Ooops, My Mistake

These two photos show the VA Clinic where I was today to meet my new primary care doctor. All went well.

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Well, I made my decision. Now I must live with the consequences of my mistakes. I left Oklahoma on April 24. All went well until the next afternoon and about 15 miles west of Kingman, AZ. when I had trouble with two water hoses. I was towed over 100 miles to a mechanics garage in Las Vegas that afternoon. My van was fixed the next day and I have been searching for a place to live ever since. Things are looking bleak at this moment in that regard. And, it looks like my van will soon be my home. 

I have been far too busy with hunting a place to live to even think about photographing or posting blogs. But, it now looks like a good and interesting blog is my only hope. So, tomorrow I will start carrying my gear with me. I will force myself to slow down and begin documenting my struggle as a homeless photographer, writer, van lifer. And, praying that I can gain an audience that will subscribe to my blog and donate to keep me funded. 

It Is Almost That Time

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Should I stay or should I go? I have two choices, but I must decide soon. My easy choice is to stay in Oklahoma. But, if I do this I still would need to make the trip to Bullhead City, AZ. to retrieve the stuff that was left in storage out there.  I can do this safely as long as I have no problems on the trip. But, I have been struggling to save up enough money to head back to Nevada. I now have enough money to get me there, but it will be a few more weeks before I can safely go with no worries about money. The problem with it all is that I fear that if I do not go soon I stand to lose everything that I have had to leave in storage in Bullhead City, AZ. when I came back to Oklahoma.

My preference is to return to Nevada to stay. My hopes, my plans, and my dreams are all in Nevada. But, if my Boulder City, Nevada apartment complex does not call soon I will be depending strongly on the VA programs that are available in the Las Vegas Valley. And, a lot will depend on whether or not I can go back to work driving a truck.

Donate Thru CashApp

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I have spoken with a couple of people today that have run successful fundraisers thru GoFundMe. They both think that I should leave my fundraiser up and running and try to find the key to making it successful. They say that fundraising is often a fickle thing where you never know when or what it takes to turn things around and head for success. So, I have decided to leave it up for now and try to find the time to work with it. Please understand that I am also very busy trying to find a way to solve my problems without a fundraiser. I will keep trying to do this as I work to make the fundraiser a success.

You can support my future efforts by visiting my blog at https://www.betterworldmedia.us/ and clicking on my $CASHTAG in the right-hand column. If you cannot donate to my cause just drop a note to say HELLO.

THANK YOU for your help and confidence in me.

Eye Surgery Update

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My eye surgery went well today, but I think I will have to wear patch a patch for a week, maybe two. They said my vision won’t clear up enough for a vision test for 2 months or more. That puts a damper on trying to get a new CDL and finding a trucking job. But, I will try to get a bead on whether I will even have a chance for a trucking job. 

Update to Bouncing Back and Starting Over

https://youtu.be/6rCjhdODY2E?list=PLss-7FMeCohudkTYUmiU-xQTfW1chCcuA

I am posting this update via my blog because my GFM fundraiser site is acting up tonight  

Sitting here thinking. Yeah, I am grumpy, but I have a right to be. I have been used and abused my whole life. But, I have always spent my life trying to please those who was doing it. It drove me to alcoholism at an early age. It took me through two divorces. I won’t complain about my first divorce, except to say I am proud of my two children from it but the marriage should never have happened. I was not mature enough. But, even after the second divorce I helped, beyond legal necessities, every time she called for a good 15+ years before refusing to help anymore. And, she was able to survive without my help.

So, fast forward through my years as a single dad and years of weekly hints from my X’s and 4 kids for money. Well, I did help the kids and it kept me broke and homeless once the kids were supposedly on their own

And, now it comes down to mid-2019, I am living in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I was still getting weekly phone calls from people wanting me to pay for their inabilities. But now, one of my sisters living in Oklahoma is sick. Her daughter had died 2 years earlier. She had no one to help her. After 3 trips to the VA hospital because I was unable to breath due to stress I returned to Oklahoma in November, 2019 to care for her. In March 3rd of 2020 she went into the hospital. I spent 5 days a week traveling 250 miles/day being available for her until she passed away Oct. 17, 2020.

So, it was late Feb. of 2021 when I finished the legal work as my sister’s power-of-attorney. Meanwhile I had saved enough money to move back to Nevada. I left Oklahoma the last week of February. I was in Nevada living in my van for 2 months in an unsuccessful attempt to find a decent place to live. I failed. I returned to Oklahoma to live at my older sister’s house. She had broken her foot and was living with her daughter at the time. But, by October of 2021 I had saved and borrowed enough money for a second failed attempted move back to Nevada. This attempt only lasted less than 3 weeks and I was back in Oklahoma at my sister’s house.

Fast forward to my 73rd birthday, January 22, 2022, while I am waiting on a phone call from who I hope will be my Boulder City, Nevada landlord and preparing for my third attempted move back to Nevada the motor blows up in my van.

I have been running a GoFundMe site while going for 2+ months with no transportation. I finally took a $6k loan with my bank to add to the $4200 that I already owed on it to put a new motor in the van. But, the job is done and I am now setting to work to come out of retirement and go back to work driving a truck and get moved to Nevada.