There is no"real job" for me, at this point. I haven't gone in to detail on my crazy story over the past 20 years, for several reasons. The biggest reason is that my personal story is so fucking weird, it's not believable. But now, suddenly, much of the world's events seem unbelievable.
I spent the winter simply trying to survive, then got a two month reprieve when a friend let me stay in a spare room, in her house in Newport Beach. But I made hardly any money those two months, so renting a room afterwards wasn't an option. So I wound up back on the streets, as the SoCal winter, spouts of 3-5 days of chilly, rainy weather, came late. I kept busy working, drawing, blogging, and doing my daily social media interacting, which promotes my Sharpie artwork. That's my main source of income.
I would go to a McDonald's early, get a cheap breakfast, and blog and do social for a while. Then I'd go to a public library, where I could charge my laptop, and non-activated old iPhone 5, which is my camera. I'd spend 4-6 hours doing listening to talks and how-tos, and researching and writing my blog posts. I'd also draw there sometimes. Then I'd wind up in a McDonald's or Carl's Jr., out of the evening chill, and draw in the evenings. The library and fast food places were not only places to eat and work stations for me, they were the bathrooms I used daily.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S., and suddenly "isolate at home" and "social distancing" became part of our lexicon. I can't isolate at home, since I don't have one. Moving around, and riding buses and trains daily, is part of my work and survival. With the restrictions, I lost my bathrooms (fairly big issue), my "work stations," and my electric power to charge devices, and my access to wifi.
So for the last month, I've had to find new bathrooms I could use, I've blogged and done computer work, mostly sitting on the ground, in 45-55-65 degrees, anyplace I could find wifi. I lucked out and found an out of the way spot that had an outdoor power plug that worked, and three different wifi signals. But it also had a wide roaming security guard. So I would work and charge as long as I could, then get kicked off. That power plug got turned off yesterday. Two days after an undercover cop posing as a homeless man showed up to chat with me. Nice enough guy, told me a good joke one day. But I've had literally hundreds of undercovers in my life in the last 19 years, and I do my best to avoid them.
Yesterday I got kicked off public power plugs while charging my laptop. This morning I tried the outdoor plug again, just in case. It was turned off, and the cop showed up again. So I went out in front of a row of shops nearby, where I can blog and work on my computer, thanks to a couple of wifi signals there. An NBC TV crew was shooting a segment about the clothing stores that have just closed down there, right by my wifi spot. So one producer nervously asked me to stand out of hte shot (hey, no problem, I've done video work), until they were done.
Finally, 2 1/2 hours after I woke up this morning (where I sleep reasonably comfortably on the sidewalk) I was finally able to sit down, and use the 43% battery life (seriously, 43% when I checked it), and write this lame post. I'll check the news, listen to a song or two (amps me up for another day), and check my social media. Then I'll head to my storage unit, which is an inside one, where I sit on the floor, use a box as a desk, and work on the latest drawing I'm doing, for Joe M. in Florida.
While you guys are sheltering at home, this is a glimpse of what my life has been like. What's really frustrating is that I really want to be blogging about 18 hours a day right now. What's happening on the business and economic front, and the massive layoffs, is the stuff I've been studying for 30 years, and I have a lot of thoughts and insights about. But I barely have time to stay up with people on Facebook and Twitter, so blog posts are few an far between right now. I just can't get enough time charging up and sitting at a wifi spot, until things open up again.
OK, enough rambling, you get the idea. I'll do my best to keep working and stay in touch on FB and Twitter. You guys don't get to stir crazy. Like a thunderstorm, this too, shall pass.
I have four new blogs I'm focusing on now, check them out...
The Big Freakin' Transition- about the future and economics
Crazy California 43- weird and cool locations in California
Full Circle- about writing and the writers life
And a fiction blog...
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