Happy New Years! Thanks Ellen, and Hello Security Guard Guys
Monday, December 31, 2007
Well as a thick cloud of fluffy white snow falls here on Springfield the town is enjoying the final night of 2007. I want to wish all my readers, both new and those of you who have been following since nearly the beginning a very happy New Year. I hope that this year brings you all the things it is you are wishing and longing for. Also never eat the yellow snow, this is important.
Last post I mentioned Ellen, a Springfield local had offered to donate her copy of "On the Road'' to me. Well not only did she do that but she also treated me to a lovely dinner at a Thai food joint. I enjoyed the fine conversation, and can not thank her enough for her kindness. She also made a nice donation, and provided me with a travel copy of a book that inspires me on my travels.
I would like to say hello to the Security Staff at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. I have had several of them stop me on the streets around the downtown complex to say hello. Apparently a few of them have become followers of the blog. I wish to thank them for their kind words, and wish them continued safety as they battle terrorism, communist plots, and other vile threats against the
Tomorrow will suck, everything is closed. Email me if you want hobo house company for the day :)
Only a few days left in Springfield. I feel ready to move on. St. Louis will be where the adventure really begins.
"..men have become tools of their tools." - Thoreau
posted by Cory @ 4:20 PM,
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Local Media Coverage
Friday, December 28, 2007
Hello guys and gals. Dave Bakee over at the State Journal Register was nice enough to run a small article about me and my travels today. I wanted to respond to some of the feedback I have got. Rather then try to do it via the comments section there I figured I could do it here.
I know its the nature of life that no matter what you do some people are going to disagree with you or think your in the wrong. I could be running a store that gives free puppies to one armed Hurricane Katrina survivor orphans, and some people would find a reason to take me to task. Starting this trip back in late November I had no doubts that some people would find was I was doing offensive, wrong, and a waste.
First I would like to thank Kimberly for the kind donation of the Flickr premium account! Would like to thank Ellen for the donation offer of 'On The Road', and Kiyoshi for the offer of a domain donation. The kindness of strangers always blows my mind.
First thing. There was a miscommunication someplace (my end, and/or my cellphones crappy reception no doubt) between Dave and I about the Breadline being closed on x-mas. I was trying to convey that it was the only thing open for the homeless during the holiday. Places like the Washington Street Mission, and public library where time is often spend where closed. However it was only opened for a very limited portion of the day. Leaving a lot of time for the homeless to hang out at the train station, or wonder the streets.
Now to respond to some comments.
Friend of the State wrote - "Travel to exotic places and meet interesting people. Join the military! This act would help you accomplish your goals."
No thanks. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran are not on my list of places to see.
One reader wrote - "The positives of Cory's trek is that he gives a first hand account of what it's like to be homeless. I was surprised to learn that the Bread Line was closed on Christmas, and the homeless had nowhere to go but the Amtrak station. I was pleased to learn that food services for the Spfld homeless appeared to be better than those in Bloomington. The negatives are that Cory states on his blog that he has an Illinois Link card. The Link card provides assistance for the needy, and is paid for by Illinois taxpayers. Cory is on an adventure, not a truly needy person. He states on his blog that he was able to stay three nights at the Student Library in Bloomington/Normal, while posing as a student cramming for finals. That concerns me. Plus he solicits funds on his blog using Paypal. It's a different generation, I suppose."
Well I can see your where your coming from with some of your worries. If you read the whole post about the Link card you can see what kind of things I am doing with it though. I am not going to link to the post but if you want you can dig though the blog and see what I was doing in that post I mentioned the Link card. I do not make a post every time I use it for good like that but that is pretty much what it is for. I also wanted to see what the process was for getting one when your homeless and how hard it was to get. I did not lie about my income or living situation and did not know if I would be approved or not..I was.
Some things just in general. Some people seem to have a real problem with me asking for PayPal donations. Maybe you have not spent much time on the web, but many, many websites and blogs that get a fair amount of traffic (37,940 page impressions so far) ask for donations. Its not uncommon at all. If you do not like it you simply do not have to donate, no worries one way or the other.
When I get to warmer areas I will use shelters much less. I will camp, and stay other cheap places. It is very cold in Illinois right now not leaving me many choices that I can afford. Even with the 10 or so negative comments the feedback over all has been very good. Sleeping in the Salvation SOS shelter some night (not done it every night I have been in Springfield) does not put anyone else out. It is an 'over flow' shelter that is taking pretty much everyone who shows up at the right time and follows the rules. It maybe a hallway or corner someplace but they find a place to stick you. People sleeping outside in Springfield right now are doing so by their own choice not because I took the last open bed.
I also do not want Springfield to think that I do not like the town. There are many nice things about it. From a 'homeless' standpoint the Salvation Army is a godsend here, and so many other places. Helping Hands seems to have a good little operation although I did not spend much time with them. The Bread Line..I can not even begin to say enough good things about what you do. There is also the Washington Street Mission doing what they can to help chip away at the problem. Where are you lacking? Springfield needs something like The Compassion Center in Bloomington. It provides a place for the homeless to go during the day when the shelter is closed. (Besides the library!) Job placement, showers, laundry, and other much needed services are offered there. The Washington Street Mission comes close, but does not quite go far enough. Something I have noticed here is that there are many more people on the streets with serious mental health issues than in Bloomington.
Apart from the homeless related issues, Springfield is mostly a nice town. There are a lot more abandoned buildings and houses then I expected. Downtown is very pretty in places, but beyond the tourist areas this seems to drop off some. I just kind of get an overall negative vibe from this place. That being said I have met some wonderful people here. I look forward to spending my last week here seeing a few last things and meeting a few new people.
Also check out the Blog I helped Earl a local homeless man launch. He has much, much more to say about being homeless here in Springfield then one who is passing through like myself. He has been here since before I came and will be here when I am gone. I can not say I agree with everything he feels and thinks but he is a smart cat who is very passionate about the homeless plight here in Springfield. I will be doing a video interview with him today or tomorrow and will be posting it to my YouTube channel.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato
posted by Cory @ 1:45 PM,
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Springfield: The Tourist Traps
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Well in the last week or so I have managed to see the three major tourist traps here in Springfield, IL. Due to me being a lazy hobo, half the free world being closed for the holidays, and cheap wine I have not yet got around to publishing anything much about my visits to these fine locations. So without anymore pointless buildup or fluff here it is.
I'll start with the Lincoln Tomb, the final resting place of our 16th president. For a reason that escapes me at the moment one of the things I added to my 'list' was seeing the grave sites of all our dead presidents. Lincoln earns the honor of being the first to get crossed off my list (quicker then you can say Ford Theater!). I could go into some history of the tomb, but if thats what your after just click the Wikipedia link I have provided as they have done a much better job then this scribe is capable of doing. I had seen this once before on a field trip when I was a young kid. Visiting it as an adult (or at least a man child masquerading as one) the monument and tomb seemed much smaller then I remembered it. The large statue of Lincolns face with the worn nose was what I remembered most clearly. Somewhere over the years people have decided that rubbing it brings good luck. Maybe this is what stuck with me because I adapted the idea for a Jesus head back in my parents home. Anyway, the inner tomb has a very somber feel to, that I think is fitting for what many say Lincolns personality was. Here are two videos I took at the tomb.
Shot in the tomb, very dark.
Shot outside, on top of the tomb.
More pictures on my Flickr Account.
Next up the Abe Lincoln home in Springfield. They have a whole block restored and preserved the way it was in Lincolns day. I recorded nearly the whole tour. So enjoy if thats your thing, also a few pictures, with more at the before mentioned Flickr Account.
Lincoln Home Tour Video 1 of 4
Lincoln Home Tour Video 2 of 4
Lincoln Home Tour Video 3 of 4
Lincoln Home Tour Video 4 of 4
An old home just is not the most thrilling thing on earth. However, the tour guide did a great job and really knew his stuff.
And last but not least in any way The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. This is without a doubt the crown jewel of the Lincoln tourist traps in Springfield. This cost five dollars for students and seven dollars for non students. The day I had free to go see this I had 1 dollar of disposable income to my name. I knew this was not going to get me into the Museum, so I instead spent in on a black marker. I made this sign and tried my hand at panhandling my way in. It took me about 15 minutes to get in. Despite a security guard running me off the property and calling the police on me (apparently panhandling is not legal in Springfield) I was able to get in pretty easy. The man who ended up paying for the remaining portion of my ticket was very helpful and willing to help out once he realized I actually wanted in the Museum and was not trying to get booze on his nickel.
To make a long story shorter, this Museum rocks. It uses a lot of cutting edge technology in its two theater exhibits. I think most younger people would really enjoy it. I am really not giving justice to how cool it was, and how great of a time I had (Been up since around 3am and its now 5pm so I am one tired hobo). I think it is well worth the admission price and if I had to name the one must see thing for a tourist in Springfield, this is it.
I have quite a few good pictures and a lot of poorly recorded video of this place. The video is poor quality but I had to shoot much of it on the downlow as shooting was not allowed in all the cool areas. Here are the videos if you would like to see them.
And the rest. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
2-6 Are all pretty much 'bootlegs' of copyrights material, so I get some 'hax0r' points for that even if the quality of the video is horrid.
Here are some of the pictures with more, once again at my Flickr Page.
Well this whole post should have been a bit more in depth. However I just do not have the energy to properly describe it all for my hoards (or at least a few hundred) readers. If I ever get a laptop these post will be much easier. In fact my clicking on the link below you could help me with that effort by donating a dollar or two!
posted by Cory @ 4:21 PM,
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Hobo X-mas, Congrats Kelly & Sam, and Lack of Updates
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Happy Holidays Hobo addicts, family, friends, comic book guy, and all other strange people who find this humble hobo blog worth reading. Not much in the way of updates over the last week or so. I'll just do a quick crash course of everything for now with much more detailed posts to come later.
First of to take care of some person matters. Congratulations Kelly and Sam! Kelly is my dear sister. Sam, a fine young lad asked for her hand in marriage on x-mas eve. I hope you both continue to find happiness with each other and wish you a long and happy marriage. Sam take care of her, and treat her well :)
Now back to the hobo stuff.. Was doing Day Labor at the local Hospital right before the Holiday, and caught a flu bug. May have caught it someplace else or at the Hospital. Doesn't really matter, as it sucked in any case. That put me down and out of commission the last day the Public Library was open before x-mas, and I couldn't find the energy to do a post. It really only lasted 24 hours though and then I was back up and running on all gears.
Last week I begged my way into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum with this sign. I got quite a few pictures and videos. Those are already uploaded to my YouTube and Flickr accounts if you can't wait to see them. Other wise I'll be doing a nice post about the visit in the next day or so. That same day I also visited the Lincoln Home. I took a nice series of video's documenting pretty much the whole tour. A post about that will also be coming soon.Also I did some squatting over the last week or so. Shelter life only holds so much for one to learn about and see. So I'll have a post about my squatting/sleeping in an ATM booth, Behind a Dollar General, and in an old abandon cargo van coming soon to. Hope to get quite a bit of stuff done today as I must day labor the next few days to earn some money to get home on this weekend. Plan to see the Lincoln Tomb today. That will pretty much be the last thing that I 'have to do' here in Springfield. Well hope this post holds everyone over for now.
posted by Cory @ 10:15 AM,
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'The List' Rought Draft One
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Well I've mentioned that I have a 'list' of things I want to do before going home. A lot of people have asked to see it. Although this is just an early rough draft I figured I'll post it just to quite up the masses if nothing else. I'm sure I'll add some other things and maybe drop one or two of the silly things for the final version. Here it is. In the final version everything listed will be a hyperlink link to a page telling more about the item and an update on the status of the thing.
#1 - Visit, Live in, and blog from all 48 contiguous state capitals.
#2 - See, Swim in, and sleep for at least one night on the beach of, The Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico.
#3 - Stay at least one night in a homeless shelter in all 48 contiguous states, and compare how the homeless are treated in different states and different cities.
#4 - Visit a museum, and a zoo in all 48 contiguous states.
#5 - Visit the grave site of all the dead American presidents and do a video blog post about them from the site.
#6 - See the Grand Canyon.
#7 - See Niagara Falls.
#8 - See the St. Louis Arch.
#9 - See the Liberty Bell.
#10 - Go Sky Diving
#11 - Go Scuba Diving.
#12 - Ride Americas top 10 Roller Coastes.
#13 - Visit and sleep outside in America's 10 biggest cities.
#14 - See a space shuttle launch.
#15 - Help a 'Homeless Person' setup a blog in all 48 contiguous states.
#16 - See Ground Zero
#17 - See the ball drop in Time Square.
#18 - Mardi Gras
#19 - Visit, Live in, and Blog from DC
#20 - See 'Old Faithful'
#21 - Attend a live Diggnation Taping
#22 - See the Golden Gate Bridge
#23 - See the Space Needle
#24 - Attend a protest rally in all 48 contiguous states.
#25 - See a play in all 48 contiguous states.
#26 - Cut down a cherry tree
#27 - Live off the land someplace (rual/wooded) for one month
#28 - Illegally invade/sneak into Canada and plant an American flag.
#29 - See Mt. Rushmore
#30 - See the Hollywood sign.
As I said its a very rough list... feed back welcome! I'm sure there will be more stuff added. When its done, I'll settle down and go back to real life.
posted by Cory @ 4:42 PM,
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Loss, More Tales From Ready Labor
Hello kids. Pretty tired today because I was up at 3:30AM to goto Ready Labor to try to make some paper. Not much of any real interest to report from the last day or so. Springfield is not a very nice town, for being the capital of the state. Have not got around to visiting the 'tourist traps' or Lincoln Tomb yet. May take tomorrow to go around town and take pictures of the city and its sites. Do not think I will be staying here as long as I planned at first. Not much day labor opportunity here. May move on to St. Louis after x-mas.
The most noteworthy thing to happen to me is a sad tale. Last night when arriving back at the Salvation Army emergency shelter, one of the residents was greeted with earth shattering, life altering bad news. The mother of his two children, and both kids where killed in a car accident on Monday. He is the man in the background of the picture in the tan shirt. I do not know much about his story, or situation. He seems to be a kind man, who will now carry a deep sadness in his eyes like a heavy chain of despair. I noticed several people try to tell him they knew how he felt. That seemed a bit offensive to me. Unless you had lost your family in such a manner how could you possibly be able to grasp the depths of his loss? I just told him that I would keep him in my thoughts and offered to let him use Blackie to call family or anyone else he needed to get in touch with. It was heartwarming to see everyone trying their best to comfort him in what ways they can. I have noticed that the Homeless tend to be a tight net community that really does their best to support each other. The weight of his loss hangs on me like a shadow of gloom.I have a very love hate relationship with Labor Ready. They are all over this mighty, nation we worked so hard to steal from the Native Americans. That means I'll always be able to have a source of income as long as I'm in any decent size town. Also I find it great that you never know what the next assignment will be. You could be shoveling a sidewalk of snow one day, washing dishes the next, and doing factory work the following. However I feel that temporary agencies like them and Manpower are bad for the American worker in the long run. In fact the way they do business reminds me a bit of organized crime. Sure they put people to work, but in return they take a good size cut of whatever you make. It stinks of a pay to play or protection racketeering scheme, to a big pro labor guy like myself. The Labor Ready here in Springfield seems to not have nearly as many 'contracts' as the one I worked for in Bloomington. I've went three days so far and only been able to get work on one of them. Today I was just about ready to give up for the day when a job came in for me. I was sent to a medical office building to unload and move some items. However when I got there it had already been done. The good news is they still paid me for four hours of labor. Not often you get free money :) Took some of my day labor booty and did a much needed load of laundry.
Updates will be slow over the holidays as I'll have a hard time finding a PC to use. Hopefully I can get out of Springfield in early January. I have a kid who claims to be a Vampire who is willing to do a video interview with me. Should make for some worthwhile viewing. Hopefully I can get that taken care of tomorrow.
"Go then there are other worlds then these" - Jake Chambers
I'm reading Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' Good reading material for any hobo. Why not donate a few bucks to my paypal to help me buy a small travel version of the book?
posted by Cory @ 4:01 PM,
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Saturday Night Fever
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Not many words in this post today. Last night the Library here in Springfield closed at 5pm. Although the weather consisted of snow and dangerous cold the shelter did not open until 7pm. It made for a pretty upset crowd of homeless. Here are the videos I shot of us waiting to get in. One man was very drunk. Kinda sad. At the end I included a video from the line to get into the soup kitchen for lunch today. I caught a snipped in the middle of him explaining his views on the true nature of our reality.
Poor audio on this one :( Was in a loud room.
-He that respects himself is safe from others. He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
posted by Cory @ 3:43 PM,
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SOS, Snow, and Not so Ready Labor
Saturday, December 15, 2007
All is going well for this humble, surprisingly clean hobo in Springfield Illinois. Last night I decided to check out a different shelter in hopes it would be a little more roomy. The Salvation Army offers something called the SOS Shelter during the winter months. They do not ask many questions or require much of the people who stay there. Pretty much its just a warm place to ride out the hours of 7pm to 7am.
Here are the sweet sleeping digs they provided me last night!
Here is a video of the residents relaxing after a long, cold day on the streets.
Here is a video from first thing this morning. Snowed last night, and it was freaking early and cold! Got up bright and early to goto Ready Labor in hopes of making some cash today. But with the nasty weather and snow they where pretty dead. Didn't have anything for me. So I sat there enjoying free coffee and a warm place to read for a few hours!
Speaking of Ready Labor.. My quest to find the one here in Springfield yesterday ended up being much longer then I was expecting. Google Maps refuses to accept that Springfield has two Grand Ave's. North and South... totally different roads that do not connect and are miles apart. Blackies trusty Google Maps told me Labor Ready was on South Grand Ave and lead me deep into the more urban, hoodish area of Springfield. I did find it after having to walk back the other direction for several miles. Not all bad though, as walking around a new town is a quick way to learn about it! Here are some pictures I took at Ready Labor this morning as I sat around drinking coffee with other people hoping to pick up some work.
Not sure what tomorrow will hold. The Library does not open until noon. Also there is no work at Ready Labor on Sunday. Not sure where I will find to stay warm from 7AM till at least 10AM when the Bread Line opens. I'll try to make a few meaningful posts tomorrow. Maybe I'll even get the much talked about 'List' posted finally.
posted by Cory @ 1:50 PM,
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One State Captial Down, 47 to go!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Hey kids, perverts, parents, and constant readers! I have arrived safe and sound in the capital of the mighty state of Illinois, Springfield. Home of the uber famous slavery banishing, possibly homosexual (not that there is anything wrong with that), Abe Lincoln himself. Besides having lots of Lincoln artifacts its also the seat of one of the most corrupt state governments in the union. So corrupt that the prior governor is now a felon, who will spend some serious time in prison.
Anyway, Although its not quite finished yet my list of 'Things to do before going back to Real Life' is nearly finished and ready for posting. One of the things on the list is to Live in, and Blog from all 48 Contiguous State Capitals. Since I was already in Illinois I figured I'll go ahead and knock out Springfield. This will be a longer stay then I plan on making in most places. I want to ride out some of this cold weather and make enough money to put together a proper hobo traveling kit that includes a laptop.Last night I stayed at The Helping Hands Shelter. I'll include some pictures and a video I took their at the end of the post. It was a warm safe place to get a nights sleep, even if it was on a mat on the floor. It was very crowed with very tight space. They feed us a nice warm meal, and seem to offer lots of classes and other services to the local homeless. I am going to check out the Salvation Army's warming center shelter tonight. Helping Hands requires you be in by like 4:00PM to sign in and in for the night at 5:00PM. The Salvation Army will give me more time to check out the city and get a job of some sort lined up.
I'm going to enjoy the warmth and comfort of this library till about 11AM then check out a local soup kitchen called Bread Line for lunch. After that I plan to goto the local Labor Ready and maybe Manpower to try to find some work. After I get a check or two I'll find a storage shed for rent and turn that into a temporary pimped out hobo pad for the rest of my stay in Springfield.
I thinks thats all for today.
Video of 'Day Room' At Helping Hands Homeless Shelter. Not shot well b/c I had to do it on the down-low.
Everyone starts to settle in for the night at Helping Hands. Talking, reading, watching TV and some even playing cards.
You can see how tight space is. People store their bags in this narrow hallway.
Springfield, IL. The new temporary home of the The Homeless Hacker!
Boy they sure do love their Lincoln here.
-"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing."- Big Gay Abe Lincoln
posted by Cory @ 9:28 AM,
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My Body is a Wonderland....
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Okay thats a lie. However my feet are getting better! Spending my last night in whats been a very welcoming home of ISU's Milner Library. Finished the third book in Steven Kings epic Dark Tower series today. Besides that and catching a free shower at the Compassion Center I did not really do a whole lot. Gonna spend to night getting Blackie all filled up full of video. Will also load up my USB flash drives extra space with video's. Not sure what my net situation will be like once I get to Springfield. So the posts maybe slower. If all else fails..in theory I can do a post from Blackie. Hopefully it does not come to that though.
Starting to look a lot better. Dry feet, getting my shoes off when I can, and a hot shower three days in a row agree with it!
Thats all for now kids. Cya on the other side of the train jump!
posted by Cory @ 7:58 PM,
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December Rain, Soup Kitchen, Last Day in Town
Hello guys, gals, and creepy internet stalkers. Sorry for no new posts yesterday but I got bit by the lazy bug. I did shoot a video clip and a shit ton of pictures though. I even got as far as getting them uploaded to my YouTube and Flickr accounts, but just could not motivate my hobo soul to do a blog post for you.
I have now been successful in sleeping in Illinois States Milner Library for three straight nights. If I can pull off operation look like a stressed out student catching a nap while studying for finals one more night, all will be well. Sleeping sitting up in a cubical is not without its risks however. Both my arms are a bit sore from sleeping on them. In tragic news Blackies headphone adapter broke last night. Amazon sells them for only $.95 though. If one of my readers would like to bestow a new one on me as a lavish x-mas gift feel free to e-mail me or drop the money into my paypal account, via one of the many hidden donation buttons on the site!
Did not do anything very productive yesterday, I am after all a hobo! I went to a local soup kitchen for lunch. Loaves & Fishes operates out of Saint Marys church in Bloomington, IL and offers a hot lunch to the public on Tuesday and Thursday of every week. Yesterday I stopped in and enjoyed a feast of hot dog stew, bread and butter, celery, a banana, and some cake. They where also kind enough to give me a carry out bag with a few doughnuts in it. After that I stopped by the Bloomington Public Library to take some photos for a post about the library I may or may not get around to doing. You can view the photo set here. I then stopped past the Compassion Center for a free shower and snack. While there I won a game of chess, how exciting. After that I pretty much just came back 'home' (ISU Library) and played around online. I managed to find a quite stairwell to watch a bit of TV on Blackie. Not having a working headphone adapter cramps my style since I now have to watch stuff using the external speaker. After that I got some sleep. So goes the life of us traveling hobos. Below are some pictures and a video from the soup kitchen.
Yummy free lunch!
People enjoying the lunch.
Not the best video, because I was trying to shoot it on the downlow.
-“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”-
posted by Cory @ 9:17 AM,
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Living in a Library, and Tales of Day Labor
Monday, December 10, 2007
Things went very smooth for on the first night of operation live in a library. With many real students jamming for finals I was far from the only scruffy faced youth stealing a few hours of sleep in a remote cubical. I got a solid four hours of good sleep, and another hour or two of dozing. I was up bright and early for operation Day Labor though (4AM, yikes!) If I can get away with it for three more nights I'm covered till I leave town.
I left the warm confines of Milner Library at about a quarter after four AM this morning to make the penguin like march through the ice to the Labor Ready office in Normal, IL. I arrived a good half hour before the doors unlocked but was only able to secure the 16th spot in line. Apparently the higher your sign in spot the sooner you get sent out to work. Once I got in and signed in it was a good hour before I got my assignment. I was sent to Central Illinois Door to help unload a truck full of garage doors. The job only took from seven AM till about noon. It didn't require much in the brain department, but did not lack heavy lifting. At the end of the shift I got to violate multiple OSHA regulations but getting lifted up in the air on the forks of a fork lift truck to unload some garbage into a high sided dumpster.Its now about nine PM, and I'm back at my temporary home, Milner Library on the Illinois State campus. Its been a long day and I'm pretty tired so I think this post will be a bit shorter then I intended. After work today I once again used The Compassion Centers free shower facility. Six days had passed since my last shower and even before five hours of sweaty manual labor I was smelling a tad past due. I did not want my undercover student disguise blown by someone complaining to a staff member about my hobo stench. This post did not turn out as fun as I hoped I'm just to tired. I nearly lost my two gig flash thumb drive today. Like a retard I left it plugged into the computer at Bloomington Public Library when I left. I once again got lucky and made a phone call, to a kind librarian who found it and is holding on to it till tomorrow for me.
For my five hours of manual labor I made just over thirty dollars. Not much but enough to cover the cost of my train ticket to the next town. Here are some pictures and a video from today. Sleep calls.
Some of the many garage doors I unloaded today.
My train ticket to my soon to be new home, Springfield, IL
And today short episode of the Homeless Hackershow.
To tired to post a paypal begging donation button, but really if you enjoy the site why not kick a few bucks my way to help me get a real domain?
Do not forget to check out my Flickr stream, for all the pictures I take on my travels..even the really bad out of focus ones!
Also my complete video archives are over on my YouTube channel.
-We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.- Professor Keating
posted by Cory @ 8:56 PM,
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Hobo Eviction, The Ice Storm, Free Coffee, and Library Living
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Hello everyone. It has been a few days since my last update. I am sure you are thrilled to hear that rumors of Bears eating me are widely exaggerated. Nor have I froze to death or been tasered by local police. Dismiss all those wild rumors and read on for truth.
I was sound asleep in my debris shelter early Saturday morning, when two of Bloomington Normals finest, woke me from my slumber. Apparently someone from a near by apartment complex had seen me coming and going from my hobo mansion and tracked back into my little patch of woods and discovered my burrow. This noble citizen decided that I was just living to high on the hog, and felt a need to protect freedom by calling the police and reporting my squatting. One hopes that the community gives him or her their due reward for so diligently protecting that uninhabited, unused, patch of woods. The cops where actually pretty nice about it though. They never once threatened to tazer me bro. However I was informed I would have to move on.
Saturday evening brought the Bloomington-Normal, IL area its second ice storm of the winter. If I still had access to my warm, dry, and snug debris shelter this wouldn't have had been a big deal. However with my recent hobo eviction, I had a few choices. I could go back to the local Salvation Army Shelter, or face the elements and try to find a place to squat for the night. Since the shelter is a dank, smelly, depressing place, I decided to brave the elements. Also I feel that I've got about as much good blogging content out of that place as I'm going to get. I had read online about some people having luck sleeping in the plastic tubing that often connects sections of playground equipment. The most suitable tubing I could find was less then ideal. It was at a bit of a slanted angle that kept causing me to slowly slide out. Its also had a series of holes along both sides. While it did keep me dry, it became to drafty and the cold plastic was seeping into my bones. After around two hours of bad sleep I had to move someplace else. My next sleeping experience will not be remember as one of the high points of this journey. I crawled into a fairly clean portable toilet and got maybe another two hours of poor sleep sitting up on the closed stool lid. I woke up shivering, and knew I had to find someplace warmer to ride out the remaining, coldest hours of the night. What I did next is a bit risky and is a good way to pick up a trespassing charge, so I do not recommend it to any potential hobo travelers. I found an unlocked laundry room at an apartment complex and caught a few hours of warm sleep. If the wrong person would have found me its very possible I could have got a ticket if not a minor arrest. I got up a little before seven, fairly refreshed, but needing a warm place to kill some time at until I.S.U.'s library opened at Noon.
I had read some accounts online about how easy it is to score free coffee at places like Starbucks or MickyD's. I decided to try the trick at on of the local McDonalds. I first dug a medium soda cup and empty pie box out of a garbage can. I eased into
the store and found a table in the back, more secluded corner. I waited till no one was watching and placed my items on the table. I then sat and waited for someone to toss a coffee cup in an out of the way garbage can near where I was sitting. When a customer did so I quickly fished it out and took it into the bathroom for a good washing. Then upto the counter I went for free coffee. After that its free refills. I sat most the morning in the restaurant drinking free coffee, staying warm, and watching downloaded TV shows on Blackie.So if things go as planned I'll be spending no more then another week here in the Bloomington/Normal, IL area. Then I'll be moving on to Springfield, the capital of Illinois. So where to catch some safe warm sleep until then? It so happens that Illinois States MilnerLlibrary is open twenty four hours a day from 12/9 through 12/14 for finals week at the college. In my recent visits to the library I've noticed quite a few college kids catching a few hours of sleep in various chairs and cubbies around six story building. I figured that I should be able to blend in and do this as long as I set Blackie to wake me up after a few hours in one place. Also I have to be up bright and early at 4AM everyday this week to make it over to Labor Ready for traveling money work. Wish me luck pulling it off. If I get caught I may have to ride out my last week in town back at the shelter.
Here is my newest video blog for your viewing pleasure!
posted by Cory @ 3:11 PM,
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Free Laundry, A Funky Foot, and Yet More Hobo Camping
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Blackie's alarm sounded sharply at 6:25AM this morning. My mission for the day was to use Bloomington's 'Compassion Center' to do a much needed load of laundry, and get a much needed hot shower. Along with providing job placement assistance, a place to warm up, and free coffee the Compassion Center also have a washer and dryer and shower for the local homeless to use. Traveling with only a very limited amount of threads, I was already past due on a load of laundry. The down side is that the dryer they provide seems to have a dying heating element so it took me well over an hour to get my one humble load dry. I ended up missing out on the free soup kitchen and flu shots I was hoping to blog about and get some pictures and video of.
After getting out of the shower I noticed my right foot is looking a bit funky. I am hoping its just some sort of minor fungal infection. Never go to sleep in wet socks kids, it makes for a miserable night and green feet! Slept well in my debris shelter last night. Its very nearly to small, but that probably makes for better heat retention. I've added quite a few more leaves to the top of it for insulation and should have some pictures of the finished product for everyone tomorrow. Even with grill lighter fluid I was unable to start a fire last night. I think the wood I gathered was just to wet still.
Tomorrow I'm gonna give the day labor a shot again. I was going to do this on Monday morning but had a very nasty, cold, wet, Sunday night, and couldn't convince myself to crawl out of my sleeping bag, at the pre-dawn hour required for day labor. So if all goes well Blackie will have my hobo ass up and at it at 4:30AM tomorrow morning and I'll make some cash and hopefully have an interesting story to post. Chance of some light snow tonight, hopefully I stay warm!
Took this last night before settling down to watch the newest episode of Star Gate Atlantis on Blackie (yes I'm that geeky)
Shot first thing this morning after crawling out of my hobo mansion.
Shot this while walking down to the Bloomington, IL public library this afternoon.
-To know the darkness is to love the light, to welcome dawn and fear the coming and night.- The Book of Counted Sorrows
Want to donate? Look for the button, if you can't find it I don't want your money!
posted by Cory @ 8:49 PM,
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Hobo Camping Part Deux
Monday, December 3, 2007
Well I spent my second night under the sky in the great outdoors last night. I have to say it pretty much sucked. I was unable to properly finish the shelter I've been building, between rain showers and dark. The temperature here in Bloomington, Illinois last night dropped to just below zero with the wind chill. To make matters worse I managed to get myself wet while getting back to my camp site. So needless to say I froze my hobo nut sack off last night. I'm amazed I got as many hours of sleep as I did. I woke up quite a few time through out the night quite cold though. Shortly after dark I attempted to start a small camp fire for warmth but was unable to do so not having any accelerator on hand. Everything was just two damp. I had planned to do some day labor today to make some much needed pocket cash, however was unable to get myself to crawl out of my sleeping back when Blackie's alarm went off at 4:45A.M. If all goes well I'll give the day labor another shot on Wednesday morning.
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posted by Cory @ 5:24 PM,
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Hobo Camping
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Well after getting about all the experience I'm going to get out of Bloomington's Salvation Army Safe Harbor Shelter, I decided to try something new last night. Despite the freezing rain and generally shitty weather I took part in some hobo camping. Since I'm starting to gain a bit of a local reading will not disclose the location of the park I camped in.
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posted by Cory @ 2:13 PM,
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A Cold, Wet Saturday Morning
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Saturday is a day of mixed blessings for the homeless community in Bloomington, IL. The Compassion Center is closed on both Saturday and Sunday. This takes away a warm safe location used by many of the local hobo's during the week. To make matters even better December 1st came rolling in with a steady stream of freezing rain that is coating the streets with a slick sheet of treacherous ice.
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posted by Cory @ 1:01 PM,
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