I'm startin to miss my home

[Phillip Allen]

It seems as if everyone around here (Miami area) is stuck in traffic and honking their horn about it. I’m tired of the noise and of the constant macho posturing even by women. I’ve had a woman glom onto me who claims to be homosexual and is very aggressive in the bargain. I talk to her and laugh (quietly) as she hits on the cute chicks who come into her range… (I’ve got into the habit of hanging out at a Starbucks and wasting money on their high-priced products…not much else to do I guess). Yesterday the owners of my parking lot informed me they would like their parking lot back…I pointed out that I did not own the camper and the owner had abandoned it. I never wanted to ever hook that thing up to my truck because as soon as I did I would become responsible for it…much easier to just walk (drive) away.

The problem of going back home is I must make a living somehow and the how is not very clear to me…writing? Building brick mailboxes? I know I don’t want to lay blocks while dragging an extra five pounds of mud on each foot during our winter/spring.

I talked to my aging sister several times and she keeps asking me to come home…dunno…slip-sliding away I guess.

This sure is a poly-glut(sp?) society here. I’m working with an Argentine mason now. The three most common languages seem to be Spanish, English and Haitian Creole in that order…

[ 02-08-2006, 06:25 PM: Message edited by: Phillip Allen ]

[Meerkat]

"Polyglot"

Best wishes!

[Phillip Allen]

I spelled it that way and spell check kicked it out...?!

Oh yeah...thanks for the best wishes

[ 02-08-2006, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: Phillip Allen ]

[Meerkat]

When I lived in Cearwater, one of the things that really bugged me was that it would take about an hour in any direction to get to open country. I think I would have hated Miami worse since it's even more sprawling and constricted.

Orlando might be worth checking out. I think it's more "american" than Miami. Maybe Disney is hiring for yet more work on DW?

[High C]

Wait 'til summer. You'll really want to get the heck out!

[Meerkat]

Dictionary.com says polyglot is correct. Must be a goofy spell checker. ;)

[Phillip Allen]

I think I want to stay below the freeze line (if you know what I mean) otherwise I may as well go back to Arkansas...

[Meerkat]

Originally posted by High C:
Wait 'til summer. You'll really want to get the heck out!Oh yeah, that's the truth! It's like being in winter up north: you really don't want to go out in it!

[Phillip Allen]

I think it comes down to being really tired of being out in the cold to make a living...I want an inside job!

[RichKrough]

Why not drift farther northward to areas like the north and south Carolina coast where there is also a building boom going on? Not quite as fast paced as South Florida and a broader range of cultural and recreational opportunities.

[Phillip Allen]

Maybe...I just feel this vulnerability back home...maybe I've become agoraphobic?

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Sometimes a journey makes you realize that staying home ain't so bad. I don't know what to tell you Philip... except I think you needed to do whatever it is you're doing... time will tell. Stay well. ;)

[Phillip Allen]

I'm having a self-prescribed attitude adjustment...

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Hey, I need those regularly... :D

[Memphis Mike]

"I’ve had a woman glom onto me who claims to be homosexual and is very aggressive in the bargain. I talk to her and laugh (quietly) as she hits on the cute chicks who come into her range… (I’ve got into the habit of hanging out at a Starbucks"

LOL! Did you show her your bullets, Phil? :D

Come on home if things ain't workin out. smile.gif

[Phillip Allen]

The trouble is they are Mostly working out...making pretty good money for me and getting caught up finan...fen...with the money problems smile.gif

[jack grebe]

Meer, I,m in the cearwater (SP?) area now.Tarpon Springs actually.......nothins changed :rolleyes:

[Memphis Mike]

LOL :D You got REAL problems now guy. :D

[ 02-08-2006, 07:36 PM: Message edited by: Memphis Mike ]

[Meerkat]

Originally posted by jack grebe:
Meer, I,m in the cearwater (SP?) area now.Tarpon Springs actually.......nothins changed :rolleyes: I've read that Clearwater has been taken over by Scientology! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[jack grebe]

no it's been taken over by Canadians and snowbirds :rolleyes: I can't wait till march 15th :D

[paladin]

rent some space somewhere...get an old used 18 foot camper...stretch a white tarp over the top if it leaks....build a pole barn...and build a boat..24-26 feetz is enough.....8 feetz 4 inch beam trailerable on any u.s. road if ya gotta....

[joejapan]

.
Philip, I feel for you buddy....I have an idea of what you're going through and I sure hope you can ease your mind somehow. I really wish there was something I could do to help.

Hey, you mentioned making mailboxes, maybe you can sell a buncha' these to supplement your income at home 'till something comes up....
.
http://static.flickr.com/35/97369706_85500a25c3.jpg?v=0
.

I'm also kinda' having some "down time" like yourself. More of a pity party for me though.

Katrina took away my family home, my old truck, my outboard runabout and both my daysailers, along with all my other toys. She also took away all my old photos, family alblums, school yearbooks and whatever other paper trail of my history that was left. Everything except my birthday.....I just completed the sale of the property in Gulfport, MS, paid off all my debts and finally removed myself from a ton of responsibilities caused by sibling rivalry.....don't want to go there again !

So, now I owe not one red cent to anyone, and I own nothing but a seabag full of clothes and a couple of old shotguns in storage. I'm unemployed, half-sick, and sittin' here with a ragged ass and a worried mind. I want very badly to go home.....but....I don't have a home to go to!

Unlike you, my skills are no longer usable. My certifications ran out years ago and what talents I have are no longer in demand. That, coupled with age 60 isn't gonna' afford much of a chance at a decent job. Nowadays, I'm getting more like that guy in American Beauty...all I want anymore is a plain 'ol job that pays enough to eat, sleep and "putz" around in a little wooden sailboat. But, where do I go...?

Being out "on the road" used to be fun, back a few hundred years ago when I was young. Now, it isn't! For me, even with a greatly reduced income, sitting on the front porch would be a helluva' lot better'n "running the roads" looking for money. I'm sure you've thought about the hurricane damaged areas. They wouldn't be any easier but at least you'd be no more than a full day's drive from home. LA and MS probably wouldn't pay as well, but I'm sure you'd find some work and warmer temperatures than Arkansas.

I wish you luck, Philip. I do hope you find something, somewhere, that you would enjoy doing and can make enough to live well....write if you find work !

In the meantime, ......C'mon Lotto!

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

I've been almost everywhere.
Hitchhiked all over this country in my hippy days and finally got a job driving a truck so I could get paid to do it.
Eight years ago I got divorced and started working a factory job.
Best things I ever did. :D
I'm not rich but I get plenty of porch time if you know what I mean. :cool:
There's no place like home Phil. ;)
Best of luck to you. smile.gif

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Philip, you need to find a nice warm woman. A sane one. ;)

[joejapan]

.
Don't think they make 'em anymore.... :D

[Meerkat]

Originally posted by joejapan:
.
Don't think they make 'em anymore.... :D At your age, you might be surprised. Lot of 60-ish women have outlived their first husbands and are looking for another. My dad sure had no trouble. ;)

I wish both of you guys the best of luck. It's a tough position to be in.

[Gresham CA]

Phillip and Joe, Come on to South Carolina. I'm sure we can find enough work to keep both of you busy.

[Miami Mike]

Philip,

Hope I'm not to late here. I just saw your post. If you need a cheap place to live you can always pick up a cheap or free hull/boat and anchor it out at past Dinner Key in Cocount Grove. I believe the anchorage there is still free and there are plenty of liveboards living the "on the hook" life.

Good Luck!
Mike

[Wild Dingo]

Some great ideas there Joe and Phil... consider them then decide and act... dillydallyin is only gonna make procrastinating easier as the mind can be a lazy buggar

Try Charles's idea... Sth or Nth Carolina would be good for the soul and from what I hear a damned fine place to rest awhile gather your plans and set to to achieve them

Try something new out of the ordinary different to anything youve done before... maybe you will enjoy it maybe not but you will have sparked yourself to start going for it once more

Of course bein old pharts your gonna have to remember to include the need for zimmer frame access then theres the cabinet of meds you have to take oh an... now stop muckin about and go for it! :D

A platitude for you "Home is where you rest your head at night everything else is a bonus" sorry to hear of your troubles both of you... 60 an tryin to eck a livin doin manual work would be a real bitch... me? Im 49 in a few days so Im just a virile healthy studlike young whippersnapper! :D So I can do anything!! Like drive a squashed truck under the dirt :eek: give it a whirl you just never know till you give it a go! :cool:

[Tristan]

About 25 years ago I spent time around Edisto, SC. Sure was nice country, salt marshes, live oaks, pecans, slow lazy days. Don't know if that would suit you, but I do wonder what it's like now.

[Phillip Allen]

Hey...nice posts.

I'm now staying at Crew Castle in Lauderdale (moved here 3 days ago)

having more creature comforts will undoubtably alter how I feel about this place. Seems most of my house mates are looking for stink-pot jobs that pay. I expect that means mega yachts or cruise ships...that means they are all in competition with one another...we'll see.Currently, I'm one of two who are from the US...vicarous travel

BTW this is from West Marine and there seems to be no spell-cheque... smile.gif

[Hwyl]

Pillip I'm glad to see you've got a roof over your head. Have fun with the vicarious travel as we are having fun with yours.

I'm surprised that there's no internet available at your accomodations.

[Phillip Allen]

Originally posted by Hwyl:
Pillip I'm glad to see you've got a roof over your head. Have fun with the vicarious travel as we are having fun with yours.

I'm surprised that there's no internet available at your accomodations.There is but I have no lap-top...so I walk across the street...simple.

[ 02-14-2006, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: Phillip Allen ]