October 20, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE.... my oldest daughter is 29 today (again lol). One of the disadvantages of being on this journey is missing things like birthdays. I won't see my grandbaby's first step or hear his first word, those moments are my loss. Fortunately my children have each other and good friends to share their celebrations. My grandbaby has loving parents to enjoy all those firsts, hopefully taking tons of photos to send to me LOL.
I'm sorry about the lack of blogging, I have been distracted, by a knee injury that is not healing. It has been months since the problem first a rose, and the pain is getting worse over time. I have been hoping it would work itself out eventually. My mobility is being seriously hindered, and I have decided it is time to seek treatment. The homeless life requires much walking and standing...this will be especially true of larger centres, there are many large cities still to be visited. I am currently in a smaller centre so waits and distances are not so bad right now.
Most of my time (and learning) has been spent with the agencies and bureaucracies that service the homeless population. I am moved by the compassion and commitment I have see from the individual workers. I don't know if this is typical or if I will find a different temperament in the big city. But it is definitely a theory I will have to look into at my earliest opportunity.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
"what doth it profit..."
October 17, 2009
I believe the quote is, "What doth it profit a man that he gain the world but lose his very soul." I don't know the source of this quote, the bible or Shakespeare or just some Greek philosopher Shakespeare borrowed from. Source isn't as important the result. This is just one of many quotes that leave us with the impression money is BAD, and that rich people are unhappy, unfulfilled and generally miserable. Images through literature of the happy peasants and the Scroogesque miserly , boss / plantation owner / industrial giant, etc etc. reinforce such misconceptions. In spite of these cautionary tales we are inundated with the success = wealth = happiness mythology (mostly in modern times). Recently, I have been receiving a lot of Twitter hits promoting get rich quick schemes, including one from the poster boy for money grubbing, Mr Trump. So permit me to set the record straight, money is only a TOOL, a necessary tool in our culture. Money is not BAD or GOOD it just is. It has no value in itself.
The only thing in this life with intrinsic value is TIME, it cannot be saved. Every moment is spent, you can spend it wisely or poorly, but once it has passed it can never be retrieved or reworked.
I believe the quote is, "What doth it profit a man that he gain the world but lose his very soul." I don't know the source of this quote, the bible or Shakespeare or just some Greek philosopher Shakespeare borrowed from. Source isn't as important the result. This is just one of many quotes that leave us with the impression money is BAD, and that rich people are unhappy, unfulfilled and generally miserable. Images through literature of the happy peasants and the Scroogesque miserly , boss / plantation owner / industrial giant, etc etc. reinforce such misconceptions. In spite of these cautionary tales we are inundated with the success = wealth = happiness mythology (mostly in modern times). Recently, I have been receiving a lot of Twitter hits promoting get rich quick schemes, including one from the poster boy for money grubbing, Mr Trump. So permit me to set the record straight, money is only a TOOL, a necessary tool in our culture. Money is not BAD or GOOD it just is. It has no value in itself.
The only thing in this life with intrinsic value is TIME, it cannot be saved. Every moment is spent, you can spend it wisely or poorly, but once it has passed it can never be retrieved or reworked.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Nothing New
October 15, 2009
One of those nights with nothing new to talk about, spent the day in round two of bureaucratic relay. Basically picking up and dropping documents to various offices as requested. But for the peace of mind of my beautiful baby girl, I must post something everyday. The shelter I am staying in has a rule against cell phones so I am limited to when I can make calls and often I don't get a call out to the kids.
This facility searches us on our way into the building every time I assume to insure no contraband is smuggled in. They also search us on our way out...possibly fearing we will smuggle meat out to the other street people lol. No perfume, no outside food or drink, every new thing you bring back even if purchased at a department store must be washed or disinfected. No bugs in this place, woohoo.
Can't believe nothing on the news has ticked me off enough to launch a rant. Sorry I'm so boring these days. night all ttyl
One of those nights with nothing new to talk about, spent the day in round two of bureaucratic relay. Basically picking up and dropping documents to various offices as requested. But for the peace of mind of my beautiful baby girl, I must post something everyday. The shelter I am staying in has a rule against cell phones so I am limited to when I can make calls and often I don't get a call out to the kids.
This facility searches us on our way into the building every time I assume to insure no contraband is smuggled in. They also search us on our way out...possibly fearing we will smuggle meat out to the other street people lol. No perfume, no outside food or drink, every new thing you bring back even if purchased at a department store must be washed or disinfected. No bugs in this place, woohoo.
Can't believe nothing on the news has ticked me off enough to launch a rant. Sorry I'm so boring these days. night all ttyl
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
one day at a time
October 14, 2009
Well today was my first foyer into the world of agency bureaucracy in my new province. Everyone was friendly supportive and open, just like in the last city. That is not to say I would qualify for help, and I wouldn't be able to accept it, if I did qualify. The ready, willing and able to work full-time would be a NO. I doubt I could work any more then part-time any more anyway. My bad knee has gotten increasing worse over the past several months. Walking for just a couple hours puts me in serious pain (like a stabbing that won't quit) anyway I plan to talk to a Doctor next Wednesday. If it is something treatable sooner is better then later. There is a lot of walking and standing in the homeless life and that will only increase when I get into large centres again. Guess I better take care of my health out here... two years from now I'll need to get back to real life (and probably a desk job LOL).
Tomorrow I'm going on a little bus adventure... to the other side of the city. I'll see if there are any soup kitchens over there, give myself a chance to meet some new people from the homeless population. I'll let all ya'll know how that goes. ttyl
Well today was my first foyer into the world of agency bureaucracy in my new province. Everyone was friendly supportive and open, just like in the last city. That is not to say I would qualify for help, and I wouldn't be able to accept it, if I did qualify. The ready, willing and able to work full-time would be a NO. I doubt I could work any more then part-time any more anyway. My bad knee has gotten increasing worse over the past several months. Walking for just a couple hours puts me in serious pain (like a stabbing that won't quit) anyway I plan to talk to a Doctor next Wednesday. If it is something treatable sooner is better then later. There is a lot of walking and standing in the homeless life and that will only increase when I get into large centres again. Guess I better take care of my health out here... two years from now I'll need to get back to real life (and probably a desk job LOL).
Tomorrow I'm going on a little bus adventure... to the other side of the city. I'll see if there are any soup kitchens over there, give myself a chance to meet some new people from the homeless population. I'll let all ya'll know how that goes. ttyl
Monday, October 12, 2009
back on-line, did you miss me?
October 12, 2009
Really sorry about being away so long...since arriving at my new location I was having a little trouble getting onto the internet. Fortunately a quick call to my servers tech support department and we are back on-line. Can't tell you a whole lot about the services here, or even the homeless population because of the long weekend, I'll know more about that in a week or so.
As usual the YWCA hooked me up with a women's' shelter, small house on a residential street which has 8 beds and a 10 maximum stay. It is open to intoxed which is rare and apparently nothing short of assault with intent will get you barred.
The ladies I am staying with are great, the same mix as everywhere else. We have 2MH, 3 addicts (recovering & current) and 2 economic evictions and me. YWCA runs the battered women's shelter and what was the the women's emergency shelter turned into a rehab centre. So to the best of my knowledge this is the only women's emergency shelter in this town of 85,000+ population.
We eat really well here, just like at home. The rules are tedious to try to follow and I'm sure even more tedious for the staff to have to enforce. Because of the short stay clients are not required to do chores beyond picking up after ones self, our full-time job is to get our shit together. The staff gives you 1 day of down time then they start directing you to services and encouraging clients to explore options. The staff and clients get to know each other very well. The trust from that relationship has allowed the staff to make real inroads with individuals...2 have left the centre this week (3days since my arrival) to go into rehab centres. There seems to be some serious advantages to a smaller centre.
Really sorry about being away so long...since arriving at my new location I was having a little trouble getting onto the internet. Fortunately a quick call to my servers tech support department and we are back on-line. Can't tell you a whole lot about the services here, or even the homeless population because of the long weekend, I'll know more about that in a week or so.
As usual the YWCA hooked me up with a women's' shelter, small house on a residential street which has 8 beds and a 10 maximum stay. It is open to intoxed which is rare and apparently nothing short of assault with intent will get you barred.
The ladies I am staying with are great, the same mix as everywhere else. We have 2MH, 3 addicts (recovering & current) and 2 economic evictions and me. YWCA runs the battered women's shelter and what was the the women's emergency shelter turned into a rehab centre. So to the best of my knowledge this is the only women's emergency shelter in this town of 85,000+ population.
We eat really well here, just like at home. The rules are tedious to try to follow and I'm sure even more tedious for the staff to have to enforce. Because of the short stay clients are not required to do chores beyond picking up after ones self, our full-time job is to get our shit together. The staff gives you 1 day of down time then they start directing you to services and encouraging clients to explore options. The staff and clients get to know each other very well. The trust from that relationship has allowed the staff to make real inroads with individuals...2 have left the centre this week (3days since my arrival) to go into rehab centres. There seems to be some serious advantages to a smaller centre.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
new day new place
October 10, 2009
So much of this journey is left to the grace of God and the kindness of others. On Thursday I became aware that friends of my daughter's would be spending Thanksgiving weekend with family in one of my destination cities. They were kind enough to give me a ride and I am now settled into a nice shelter here. Thank you so much Chris & Alex. This allowed me to arrive with $40 in my pocket instead of penniless. Which is a huge weight off my shoulders when entering a new environment. This is especially true when arriving later in the day, because agencies are often closed. My strategy has always been to find the YWCA (if there is one) because they are open fairly late and can usually direct me to women's shelters. As usual they came through for me last night, I am now safely housed in a small women's shelter and will begin my foyers into the community today.
So much of this journey is left to the grace of God and the kindness of others. On Thursday I became aware that friends of my daughter's would be spending Thanksgiving weekend with family in one of my destination cities. They were kind enough to give me a ride and I am now settled into a nice shelter here. Thank you so much Chris & Alex. This allowed me to arrive with $40 in my pocket instead of penniless. Which is a huge weight off my shoulders when entering a new environment. This is especially true when arriving later in the day, because agencies are often closed. My strategy has always been to find the YWCA (if there is one) because they are open fairly late and can usually direct me to women's shelters. As usual they came through for me last night, I am now safely housed in a small women's shelter and will begin my foyers into the community today.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
post time
October 7, 2009
It was my intention to leave for the next leg of my cross country journey on October 4th. On last Thursday my skin began erupting, much like it had been scalded by hot water. I'll spare you details, but it seemed like a good idea to wait until I had the problem checked out, which I did yesterday. After 4 hrs waiting at the clinic, a doctor spent 5 minutes to tell me I have contact dermatitis and write a prescription for a cortisone ointment. Though the causes for contact dermatitis do not fit my symptoms and circumstances, eczema does. So thanks doc for pointing me at the right diagnosis. The good news is that the treatment for either disorder is cortisone ointment. The bad news is like most homeless people I have no drug benefits and no money to buy drugs...so I will have to just wait for the eczema to clear up on its own.
Now I will bitch about health care in Canada. When I had a family doctor she would hook me up with what I needed from her sample cabinet. There are not enough doctors to go around and provincial/federal governments are promoting other heath care delivery options. We could increase the number of doctors by removing the caps on earnings for GPs, add tax incentives for each year in practice to reward doctors who stay in the field, also tuition incentives to get more applicants into medical school. Another consideration is to credit landed immigrant doctors with previous knowledge, in much the same way I could challenge credits at a university. I am not suggesting that alternative heath care is a bad thing, but I would prefer to see it as an augmentation to traditional models. Having a regular heath care provider (Doctor or Nurse Practitioner) who knows you as an individual, has a huge impact on getting the right diagnosis and prompt treatment. Also she/he know your family, your history, and your circumstances. So when you are in a financially tight situation she can accommodate with a little something from the sample cabinet.
Again the working poor are the ones to suffer from the fallout of 21st century economic shift. Health benefits are provided through social assistance, also to many full-time employees. But the working poor are often in a series of part-time jobs which do not provide for benefits. So like the other 50% of the homeless who are working poor, I will do without the meds and hope for the problem to clear up on its own eventually.
It was my intention to leave for the next leg of my cross country journey on October 4th. On last Thursday my skin began erupting, much like it had been scalded by hot water. I'll spare you details, but it seemed like a good idea to wait until I had the problem checked out, which I did yesterday. After 4 hrs waiting at the clinic, a doctor spent 5 minutes to tell me I have contact dermatitis and write a prescription for a cortisone ointment. Though the causes for contact dermatitis do not fit my symptoms and circumstances, eczema does. So thanks doc for pointing me at the right diagnosis. The good news is that the treatment for either disorder is cortisone ointment. The bad news is like most homeless people I have no drug benefits and no money to buy drugs...so I will have to just wait for the eczema to clear up on its own.
Now I will bitch about health care in Canada. When I had a family doctor she would hook me up with what I needed from her sample cabinet. There are not enough doctors to go around and provincial/federal governments are promoting other heath care delivery options. We could increase the number of doctors by removing the caps on earnings for GPs, add tax incentives for each year in practice to reward doctors who stay in the field, also tuition incentives to get more applicants into medical school. Another consideration is to credit landed immigrant doctors with previous knowledge, in much the same way I could challenge credits at a university. I am not suggesting that alternative heath care is a bad thing, but I would prefer to see it as an augmentation to traditional models. Having a regular heath care provider (Doctor or Nurse Practitioner) who knows you as an individual, has a huge impact on getting the right diagnosis and prompt treatment. Also she/he know your family, your history, and your circumstances. So when you are in a financially tight situation she can accommodate with a little something from the sample cabinet.
Again the working poor are the ones to suffer from the fallout of 21st century economic shift. Health benefits are provided through social assistance, also to many full-time employees. But the working poor are often in a series of part-time jobs which do not provide for benefits. So like the other 50% of the homeless who are working poor, I will do without the meds and hope for the problem to clear up on its own eventually.
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