I have had a few hits here from Scandinavia in the past week. Those of us following Oor Rory on Instagram know he’s been there for a bit. I will not be so arrogant as to assume that of course he must be following me here, but my inner brat is delighted at the prospect. Because there is a prospect, you have to admit.
Certainly I get more than my fair share of hits from the west coast of Scotland, typically.
Okay. I’ve been sporadic in updating here recently anyway. It would go without saying because we don’t often get updates about Mr. McCann for me to mention here, but my life has also been a bit weird since the beginning of the year, weirder still since the last week of February. Well, it’s getting weirder. Given the logistics of everything that is going on, I have decided — very reluctantly, given the reputation of some of its shelters — that it is probably in my best interests to move back to Franklin County. I ran this across my case worker, and she agrees. The number one motivator, besides being painfully aware I have gone well over the forty-day limit for this shelter (they are allowed to extend us as they see appropriate, but I feel I’m pushing my luck), is that if I’m in Franklin County then Salvation Army of Franklin County (SAFC)’s rapid rehousing program gains jurisdiction, as it were, over my case and can help me get an apartment there. I feel that I would be better off getting “rapid rehoused” within 15-20 minutes of my job rather than being 25 minutes out, minimum, which is my current prospect. My car can’t take another year of this without some major overhauls which I’m not sure I could afford in the first place.
But if I get the apartment I’m looking at, and actually there are two prospects I really like, I could afford a car payment.
Kind of exciting.
I’m counting my chickens before they hatch which has never led to good luck up til now, so I probably better shaddup about it, but if I seem even more sporadic for the next little while, that’s likely why. This shelter I wound up in up til now is very homey — it’s in a literal house — and the one I’m most likely to move into is in the downtown YMCA. I imagine I will have even less privacy and for all I know, my laptop may end up in my storage locker in Worthington for a while, just to keep it safe. There’s my phone, and I can definitely update this site from there, but I’m not sure how often that will happen. And the thing with SAFC may fall completely through — “you haven’t been here long enough” or what the fuck ever, never mind I moved to Franklin Co. in late 2002 and that’s been my home for most of the past 20 years. Fucking bureaucrats. But we’ll see. Even if I have to stay at the shelter until I start getting paid, that’s a win in my book because those will be nights I didn’t spend in my car with it getting too warm outside.
Remind me of that if I come back here complaining about my roommates.
Or, y’know, whatever. Right, I don’t take comments here.
Meanwhile. I don’t know how things work in the UK but if you are in the USA and ever get it into your head to donate to a homeless shelter, my experience here was that what we most often need are toilet paper and paper towels. You can’t go wrong with those. (For the love of god, please two-ply. Please.) Also disposable spoons. We run out of those faster than any other flatware. (They tried doing washables, but people kept leaving with them.) And period supplies, and diapers, and pullups. Alternately, just send money. The shelter staff will know immediate needs if they do their job right at all.
I actually want to mull over my experience here, and add to it from the shelter I move to, and do a series of essays (not here, don’t worry) about what I’ve learned. It’s been kind of an eye-opener. We’re not doing nearly enough for the least among us, and that’s never been so obvious as it’s been here, and that’s WITH the locals being very sweet and helpful and bringing us meals and stuff. This is WITH the local community wanting to pitch in. There are still gaps. We have a long way to go, America.
Okay. Things should get back to normal here soon. Promise.