage and be done. I have bits of furniture that I plan to keep for my van, mostly plastic drawers. These are mainly bulky, else I would be able to move everything in one trip. Getting the van first is not panning out, so I'm going with the car for now. It is going into the shop next week for a new radiator, oil pump, and timing chain. That is to help ensure that it will make it to Missouri. The only stuff going with me to Missouri will be my laptop, printer, jewelry business items, Ebay items, clothing, sprouting items, and cats. The sleep number bed might get sold before then. I'm going to miss that the most. But van dwelling and even ultra-lightweight backpacking has no room for luxury items like a sleep number bed. Alas...

OK, this is going to get saved to draft and published after I'm out of here! It's been over three weeks since I was submitted for the potential contract jobs. I will have to presume at this point that I'm not going to get them. It's time for Earth Mother to move on.

Managing Change

Changes are coming rapidly and I'm not posting too many details until I know for sure which way the wind is blowing. Either I'm taking a local job, or I'm taking a job in Atlanta, or I'm going to put my meager belongings in storage and just car camp until things finish out in my legal case. In either case, there is a lot of change coming. I have to tread lightly and be diligent about how I go about things. Once I'm in the place I need to be, past all this current uncertainty, I will post a lot. I think that describing the way I'm managing change is beneficial for anyone reading my blog. I follow some real simple rules in my life, like "never pee in your own sandbox". I'm not going to upset my applecart by instigating any drama. About a week ago there was a big drama that my roommate's abusive ex-husband-to-be tried to draw me into, but EYE didn't bite. So I'm slowly consolidating my material position and planning the best route through the morass of uncertainty and limbo. Rest assured, I will be moving on.

Frugivore Equals Frugal

I forget if I mentioned it before, but I'm eating the natural diet of a frugivore, one of the primate variety, not the bird variety. I think that being a frugivore also entails being an insectivore, but since the FDA has approved a certain amount of bug parts per ton I guess it's okay if I swallow an occasional mosquito or gnat, or find half a worm in my apple.

My typical frugivorian diet consists of, in no particular order, and without regard for "traditional" mealtimes: 1/2 sweet and juicy cantelope, 1 apple, 1 banana, several nectarines or peaches, a cup of any cherries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries in season, all the mulberries I can find in the woods, tomato salad with shredded carrot and 1/2 ripe avocado, a handful of fresh raw nuts in season, and the occasional mango, kiwi, and other exotic fruits. It is so delicious and satisfying that I'm not craving anything else. Though the one day I was stuck at my son's house and ran out of fruit I confess to having attacked and slain some brocolli and a cauliflour. I'm ashamed to say that I steamed them with a little grapeseed oil and garlic powder. It was not a pretty sight. Apparently fruit is luscious and appetizing alone, while most vegetables seem to benefit from a little creative gastronomic experimentation to make them more palatable. I still like vegies, and will continue to eat any that are palatable in their raw state, but so far eating fruit alone is satisfying to me.

Even being a longtime vegan I was a sceptic when I first heard of Natural Hygiene. After a week on the diet I understand it. My nimble fingers and tiny teeth and jaws seem to be the perfect tools for gathering and eating fruit in its natural state. I can theoretically eat most fruit without cleaning or preparing it. If I was in a wild state of nature without a sharp knife I would simply use a rock to smash open a watermelon, cantelope, or pineapple. I can eat bananas, apples, pears, berries, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet peppers straight off the trea, bush, or vine. I believe that is the natural diet.

But with that said, I do believe we would not have civilization as we know it without agriculture and food storage techniques. Plus the accompanying food preparation techniques that have evolved in the past 10,000 years. I admire those techniques and am familiar with most of the foods. I believe a human can live and reproduce on a strictly agrarian diet. But, I'm trying to eat in an "optimal" way. I'm trying to allow my body to easily digest its food and avoid introducing the toxins that come from less optimal foods and preparation methods. I'm not sure though if I'm going to enjoy a hike that involves carrying about 2 lbs of fruits per day. I think I will go for 1/2 lb of fresh fruit with dense nutrition, 1/8 lb of a dehydrated fruit, 1/8 lb of nuts, and 1/4 lb of fresh sprouts as a daily hiking ration. That is 1 lb per day. The fresh fruit will be 1/2 each lemon & avocado daily, plus 1 tomatoe and 1 apple. I think these will transport the easiest and keep the longest if cut in half if I use the lemon as a "preservative". The best part is that I can just toss the leftovers and not worry about packing it in and then packing it out.

I'll try it soon and let you know how it works.

Paris Hilton New Justice For Rocky Delgadillo

I am laughing my asp off! It has now come to light that Paris Hilton's "adamant" prosecutor is a flaming hypocrite! Well, I say hoist him on his own petard. In case you have been living in a van down by the river and missed it, it turns out that Rocky Delgadillo's wife, Michelle Delgadillo, is a fugitive from justice. She has an outstanding warrant for her arrest for driving on a suspended license, the same as Paris Hilton! The only possible option that I see is that Michelle Delgadillo should serve AT LEAST 45 days in jail, and I mean ALL OF IT!!! I think that Rocky Delgadillo himself should serve the appropriate sentence for covering up his wife's numerous crimes. Plus, Rocky Delgadillo should be DISBARRED! As an officer of the court it is up to him to turn in these cases, not cover them up.

ROFLMAO

Deposition Day

Most of this week was spent anguishing over the myriad potential outcomes of Lissa & Sam's deposition regarding my accident case. That occurred yesterday. In the morning I wasn't accomplishing much so I wrapped the three Ebay items that sold and dropped them off at the Post Office. Then I got some money off the PayPal debit card and went to my favorite trivia spot to play. I stayed quite awhile, chatted with friends, but was really distracted which showed in my game. I broke down and ate the broccoli bites, which is about all I had all day. I'm going to stay in today and get ready to move some stuff back to my son's house. I'm waiting to hear about the potential contract job, then waiting for the outcome of my son's deposition next Friday. At that point I will either be moving in with him again and taking over the apartment if I get the job, or I will pack up and move to Missouri for a while. In either case, I'm not going to stay in my current roommate situation because frankly it's a mess.

Lissa did call late last night and I got a pretty good picture of how the deposition went, and I think it was good. Though I have not heard from my attorney as yet. I'm sure he is busy after flying out to Atlanta and back yesterday. But it would be really nice to have a word with him. Waiting, waiting, today is all about waiting. I'll break down and talk to Lisa shortly, before I talk to the attorney probably. After I do my morning chores.

It is hard to do the morning chores in this house. I've gone from the frying pan into the fire. First living with Little Bird and her ten foot high piles of junk to living with Crazy Girl and her collection of boxes that are on and around every available surface. When she asked me to move in with her and help with expenses I told her specifically that keeping the common living areas neat was a must. And that if she didn't unpack and stash the crap soon I would have to move out. Also, if she continued to have dealings with her abusive husband I'd have to move out. That was the agreement. You see, I get paid regularly and I'm responsible. I won't live under the threat of eviction or abuse. So I'm out of here, it is just a matter of when. I also warned her that I will not tell her or have any type of confrontation. I will just go.

Today I will finish up the tomato salad, walnuts, the two apples, one banana, and a bunch of carrots and radishes. That will be a fine meal for the day. When I take the paperwork over to my son's apartment I'll stop and get some fruit and a few veggies for the next few days, oh, and some lottery tickets. LOL

Ultra-Lightweight Backpacking

I haven't said much about my backpacking trip on Springer Mountain a few weeks back. I went with Brutus and some folks we often hike with. He has learned to fastpack but there were some new guys on that trip who were definitely condo-packers. I have a base pack of 8 lbs for a five day trip, with the addition of about 8 lbs of food, water, and clothing. That is a total of 16 lbs at the most and is about 11% of my body weight. You can do this if you take the truly essential items with you and are able to find water as you hike.

Here was a typical day on the trip for me. We got set up at a motel the night before so we could be fresh and ready for a five day fast-paced march. I had a banana and my usual half cup of coffee and water. I rinsed my series of sprouting bags, one per day. The first bag was ready to eat. We hit the trail at 6 am hiking the access road to the southern terminus of the AT. I stayed hydrated with my water bladder and was carrying a liter of water in two bottles. Those are my stop and cook bottles. I think it was about 3.5 lbs total in water weight. We stopped twice to eat and each time I noshed on raisins, nuts, and tasty crackers. When I'm hiking I'm not usually too hungry. It wasn't too hot and I didn't finish the bladder until we stumbled into camp 17 miles later.

The first thing we did in our division of labor is while Brutus put up our tent and started boiling water I used my two collapsible containers to get water and bring it back to camp. I like to sit around the "campfire" and filter water for the next day with company. I also am scrupulous about keeping the filtered water uncontaminated which is harder to do standing by the water source. So I refilled our bladders and six bottles of water. Brutus carries extra water because he's 6 feet and 190 lbs of muscular mountain man and a 40 lb base pack doesn't faze him. This way he can boil a lot of water at once while I obtain and filter our supply. He carries a big stove and fuel apparatus and a big covered pot. I found I like to bring two balanced containers of water to camp at one time, so we have some cleanup water before changing for bed. Camp discipline is very important. A nice quick scrubdown before wearing lightweight camp clothes makes for a relaxing sleep. I also carry a small squirt bottle to use for personal hygiene throughout the day. I'll let you do the math. Wink!

We generally use the boiling water to reconstitute a gourmet dehydrated meal, though I do plan to get away from needing to do that. We try to make the evening meal a relaxing and complete meal. A little tea or coffee is always nice, or hot chocolate. Brutus also carries a concentrated alcohol selection because he associates camping with getting buzzed and that can be fun. I've frozen beer in a reusable plastic bottle just to enjoy a brewski the first night. That was just as an experiment to see if I could, of course. >^;^<

Base Pack:

• Shelter - 3 lbs (hammock, bivvy sack, sleeping bag, silk liner)
  
• Water - 1 lb (Katadyn Hiker Pro, Sweet Water drops, collapsible containers, iodine tablets)
  
• First Aid - 0.5 lb (alcohol, peroxide, antibiotic, aspirin, Benadryl, ibuprofen)
  
• Electronics - 1.5 lbs (batteries, camera, radio/flashlight, headlamp, binoculars, varies)
  
• Tools 1 lb (duct tape, firestarting, etc.)
  
• Cooking 1 lb (Esbit stove, tablets, aluminum foil, titanium pot, plastic spoon & fork, plastic cups)

Extra Clothing for wash as I go (wearing and not counting boots, socks, underwear, zip pants, t-shirt, long-sleeved sweatshirt jacket, multi-purpose scarf, hat, compass, knife/gadget, bear spray, tummy pack):

• 1 extra pair socks & underwear
  
• Camp shoes - super super light!
  
• Light leggings and loose pullover for camp wear, protects against bugs and chills
  
• 1 extra zip pants, often using just one pair of interchangeable bottoms
• 1 extra t-shirt
• 1 extra multi-purpose scarf (use as towel, sweat rag, do-rag, etc.)

Personal Items in tummy pack:

• Contacts lens stuff & glasses
• Tissues
• Squirt bottle (portable bidet!)
• Book
• Bug spray and bug net for wearing over a hat
• Survival tin (functions as a mirror), has iodine, plastic bags, most of the first aid stuff
  
• Trash bag
• Firestarter
• Coffee, tea, chocolate, candies, snacks
• Vial of Dr. Bronner's for cleaning up
• Vaseline
• Chapstick
• Pet sized finger "toothbrush"
• Floss
• Book
• Batteries
  

The thing for me is that I don't really feel weight unless it is on my shoulders. So I wear a lot of survival stuff on my person, in pockets and in the tummy pack where I can get to it easily, plus a lumbar pack. I have the bear spray on my hiking poles, as well as a coil of rope for use when bear bagging my pack. Nothing stays in camp except water in a sealed container and a tiny case for my contacts. I use tiny vials, the 3 cc size, for my contact lens solutions and other liquids. I use tiny, tiny ziploc bags for things like vaseline and toothpaste. I also use a system where the equipment for each camp task is in its own stuff sack. So I'm only using one stuff sack's worth of stuff at a time, generally. I lash these stuff sacks on and around a good sized lumbar pack. I could carry 40 lbs around my middle without flinching (have been pg twice!), but strap it to my shoulders and I'll be bitching the whole way!

The survival tin has the last ditch gear needed if "god forbid" the lumbar pack got away from me by falling over a cliff or in a river. In reality I should be using it as my cooking pot, but it is still pretty pristine. I'm going to rethink everything I carry before going out the next time. I like to avoid backpacking during July and August and that is when I customize and rethink gear choices. My Kelty lumbar pack has a top that unzips into a combination backpack and lumbar pack. It isn't terribly comfortable because I have a short waist. So I will customize it for a better fit. I feel like it needs to be cinched in at my waist to take weight off my shoulders. I'll figure something out. The top part is light weight and I use it for extra food. The way I organize it, clothing goes into the water resistant lumbar pack section. The hammock and sleeping gear in their own stuff sacks is strapped to the bottom. Very light weight items go into the top.

What I really want is a multi-dimensional portal that would weightlessly store all my supplies and gear in a nether region that can neither be seen or touched without the portal. The portal would be a key into my own private inter-dimensional storage locker. What would be even nicer is if I could spend the night in a climate controlled dimension. I guess they call that Motel 6. Sadly...am gonna probably have to rough it again this year.

Frugal Frugivore

I'm actually still on my fruitarian summer diet as it is getting so hot--into the third day now. I spent about $6 at ACME yesterday and got a cantelope, two avocadoes, six nectarines, and two bananas. Everything was on sale. Yesterday I ate one avocado, tomatoes I already had, plus a handful of walnuts as a meal. I had half of the cantelope for breakfast, and then noshed on three nectarines and the broccoli and mung bean sprouts. I nibbled on the sprouts like I might have nibbled on bad stuff in the past. Also I finished off a big bag of cherries.

Today I made a tomato salad with the juice of one lemon to which I added some sprouts, one avocado, and shredded carrot. That's the dinner I just finished with half leftover to serve as tomorrow's dinner. For tomorrow I'll have the bananas for breakfast, then two apples and some almonds for lunch. I have not given up my morning cuppa' though I stopped having the non-dairy creamer. I did make a fresh pitcher of sun tea for my beverage only because that is what I'm accustomed to doing. It is hard breaking longtime habits. I can eat an entirely all raw, all fruit diet with just a few vegetables tossed in, but I'm not giving up beer, coffee, or teas just yet. I really enjoy them and do not drink any of these things to excess. I still feel quite full and satisfied eating only the fruits. I guess a hot spring/summer day is a good day to transition to an all raw fruitarian diet. Frugivore equals Frugal!

An interesting thing I've already noted is that it does not take a lot of fresh fruit to make me feel satiated and full. I expected that I'd need to nosh continually and eater a larger volume than I'm accustomed to. It seems that there is enough energy in the fruit to satisfy my need for nutrients. I think I'm observing the reaction that is expected. Eating cooked food requires eating a larger volume in order to get sufficient nutrition. Raw fruit is so inherently nutrient and calorie dense that smaller volumes are sufficient. Interesting...

I'm about ready to put more goodies on Ebay. Took all the pictures this morning, adjusted and uploaded them to my Seller Source Book account, and now I just need to plow through and write the descriptions and post them. I think most will be some one cent auctions for a week. That should generate interest in my jewelry for the rest of the week. It's nearly seven now. I'll make more jewelry tonight after I do today's listings. Then I'll spend tomorrow night listing the new stuff. You have to have a plan and then you have to work your plan!

Frugal Equals Frugivore

It finally came to me, the answer to a question or rather a dilemma in my life. In a manner of speaking I am in the process of downshifting. I yearn for a more mobile and less wasteful and costly lifestyle where I can avoid spending so much time at work. So I am pursuing a path to simpler living which for me encompasses frugality and at the very least a vegan diet. I've been vegetarian and semi-vegan for nearly thirty years and am renewing my commitment to be totally vegan. As I did a little inspirational research I stumbled upon a frugal diet that is based on our biological heritage as frugivores. Frugal=Frugivore, both from the Latin "frux". Interesting. Normally I thought of food in terms of what was I going to "cook" though a large portion of my diet consists of raw vegetables. I would eat fruit occasionally throughout the day. I knew raw foods are inherently better but like most Americans I am the product of my upbringing and my lifestyle had been busy, if not hectic. So I just did what I knew how to do.

I explored the idea of what a frugivore's diet would be in the natural world. For humans it consists of anything that a primate can get to, harvest, and consume in its raw state. Period. Biologically our bodies are the outcome of millions of years of evolution that culminates in our civilized state of having illness and disease as a "normal" part of life in a world of factory farms, cooked food, and vitamin supplements. Think how freeing it would be, to bring home some melons, avocados, peaches, nectarines, apples, berries, and an assortment of nuts to just graze upon at will. No meal planning, preparation, cooking, or cleanup. I know that psychologically I'm still going to want some hot drinks (not too hot!) and soups, a salad with lettuce and celery and carrots and peppers, and the occasional mushroom. But I think I can try this out for a week and see if it will sustain me both physically and emotionally. If this is successful then this will be the plan for van dwelling. It should save a lot of time and money. The hardest part will be giving up garlic, onions, oils, and hot peppers. Those form the basis of cooking and mostly have to cooked or combined with other foods in order to be palatable. It will be nice to get away from juicing, and most of the slicing and dicing needed to prepare foods to eat. I'll still make salads and cut my fruit into manageable portions, but it should be a lot easier than steaming rice and pressure cooking beans.

As a longtime vegetarian who has always eaten in a non-traditional and healthy way anyway, rest assured that I'm already well-versed in "where will I get my protein from?" as well as my Vitamin B-12. When I was a cooked carrion eater I had pernicious anemia and had to get B-12 shots at least monthly. When as a young adult I suffered from perpetual exhaustion I learned about vegan B-12 methylcobalamine supplements which helped somewhat. When I cut meat, fish, and dairy completely out of my diet and started eating raw vegetables from my garden I never had a problem with exhaustion again, plus I was able to stop the B-12 shots. And I do not believe in "meat substitutes". I'm long past needing or wanting to buy "veggie dogs".

The problem with protein is that Americans have been brainwashed to believe that only meat has protein. Forget food combining, a theory that NEVER had ANY scientific basis, just know this! ALL PLANTS HAVE PROTEIN! Yes, it's true! Carrots have protein, lettuce has protein, even strawberries have protein. The issue is threefold. First, eating animal based protein introduces toxins and waste into your body and you need to consume a lot of protein to get the little bit that you need. Second, eating purely vegetable based protein and excluding grains and legumes, you will be able to easily get the 5-6.5% of protein the human body needs, without having to process toxins and waste products. Third, by eating food that is less complex to digest you need less energy to get the same amount of protein the human body needs from less protein dense food.

My roommate and I are both 50 years old. She smokes, drinks excessively, and eats mostly meat, lots of dairy, and very little vegetable foods. The fridge is full of leftover takeout and defrosting meats that never get cooked because she is too tired all the time. I hike 5-7 miles daily, she hangs out in bars. When we do go out together she looks like a hardened 65 year old biker chick and I look like a fresh-faced 35 year old. She has high blood pressure, super high cholesterol and bad blood serums, varicose veins, heart palpitations, indigestion, migraines, deep wrinkles, puffy eyes with huge dark circles and bags.
She's been to the emergency room for the heart issues and high blood pressure a couple of times in the past six months. I have low blood pressure, no cholesterol, and none of the other problems typical for this age group. When she gets home from work I offer her salad with freshly made dressing, and whatever else I've made. But she has to fry up a slab of dead cow and that is all she will eat with her beer and cigarettes. Interesting...having been there myself I'm very sensitive to this style of eating and know I can't say anything to her. I can only get it off my chest in my blog. I just wish she'd notice that her diet is killing her and is making her look far too old for her age. Oh, Well!

I guess the experience of being laid low in an accident and then battling back physically makes me more aware of the need to be fit and healthy. I can't imagine having to take a pharmacy of medicines everyday in order to exist. It sure won't fit into a frugal, van dwelling lifestyle.

All this typing about food made me peckish, a state between hungry and bored. I polished off a handful of cashews, that is raw whole cashews I had stored in the freezer. So delicious they tasted like butter! Smooth and creamy. Yummo!

Chilling Out

I got through two interviews and now I'm chilling out, though I spent most of the day listening to Lissa whinge about the deprivations of having to do the deposition next week. She's a character. I know she has my back and at this point I'm going to relax and push through with my own short-term plans.

Today I'm getting a bunch of paperwork organized and hopefully will be able to purge more of it. The car is loaded up with the last of the miscellaneous stuff which I will sort and purge at the roommate's house. Then I think I'll just stay in tonight and work on Ebay stuff to list over the weekend. So nothing too earthshaking is going on. I have a vision of what I want to do and will just wait it out to see which way I'm going to jump. If I don't have a job after my son's deposition on the 29th, then I will let Crazy Girl know I'm leaving and I will sell my car, rent a van, pack up everything and the cats, and go to Missouri. I'll leave my "stuff" in a storage locker, put the Ebay store on vacation settings, and bring back the van because it is cheaper than doing the one-way. Then I'll hop Greyhound and head back to Missouri. That will allow me to save more money for the van a bit faster. This waiting is costing me money.

I may consider just taking the necessities in my car. I learned a long time ago not to plan for anything but just have multiple backup plans and the flexibility to jump in the best forseen direction.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!

Gag, snort, expell mucous, I have a damned job interview tomorrow. Just my luck I'll get the freaking job. Anyway, I could use $50 an hour for a few months to finish up some financial planning and to get the van of my dreams. Perhaps my accident case will settle while I'm working. Blech! I really don't want to work again. Face it, I'm not building a career or saving for a house anymore. I'm not getting retirement out of it, this is a contract job. I will be trading 45 hours of my precious time for $1650 a week after taxes and will probably hate every minute of it.

On the plus side I will be happy to have another freakin' reference and should probably spend my spare time building the website for my future software sales when I'm living in a van down by the river! But I want to be gone! I want to be in the van heading off to wherever. OK, responsible person that I am I know that if I live by my own rules for the next six months I could save $36,000 for use in getting ready for living out of my van. So I will put my silly butt to bed at midnight and set the alarm for 5:00 am. I will get up and groom myself and study .NET so that I sound like I freakin' care at the interview. I'm trading 45 hours of my time for an additional $3000 a month. What a whore! And my agency is the pimp. I really don't like living the life of an IT whore. So pray for me that this stupid contract five miles from my house will fall through! Wah, wah, wah!

I know, there are a lot of people who would kill to make the kind of money I am capable of making. The problem is that I don't want to work for anybody else but I don't have the money to put my own ideas into practice yet. What to do? I know, I'll scratch off my Pennsylvania lottery tickets and check on the Powerball drawing for today!

No luck, I lost $4 today. I guess I should go through with the interview. The reason I will do this is because I have to in order to be eligible for unemployment. So I really can't lose. Job equals $6k else UE and other activities equals $3.5k. Sigh....

I'm staying with Brutus tonight. It is 11:42 and he's been snoring for hours now. We had dinner at our favorite all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. As a vegan, I love sushi! I first learned about it when I lived in Hawaii. It's ok, sushi means "sweet rice" or "rice snack". It is sashimi that means raw fish. I eat avocado and veggie rolls with my own stash of Soy Vey! as the dipping sauce. Anyway, Brutus thinks I should get the job and move in with him. I think I should get the job and move in with him for six months. I wish he'd get with the program. LOL

Thou Shalt Not Lack Anything In It

Yummo! I just had the most delicious lunch. My tastebuds are Happy Happy! As a vegan, the things that most people think of as a side dish would make an actual meal for me, and yes, even vegans watch the Food Network. I had a sprout salsa with hummus, using carrots, celery sticks, and spinach rolls for the dippers. I had made a fresh vidalia onion and tomato salad yesterday, with fresh cilantro, and shredded carrots. I added a huge jar of sprouted mung beans with a handful of sprouted broccoli and let it sit in the fridge while I made the hummus. I had sprouted my garbanzo beans (about 20 cents worth) for several days, rinsing three-four times a day and picking out any that wouldn't sprout. The tails were about an eighth of an inch long so they were ready today. I brought some filtered water to a boil while I made a pesto of lemon, cilantro, fresh garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, and sesame seeds (tahini). I took the water off the burner and plunged the garbanzo bean sprouts into the hot water for one minute using a screened colander. Then I rinsed them quickly in cool water. I put the rinsed sprouts into my Bravetti, added the pesto, and gave it several spins until the consistency was just short of smooth. I like a meatier texture to my hummus. I put the hummus into the fridge to chill and made my spinach rolls by hand-rolling green leaf spinach, and cut my carrots and celery sticks. Threw it all onto a plate, grabbed some fresh-made lemonade sweetened with a smidgeon of brown rice syrup, and plopped down outside on the deck to savor the moment.

Dinner will be served with the same freshly made foods, plus a saute of bright green snap beans, mushrooms, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, in olive oil, over an extremely thin bed of brown rice. The green onions in the window look good. They'll make a great fresh garnish. I think a few pinions (pine nuts) would be good with the saute. I'll post pictures eventually. In the meantime I will reflect over this passage that is meaningful to me. Especially the part of "thou shalt not lack anything in it". Everything on the follwing list is vegan except for the honey.

For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks, of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not lack anything in it... And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord thy God for the good land which He hath given thee. (Deuteronomy 8:7-10)

I'm not a Christian but my motto is WWJE? I think it is ok to bring the reality of parts of the bible into the secular world. Read it or overlook my reasoning as you choose. And look for fresh local produce for the lowest cost in your area. It is always less expensive to eat a healthy vegan diet. This is part of my plan for van dwelling in simplicity, health, and abundance.

Paris Hilton Justice Denied

Paris Hilton is being vilified by virtue of the mob rule mentality of folks who are just plain ignorant about how their legal system works. All over the country it is routine to shorten the actual sentences handed down by judges. ROUTINE! Murderers, rapists, and pedophiles walk free after serving a fraction of their sentences, yet the mob insists that a young woman serve an unnecessarily cruel sentence because they hate her for being rich, young, beautiful, and promiscuous. In Salem women got burned at the stake so obviously nothing has changed in all this time.

I have a more balanced view because in spite of being everything she is not, I am not in the least bit envious of Paris Hilton. I think she should have received the typical weekend sentence that most people get for violating probation in a reckless driving situation. Of course I think the drunk driving laws don't do enough to take care of the safety issue, and the fact that the original charge is reckless driving shows that the system is flawed. I'm a member of MADD, I am responsible when I drive, yet all I would ask is that everyone get the same sentence until the laws are changed. Nobody should be unfairly singled out because others don't like them. That is not what America is supposed to be about. In every statement you hear or read about Paris Hilton try to substitute the words "someone", "a person", "he" or "him". This way gender bias, money bias, youth bias, and beauty bias shouldn't enter into it.

In typical situations like this one, the normal sentence is a weekend stay in the county jail for a first time offender. Then if someone violates probation the second time the sentence is about a week in the county jail. The third time they should be promised 30 days in lockup. In all cases, nobody serves the full amount of time if they behave themselves in jail.

My roommate's soon-to-be-ex-husband is currently driving around drunk on a suspended license after getting a DUI in Pennsylvania. He can actually petition the system to let him have the right to drive to and from work but has been too lazy to ask for that privilege. Paris Hilton could presumably have done the same thing in California. If the STBX here is caught he will most likely get a weekend sentence for a month. This is because the system likes for defendants to work so they can continue to pay exhorbitant fines.

So, instead of vilifying the defendant we should be trying to change the system so that it accurately reflects the consequences we expect as a society. And while we are at it, let's first fix the way we mishandle pedophiles, rapists, and murderers in the justice system.

Spring is Sprouting

I have pictures of the sprouts from yesterday and today and will post them soon. I spent most of today primping for my birthday celebrations starting tomorrow. Tomorrow I will see my sons and granddaughters, and of course the baby mama (wink). After that, Brutus and I have a night of carousing then the promise of camping under the stars. He's camping in Assateague, poor fool. The mosquitoes there are bigger than the Florida and New Jersey state birds combined. They will knock over the stunted ponies there to get a piece of you. I'm not camping at Assateague again, until I have a camper van ready for a night of air conditioning under the stars. It's not been too bad camping at French Creek in Pennsylvania. Even Springer Mountain a few weeks ago was relatively skeeter-free.

I also spent today putting stuff on ebay, making jewelry, and sorting out a lot of boxes of stuff I still harbor. I found more stuff to put on ebay and organized stuff so I can find it. Lisa called me from Atlanta. They served her with the subpoena today. She and Sam get depositioned on the 19th. We found that odd because Sam was not there when I got hurt. My son gets depositioned on the 29th. My nerves are shot, but if I can maintain my composure until after his deposition then I can find out my attorney's assessment of the proceedings and decide what to do next. Every single time I get a communication on the case I get a shot of adrenaline and the feeling of impending doom. But I will persevere. The case is not my life and my life doesn't depend upon the case. The case will give me a better van to live in, but I can get a van now if I'm willing to make do. I'm holding on, ditching my trash & stashing my cash. It will be ok.

Just got a text from my roommate and asked her to bring me back a six-pack of Heineken, the vegan beer. >^;^< I need to distract myself from the proceedings. If I could turn back the clock to the point where I got injured, I would have immediately upon getting out of surgery the first time sold everything I owned, including the house, filed for bankruptcy, and moved into a two bedroom apartment until I was fully healed. I wasted 7 years trying to get back on my feet trying to keep my former lifestyle. What a waste of effort! But, would I have learned anything if I hadn't gone through this? Hard to say. Hindsight is 20-20. But mostly we are just blind. It is said that most of us are a paycheck away from disaster. I see now that we are all a rent or mortgage payment away from disaster. As god is my witness, I'll never sign a lease or mortage loan application again!

Biblical Vegetarian - What is that?

Someone recently asked me to explain what a Biblical Vegetarian is. I don't think it is a real label that anyone else has coined. I use it to describe the basis for my personal vegetarian beliefs, for which I find some interesting basis in the translations of the biblical texts available today. I am a heathen and not a Christian, preferring to avoid the hypocrisy of organized religion. I believe that the moment you only believe what you are told, then you have turned your back on the higher powers that put you here to learn. How can you learn if you will only hear one voice and do no research of your own? I do believe in faith, and even an atheist has faith in their beliefs. Everyone should have faith. However, there is a lot to admire in the biblical stories that are attributed to the covenant and to the reformers of Judaism, particularly the reforms of Jesus, one of the many Jewish Christs (teachers) who tried to fulfill the prophesies and reform Judaism to bring it back to its roots. The old testament has a prescription for a healthy abundant life and that is a vegetarian one. You will find no evidence in the bible that Jesus ever ate any animal product. He told his disciples to get "meat" for the Passover meal, but the translation of "meat" was from words that merely mean provisions. Jesus did not eat lamb at the Passover meal. The last supper was prior to the Passover meal and Jesus taught us that he demands mercy and not sacrifice. He destroyed the moneylenders operation in the temple because he came to us to BECOME the Senechal Lamb, not to partake of it. Thou shalt not kill. Period.

Biblical texts demonstrate the earliest human histories in terms understood to the least educated of those times. There are some common threads that run through the explanations and I have been seeking them out since I was very young. The common theme is that we have free will and thus have choices to be made. Every choice you make leads you down a different fork in the road and thus has consequences. Every vegetarian will tell you that if forced to "explain" their choices they will be almost viciously attacked for them. It seems to be a visceral reaction. The early Christians were vegetarian and were also viciously attacked for them.
Well, you can attack and I expect it. But my beliefs are firm on the matter. The right choice is the humane choice. It is right for our bodies and our spirits to be humane. "I require mercy and not sacrifice." (Matthew 9:13 & 12:7). So, have a little mercy on vegetarians.

Remember, the bible never commanded you to eat meat. You make that choice and it shortens your life and destroys the world. You who eat meat even try to quote scripture and claim that it tells you it is "ok" to eat animal flesh. God commanded ten things of you. And when he created the earth he gave Adam and Eve every herb bearing seed on the face of the earth, and for us it would be for "meat". He said that is was good. He has never again said anything else was "good". It is understandable that those who lust for animal flesh would try to justify it, and even try to subvert God's word to do it. But, it is still a bad choice. The scientific evidence is in.

Strictly from a pragmatic viewpoint, the ecological footprint of a vegetarian is smaller than the equivalent in animal flesh that is raised on nearly 16 times the acreage. It takes more petroleum products, more chemical fertilizer, more antibiotics, more water, and creates more waste than simply growing and eating the plant energy directly without processing it through the alimentary canal of a bird or mammal. To take pragmatism even further, it has been scientifically demonstrated that eating a vegetarian diet is extremely healthful in comparison to eating animals. So take a broccoli chill pill and enjoy the fruits of the earth. It's so tasty, too!

Yankees

As a Southern girl transplanted amongst Yankee's, what I've observed is that their pursuits are fairly trivial. I haven't found much of substance here. The foods are boring, the conversation is banal, and only the vanities are discussed with much fervor. As in whose house is bigger, whose job is more important, and who gets the most respect for their dollar. I never really bought into that but now that I have lots of free time I'm noticing that I never missed much by working all the time. There is nothing much holding me here now. Just the accident case and one friend who hasn't moved away yet. We are suddenly finding ourselves getting closer than ever now that her move back to California is imminent. She has asked me to come along but I need to keep plodding on this path for awhile longer. I told her it may be quite soon when I am parked in her driveway for a spell. In any case I have suddenly realized that I have never been friends with a Yankee. So I guess it isn't going to happen now.

Purposeful

A picture of plenty: beans, lentils, grains, cous-cous, sprouters, and more:


I'm back from the errands and just chilling out with some ice water and two juicy nectarines. Though I'm attempting to be a good vegan I have to admit that nectarines being a mutant fruit are probably not in accordance with my biblical vegetarian beliefs. I didn't say I was a perfect biblical vegetarian but my flesh and spirit are willing--it is my judgment that is weak. They looked so good and smelled yummy at Redner's. I tried to find the sprouted wheat bread, but they didn't have any. So all I got were the vidalia onions, bananas, nectarines, and plum tomatoes. I diced all six of the fairly large tomatoes into tiny chunks, added four shredded carrots and half of a vidalia onion. Over that I squeezed the juice of two lemons and added a few tablespoons of cold-pressed grapeseed oil and a smidgeon of Celtic sea salt crushed in the mortar. A bowlful of that with crushed walnuts and fresh squeezed lemonade made a dandy meal. I'll have it again twice tomorrow, for lunch and dinner. If I was outdoors I could rinse my knife and cutting board from a jug of water.

On a mobile homeless group I once described my favored diet and was asked how on earth could I manage such a thing. Isn't it expensive to eat fresh food? No, it's not. I spend about $4 a day on food, and $3 of that is on fresh produce. The other $1 is used to buy nuts, grains, beans, and lentils. I buy beans and lentils in bulk because they keep fairly well in a cool, dry place. I keep nuts, grains, and rice in a cooler or fridge. I also keep sesame and grapeseed oils in the fridge so they don't go rancid before I can use them. I also buy about $100 worth of sprouting seeds each year in order to produce my own fresh sprouts on a daily basis. Everything you need is in a blade of grass and in the herb bearing seed thereof, or so I've heard. I heard that someone said "it is good". Wheat, rice, and corn were domesticated from the world's grasses. If you sprout nuts, beans, and grains, that action releases more of their nutritional goodness, and it limits the amounts of protective enzymes and toxins that are nature's way of protecting the seeds. All over the world cultures routinely soak nuts, grains, and beans before preparing them. We have lost sight of that in the West. Living foods, sprouted and fresh is the optimal way to consume nutrients for good health and energy.

A typical day for a health and budget conscious vegan would start with some fruit and perhaps a handful of nuts. Rinsing the sprouts is a daily task, at least twice a day. I usually have three to six jars to rotate. Any that have grown to the right size can go into the fridge to retard their growth--they are still wonderfully alive and full of vitamins and enzymes. For second breakfast a small bowl of a produce salad from the day before would be refreshing, along with a handful of sprouts, with a freshly made lemonade. For lunch, saute a little fresh onion and garlic in olive oil and add carrots and spinach at the last moment. Then stir in some brown basmati rice and walnuts and finish it off. I like to add a little hoisin sauce sometimes, or a little Soy Vey. Second lunch is an early supper. Some rice and beans with chili seasonings in a real corn meal tortilla, with fresh vidalia onion and spinach for a topping. On the side, some leftover tomato salad and an ice cold Heineken (if it is in the budget). The rice and beans are cooked once a week, salad and lemonade are made daily, and the sprouts are rinsed and drained at least twice a day. It isn't hard, clean up is a breeze, and it would be very easy to do the same thing in a situation where one is living out of a vehicle.

In a vehicle, substitute a cooler for a fridge and buy ice every other day. Use a propane or a hobo stove and cook your rice and beans outside once a week. I have worked out my setup from past experience living out of my Ford Expedition while traveling on business once upon a time. A small fold up table makes a great work surface outside for prep work and cooking. Cook at a park, people will think you are having a picnic. Obviously you won't be cooking in a Walmart parking lot, I hope! And shopping with that $3 a day is done in 2-3 visits to the store each week. You look out for the best deals, which could be avocados one day and lemons and carrots the next. Carrots keep easily for a week, as do most root vegetables. I avoid potatoes because cooking them is a pain, unless I'm making soups or stews. I go to a produce co-op to get the best price I can on everything, but will also visit local stores.

So, instead of feeling bad about my circumstances and being anguished over the legal matters surrounding my accident, my purpose is to offer up what little I've learned about being flexible, resilient, and healthy on a limited budget under stressful circumstances. I've been a budget counselor for Army Community Services a long time ago when I was a young wife of a military man. I've been a single mom who learned to squeeze Lincoln until he cried out for mercy. I don't yearn for the expensive things in life, I yearn for simplicity and realism. I know that a homeless person without a vehicle can't follow any of my tips successfully. I know that most vehicularly housed folks won't be able to do it unless they have the resources and the purposefulness required. But, like me, there are people who don't fall into homelessness willy-nilly, but are purposeful. I've spoken to people who have seen it coming and planned for living in their vehicles. If you read the internet blogs and articles you'll soon learn that you would be living a life of stealth and planning. It is not the freedom of the road if you are without resources and remain isolated from the world. I am planning purposefully and judiciously so that I may enjoy a little of the freedom I hope to gain by not being tied to the grid for communication or a roof over my head, or even for a job.

The grid isn't inherently bad, but the false sense of security in the city, the suburbs, and in a job no longer suits me. I'm not going to be forced to live in my car through lack of foresight. I'm planning on living "out of" a van. Yes, I can sleep in a van but I've also slept under the stars on the Appalachian Trail. I can get by with an eight pound base pack weight on an overnight hike, but I'm not opposed to keeping my necessaries stored in a mobile closet. I don't want to wake up after a night in the van to trudge down city streets looking for a cup of tea. I can make that in my vehicle today. So if you are reading this post just keep in mind that purposefulness can help you plan and adapt and cope with just about anything. Alway know why you do what you do.

Here are some pictures of my setup for sprouting. The first picture is the organization of the sprouting seeds I like. You can see by the number of jars that sufficient variety is not a problem. The second picture shows two mason jars that I am using for mung bean sprouts and broccoli sprouts. I just opened a new package of broccoli seeds, enough to last a few years.

Malfeasance

Whatever you do, don't ever get hurt. As soon as you are injured your life is not your own. I'm in midst of malpractice hell and it has nothing to do with the excellent medical care I've received. It was the deliberate act of an officer of the court that put me in this unwieldy financial predicament. Now I'm in the midst of a process that consists of paperwork and depositions ad infinitum ad nauseum. Now they want to deposition my son--again. I'm trying to keep my real life separated from the case so I am not going to be able to share what I'm planning with my son. We can't have him revealing the true extent of my flakiness by accident. I have to treat this process as though it will go to trial and I can't allow them to "try the victim". My attorney called with three dates for my son's second deposition. I'm waiting for my son to call me back to discuss it. Oh, Well! It is what it is. I have to live through it, like I did childbirth and all those surgeries. I need a Valium, but will settle for a St. John's Wort capsule and a beer.

I plan to work on listing things on Ebay until about 7 pm, then I'll run errands and drop off some mail and check the PO Box. I always feel threatened when I get a contact in regards to the accident case and I need to work on guarding against those feelings. My security is NOT threatened. I can run away any time I want to. The most vulnerable time will be when I've sold the car and before the van is ready. I think I should just sell everything now. There is still a lot of stuff that I shouldn't be harboring. Today I'll sell the larger collectibles and try to get all the miniatures listed by 7:00. I'll make jewelry when I get back tonight.

Beautiful Day

The weather in Pennsylvania is almost typical of the eastern coast and central parts of Florida. It gets hot and humid often. Today it must be up to 83 degrees and feels hotter because of the humidity. There is a haze over the day. But, I still think it's beautiful! I have very few tasks to do and only one or two are actually important, to me. The downsizing is going exceedingly well, but my car is full of work related stuff I need to organize upstairs in my bedroom, and I have that half unloaded. The laundry needs to go into the dryer. The cats are done. The kitchen needs clearing and cleaning. And I may go run some errands. Actually, I have to go to the post office before 4:00 pm. Brain called me this morning to ask for money to fix his brakes. I'm sending some checks to his mom, one for the brakes and the others to hold just in case. I have some excess supplies to return to the craft stores, and I may play trivia after I get some lottery tickets for Power Ball tonight. I too worship and pray at the Power Ball god's temple. Hey you can't play if you don't win, I mean you can't win if you don't play! >^;^<