Rich Grise wrote:

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 05:57:39 +0000, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

I don't claim to be "noble", and I know that others have done it, but
not enough have done it. I just did what I thought was right, at that
time. I've been homeless twice in my life and I know what its like to go
days at a time without food.

I've been "homeless" too, and if you go "days without food" you're not
begging properly.


I never begged. I found odd jobs and paid for my own food. I may have
slept in my truck and taken showers at a relatives house, but I was
never a bum. They were paid for their kindness by doing repair work on
their homes, cars or whatever needed worked on.

Did you know that it's possible to make $10.00-$20.00/hour begging in the
streets? It's true, it takes a little bit of experience to get past that
false pride, but hey, it's cash! And expecially[SIC] if you're
demonstrably a crip, you could probably make better money than I am, who
is only an ordinary ugly hairy guy.


Around here that will get you arrested. The homeless live in the
Ocala national forest and are treated like trash. A lot of them a re
veterans we are trying to help find jobs and get back on their feet but
most want nothing to do with anyone outside of their camouflaged camps.

Yes, I have to use a cane, but the only thing I want from that is for
people to leave me enough room to walk with it and not for them to blow
their horn and scream obscenities when I walk across a marked crossing
from the parking lot into a store.

And sometimes people give me stuff like a whole baked chicken in a deli
box, or 5/8 of a pizza, and more than once, someone has donated some pot.
Guess I'm glad I'm not some kind of arrogant republican who's all stuck
on keeping up appearances. One time, some guy asked, "What's the money
for?" I said, "Drugs and alcohol." He gave me a $20.00 bill.

Life is an adventure. I'm a mad metascientist, and my life is my
laboratory. Why the **** would I want to try to do the same thing billions
and billions of people have done before me, and wind up dead anyway?


yeah, life is an adventure. With my health i would have never made it
into the space program, but I built a lot of communications gear for
NASA, including equipment that is in orbit.

Guess I lucked out on the medical side - I'm a Veteran, so I can just
trundle on down to Long Beach if I need medical attention. Which I don't
need very often, probably because I love myself the way I am. :-)

Good Luck!
Rich


I'm a veteran, too. US Army, 26T20 MOS. In fact, I'm on a 100% VA
disability now but back in the mid '70s the VA refused to help me, but
the "Soldiers and Sailor's Relief Fund" gave me a whole $25 to help pay
my bills and told that was all I would ever get from them.

I am on medication for high blood pressure, Diabetes, and severe
swelling in my legs. The medication for the Diabetes was doubled six
months ago, and a new drug was added last week. The consulting surgeon
from Shands Hospital in Gainsville (A large teaching and research
hospital across the street from the VA hospital) told me last month that
they have decided not to operate on my carpal tunnel because they don't
think it will help me. They also recommended against severing the nerves
along the outside of my left arm because I would loose almost all
feeling in my left arm. The nerve damage causes a constant tingle like
a mild electric shock from my little finger up past my elbow. Then
there is something wrong with my left leg. It will buckle without
warning, so I use a cane most of the time. When I don't, I have to lock
my knee and walk that way to keep from falling.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida