I’ve been looking around lately for some tools to find open wifi to leach. With the trouble I’ve had the last couple days I’ve been putting my “ol’ reliable” connection to good use today and researching how to find free wireless hotspots more easily.

Here’s a couple of my favorites that seem to be the best of the bunch. There are plenty of others but these are the most complete and have the most polished interfaces that I’ve found. Both of these have also clients available to download so you can search for a connection when not already online plus a finder on their websites. Many websites offer free hotspot databases but very few seem to offer downloadable versions to have on your own computer in some meaningful and easy to use package.

jiwire

This site has a downloadable client that hold a database with a bunch of user submitted open wireless. Jiwire is sortable by free and pay networks and seemingly is all businesses that offer open WIFI hotspots from what I see. So it should be something that’s quite legal in most if not all areas. You can search online too but the offline database is the winner here for me.

Wigle

This one looks the coolest! Wigle is also questionably legal to put into use and this correlation probably shouldn’t be a surprise as it lists 4.5 million networks to leach all over the world–mostly in the US though. Trying together war driving with a GPS unit give an amazingly complete map of all sorts of WIFI connections with GPS coordinates. If the network can be detected it’ll show up on the maps. Of course this is becoming increasingly illegal to capitalize but lets just blindly turn an eye to that and be extra inconspicuous in our vans! There’s a downloadable client too!

Wigle has two online browsers, one for higher tech browsers and one that’s more widely compatible. The fancy one is quite slick and is like using Google Maps!
Between these two you should have quite the collection of readily available data to get you online.

It’s been raining most nights lately at least intermittently if not quite substantially, and sometimes in the day too. And while I do like the sound of falling rain there are limits to my affection.

When my head rests about two feet from the metal roof of my van even a light sprinkling makes a big noise inside. But storms like last night  are downright oppressive in their volume as the sounds of nature take on truly unnatural proportions. I really wish I had a decibel meter to find out exactly how loud it was in there as I’m sure it wasn’t OSHA approved. But for sure, regardless of the actually decibel reading, it was far too loud to readily sleep. The sound of the rain drops was actually drowning out the lightening and thunder as the storm passed overhead.

Thankfully I’m not actually claustrophobic as I think I’d have popped and went insane. Nighttime is a very tight experience in my van. The roof is little over two feet from the bed and when the blackout curtains are up there is absolutely no light back there. So it’s physically a small space and there is no light to make sense of what space is actually there. I reminds me of taking tours of caves when the guides turn the lights off to show what darkness is really like. Yes, it’s that pitch in there. And when you can’t see anything it feels like there’s nothing.

So last night I spent many hours flipping around trying to sleep with my headphones on. I was listening music trying to down out the sound but the only thing that worked was really loud noisy music. I’d much rather have had the jazz playing from the local college’s radio, but instead I was searching out noisy rock guitars. Anything loud and pervasive to mask the sound of incessant rain.

Aside from just the loudness noise of the rain, the shear volume of it, my brain struggled to make sense of the sound. A lot of energy gets spent as my brain focused on the sound and tries to find patterns in it and organize it. Same with seeing static on television or radio, rain drops on puddles and other random events, they also sends my brain into overdrive. But it’s the auditory that really gets me.

Two of my migraine triggers are flickering lights and the white noise from rushing air. This is why I absolutely loath florescent lights and high volume air vents and prefer not to work in office buildings and other commercial buildings. Most places are just fine, but the ones that aren’t cause some serious issues. My last client had lights in the common area of their small office. I couldn’t be in there for even a second without being affected by the flicker. Thankfully the owner actually understood and would turn the overhead florescent lights off when I was there. I’d have given it ten minutes before starting the descent to a migraine. It was that bad.

So once I get a secondary power source for the van, a nice battery bank for living off of, I’ll be installing LED lights or some other constant light source. And with my occasional bouts of insomnia that light will not some too soon–especially as it seems to be monsoon season! With my deeply tinted windows even daytime can be dark in there if it’s overcast.

I had a funny phone call yesterday morning, Ted Koppel, the retired ABC news mogul called to inquire about an interview. I of course said yes and shortly thereafter was a knock on my door…

Ted Koppel: Thank you for allowing me into your van for this time together, and the tea is much appreciated on the cool and rainy day.

April Graham: It’s my pleasure Ted! The Hoopty Van doesn’t get many visitors, being so small and filled with stuff there’s barely room for me!

TK: And yet you manage a nice cup of tea…

AG: Lipton’s manages the tea, I just facilitate with the water boiling.

TK: Aside from the joviality, the last few weeks of you life have been causing quite a buzz back at the news bureau at ABC. They pulled me from retirement for this. So, what’s behind all your rethinking of employment.

AG: Well Ted, this is beyond just mere employment and is a rethinking of income. Jobs provide income but so can many other things. So instead of endlessly chasing dead end paths and wasting time applying for jobs and professional gigs that’ll would net me a proper job should my resume and cover letter not end up ignored–as they almost always do–I decided to cut out the middleman so to speak and go right to the money.

TK: So you’re giving up on jobs then?

AG: Not entirely. After several years of chasing every employment lead I could muster the energy for I’ve found almost no reward for all that hard work. And work is the correct term here–unpaid work. Researching employers, writing specific cover letters, tailoring resumes, follow up emails and phone calls…it’s all quite time and energy consuming. And since I don’t enjoy doing it in the least, I mean, who really does enjoy job searching, it feels like work and it acts like work but it doesn’t net any gain. There’s no money for all that toil. It’s no wonder to me why so many people who have jobs complain about them endlessly yet never move on to something better! It takes a really dramatically bad job to motivate most people. Job searching is just plain no fun hard work!

TK: Quite true! It’s why I stuck with ABC for so many years!

AG: So in analyzing my problem, the having no money or income one, I realized that spending all my time applying to jobs was wasting my time. That all those hours could have been put to more productive use. Ten, fifteen, twenty hours a week and sometimes more being spent chasing employment leads, other time being spent going to networking socials, preparing presentations, preparing bids for freelance work…oh the freelance stuff has really been bugging me lately too…

TK: Why is that? And do you have some more sugar? Perhaps a spot of lemon too?

AG: Sugar, yes…here you go. Sorry, no fridge means no lemon wedges. The US government doesn’t care about skilled labor, just like it didn’t care about manufacturing. Like way back, when various foreign countries with lower costs started taking away manufacturing jobs from here in the US. Slowly everything became made elsewhere else and now there is very few physical products made in this country. The problem is there’s no protection of jobs here in the US and the same is happening in fields besides manufacturing. So now I, an American citizen, must compete against people in India for skilled office work. They speak English and with high speed data lines and VOIP making international calls nearly free there’s no barrier anymore. So where I could once make a living wage suddenly the market price is getting down to $2 per hour–because that’s what someone in India can call a good wage! Heck, we export so much of our culture that they probably even have a better grasp on the American collective consciousness than I have as I don’t watch television or listen to the radio.

TK: Perhaps you should be cutting back on your own sugar, you’re getting a bit hyper here.

AG: Well, yes, but this is my life and it’s being negatively impacted by forces I can’t control. So I’m going to try controlling what I can, namely appealing for money to someone other than the employers of the world. Job searching has yielded nothing but further job searching. And in thinking about this I realized I just need to go straight to the source.

TK: And what’s that source?

AG: The well spring of all money of course, the consumer. Every business exists for the sole purpose of making, converting or processing something that a consumer ultimately wants to buy. RIght? So why not just skip all the middle part and go to straight to making a product and marketing it?

TK: So what is your plan then?

AG: I assessed my skills and really did a bit of soul searching on this one. I realized that I have limited means, a small van, little cash, no credit and few resources. There’s lots of things I can do so I made lists and figured out the viability of various things. Some abilities are less in demand, some require special tools or venues, some are just not marketable. So I need to pull magical products to sell straight out of the air. And this first stage of reinvention actually plays into my skills perfectly!

TK: How is that?

AG: You are here with me, right? But this is all imagination so therefore you’re not really here. This is, in a way, the gist of the plan. It’s being creative that I’m good at, period–seeing problems and finding innovative solutions. I’m good with words too despite being a total failure in all my English classes except those dealing with composition. But even there it’s a matter of creativity. After all, I didn’t need to invent you into this conversation. Right? But I did because I was getting tired of writing in the same perspective all the time.

TK: So does this tea really exist?

AG: My cup does, your cup does not.

TK: Then why did you deny me lemon? Couldn’t you have just dreamed that up too?

AG: Well, yes. Sorry.

TK: In light of your inhospitable treatment of your imaginary friends, could we get to your plan? I think I have a plane to catch.

AG: Yes of course, but first I’ll retroactively make you dislike lemon so that you never asked for it in the first place. Then you’ll drop your attitude and stay for a bit. Again, the Hoopty Van doesn’t get many guest and we like to keep those who stick around. But back to the plan… In my pondering I was poking around the internet to see how others make money. Why reinvent the wheel? I spent a bit of time on www.etsy.com as I’ve had friends who sold hand crafts through there. And while I can’t sew or crochet like they do, at least not enough to actually be good at it, I thought maybe something might click, that something would inspire me.

TK: And did it?

AG: Yes! Quite! I started seeing all these t-shits and decorated bags and jewelry and various things that are outside my scope. But then I saw a print by M. Lee and thought, “huh… I could do that.” Not to denigrate her skills, but I’ve always dabbled in art and I wasn’t specifically thinking about her art but more about the idea of selling it online. Art was something I did when quite young and later even took some art classes in college. Even in my personal journal, the paper kind, I make silly little sketches for myself. Nothing that I’d ever want to show anyone, they’re just for my reference, but I figured I could spin up something interesting.

TK: And have you? What have you done?

AG: Looking around I saw that drawings and even prints didn’t sell for much money. And I don’t think my drawing skills alone could ever feed me and I can’t imagine making the room to make prints in my van. But I’m pretty good with color and value, plus I already had some acrylic paints, so I though I’d give painting another go. Besides, a while back I saw a book on how to cartoon and animate and thought, “wow, I’d really love to learn how to draw…to really draw.”

TK: So what is your painting history?

AG: It’s something that I’ve dabbled in ever since I was little, starting with little pans of watercolors. I also drew a lot, for a bored kid, and enjoyed it along with various other creative outlets. Once I was even called the art teachers pet as I skipped recess to help her clean up the art room. I’ve given most of my work to friends or simply repainted over the losers to save on expenses. It was a fun thing…a hobby. Sometimes I’d go on binges, like in college in the 90s when I took painting classes and bought a nice kit of acrylics. I’ve always been attracted to the romantic fantasy of the artist’s life, but let’s face it, the cliche of the starving artist didn’t come about from someone’s wicked irony. It’s why in high school and early college I chose more practical matters like computers and business and journalism. So I’d go years between paintings sometimes as I was too busy doing the so called important stuff.

TK: So you’re going to revisit your youth in some flight of fancy dream?

AG: No, not quite. I had some paints and once I sorted out the tubes that had gone bad there was enough to make a decent color wheel. I had some brushes and some medium. All I needed was something to paint on and once I thought about it a bit I had that too. Part of this reinvention process was trying to not spend any money at all. I knew someone who just did a home remodeling project and had some leftover masonite. In their garage I also found some pigmented shellac to use as gesso. So I was just a cup of water away from getting started.

TK: May I see one?

AG: Of course…here you go

TK: This is quite nice. Please tell me about it.

AG: I’ve been attracted to random images I find while surfing, so I started pulling from there for subject matter. I took a bunch out and realized the ones I chose were all about this idealization of happiness and prosperity. Like the little boy who’s absolutely living in his 1960s moment of glory, being a cowboy on the open range and defending the ranch from his perch in the brush. To me it’s the fairy tale iconic image of Americana wholesomeness that just screams out that he just had a PB+J sandwich with the crusts trimmed off and a glass of whole milk for lunch–made by his June Cleaver mother. He probably offered a bit of the sandwich to his teddy bear too.
TK: What about the process? I see a drawing under there…

AG: Yes. It was first sketched out lightly then painstakingly inked. Normally when I draw I just slap something down and call it good. It’s just for my entertainment after all. But now with the inspiration of money–and food–I spent more time with it. The inking alone took about 90 minutes for Desperado aside from the sketching and paintings. This was less about drawing really and more about choosing what to include or exclude from the photo and transcribing it over to the masonite panel. It’s more of a comic inspired means of painting.
TK: [laughing] That’s a humorous title, Desperado.

AG: Oh thanks, I prefer to have fun with life. How’s your tea? Could I offer you more? Some lemon perhaps?

TK: A freshen up would be nice, and some sugar. But no lemon! I can’t stand the stuff.

AG: Here you go, tea sans lemon–with sugar.

TK: Thanks. Anything more?

AG: Yes. There’s two more. This one is called Self Esteem.

TK: What’s behind that title?

AG: Think about Ozzie Harriet. She was always in dresses and pearls like the other moms of the era. But why? Is that a practical mode of dress to be a mom? Pearls? To vacuum a rug, go shopping then make dinner? My take on it, and mind you I’m not a historian, is that in the years post-World War II there was a great deal of prosperity in America and everything was grand. So there was this elevated ideal for what was “the good life,” this non-threatening straight and narrow view of what was proper. This is what I grew up in, parents who thought I should wear a skirt and nice shoes and that jeans were for working in the yard. They are miner’s britches after all. It was like there was an ego blow to my mother every time I stepped out to play in jeans that, at the least, weren’t perfectly and evenly dark blue as if they just came from the store that day. After all, what would the neighbors think of my family when I went out looking like that. My parents always had this perception of worth as defined by what everyone else thought. So a pretentious show of faux pearls to proudly buy steak in a nice dress would fit perfectly into my childhood. It’s probably why the reruns of black and white family comedies appealed to me so much. I really wanted to be a Cleaver.

TK: So these are partially autobiographical?

AG: In a sort. I didn’t make the connection until I had a bunch of images pulled out of the larger pool. Then I realized there was this common these running through. Like this one called Pit Boss…

AG: I have these leisurely fantasy ideas of about some really great barbecue. Dad gather around the big kettle grill, hanging out at a tailgate party, family reunions at the park…these are all happy time ideals! Mom, apple pie, baseball and barbecue. It’s still that wide eyed idealism. Who with a big backyard wouldn’t want a massive kettle barbecue/smoker?

TK: A vegetarian?

AG: Grilled portobello mushrooms are a gourmet treat. But again, these paints are related by their archetypal ideals of the American Good Life. And that seems quite fitting a subject for someone who lives in her van, to subconsciously be selecting the ideals she longs most to have.

TK: So will there be more?

AG: Well, I really need to make money, so if I can sell them then by all means yes! I have plenty more images selected and I enjoyed doing them. And I’m sure I’ll do other themes and ideas too if it works out. But money is the key thing right now. My savings will run out before long and I’ll be penniless. But there’s a beauty here in that if I can make even a small bit of money for these I’d be able to make a reasonable hourly wage for this.

TK: So you will not be the starving artist?

AG: I figure that if I’m starving I might as well be an artist, right?

TK: If needed I could have a member of my entourage take us somewhere for lunch…

AG: That would be beyond my wildest imagination.

At lunch Ted and I talked about the economics of selling art online and how demand is lower than availability. So it’s hardly a sure thing or a big money maker. But, if I can sell these paintings I’ll be making far more per hour than I would just pointlessly job searching. So perhaps I can not only get some gas and food money, but should it really work out I could start an emergency nest egg. Like for some long neglected medical care or a repair fund for my van. Twenty years and 190,000 miles don’t make for a reliable ride.

There’s a few other plans in the works that will take a bit of time to yield fruit. The art idea can go from idea to income in the shortest time frame with nearly zero financial risk to me. I’ve gotten the paints from storage, made some free panels to paint on and I’m now ready to go sit in the shade and work. And should this work out it has the great benefit of being a mobile money maker as if I can sell on the internet then both the purchaser and myself can be most anywhere for the transaction to work. This way I don’t have to be stuck in the snow belt should I still be living in my van come winter.

I was rummaging around and found another variation on the DIY camp stove. Don Johnston’s Photon Stove looks like a variation on the Pepsi Can Stove though with some additional extra features.

There’s two other sites I found interesting too. Backpacking sites have been yielding good information on how to pack light and small which is great for living in a van or car as space is indeed limited. And when I see my vans sagging suspension I get really leery about adding more weight. And while shaving an ounce here or there might not be a dramatic for me it still makes a difference.

Trail Quest’s list of Alternative Gear give cheap to free alternative for fancy and expensive camping gear. Their Ultralight page offer a few ideas as well. The scant treatment people use for gear on backpacking is quite the exercise in minimalism. Backpacking.net’s Make Gear page has many great DIY plans for various camping and outdoor living necessities.

Sometimes it feels like the only stores I go into anymore are independent grocery stores, as they’re cheaper than big named ones, and dollar stores. I rather enjoy the bargain seeking even if my wallet is filled thick with cash and untold fortunes are just around the corner. Not only is there cheap stuff that’s perfectly functional there’s plenty of entertainment to be had.

Mostly this entails laughing at poorly done packaging, like typos and Engrish, but recently I was examining the food section and pondering what it’d be like to only eat dollar store food. Thankfully, The Black Table has done it for me with their “how to eat at the dollar store” entry.

Why people would eat some of this stuff is beyond me. You can get perfectly fine food cheaply if you just shop the various independent and ethnic markets. Buy what’s on sale and look for the “day old” sale items when possible. I’d much rather eat wholesome foods in modest quantities than binge on the junk food from the dollar store.

It makes me think of “Steve, Don’t Eat It!” from The Sneeze. Gross stuff, utterly gross… though I do like the cuitlacoche they once featured in volume seven.

It’s been a long few days. I’ve done a great deal of soul searching and thinking, trying to dream up a new future for myself, or at least a functional present. There’s been much research done on the viability of money making schemes, looking into how other people make money legally and ethically without jobs. Not only looking how money can be made, but how specifically “I” can make money. What fits my skill base, current assets and interests.

I still have a bit of research to do before making my conclusions and drawing up a formal action plan. But I’m progressing and have made various notes and diagrams. I’ve been spending a lot of time at the library plus the usual leaching of wifi here and there to read up and do my research.

Breaking the news

There was much stress this weekend as yesterday was an all family gathering to celebrate a bunch of June birthdays and Father’s Day. This year was extra special as people traveled to make it a family reunion too. It was a great joy to see some people I haven’t seen in a long, long time, but it was also a source of dread.

The last time I saw a couple of these relatives I was still very successful in my career and was riding high on all life had to offer in terms of conventional success. I’ve grown a lot as a person in many amazingly profound ways but I’ve gone from a high rise condo and a very nice income to trying desperately to positively spin living in a beat up crappy looking van.

I don’t think I pulled it off well though and trying to bluff my way through awkward conversations proved to be very challenging. There was so many questions and I just wasn’t feeling on top of my game. I can put positive spins on things and omit facts, but I can’t just come out and claim some lucrative clients or stock market windfalls to allow some hippy fantasy lifestyle as I don’t lie and am horrible at it even if I would try.

Numerous times I saw the pity face being hid behind stoic facades and I don’t think it was my projection onto them. I’ve not been feeling especially well the last few days, part of the reason for not performing well, and I think I was feeling extra down because of it. Not just my physical stresses, but the mental ones of being the family failure. Especially as part of the family that I haven’t seen in a while is the really wealthy section.

These are the folks that wonder when it’s time for vacation whether they should go to the summer home, take a cruise or fly off to some exotic location. Money really isn’t an issue for them and their idea of traveling around in a van would mean a new Sportsmobile or Roadtrek, stays at nice campgrounds and likely a hotel here and there just to take a proper shower and have a night in a normal bed. But all of that is far from what my budget would ever manage.

Still, it was nice to see the cousins that I practically grew up with but now live in distant areas of the country. They used to live really close and geography wasn’t an issue to getting together so they were constant playmates in my youth. It’s funny how their lives have been such a linear path up into tradition wealth and success. One just finished doing their first real estate redevelopment, a old house they’ve restored, and is about to sell and cash it out and start another.

And despite all their money and security I saw the exact same people I saw last time we got together many years back. They’re the exact same people on the exact same paths and little seems to have changed. It makes me wonder how much they’ve grown internally and what changes they’ve had to their deepest core. Fundamentally I’m the same person I was five and even ten years ago, but I’ve dramatically deepened my human experience. I’ve gone places, done things and experimented with life since my employment downturn at the end of 2001 and feel much richer for it–in the non-bankable sense. It’s probably why I don’t get surprised anymore when I hear comments like, “wow, you’re really self-actualized.”

Thankfully, there are things of worth that money just can’t buy. Of these I’m pretty rich.

I’ve been pondering what I can do for money and a few things came into mind. Funny thing is I don’t think these ideas are the least bit creative or unusual. I’ve heard these things before but always thought in terms of:

1. Know what you do well
2. Know what you love to do
3. Make money with numbers one and two

Something I love

Back in the 1980s I was playing near championship level Scrabble and was being encouraged to make the jump into tournament play. But I had too much self doubt in skills and didn’t want to sully the purity of my enjoyment of playing with words. Why did I have doubt though? I was playing routinely into the mid four hundreds in two person games! I kick myself for not making a go of it.

I loved word lists and the few existing books on Scrabble Strategy and I’d sit up all night with my neighbor playing cutthroat games against each other. We were serious about the game and against each other we were deadly serious about winning.

Back then I was your typical teen. Awkward and insecure, full of potential and not enough gumption to make anything significant of it. So I only played against the neighbor for blood and my family for pleasure and never went pro.

This is something that I always thought was a shame. I really should have just gone and done it! But it seemed too hard, too impractical. I was worried about having a good solid career and was fretting over what I’d do for a living because of course that means needing an education and a good solid job.

Shooting with both barrels

Earlier today I went to the library and spent some time there. First stop was the A/V department to get some CDs and DVDs as I like multi-faceted intake. This way I can have my laptop in front of me playing some music while I read.

I’d already wandered the stacks and got some books on a few random topics and was reading away and studying quite happily–but then in went the Word Wars: Tiles and Tribulations on the Scrabble Circuit DVD.

Regrets played out in front of me

Suddenly I was watching people as neurotically focused as I was my heyday about Scrabble and in the opening moments of the film it stated that tournament play wasn’t 100 or 200 or even 300, it was a shockingly jaw dropping 400 to 500 points! “Oh my god, how can that be” the producers must have through would be running through my mind. But instead I was, “oh, big deal, I get upset in casual play to only hit 350.” I’m not competitive anymore and just play for fun but I do keep challenging myself with consistently high scores.

Rethinking how to make money

It’s been several years now of me trying to find a suitable employment situation, trying to change careers and following all the usual and much of the uncommon logic for having a successful life as an employee. But this movie is really reminding me that there are alternative and I just need to be open to them and willing to take the chances.

I’ll probably never, ever get to the Top 25 tournament players no matter how much I studied, but as I’m watching I seeing how even the nearly top players are making a livable income playing a game! This is quite literally blowing my mind. They’re making money from playing one of my favorite games!

Sure I’ve seen movies and read stories about pool hustlers and cowboys and all sorts of different ways people have made their living doing things that they love to do. Today I talked with Keith about his plans to turn pro at playing poker and exciting things are happening for him and it was inspiring to hear–and very timely too. Now, I’m going to go find my niche. Somethings are not as obvious as poker for making money–like Scrabble. Normally it’s just a simple word game.

Alternative Income and it’s alliance with alternative living

I rather like the idea of being nomadic, though I’d prefer more comfort than a cramped conversion van that I’m turning into a hacked together Class B RV. I’ve lived in a building all my life and getting to travel has its appeal. For now I’m worried about the money to do anything, but having watched people travel around the country making a living playing Scrabble I’m seeing how that’d perfectly fit into a vagabonds life. The poor saps in the movie pay for hotels, leaving their homes behind. Perhaps I should write them and clue them in on how to live in exchange for copies of the word lists and study tools. Not that I’m going to chase Scrabble as it’d be a couple years before I be good enough, but there is something out there for me. I know it’s out there, I just need to figure what’ll work the best.

A nice Mexican dinner

I’m thinking more than just the average sit down dinner at a better Mexican restaurant. In years past I’ve been to a few places that really craft delightful foods that are more homespun than the typical Mexican fair. This is by no means expensive as the places were quite reasonably priced, but it’s all about the attitude. One place in particular had owners who did the usual things you’d expect to be on the menu but also added a regularly changing selections of specials from their own lives. They were from Mexico and brought to the public the Greatest Hits of the family, neighborhood and special celebrations. Everything there was fresh, handmade, attentively prepared and best of all–about $8-12 a person for food. Quite the bargain even in 1990s prices, especially as they’d bring you tons of chips and they had a dozen or so salsas that you could keep trying, as many as you wanted and the wait staff would help steer you into ones you’d like. I’d like to add to this a margarita made with better liquor. Not necessarily top shelf as I don’t think you’d really notice, but something of a nice grade and made with freshly juiced limes and raw sugar.

Twenty pampered digits

It would be quite divine to have lovely looking fingers and toes that were freshly manicured and pedicured with a simply metallic-sparkly dark red polish. My fingers could really use it too as I’ve spent a good bit of time working on the interior of my van in what seems to be a never ending project. Once I score up some more free electrical connectors that were promised I’ll have a wiring project complete.

My fingers are quite a mess by my standards as I haven’t been keeping up with them and I have little clue about the toes. They aren’t the easiest things to see from a distance and I’m not all that flexible for a closer view. But I’ll assume they’d benefit from a little TLC too.

I feel petty for wanting this one as it has no practical purpose, it’s purely cosmetic, but it’s deeply symbolic. Manicured figures is a sign of wealth and comfort, or a sign that someone wants to appear that way. Having someone do your nails is a luxury expenditure that I just cannot possible afford right now so it’d be especially appreciated should I stumble into one. Also, it means you’re not doing physical labor with your hands. You don’t spend $15 on even a basic manicure then go install patio bricks or work in a warehouse or something. So it shows a division of class based on labor–you don’t need to exert yourself physically and can afford to pay when, say, you need bricks from a warehouse to arrange themselves outside your backdoor.

Magazines

I’d like to get a box of assorted magazines to read at night. Sure the library has them, but I like to read them in bed–in a park would be nice too. So I’d like a nice assortment of titles to read and look at pretty pictures. Right now I’m about done with my last National Geographic with is an ideal blend of editorial and pictorial content. I’m pretty open on titles as if I could just pull titles from a Borders or Barnes and Noble newsstand I’d probably be able to grab 200 magazines that I was genuinely interested in looking through. I’m pretty open to anything non-fiction or just attractive like with interior design.

Sleeping music

There’s a good night time jazz station that I could get where I’m currently at and I’d love to fall asleep to it. But, I don’t have a radio for that. The van has one up front, but I can’t exactly be stealthy in my urban camping and run that.

I’d like a small and highly battery efficient radio with a set of magical headphones. That way I could put these fairy created ear buds in when I’m ready for bed and not get tangled up, choke myself or feel like there’s something in my ear when laying on my side. Then, once asleep, the headphone would fall out and the radio would shut off. When I’d wake there’d be a radio with coiled up headphones next to my pillow ready for the next night!

This one is of course the least likely to happen but in reality is probably just slightly more unrealistic than my getting a manicure and pedicure anytime soon.

Oh yes, and that too…

Of course the usual world peace, good health and all that good stuff. …and a nice stream of plentiful earned income so I could perhaps get some of the above.

As I was falling asleep last night it occurred to me that I don’t think my contact info is anywhere on the site. It is now. A little bit of “I hate HTML” later and there it is on the sidebar. It’s odd that wordpress didn’t just include it somewhere as contact info seems pretty basic. As such it might just be a duplicate but at least now it’s where I’d look for it.
On this note, if anyone is having trouble with this site being slow or otherwise problematic for them please let me know. Earlier today some backend facets of it weren’t working at all for me, but how can I complain as I’m not paying a single cent for this site.

When I was little I heard stories about old people forced to eat dog food because they didn’t save enough money when they were younger. I don’t even remember where I heard this from but I suspect it was a scare tactic from the parents to ensure I grew up to save money and spend wisely.

While that is what happened it also scared the bejezuz out of me. I had this childlike image in my head of comically decrepit old people and a ramshackle apartment sitting at a card table on folding chairs eating dog food by the light of a single bare bulb.

I’ve often pondered the idea of eating animal feed. Every time I see one of those 50 pound bags I think how thankful I am that it’s not going to be my dinner. And when I see it eaten by the animals it’s intended for I feel bad too. Anything that sells for $10 per 50 pound bag can hardly be called edible.

An Angry Young Man is doing an eating experiment where he’s eating only monkey chow, labeled as a complete nutritional source for primates. He’s blogging about it too. This comment thread from one of the entries is most interesting. It talks of the sources of the ingredients for cheap animal food and confirms that the manufacturer of ZuPreem Monkey Chow changed the product description from “all primates” to “all non-human primate” just recently–timed to likely be in response to our culinary deprived Angry Young Man.

While Monkey Chow might just be cheap and easy eats I still prefer my standard Hoopty Chow–peanut butter on whole grain bread and a piece of fruit. It’s really cheap and far more palatable than even the finest kibble.