A week ago last night I spent my 4th night in a row wandering the streets without sleep. Friends told me I looked terrible. They said I needed to change. But I was determined to do homelessness MY way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since I wouldn\u2019t listen to my friends, my body spoke up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I sleepwalked around the streets of Downtown, leaving my backpack behind. When I came back to where I left it,, it was gone. I lost my MacBook Air and my iPhone and Apple Watch chargers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am not in a great place right now., this morning. I am bored and lonely. But compared to where I was a week ago, I guess I really have made substantial progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– I\u2019ve checked into the Union Mission at 383 Poplar for the past 7 nights, getting no less than 8 hours sleep a night. No more falling asleep at bars or other locations not meant for sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– By the end of this week I will have a replacement MacBook, thanks to a high school friend,, and debit cards connected to Venmo and Ally Bank accounts. I also got Apple Pay set up on my phone and it was usable immediately, no waiting on a debit card, which has been a lifesaver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– I\u2019ve eaten at least one meal, often two, every day of the past seven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– I\u2019ve gotten a haircut and bought some razors so I don\u2019t have to look<\/em> homeless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Friends gave me a new backpack, iPhone charger, and Apple Watch charger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay. Let me describe a typical day in my life as of last week, in order to help you understand a challenge I will face this week Imagine it\u2019s the middle of the week, like a Wednesday or a Thursday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – 6 am: The lights come on at the Union Mission men\u2019s dorm and we\u2019re told it\u2019s time to get up. By 6:15 I\u2019ve deposited last night\u2019s sheets in the laundry basket and brushed my teeth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Breakfast is included in the price of admission but it\u2019s usually a bowl of corn flakes in milk. Yuck. I hate milk. I usually skip breakfast unless I hear we\u2019re having something particularly good, like donuts. By 6:45 I\u2019m usually out on the street, unless it\u2019s raining hard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – The Mission does not offer Wi-Fi to its guests, which makes my time away from the Mission extremely valuable. From 7 to 8 am I generally walk Main Street, connecting to known Wi-Fi networks when I can, answering texts and PMs, checking email, Facebook notifications, and balances on my Ally Bank account, Venmo, and a Apple Pay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Bardog opens at 8 and I\u2019ll use their Wi-Fi over breakfast or a drink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – The Cossitt Library opens at 10 and I go over there and use their Wi-Fi. Some days I stay there until 1 pm; other days I\u2019ll move on at 11 to Westy\u2019s or Memphis Chess Club or some other restaurant with Wi-Fi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – About 1 pm I head back to the Mission, and that\u2019s the END of my Wi-Fi access for the day. Why 1 pm? Because a night at the Mission is FREE if you get checked in before 2 pm. I ain\u2019t paying no six dolla for something I can get for free! It\u2019s about a 20 minutes to walk from the Downtown core to the Mission and the wait in line takes up to 20 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Until 5 pm: Watch TV, sign up to take a shower. By the way, we have private shower stalls It\u2019s not like prison. I don\u2019t have to worry about dropping the soap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – 5 pm: Dinner. It\u2019s often 5:20 before I get through the line and get my food and a seat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – 6 pm: Chapel. Most days it lasts a full hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – 7 pm:: More Tv watching, another opportunity for the shower line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – 8 pm: We\u2019re given the chance to go to the dorm and get in bed. Alternatively, we can stay up until 10, but I always choose the 2 hours\u2019 extra sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So there you have it. As I stressed, the schedule makes every moment I have on Wi-Fi precious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On a side note, I did ask the supervisors at the Mission why they don\u2019t provide Wi-Fi for guests. They said it was partly a bandwidth issue – with up to 300 men on the same line, the connection would be horribly slow. Then there was also a concern that some of the men would use the connection to watch some not-so-wholesome content, if you know what I mean!<\/p>\n\n\n\n So here I am, proud owner of a new backpack. But, I can\u2019t bring it inside the main Mission building. I have to put the items I need in a clear plastic bag and leave the backpack in bag check. The supervisors have a very good reason for that rule, too. It prevents people from sneaking weapons and bottles of liquor in. Totally understandable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But here\u2019s the thing<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been told that the bag check opens at 9 am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If that\u2019s true, by the time I stand in line, get my bag, and walk to the Downtown core, it\u2019ll be about 9:45. 40% of my Wi-Fi time for the day and 87.5% of my Bardog time for the day will be gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This will take some figuring out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I admit it\u2019s a smaller problem than not knowing where I\u2019m gonna eat tonight, or where I\u2019m gonna sleep tonight, both problems soled by the Mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But I don\u2019t see how I\u2019m supposed to expedite my way to a better place in life when I have to spend 20-21 hours a day at the shelter or in transit to\/from there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On to the news\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good news: Penny\u2019s Memphis Tigers looked like a cohesive team yesterday. They whooped up on Tulane 90-78 and improved to 18-6. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bad news: As of yesterday the Tigers were in Next Four Out land in Joe Lunardi\u2019s Bracketology. They have work to do. Those two upcoming dates with ranked FAU are gonna be critical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The NBA All-Star dunk and three-point contests are Saturday and the game is Sunday <\/p>\n\n\n\n Calvary Episcopal Church\u2019s outstanding Waffle Shop<\/a> opens for the season this Thursday, February 15 and will be open for lunch 11:00-1:30 WThF during Lent. Check out the Lenten Preaching Series<\/a> too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is National Poop Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Springhill Suites seeks a bartender <\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Grizzlies host New Orleans tonight at 7 at FedExForum. First 5000 fans get a Derrick Rose travel chess set. TV: Bally Sports <\/p>\n\n\n\n It may snow this evening but temperatures are expected to remain slightly above freezing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s all I have time to write. Back tomorrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Readers\u2019 generosity helps keep this blog afloat. Donations:<\/strong> Apologies for typos, doing this on my phone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A week ago last night I spent my 4th night in a row wandering the streets without sleep. Friends told me I looked terrible. They said I needed to change. But I was determined to do homelessness MY way. Since I wouldn\u2019t listen to my friends, my body spoke up. I sleepwalked around the streets … Continue reading “Status update and Monday news”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27569"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27570,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27569\/revisions\/27570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n