Homeless students and families living in storage facilities

[LuaHasFreedom]

Bruce, you need to have a carbon monoxide tester in there to make sure the vents are big enough.

About pets. When I was 39 and was in my last semester of college in a town far away from here, I had three children from 8 - 15, a dog and a cat.  I could not find a place to rent that would allow our pets.  I bought a camping trailer, found a place I could afford to put it, and moved us in. There were some people in my religion that decided I was being neglectful of my children and decided to threaten me with social services if I did not 1. get rid of the pets and move into subsidized housing (you know - the projects that are such a wonderful breeding ground for teaching children about drugs and domestic violence), 2. either farm the children out to other members of the community, or 3. send them over to my sister who lived about 250 miles away. I immediately called my social worker, since I was already receiving assistance to ask her if I was going to have a problem with my housing choice. Her response was, "with friends like that, you really need more enemies." She assured me that my living conditions were better than about 25% of the people receiving welfare because I at least had a toilet.

When parents decide that pets are expendable, they teach their children to fear for when they themselves will become expendable. Pets keep people alive who might otherwise just give up and die. A homeless person who has a dog is far more likely to pull themselves out of the depression because they feel responsible for the pet. That's a proven reality. Pets keep the elderly more healthy. Pets are sometimes a child's only emotional escape from a really scary world.

[Bruce]

 A dog will protect it's master, provide warmth when it's cold, give notice of strangers approaching and will eat all most anything when hungry. They don't bitch and complain and love to play. Sounds like a good deal to me....................................Bruce

[shamaness]

When parents decide that pets are expendable, they teach their children to fear for when they themselves will become expendable. Pets keep people alive who might otherwise just give up and die. A homeless person who has a dog is far more likely to pull themselves out of the depression because they feel responsible for the pet. That's a proven reality. Pets keep the elderly more healthy. Pets are sometimes a child's only emotional escape from a really scary world.

Lua, this is beautifully and warmly put...thank you.     Right on.

In the hardest time of my own life, love for my cat was the only thing that kept me from driving my car into a tree at high speed.

To rob a child of its beloved pet is to set that child up to hate the parent(s) forever.

[Tinfoilhatmann]

A dog will protect it's master, provide warmth when it's cold, give notice of strangers approaching and will eat all most anything when hungry. They don't bitch and complain and love to play. Sounds like a good deal to me....................................Bruce

Here here. I would sleep in a box in an alleyway before I got rid of my dogs. They are my family.

[Dot]

I may be heartless but I'd be damned if I made my kids go through that just to keep a pet. I'm sorry but man do people get too hung up on pet's and things.

It's a CHILD...it should come first.

The child is far better off living in a storage unit with two parents who understand loyalty, responsibility, and committment than he would be living in a McMansion with someone like yourself.

Totally uncalled for lobbing me into 'that category' of the give 2 shits about nothing but a fuck off mcmansion. Piss of you label whore.

MY loyalty, responsibility and commitment go first and formost to my kids. Period. If a dog is keeping them from living in a safe and secure warm home with sanitation then yes, the dog needs to go to a friend until you get on your feet to have it back. I think a child would understand this because I have been that child and thank god my mom took the necessary steps to do what had to be done. Life isn't always what you want, it is'nt always easy and hard decisions have to be made. Giving up a safe and secure environment is doing more damage to those children then letting them keep their pal.

[Doomsteader]

OK, this past work-week has been brutal, as far as hours consumed, leaving me little time to follow up on my post, and next week is already looking to be the same, so I'm gonna spare y'all the background and details, and just summarize.

I lived in my (ahem.. "stored" RV, in a commercial storage yard for about 6 years - up until the end oflast year. The property manager was aware of my "residential" usage of the facility pretty much from the beginning, and over the course of the 1st 2 years, s l o w w w l y broke the news to the property-owner(a very elderly semi shut-in) that I was living there, and convinced her not to worry about it, as well as got her grudging acknowledgement that maybe having me there was a plus, as far as site-security goes(not REALLY - I slept through/was passed out drunk, right through at least 2 burglaries ), but mainly, I was there to make sure the gate was closed at night, freeing up the property manager from constantly having to drive by and check (we had a few irresponsible tenants that couldn't be counted on to close the gate
a tnight after storing their trucks and landscaping trailers).

Anyway, my rent for those 6 years was $100 a month, or about $7,200 for 6 years - many folks around here pay more than that for 6 *months* rent.  My only other expenses were for electric(I had my own meter in my name), food, booze, cigs, some clothes and, in *really*cold weather, kerosene.  I had taken the RV off the road less
than amonth after buying it($2k on ebay), turned in the plates, got a refund on the 11 months remaining insurance, then later sold the class B moped I was required to buy,insure and register in order to get the RV insurance(you have to have at least 1 additional vehicle, or you can't get RV insurance).  I did not own a car for the first 2 years and 8 months I was there(more on that in my next post).  I was also $23k in the hole on 7 different CCs with nothing to show for it.

My only other expense, was about $40 a month for my cellphone(with which I used a data-cable and laptop to abuise Verizon's unlimited nights and weekends-made even easier by the ability to simultaneously charge the phone through the data cable as it was being used - with the RV's DieHard battery under the hood,I could stay online for many HOURS at a clip

To be continued...

[Doomsteader]

Again, due to limited free time(and a bad keyboard), I'm leaving out quite a bit of background and details that some here wouldfind interesting, enteraining and/or informative.

I had again started working for the cab company next door(in fact, I initially parked my RV there for free, but was tired of the slave-driver manager taking advantage of my situation and forcing me to work more days and hours than I normally would have,....either THAT *or* park my RV "somewhere else" when we both knew there WAS no
"somewhere else" at the time. But I took advantage of the use of the cab I was driving, to get in all my errands and shopping done as needed - this is how I managed without a car of my own.

I was sick of the place AND job,and cooked up a scheme to liberate myself out from under their thumb.  I wanted out of the cab company's parking lot ASAP with a vengeance - I felt like Kunta Kinte in Roots, LOL. I inquired at the commercial storage yard, next door, and was told I could *store*my RV there for $50 a month, but couldn't live in it  Whatever.  I had saved up some cash, and bought a cheap older Ford conversion van - you know the one - electric folding  bed in the back, ect, and put that one the road so I had something withplates and insurance that I could at least drive around and park in different locations at night to sleep in it.  It got 8mpg,
tended to leak antifreeze,and always made thisdisconcerting *Cracking* noise from the front suspension every time you accelerated from a stop in anything other then themost gentle manner,so it wasn't reallyanything resembling viable transportation - it was a moveable platform for a bed to sleep in at night.

To be continued.....

[Doomsteader]

I them drove the RV (no plates or insurance;) next door to the commercial storage yard, where the kindly property manager gave me the balance of themonth (about 2 weeks) for free, and told me to start paying the $50 monthly rent at the beginning of next month.  OK, so now I have my RV sitting in the middle of the storage yard,with most ofmy worldly belongings on board, sitting in dead storage, in summer,with no access to electricity, but at least it was out of the cab company's parking lot,and the manager could no longer hold that over me to have me at his beck and call - I now worked when I wanted/needed to, and slept in the van at night at various locations.  Take-out food everynight, FAR from an ideal situation, but I gained my freedom There were plenty of hardships still ahead, but now, at least,I had regained
control of my working life.  I had been using the bathroom sink of the cab company to wash-up in(contaminated well-water in a toxic waste-dump area, but hey, it was summer,and at least it was liquid ), so of course, I was still a tad beholden to the cab company,and I knew this, so I inquired with the kindly property as to wether I might perhaps be allowed to "visit"my RV so as to use it to get cleaned up from time to time.  "Well, uhm,...OK."

After about a month of this, I inquire with the kindly property manager as to wether I could "visit" my RV in the evening to cook my own dinner, seeing as I was spending a princely sum of money everynight for takeout. "I don't see why not"

You can see where this is going

After about another month, I mentioned to him, that it had become too damn hot to sleep in the van, what with it'svery limited window opening abilitity and no roof vents, so it wasn't long before I was allowed to sleep in my RV, as well.  And "sleep" soon morphed (Mission-Creeped"? into "stay there" and eventually, to the L-word

Note that things were FAR from perfect

(To be continued)

[shamaness]

Great stuff, Doomsteader.     Keep it coming.

[Doomsteader]

It was Summer in all it's hot and humid glory here on Long Island.  No shade anywhere to be had for the RV, and no electricity.  I had pretty much cut back working at the cab company next door to a bare minimum - just enough to where I didn't have to further abuse my battered, close to maxxed out CCs.  I spent days on end just existing and trying to endure the heat and humidity(there is never one without the other here), the activity in the yard from all the landscapers, tree service outfits, the dozens of Mexican
laborers, and getting usedto the endless noises generated by truck traffic,diesel engines, exhaust-retarders, air-horns, backup-alarms, impact guns, earth-moving equipment and a 24/7 sand-mining operation only about 50 feet away - who, in winter, keep their entire fleetof trator trailers idling allnight, as close as 20 feet away from me. 

Until I got used to that, sleeping was fitful to non-existant, but eventually,the diesels became background noise, and their constantness of running eventually lulledme to sleep at night.  Ignoring the intermittent and sporadic backup alarms of the payloaders,took a bit longer.  But for me,the worst was enduring the mid-day heat, coming day after day after day, as surely as the sun rises.

One of the landscapers had just bought his own storage yard close by, was leaving, and invited me to be his first tenant - tempting me with promises of access to electricity. 
Did I bite?  Would a starving Rottweiler turn down a steak?!?  Of COURSE I bit.  I bid kindly property manager adeui, he totally understood why I would jump at theoffer.
I fired up the ol' Dodge, and hadmy friend follow me in my van,so as to hide the fact that the RV had no plates, and trundled off to the new location, about 1/2 mile away.

(To be continued)

[Doomsteader]

Happy ending? No fucking way!  I paid the guy his $100 for the month, he backed my RV up near a fence a good 100 feet from the building on the site(occupied by day with what appears to be office-staff, and by night, some landscaping laorers).  The weather was really cranking up the heat and humidity, even at night, so I tendedto work at the cab ompany during the day(IF I could get a cab with A/C that actually worked),and at times,slept in my van with the engine running to run it's piss-poor rear A/C so I could at least tolerate thenights - hoping it wouldn't overheat while I was sleeping.

Every day, I looked for signs of the promised electricity.  No shiny gray sheet metal boxes, no coils of romex,no cable, no hopeful signs of relief in sight.I asked the guy at least once a week,when I might expect worh on some sort of electrical service to commence, and every week more "It's coming"-BS.  Other then the fact I had some shade and this place at least had on-site water hose with city-water, I was no better off than where I was before.  The guy was BS-ing me.  I can't imagine his motivation
for trying to get me over in his yard - he paid like $800k for the place, so my lousy $100 rent surely could not have been a factor?  Whatever

At this point, I was going on 9 months without electricity. I had bought a cheapie China-made 2 cycle generator for $200 on ebay(they even mailed it to my PO Box )
but is was noisy,inefficient,sucked gas, and generated only minimla and dirty(Hz-wise) power suitable only for maybe a lightbulb or electric drill and ater a coupleof weeks of feeding the world's most expensive power source for an electric fan,I gave up and sold it.


To be continued....

[tofu2u2]

Doomsteader, thank you so much for sharing the details & teaching us about how to live under difficulet circumstances. YOU ROCK!

[Doomsteader]

I had gotten used to reading by candlight, watching a tiny B&W battery=operated TV (got all of 2 1/2 channels), running laptop off cigarette lighter, and cooking with Coleman propane campstove  (the RV's built-in onboard propane tank had exhausted itself months ago, on a bitterly-cold night at 2am, the previous winter, and I could not find anyone/anyway to get it re-filled).  But things still sucked without electric - multiple expensive trips for expensive ice every day for cooler - in hopes of keeping bevearges cool,and keeping food from spoiling - a constant problem,without refridgeration.  I got food poisoning more than once from pre-maturely thawed TV dinners.

Finally, some Good News! I had found out that one of the landscapers at the old place was leaving - and in theprocess, freeing-up one of only 5 electric meters on the property!  Kindlyproperty manager said if I could convince power company to turn on commercial account in my name(I wasn't a "business"), then by all means,come back and help myself to the newly freed-up spot.  Like the proverbial starving Rottweiler being ASKED if he would like a piece of steak, I leapt into action,went down to thepower company's office, armed with a dummied-up "lease" and any other documentation thatmight have been necessary,kindly supplied by the property manager(who used to work for said power company as a lineman), and a few minutes and $100 deposit later, was asked when I'd like the power turned on  Would tommorrow e soon enough?

YESSSSS!!!!!

Next up: The Rottweiler goes shopping

[pamela]

good Lord Doomsteader!!!
this is riveting, please write more when you are able, I can hardly wait to hear what else happens to you.

[Doomsteader]

1st trip

(Electric fan?  HELL No! ) 
8,000 BTU high-efficiency, dented floor-model super-price Sears A/C, Check
Sears Fridge-freezer (about twice the size of "dorm-fridge"), Check 
Cheapie Chinamart 700w microwave oven, Check 
3 super heavy duty outdoor extension cords (RV's 110v system fried), Check 

2nd trip
Cheapie Goldstar 19' color TeeVee w/front A/V inputs, Check
Cheapie toaster-oven, Check 
Used Playstation and some Squaresoft RPGs , Check 
Cheap electric lamp with actual 110v(!) bulb, Check 

Granted, I dented up my battered plastic a little, but who could blame me, at this point?

Up next: Total Eclipse of the Heart Job