Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Motives

My homeless buddy is somewhat of an enigma. He seems to love being chronically homeless. He is willing to tolerate any kind of nonsense as long as he doesn't have to spend any money. Why else would he be camping at the airport? That's why I do not expect him to stay very long in the one-bedroom apartment that has been offered to him for free. What passionately ties him to homelessness?

Unlike my homeless buddy, I have no desire to become and remain chronically homeless. I am willing to pay for rental housing, but I am not a chump. I don't expect to live for free, but I won't tolerate rent gouging. Unfortunately, rent gouging is the "norm." So, I may be forced into homelessness. Is homelessness really that bad? What do you think?

On the other hand, I am gradually accepting the fact that, as an old codger, my life is drawing to a close. I have previously discussed in the "blog" that many avenues and options are disappearing. With that said, my priorities are changing. My interests are devolving. My personal needs are diminishing. Simply put, I have been "grasping at straws" to preserve a youthful existence that vanished a long time ago.

What is so important about residing in town? Why can't I just stay put in Waimanalo? Why was I obsessed with the evening outings in Kahala? What is the reason for working out every single day at the gym? Why must I always go to the gym downtown? Why was I patronizing the snobbish coffee shop? There are many questions, but no answers. That is, unless the underlying motivation, the inability to accept old age, is taken into account.

Lots of rain and gusty winds all night long in Waimanalo. When I departed this morning, there was a slight break from the rain. When I arrived in Hawai'i Kai, I was greeted with cloudy skies but no rain. I fulfilled my objective of the day, which was to investigate the uncovered paid parking lot across from A'ala Park. It is fairly large with no human attendants. Of course, being in close proximity to A'ala Park and the "projects" poses some security problems at night. However, my homeless buddy was accurate in his assessment of the facility. It is perfect for a homeless motorhome (read: luxury minivan).

Even during the day, the parking lot near A'ala Park is not full. There also appears to be several commercial vehicles being stoted there permanently. The monthly rate is $80, which is a real bargain. So, the feasibility of the homeless motorhome is fairly high in my assessment. I will be investigating other leads as well. To celebrate my initial findings, I splurged for an expensive cup of coffee at the snobbish coffee shop in town.

I rode the bus to A'ala Park from the central downtown and back. Just that short ride was unnerving. The passengers were akin to roaches swarming over a few crumbs. Chinatown itself is the same big mess that I recall from a few months ago. The sheer number of derelicts and homeless people wandering around there and in the park is stupifying. Of course, if I choose to sleep in a minivan in a parking lot, then I will be one of those derelicts and homeless people. So, I make no judgments, only observations.

Later, I ran into my homeless buddy at the gym. He was excited because he had just been accepted for a one-bedroom apartment rental in a new subsidized senior citizen housing complex in Pearl City. Persons with disabilities are exempt from the age requirement, by the way. However, the income requirements are 3.5 times the $600 monthly rent. My homeless buddy was short about $500 of the monthly requirement. So, he inquired if someone else, namely the ol' lavahead, could share the unit. The answer was affirmative, but my homeless buddy probably didn't realize that I would have to be 62 years old to qualify for tenancy. Anyway, the rest of the day was ... same ol' shit. No evening outing in Kahala again. No surprise.

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