BREAKING NEWS FLASH

September 10, 2013

BREAKING NEWS FLASH  –  I now have a place to shower! I joined a local gym for $16 a month. When I looked at gyms in the spring, I refused to join any because of the high monthly prices and contracts involved. So, why join now?

1. the price - low price, and no contract required 

2. location - ½ a mile from storage, and quite close to my job

3. hours - 5 am to 11 pm, I plan to shower at 6:30 am or 9:30 pm. 

4. icing on the cake - screens attached to every treadmill (walking + Judge Judy!) I plan to be there 3 days a week to watch Judge Judy while I walk. Not only will I enjoy the walks, but my family thinks I’m staying with Jasmine and they will be suspicious if I tell them I haven’t watched JJ in days. “Why aren't you watching Judge Judy when there’s cable in the house and you get off work in plenty of time before the show comes on?”

I thought sponge baths would do me just fine for a whole year, or at least until I make it home to visit my family down South. I feel fresh every morning after my wash-ups. The problem is how stinky I feel when I first wake up each morning before I get to storage to wash-up. Maybe it's just the mild weather, but I don’t like that feeling and I may be stinking up my car. So, a shower at least once a week should help out A LOT!

I took a close look at my new car-living expenses to see how much do I REALLY save on rent. I have some new expenses – laundry ($32/month), gym ($16/month), more regular car vacuums ($4/month), keeping jugs of water in car for drinking ($4/month). That’s $56/month compared to $400/month rent. 

I think food will be more costly now so I tallied up how much I’ve spent on food since Sunday

= $36 for 3 days of food, maybe longer if I don’t buy any food tomorrow or Thursday.

I’ll have to keep track of that and let you know later when I have a more accurate amount.

As I walked through the store pricing food, I felt very sorry for more desperate homeless people. I imagined them having to buy individual servings of oatmeal, and other small portions of food, one meal at a time because they don’t have easy access to refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, and fresh water like I do. I may even find a way to move my toaster oven into my classroom and conceal it eventually. Other homeless people really have it rough when it comes to chow time. 

When I finish being homeless and I’ve paid down 33% of my debts ($25,000), I really need to find a way to give and pass on my blessing to other homeless people. I really think my church would make a good candidate for Safe Parking. It’s out in the country, so people would have to have rides that are able to get there, but it’s quiet and there are no neighbors right next to the church to complain about it.