Employer Confidentiality

Picture this ... let's say you work for the city of Philadelphia school system. One day you learn that your employer has called the city of Camden school system and faxed over your employment application and resume. They tell the city of Camden that you are looking for work. Would you be horrified or upset or even angry about that breach of confidentiality? Well, that just happened to me. I've mentioned here that I'm on unemployment, but actually I work a few days here and there online for the last client I worked for via an IT agency. So I might work for five days one week then collect unemployment the next. I'm also looking for similar work in my field so I've got all the bases covered regarding the "looking for work" angle, plus I'm relocating, which is part of my personal plan in life. Well, the twit that kept me from getting paid several times at the agency took it upon himself to send my resume to his friends and proceeded to tell them that "she is having a hard time finding work." That is slander because it is NOT true. He has no idea what I'm doing to obtain employment and in fact his "help" can actually hinder my efforts.

By telling anyone in the industry that I am "having a hard time finding work" he has made me appear "desperate" which is the surest way to prevent me from being able to work with other agencies or recruiters. A person having a hard time finding work is usually labeled as a problem. I'm already over fifty and have that little matter of gender to surmount. If I had serious intentions of staying in the field in the Philadelphia area I'd be blacklisted, if I'm not already. Usually I get lots of job opportunities coming my way but since the twit started "handling" me I've had the poorest and most meager opportunities and they've been dangled like carrots to keep me "interested." Now I see the pattern. He has taken it upon himself to decide my fate in the IT industry. This is a pup who just graduated college about six months ago and has no IT industry experience. That's ok, I am gathering the evidence now and he is being duly handled.

>^;^<

Drama

Our nerves are pretty much shot this morning. For the most part Mavis and I have done a good job of managing Brain and the four children so that drama is kept to a minimum. But this morning the baby mama drama intensified. This is the woman who is bipolar but will not take her meds. She is paranoid without cause, has dropped the children in their father's lap within days of them living with her in every single case, but suddenly feels nostalgic and motherly when she calls the trailer at 7:00 am and is told the children are sleeping. This is a household where the adults work late hours and it is set up during the summer so that the children don't wake before 9:00 am. It is critical that we all get our rest so we can function. Now the baby mama wants to come get all the kids. Great! If you do will you just keep them already? Instead she calls during the work day and demands that daddy leave his job and come to get them when she can't handle them. I'm a staunch defender of custodial parents, and they don't always have to be the mama. Brain is a good father and was the stay-at-home parent when they were born because she preferred to work and couldn't handle them then either.

Get this! She has no car, no drivers license, and is homeless. She stays with her 22 year old boyfriend at his parents' trailer, along with their daughter and her two children. We have it bad with four kids and three adults, and Mavis and I will move into our own trailer this weekend. There they would have five adults and six children under the age of ten in a smaller three bedroom trailer. I'd like a vote please. Should the four boys stay in a three bedroom trailer that is clean and organized, is safe and well provisioned, with their father who is working and has five great sitters lined up,and who cooks meals and spends time with them? Or should they stay in a tiny three bedroom trailer with their mother, her boyfriend, his sister, her two kids, and the boyfriend's parents, where the mother sleeps all the time, doesn't work, fights with her boyfriend's sister, and doesn't cook or spend time with the kids? Hint: all four boys want to live with their father. Daddy lets the baby mama visit the children anytime they want and has invited the baby mama and her boyfriend to one of the boy's birthday party next week. He just asks that she call at reasonable times, not 7:00 am or midnight, and that she plan the visits and give him a day's warning. In fact he does not want custody, he wants the kids to have a stable home environment, to go to school well dressed and well fed, and to live where there is no screaming and yelling.

Well, it doesn't matter because he is getting an emergency order for temporary custody ASAP. It has to be done to protect the kids. Mom needs to go to the psych ward for awhile, which is where she goes when she attempts suicide several times a year. Sheesh!

I put this type of post under "Drama" because I am only watching, from a distance. I don't want no drama!

New Life

I've been busy making a new life in Missouri. The weekend was spent getting away from it all in the Ozarks, and I had a lot to get away from already. I did some impromptu car camping and made some jewelry while sitting at a lake. I put up my folding table that I got for two bucks at a thrift store, covered it with a gorgeous gold suede look cloth found for fifity cents, and spread out my work. I had several customers come up to see what I was doing and who browsed my selections and kept me company while I worked. I made eighty dollars over two days. That was awesome because I wasn't really trying to sell anything. I keep the prices at ten to fifiteen dollars, and up to twenty dollars for a full set with a necklace, earrings, and a matching charm bracelet. I'm getting lots of requests for rings to match so I'll have to figure out a good source for ring bases to glue charms onto them. This set with just a pendant necklace and matching dangle earrings went for twenty-five dollars because I was reluctant to part with it. I planned to give it to a friend. But, I have enough glass beads to make four more sets so this was money well earned. It is made with silver chain and silver plated findings, so it's not a shabby set. And it took me less than an hour to assemble the pieces for the first time. I judge it will take me about 20 minutes to reproduce the design.

As to what I needed to get away from, well we are now seven in a three bedroom trailer or mobile home. It is fairly large, but Marie has the master bedroom, Brock has the next largest room, and he now has all four of his sons (10, 8, 4, 3) in the smallest room. I have the living room. We came to an understanding on Friday. If you come into the living room and wake me up you are going to be shown to Daddy's door. And that isn't something they desire to do first thing in the morning. So they quietly play with a video game and then dress and come out and make their breakfast. By that time I'm showered and dressed and my bedding is stashed.

The really good news is that on Friday, Marie and I went out and got a small trailer to rent for $325 a month. Brock will take over the bigger trailer. We'll probably live semi-communally because he is going to need our help to establish a household and raise the kids on his own. By that I mean that I will probably babysit a few evenings week at the big trailer. We'll all use the washer and dryer at the big trailer, and I'll keep the DSL on for internet access at both places. The trailer should be ready in about a week. I will furnish my half of the trailer with a normal height air mattress in the bedroom and an el cheapo dresser if I find one at the thrift stores or a yard sale.

Well, I have an hour to get dressed and wrap some Ebay stuff to mail. I want to be out of the house before the Jehovah's Witness bible study starts. So I'm going to get busy and finish up as fast as I can!

Milestone

Today is a milestone. I've reached the 10 day mark of being in Missouri, totally homeless, but happily couch surfing. I've hooked up with the Universalist Unitarians here and have met some Jehovah's Witnesses and just kept quiet and observed. That was interesting. I have realized that people stop searching for the truth once they've reached their comfort level. They do not want to learn anything further and it's not helpful to agitate them with pertinent questions or anything that distracts them. That was a very big milestone for me in my personal journey. I've been so incessantly busy throughout my life that it is pleasant to be idle and allow my thoughts to roam. The discipline of raising a family and providing for them is becoming a more distant memory. Yesterday was spent writing. Just writing. The book is fleshing out nicely. I have it outlined and the characters are interestingly enough that I dreamt about them. I woke up with more ideas which I plotted out and now I'm ready to just live the rest of today.

I sold a lot on Ebay yesterday and that is the first order of business, to fill the orders and wrap the items to mail. I was hoping to mail out the rent check for July for the crazy roommate situation in Pennsylvania, but the balance in my checking account doesn't reflect the unemployment check yet. I think their system is not working because I had trouble getting to the website. No matter. I could pull cash out of savings but I prefer not to. I'm planning to work at a job that pays minimum wage to keep me busy and to earn the allowed $208 extra each week when one is unemployed. I have no qualms about accepting unemployment because it is another bugger flicked at the system. I worked all my life and then the health insurance and the legal system not only failed me, but they actively harmed me. I won't allow that again. And the employment system is flagging me as too old to work at any job that pays well or has benefits. I have feelers out for contract work here, but would rather not at this point. I have a lot of things to accomplish.

So I'll live out today, make jewelry, run errands, mail products, and have a delightful time with two young people. We "cook" every day and they just realized last night that we never cook with any meat. I told them about being a vegetarian and what it means to our world and our animal friends. You see, children are not generally exposed to the harsh reality that the lump of grey or white chewy stuff on their plates used to be a creature that hopped, and flew, and ran around the house, like the cats, the dog, the hamster, and the birds. If you put a toddler in a playpen with a rabbit and an apple she will pet the rabbit and eat the apple. If you put a kitten in a playpen with a rabbit and an apple she will attack the rabbit and play with the apple. There is really a natural order to things. I'm playing with a cup of coffee right now and plan to attack a cantelope for breakfast in a few minutes. Now that's the natural order of things!

What do you do all day?

What do I do all day? Well, mostly I follow a set of priorities in life. Shelter, food, trash, dishes, clothes, cats, and income producing projects. Then I tackle paperwork, helping others and getting involved in the community, then on to fun stuff like playing trivia, hiking, camping, and biking. I usually knock off around 6 pm on a busy day, whether I'm "done" or not. Because you should always live by some type of routine. I'm currently working on a book and you can be sure that global warming, healthcare, and the nuts currently residing in Washington will be well represented. I'm also working on a technical book in my field. Sort of an old-timers take on the modern "agile programming" concept. I've seen it all, from the waterfall methodology to RAP (rapid application prototyping), sometimes known as RAD (rapid application development). RAP is my thing. So I have a full life, in spite of being homeless, unemployed, and poor. I've decided that homelessness is my mission and my community outreach is through any of the social justice projects of the Universalist Unitarian Fellowships that I align with. Please though, I pray that I can get through a bible study with Jehovah's Witnesses without biting my tongue in half. I'm working on being more tolerant of quasi-christians in all their varied and perplexing forms.

Couch Surfing

I do like couch surfing. All my life I have had an uncanny ability to sleep anywhere, any time, and any place. Like an orangutan I make my bed wherever I go. So I've been couch surfing for an entire week here in Missouri. The only thing odd about it are the tiny birds who aren't sure if they should wake me up or not. These are Marie's grandsons, who are very polite little men, responsible, and alert. They've had to be because they were raised by wolves, though we can see them relaxing and coming into their own personalities now. They have a room in the trailer, along with their dad. I helped him get out of jail and advise him on getting on his feet. Marie and I are pushing him along to get his own place by August 1st. I'm fronting the cash for that, then I'm taking the back bedroom for myself.

So far we have obtained a student desk and a matching two drawer module in white for $12 at a thrift store. I got a very nice formica topped table with tall 70's style round tapered legs for $5 at another thrift store. It is all set up for my laptop, printer/copier, and my jewelry supplies and tools. So far I've sold 15 items on Ebay this week and I've made Marie a custom necklace and two earring sets for her favorite turquoise outfit. I'm afraid that when the Jehovah's Witness bible study occurs here this afternoon that I may have more "orders" for custom jewelry. It is a poor area here and I'm not sure they can afford me. But, we shall see. (I'm not really that worried. I like to make jewelry and I keep my inventory moving, trust me.)

I found an obnoxious $14.99 charge pending on my checking account and tried to call the number. But they aren't open until noon. That's weird. I cannot even remember what the other $14.99 was for a month ago. Now that I have a decent new laptop I'll keep track of these things in Outlook. For now I plan to deal with it this afternoon. I searched all my e-mail and can't find anything about it. WTF?

The morning routine is simple. Coffee and read a fun book, morning constitutional with said book in the bathroom, wash hair, shower, dress, and grooming. Then start laundry, fold up and stash my bedding, pack away the toiletries, clean up my area, take care of the cat's litter pan and vacuum up the debris, put away dishes, trash out, and bring in Ebay wrapping supplies. Then wrap all the Ebay items and return the supplies to the car when I take the packages out. Then bring in some paperwork and root through that for a bit, gathering things to mail back to son and friends, prep some correspondence to mail, and etcetera. That should eat up most of the morning. Then around noon I'll decide to either stick around for the bible study or leave for the post office and perhaps other errands. I do want to fit in a bit of job searching, but there is no hurry. DAMN! We just had an incident here. It felt like something huge fell inside the trailer or there was an explosion outside. Marie just got up and informed me that it was probably something going on at Ft. Leonard Wood. But, that is over thirty miles from here. Sheesh!

Anyway, I could observe the bible study and decide if I should stay and make them uncomfortable or should I go into town then. Probably I'll stay and mess with them. Tee Hee!

Well, the chores aren't going to do themselves so I'm off for a bit.

Health and Wellness in a Nutshell

I want to say I don't understand illness, but I do. After being around people who are chronically ill I understand that it is absolutely the choices one makes that contributes to either health and wellness or to chronic illness. Period. No excuses.

I know someone who has MRSA and RSD-CRPS. She gave it to herself. When she was first injured I tried to help her. She was hysterical about how the system was mistreating her in regards to Worker's Compensation. That's a given. It is how you handle it that is the measure of your health. Instead of relaxing a bit, and making better choices regarding nutrition and lifestyle habits, she drank pots of coffee, chain smoked like a steamboat, and focused only on herself and her issues. I begged her to stop the coffee and the cigarettes, and to please at least eat some fruit and take some B vitamins. RSD affects the nervous system. When my ankle shattered I suffered from RSD symptoms too. I decided to be well instead. I used a dry washcloth to force my skin to accept touch and desensitize the creepy crawlies. I gave up caffeine, a nervous system stimulant, and I focused outside of myself. There are three things we must have to be healthy. Sleep, rest, and relaxation is number one. Pure fruit and some vegetables is number two. And exercise is number three. That is all we need to be healthy. The human body is in charge of its own health and only needs these three things to accomplish it.

Orthopedists can also be quite useful in helping the body repair bones in a way that preserves function, as long as they do not prescribe narcotics, ice, or sloth. RSD was first diagnosed during the Civil War when soldiers were treated with narcotics, ice, and bed rest. Voila! RSD, reflexive sympathetic dystrophy. Take that to the hospital for unnecessary surgery and you have got yourself a lasting case of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

My friend in Missouri is the opposite. She is 57 years old and holds down a job and supports her son and grandchildren. She is a no-nonsense, no excuses type of person. No alcohol, no cigarettes, one cup of coffee in the morning, lots of fruits and vegies, and only a little meat or a cinnamon roll a few times a week. She has no health insurance, and only goes to the doctor if a sinus infection won't resolve on its own. She has a Scottish heritage but doesn't eat a Scottish diet, so the doctor is happily astounded that she has no issues with diabetes, high blood pressure, or cholesterol. She is active, involved, and focuses outside of herself while still enjoying a rich inner personal life. When we talk on the phone we talk about the kids, the fur babies, and how jobs and finances are going. We talk about bible study or giving donations. And we talk openly about how we feel about things, then we go on. Health is a choice!

Those aren't the only examples I've seen. My mother smoked over three packs of cigarettes a day and died young from emphysema. My father ate nitrite laden foods, smoked, drank, and died of pancreatic cancer. We weren't allowed to discuss environmental issues in our house. Yah, right! If we pretend it isn't a problem, maybe it will go away.

My choice today is to eat my fruit for breakfast with a fresh squeezed lemonade. Then I'll have a bowl of steamed squash and zucchini for lunch after we tramp the yard sale circuit. Dinner tonight will be the usual tomato and avocado salad, with vidalia onions, diced cucumber, and mung bean sprouts. Maybe we'll pick up some farm fresh produce at a roadside stand or two. I want to be healthy and enjoy life every day. I want others to get it, too.

Please take a broccoli chill pill and make yourself well! Honestly, I don't get a single dime for suggesting that people eat fresh produce, while the junk food manufacturers are making billions of dollars at the same time the pharmaceutical companies are making record profits. Neanderthin diet book gurus make millions, yet millions still fail to maintain a healthy weight. You do the math. In Shanghai, women who eat the traditional Western diet of manufactured foods that is heavy on meats and sweets get breast cancer at rates not seen in in the population that eats the traditional vegetable-soy-fish diet. You are indeed what you eat.

More Tidying Up

See the "hoopty car" the "hoopty cat" on the "hoopty road". >^;^<

While couch surfing at my old roommate's house we got her hair colored, visited and enjoyed each other's company, did some shopping, and worked out several survival scenarios for me. I finally got the car loaded up with everything I absolutely needed to run my online business and conduct personal business. The car was divided into six zones. The trunk was one zone and contained the jewelry making tools and supplies, camping/survival equipment, shipping supplies, and miscellaneous stuff crammed into the available space. The backseat was three zones that housed paperwork, Ebay items to sell and listed, and the electronics. That would be the laptop, printer, lighting, postal scale, extra camera, and such. The backseat also contained a box of stuff for my friend in Missouri that I'd stored for her for years, plus five full boxes of dolls and props and items to sell. I'd say I managed to cram my poor little Ford Escort with at least $4000 worth of saleable items. As I drove I was making $60 per day on the Ebay site.

In the passenger seat I had three more boxes crammed in, plus a litter pan, scoop, and a huge animal cage that was broken down so that Spike could sit up high in the pan looking at the traffic and scenery whizzing by. I have some great pictures to upload, however I just bought a new laptop and no software for the camera so that will be a separate project sometime today.

I got on the road around 5:00 pm Sunday night. I made it past Wheeling as I headed west on 70, then I stopped for the night at the 350 mile point. I roughly estimated that there was another 650 to make on Monday. It was more important to get on the road and stop for a rest by 11:00 pm. I stayed at a Red Roof Inn which is pet friendly. Being somewhat organized I brought in the litter pan, Spike and his food and water dishes, my pillow and bag, and the map and directions. I even carry a water heater to make my coffee in the morning. I cleaned up, popped a Benadryl, and sacked out. In the morning I was able to hop out of bed refreshed and rested by 8:00 am. By 9:00 Spike and I were on the road. The car did great and by 9:00 pm I was at the house. I was sweating out the condition of the car the entire trip.

It was great seeing Marie, Brock, and two of the grandkids. These were the quiet ones, thank goodness. I got a load of the younger grandkids a few days later and that was a shock to the system! I'm glad they are staying with their mother, while the two older boys are staying with Brock in the trailer. All last week I worked on my projects and supervised the boys while grandma and daddy were at work. I never heard a word about the potential contract jobs in Philly so the plan now is to take some temp or Walmart work here and earn the $208 a week allowed while still collecting unemployment. Between that and Ebay I should be able to make over $4000 a month with expenses now of just $400. That should certainly help me buy a van by the end of October. It would be nice if the accident case would settle, but I will no longer rely on that.

It is a beautiful Saturday morning. I think we are all going shopping for a cheap computer desk for me to set up a permanent workplace. I expect we will find something for about $20-30. That and a fold-up chair should work fine. So there is nothing much else to share. I have loads of paperwork to finish sorting and handling, and am ready to push major items onto the Ebay store on Sunday. I did find a Universalist Unitarian Fellowship in the area and will try to get to a service on Sunday morning. That may be a good way to network for jobs, vans, and free zucchini and squash. Plus I enjoy doing good works. I see now that homelessness and social justice appear to be my personal missions.

Still Tidying Up

Wow! I got out on Wednesday night after selling the sleep number bed for $375 cash to a very nice young man. We laid on the bed together to get the air out of the inner chambers and just chatted about moms and sons, pouncing on good deals on Craigslist, and working with computers. I was sweating it out a little that the bizarre and crazy roommate would come home and there would be a scene. But she never showed up.

It was a hot, humid, enervating day. I moved out in stages. The first stage you couldn't tell anything was gone and the car was crammed full of my craft organizer drawers, bags or crafts, and other miscellaneous items. The second trip consisted of the two sets of white plastic drawers, perfect for my van one day, plus nearly all of the Ebay items, jewelry business supplies, and every single thing that is important to me. The kitchen still looked like nothing was touched, the AC, TV, and bed were still set up, and the bathroom things were in place. Someone would have had to search my bedroom to glean my plans. But the kitchen cupboard that I used was M-T! Is that stealthy or what? LOL

After Dan came and got the bed, and after we loaded it into his teeny, tiny car, I cleaned the basement, bathroom, and kitchen. Then in order of importance I loaded the car. I didn't get any serious bites for the TV or AC, so I ran them over to my old roommate's house to give to her. She has the cats for me--a real friend! Then I made one last run back to the house for last minute stuff. I actually forgot my bathroom scale and a USB cord for my printer. Dang it! But I was out of there and felt so happy and free for the first time in months. I sang and giggled all the way back to Little Bird's house to spend the night. I told the crazy roommate in a text message the next morning that I was driving the cats to Missouri--all true except for the exact details of when.

As it turned out I couldn't make the trip happen on Thursday as hoped. It was incredibly hot and I was feeling poorly from the stress, the heat, and the lack of good nutrition, and just couldn't get moving. I actually ate nothing on Wednesday which didn't help. It felt like I was getting a cold or sinus infection so I loaded up on fruit and started to recover Friday night. I did a few more loads Friday and was still moving things into storage on Saturday morning. I spent four hours at my son's apartment just going through paperwork and finding his tax information. I threw away four huge garbage bags of paperwork and consolidated everything. My son and I went over his list of paperwork things to do and prepped for his court date Tuesday for a traffic ticket. Then I loaded up the car with more things to give Little Bird and headed over to her house to spend the night.

We went out to dinner last night and watched several episodes of The Rifleman. She gets such a kick out of the phallicly charged opening scene where Chuck Connors is rapidly firing his specially engineered rifle. It is the money shot that makes all grandmas' hearts beat faster. We often wonder if they knew what it looked like when the series was filmed. That little smirk on Chuck Connors face tells me that he knew exactly what he was doing. Heh heh.

So now it is Sunday and I'm still not on the road to Missouri. And I didn't win anything on PowerBall for July 7, 2007. Shoot! It is 8:45 am and Little Bird won't be up for hours. I'll dress and unload the car, and then work on my son's taxes with a nice cup of coffee. Around noon I'll go to his apartment and load my basket of clothes, box of toiletries, and whatever. I'll stuff food into the nooks and crannies of my trunk. Then it's back to Little Bird's house to color her hair and try to load my boxes into the back seat. Anything that won't fit is getting wrapped and addressed to mail to Marie's in Missouri. Little Bird will hold those boxes until I get to Missouri and know for a fact that I do NOT have a job. If I have a job there is no reason to mail anything out there. Then when the car is loaded and I've eaten a veggie burger for lunch, Spike the big fat kitty will be put into the car and off we'll go. It is a 983 mile trip, the beginning of it on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a long, boring ride. And oh joy, it is the end of a major vacation week and the start of a major heatwave. It isn't getting any better this week. Oh, I have to remember to do some errands today on the way to and back from Dawg's apartment. Close safe deposit box at the bank, return item to Walmart and buy some necessities, see if the Mailboxes Etc place is open today or not, and check the PO box. And leave some envelopes for Dawg to mail my mail to me. Whee!

This is why I'm not on the road yet. LOL

Tidying Up

I think my roommate is starting to get the picture that there is something wrong with this picture. I went to bed early last night because I'm going to be super busy moving out today while she is at work. I woke up to find that the crappy shelves in the dining room have been cleared off and one of the three crappy shelves got moved to the basement. It is too late, of course. Earth Mother is moving on.

Yesterday morning my lithe old bod was wrapped in a very sheer, gauzy little robe that left next to nothing to the imagination. It was about 7:00 am and I was at the computer downstairs in the dining room. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and assumed it was her, but the masculine voice that said "good morning" scared the crap out of me. I was debating how best to permanently disable him when the owner of the voice staggered into the kitchen to help himself to my private stash of Heineken from the fridge. I took that brief moment to log everything off and dash upstairs where I locked myself in my room and quickly dressed. It is easier to disable an attacker when one is fully clothed. I didn't want to accidentally knock myself out with a stray boob or something.

It turns out that she brought him home around 2:30 am after a drunken debacle at the local tavern where she plays pool and moons over the abusive ex-husband-to-be. She dates the owner there when not picking up strangers. She was still drunk when she had to get up for work yesterday and was still hung over when she got home last night. She makes it so easy for me to leave without a trace. I was going to offer to help her with the August rent, but that offer is off the table now. Her bad decisions have put me at personal risk. There have been two strange men in the house in the past week alone, not to mention the fact that her abusive husband accosted me in a public place. She is still mooning over him and has been at his house at least three nights a week since we moved in together. All it will take is another drunken, maudlin decision to bring him here for a boinking and then what am I supposed to do? She can take the abuse, I don't have to!

Unbelievable! I stopped at my old roommate's house yesterday, where she at least is trying to fix things in her life and has never put me or anyone else into any kind of danger. We had an interesting chat about this situation. Anyway, will add more later. It is nearly 7:00 am and I want to get showered and dressed, clean out my car for loading stuff, and clean the kitchen and basement. I want to get this done before the dingbat gets up and staggers off to work on the 4th of July. I'm not sure how much time I will have to get out today. I plan to leave the bed and obvious signs of my existence on the kitchen counter until the very last moment. If she doesn't search my drawers and closet then she won't realize I'm gone right away. She might get on the road for her tryst at the New Jersey shore without looking too deeply, giving me more time to get out of here. I'm hoping someone will come by and exchange some cash for the bed before 2:00 pm today, so I don't have to move it. I'm not taking any other furniture. I'll leave it for her to sell for cash. Just some nice but heavy wooden shelves and some organizer do-dads. If I don't have stuff I don't need furniture or organizers to display it on!

Countdown

The timetable isn't exact, but I'm doing it. I guess I still have more stuff than I realized. I decided to let people come and pick up the sleep number bed, the tv, and the air conditioner on Wednesday. The roommate will be at the shore that day, and I will be moving stuff out that I do want to keep. I need Wednesday to concentrate on clearing and cleaning my part of the house. I'm basically a responsible person and I want to clean up after the cats where the litter pan was in the basement. Then I will spend Thursday clearing my son's apartment in case I'm not coming back soon, and load the car with just what I want to take. Friday I'll check the radiator and the oil, stop at the bank for cash, and then for a fill up. Then I'll get the cats last and hit the road to Missouri. I expect to arrive Saturday, sometime. It depends on if I drive straight through or stop for the night. I'd plan to sleep in the car except it will be filled with cats, cages, litter pan, cooler, and luggage. The trunk will be filled with Ebay items, jewelry supplies, and packaging material. Wish I had a van!

Tomorrow I plan to get the mail forwarding service and the storage room. Today I kept putting more stuff on Ebay then had nearly 20 packages to mail. It should be the same tomorrow, so it is worth it to delay for a bit. Still no exact news on the job.

I'm fine with it all. I still need to help my son with some of his paperwork. I could do that Thursday. So now I'm resting at his apartment and having a bite to eat. In a few minutes I'll bring in more stuff I brought from the house. Stupid stuff like a brand new ironing board, a broken TV I want to fix (I know I should put it into the dumpster!) and other detritus. Why can't I stop dealing with stuff?

>^;^<

Really Downsizing Now

I don't think I can come up with any more barriers to escaping to a life on the road, at least for awhile. I've been putting more items on Ebay, and they are selling as fast as I can list them. Just some collectible items that I acquired while in the acquisition phase of life, with the great plan of reselling the items on Ebay--voila! That is what I'm doing. I'll keep listing those things today and try to get some charm bracelets listed. I backed off that for awhile to do the downsizing of the collection, trying to get the Ebay business down to a just few boxes and the jewelry making supplies.

The crazy roommate is at work and I'm slowly loading the car while she's not looking. As I mentioned before it perturbs her when boxes go out the door and her psychiatrist says she "must not be disturbed", ahem, "any further." I had been joking when referring to her as the crazy roommate, but I have been finding suicide/attention seeking notes and other things laying around. It's more like the fake suicide notes she doodles when she thinks nobody is watching. For an example of what I'm trying to escape, check out the pictures of the common rooms in the house:









OK, maybe my house looked like that once or twice but come on! After seven months shouldn't something be unpacked? Anything? I live in one small room and it is neat and orderly, even when I'm working on a jewelry or craft project. Is it me, am I expecting too much for $800 a month? Sheesh!

The tiny little spice bottle things in the right corner of the kitchen above, that is the only thing of mine you can see in the kitchen! My sprouts are in my room! LOL

OK, I'm getting out of here. Today is a quiet day of Ebaying my clutter away, and tomorrow is a day of packing and stashing into a storage room. Thursday I'm bugging out with my cats.

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!