Chapter 1: 01-11-11 Expecting to Fly

01-11-11

Expecting to fly

Camped at Casper’s Wilderness the night before. Dog’s not allowed, but I wasn’t told and I didn’t ask so they let me & Mischa stay the one night. Even gave me a discount - $15.
Went to stay the next two nights with Old friends, The Hydeman’s. It was nice to see them, have access to a bath and a bathroom in the middle of the night. I tried to cook for them but they had meals already planned.
I ate too well, which seems to be common with my hosts.
I’ve got my own food and am way far from starving, but of course, thankful for their kindnesses.
But it’s not food I’m hungry for. It’s purpose. Contribution. Validity for my day.
When I’m camping there’s been little to do after putting up the tent. When I’m at a friend’s home I follow their plans and try not to disturb their habits. I felt guilty about having my hosts have to sign back into their  FB or mail accounts several; times a day.
I started noticing the habits of a home and thinking about what “home” means. Obviously different things for different people. I noticed as I’d packed up my many possessions for storage home much my things “owned” me in many ways. And I noticed it in my friends as well. Finished with a days work, it was dinner, TV, maybe a movie or some music…then sleep. I had had that pattern myself. But I was not a participant any longer. Jackson Browne first voiced “They’re lost inside their houses, there’s no time to find them now”. We’d never have been  the people Jackson wrote about…but somehow…we did. Natural progression. Lethargy.  Just plain tired and seeking the path of least resistance.
I felt like an outsider to life. I didn’t have that lethargy. I was on pins & needles feeling on the verge of unexplored territory. Excited; frightened, but anticipatory.
I stood on the edge of a feather…expecting…something.

Chapter 1: 01 - 10 - 11

01 - 10 - 11

“Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in”

Packed up from Doheny State Beach and drove to Orange to “Just-In-Time” Overnight delivery and brought my DMV print out. I’d applied before Christmas and ha gotten an email back on January 3rd asking for a resume. I sent it saying I could be available to interview as early as that Friday (the 7th) or anytime the next week at his convenience and that I’d  bring the Printout at that time.
Not getting a replay, I decided to go in Monday to give the Printout with hopes that he might interview me while I was there. He did - sort of.
He had no recollection of having asked for my resume. He had e fill out another application and then he and another person grilled me. “ Any DUI’s”? “What are the points on your record for?!”
I don’t believe I have any points on my record currently” I replied . “See, the last dates have “’ero’ and ‘clear’. The earlier points were from 2000  and came off in 2006. I believe they were parking tickets.”
 It went on in a dismissive inquisitional tone. He asked about why I’d been out of work for so long. I perhaps responded poorly for an interview but I was so taken back by the question. You have no idea how difficult it is to find a job out there these days. This is the worst economy since the great depression! I’ve applied for dishwasher positions and had the same question asked.  And HR  people don’t get it at all. They still operate under the belief that ther must be some character flaw if you can’t find work within g three months!” Like I said, perhaps not the best response in an interview situation.. But, JESUS, where have these people been living for the last 5 years? The  last 3 years with daily reportage about the unemployment situation! I honestly believe that they don’t make the connection  between the unemployed (bad, lazy people) and record high unemployment  levels (just a number, like “11% unemployment”)
Anyway, they said,  “We’ll look over your application and see if we have anything  part time for you. We’ll call you in a couple of days if we do.” “For maybe a part time position?” The  Job listing was a full time position. And I’d have taken it too!
My hopes dimmed.  I hoped for a call over the next few days But the call never came. I called later. Position filled.
I had experience in the field. But I’m sure many others did too. There are a lot of bodies out there for every position listed. It’s a crapshoot as to who get’s it. But the odds favor the younger, out of work short applicants.

I left there that day thinking I  was going to be camping at Huntington  Beach that night (or Bolsa Chica) but it turned out that the information I’d received was ill-informed.  I checked out every possible campsite all the way down till I was almost back at Doheny -Newport Dunes, Crystal Cove…Camping was either for Rv’s only or just too expensive for my budget. I headed back towards campgrounds in the south, trying to avoid going back as far as Doheny. It was a great place, but I was already trying to economize. O’Neill Park had been a first choice, but it was closed due to muddy conditions (Still is, as of Feb 16th, 2011) after two other locations didn’t pan out I called a place just before Doheny, but inland and cheaper called Casper’s Wilderness. The price wold save me $15 for the night and it was close by.
Great luck. They were open and the price was even lower than Doheny. I drove up Ortega Highway and finally arrived then found out “You can’t have a dog here. Didn’t they tell you?”
“No. they Didn’t”
“How many nights were you planning to stay”
“A couple”
“I’ll give you one”
“Ok”
The ranger was a nice guy - gave me a discount on the price, so a $25.00 fee became a $15.00 stay for the night. The “Nice guy” discount. I think I got the discount because HE was “the nice guy”.
Turns out a wilderness park is focused on protecting indigenous animals natural habitat. And letting dogs there reduces the space the “locals” will feel safe in. Also, if my dog  defecates there, the processed food she eats will chase away a variety of animals who will smell it and notice a foreign odor and never return.
So I kept Mischa on a lease and in the tent. The tree we pitched out tent beneath was occupied by a very loud bird. Crow possibly, but I think maybe a magpie. Quite freaked out by our proximity.

But the thing that freaked me out and woke me from a dead sleep…was silence. No crickets, birds, frogs. Not even cars along the highway behind us (which could be quite loud - lots of bikers and muscle cars and trucks in need of tune ups passed by on a regular schedule it seemed.) but this was total absolute silence. I instinctively though a relatively large predator might be near. Bobcat, Mountain Lion, Cougar all three of them - what ever name you want to call it. It could be stalking my doggie…or ME!
But then the normal sounds started to breath again…and so did I.
Though each time that repeated during the night…I was  wide awake.
I imagined mountain lions or coyote packs coming after us! But eventually my hyper-vigilance waned and the only thing that disturbed my sleep were the trucks or motorcycles that roared by on the nearby highway.

Chapter 1: Pre-Road Downs (12-23-10 thru 01-09-11)

"Oh, the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry anymore"

 
Dec -23-10
Applied for Jobs in Orange County & Santa Cruz
Driver Position jobs in Orange - Video Producer Coordinator @ UCSC in Santa Cruz

Dec/24-25/10
Spent Christmas Eve & Day with my friend Paul visiting tow of his friends group gatherings one Christmas eve til midnight.
Then up at 7am to visit his friend Michelle’s family breakfast.
Then home around 2pm to rest up before returning that night for Christmas dinner.
Other friends (Nina & Gary) call to invite us to their shindig. We visit them until just about 4pm when we leave to go to dinner (of course we had to have some enchiladas and desserts while we were there.)
At the Dinner it was wonderful, spinach stuffed chicken, homemade dressing - the works, but a heavy rain has begun and I have to drive home in it. I got home after midnight cold but full and happy to see my dog and go to sleep.
Dec 26
I begin a week long process of packing - loading my landlords truck and unloading it into my storage space.
It is a hectic, strenuous, tiring week.
Dec 28th
The big move day. I get in all the big items but I still have boxes of stuff to move out of 3 rooms, bathroom, kitchen & garage. I get to use the truck again and load the truck over the 29th & 30th.
Dec 31st
New years eve. Rain is threatening. I move the last of this truckload off the lift gate just as the rain starts. As I am filling my 9x10 to the top and to the gate, rain is pounding on the metal roof above. After some logistical repacking I manage to get the last items in with hardly an inch of space to spare.
I return the storage company’s cart unmolested by rain; dehydrated , covered in sweat and completely exhausted.
My feet feel like a tympanist has been playing the 1812 Overture on them with meet mallets.
Walking is like a cross of John Wayne, Chester (from Gunsmoke) and Walter Brennan. (And I feel older than all of them combined).
My back hurts and un-rained upon, my clothes are sweat-soaked. My intentions upon arriving “home” (already the term is losing its currency with me) is to: (in this precise order) drink a LOT of water; pet my dog, Mischa; take a LONG hot bath!!
- an hour or so later - feeling more human (if barely more ambulatory)  I decide I’m not  let the new year  pass unheralded’ I go to my local store and get: 1package of black eyed peas, 1 ham hock and 1 bottle of the cheapest sparkling wine I can find (Andre Asti Spumante - $3.99!)
Just prior to the close of east coast new years I call and leave a message for a friend on the east coast just on the stroke of midnight there and then call my friend Diane and her family here on the west coast as I know they will be going to sleep  in minutes If I don’t call them right then!
As I push the speed dial I twist the cap off the Asti Spumante to drink a toast with them. (It’s Andre, remember - there’s no cork popping here!)

01-01-11
I was supposed to be out and begin my homeless phase today, but my landlord, Mike, has given me an extension that actually lasted until 01-07-11.
On  Monday, Dec. 27th , my editor Rebecca, at the Moorpark Patch, sent me two possible assignments. A list of places to go for New Years and another of my man on the street  interviews. I was unsure if I could fit them in with my move going on but I told her I’d try and if I couldn’t I’d let her know by Wednesday morning so she could re-assign them.
I’d managed the first one by Wednesday morning but couldn’t swing the interviews until Thursday. I managed to get the story out by 3:25 as it would now run on New Years Day!
That was my last official story  for the Moorpark Patch. But my last interviews were another story. I chose to go to the Cactus Patch restaurant on High street in Moorpark because of so many of my interviews had been from there. The place is such a hub of community that it makes “Cheers” seem like just another watering hole.
I had another reason I wanted to go there. Two, actually, as I had never eaten there and felt I should have at least sampled their fare once before I left.
But the primary reason was that on an interview assignment before Thanksgiving, I’d interviewed one of their employees, David Engraham, who was a young kid with a ready smile, a kind heart and an inner light that shone for all to see. Just after that Thanksgiving, that light was put out, apparently due to asthma.
In our interview he’d talked with great anticipation of spending the holidays with his father’s side of the family and meeting them for the first time. Happily he did get that experience before he died. The thing was, I had his voice on tape from that interview. A voice that expressed a joy and kindness that my typed words could never convey. So I wanted to get  the tape to someone that it would mean something to. That it might ease a sorrow or lift  a saddened heart. Bring a smile upon the listening. So that day I asked if it would be useful for anyone of them. The next day, New years day, I brought and played them the micro cassette with David’s voice and expressiveness on it. I hoped it would do much good. From the smiles on their faces, I thought it just might.

Jan 1-7
A repeat of the prior week but for a smaller space (5x5) and the soreness seemed to increase exponentially.  I was also trading my CD collection to my landlord (after selling what I could to the people who bought my record collection) to cover what I owned him from my November rent (my deposit covered my December rent). My deal for the 9x10 storage was pre-pay 3 months in advance get 3 months, but I only had enough for 2 months in advance for the 5x5 so I took that deal and packed my remaining positions minus a few items that stayed with my landlord and left the afternoon of December 7th (a day that will last in infamy…); my car loaded to the gills for my life on the road.
I had been offered a few nights at my friend Paul’s in Anaheim before beginning being homeless in earnest. And I still had that potential job interview in Anaheim that could turn everything around.
As I walked to my car, the Mock Orange tree took it’s last shot at me and scraped several big gouges into my head.  I’ll miss you too, tree!

Jan 8-9
Two good das with my friend/brother Paul who didn’t quite get why I’d choose this journey over going to a shelter. Maybe it’s for other people but the kind of restricted confined dependent life that those places have to offer…makes me shudder. Like in the movie Shawshank Redemption “Either get busy living or get busy dying”. I chose life. And those places are sure death to me. Or Hall and Oats “The strong give up and go, while the weak give up and stay”. 
If I’m going to beg for a living, I’ll do it on my terms. Better to beg from friends and associates and  a acquaintances with some possible exchange of value for their contribution, then to be subservient to a system that neither cares for you or your success, nor is designed for it. Plus I have a dog to care for, it just wouldn’t work that way.
I leave to go to camp at Doheny State Beach (where I ended up - I was actually going to camp at O’Neill park…but they were closed - their ground was too soggy - thru March it turned out!) and Paul give me directions to the cheap gas station in Fullerton…and $100! He is my first supporter! Not part of my 3 levels of solicitation - far above the first two and below the top level; but I’m surprised and touched by this from him. He’s dealing with difficult economic times himself and has just mentioned that his main supporter at his main client, Mitsuhishi, is no longer going to be with the company and someone whom he had had previous difficult dealings with is taking that person’s place. This did not bode well for his Creative Corral Advertising business. So, to give me that was a wonderful gift. I knew he didn’t understand. But he supported just the same. I struck me that I had more joy in my life at that moment as I drove off into an unsure future with nothing but my car, my dog, the things I stuffed into the car and his hundred dollars, than he did. He trusts structure and doesn’t seem to deal well  in it’s absence - his or anyone else's. He is a good man, one you can trust, one with a ready smile and surprising hidden creativity behind his button down persona. If you know him, It’s only surprising that it seems hidden from others. He’s always been creative. But, it’s like his secret identity. Only his inner circle see behind the mask. In a traditional Hollywood movie, he’s the one smiling and waving encouragement as I drive off and I’m the one choked up and teary eyed, worried about the future.

Oh, I'm on my way. I know I am. Somewhere not so far from here.

Like Cat sang, I'm going to wind up where I started from.
Least, that's the plan.
48 states  in 48-9 weeks and back to California from Oregon. Just before Christmas next year.
Along the way camping with my dog Mischa, taking pictures, recording interviews, composing a book of the journey
I've been paid to write for the past 3 months and it felt good to do something productive and get paid for it. Especially something I felt some pride doing and something others seemed to enjoy reading.
So now it's time to attempt to find a way to do this.

My grandfather had a book by Rene Descartes called "The Body of Philofohpy" (The "F's" were used as "S's" back then).
The book had elaborate illustrations of the coat of arms of all the benefactors of the work.
What I propose is a similar endeavor.
50 Benefactors supplying $1 a day for a year ($365)
300 Supporters supplying $1 a week for a year ($52)
600 Subscribers supplying $2 a month for a year ($24)

A total of 950 unique individual benefactors to the work.

At the end of the year, either I will have a book deal or will self publish.
The Benefactors will have their name above a Chapter heading as well as on pages at the back of the book, indexed.
The Supporters will have their name to the top left of a Non Chapter page as well as on pages at the back of the book, indexed.
The Subscribers will have their name to the bottom left or right of a Non Chapter page as well as on pages at the back of the book, indexed.
The 50 Benefactors will get a copy of the book free.
The 300 Supporters will have the option to buy the book at half price.
The 600 Subscribers will have the option to buy the book at a 25% discount.

So - I'm asking for financial help/support on this endeavor.
I know a few people who know me well enough to be my Benefactors on this, and some who have a since of me from the last few years on Facebook that it wouldn't seem too strange to be one of the 50.
But with these economic times as they are, I see it can be a hardship for many of my friends who know me best.
If you do offer to support me on this venture, pick one and only one level of support and only one that feels comfortable to you financially.
If you're unsure, watch Facebook and this blog (only for the 50) as I progress through the states and decide if it's been a good read and worth $24, $52 or even $365. Once I fill a category I will return (or apply to the next lowest open level) the balance of your money (or if you've sent more than on support level.)
I want to solicit funding but at low donation levels and only one donation per person. I guess part of my aim is to see how many friends I can convince to follow this adventure with me.

The plan is to merge the concepts of Steinbeck's "Travel's with Charlie", and Studs Terkel's "Hard Times" & "Working" interviews into a documentary piece about contemporary America.
Seven days in each state, and interview each day, commentary on the days news from that states media, my travelogue, day-to-day minutia of places visited, routes taken, items paid for, supplies used. Rants, photos, audio and perhaps video files along with music & movie or literary quotes strewn about the veiwing landscape for your enjoyment.

I'm also looking for "hosts" people who know me and would be willing to put me and my dog (Mischa) up for a night or two (no more than 3 evenings max) and show me your area, tell me it's history, tell me stories of your dealing with the recent economy, any 99er's or homeless like me you could introduce me to, or anything you might think of that could represent you, your state and our time well.

I feel like I'm being "called" to do this, and have been thinking about this for over a year. But I can't do this alone. I need assistance. And I'm asking for those of you that can see the use of this adventure, as I do, to support me on this journey, this quest.

If you can, send (and put your name in the comments as you would like it in the book) $24, $52, or $365 to
Paypal: for cohalen@yahoo.com

I expect to begin this journey the week of the 16th - probably in Nevada.
I'll post more as I go along.
- Rik

There's A Place in the world for a Gambler

I've been blessed and cursed. You see I discovered late in life what I've always been a little "Different".

In my teens I resonated to the lyrics of the Beach Boys "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" but didn't fully understand why.

I keep looking for a place to fit
Where I can speak my mind
I've been trying hard to find the people
That I won't leave behind

They say I got brains
But they ain't doing me no good
I wish they could

Each time things start to happen again
I think I got something good goin' for myself
But what goes wrong

I found out that I have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) I think differently than the majority.

The blessing: Strong language and memory skills. I can remember incidents and people from back to my childhood. Vividly. And spatially, I can pack a car trunk or storage locker like it was a jigsaw puzzle. Getting things in places that others believed would never fit in. I also have the ability to "fit in" in most social situations easily creating conversations with total strangers and including others as well. And I'm good in a crisis. Whether it be a person getting a flat tire in the fast lane on the freeway and calming them, talking them to the side of the road while signaling cars behind us of our intentions, or calming nerves and adding perspective after the loss of a loved one is overshadowed by the events of 09-11-01. (My sister died of Colon Cancer 09-07-01; her memorial was 09-10-01.)

The Curse: Not fitting in to the mainstream, having a "hot" temper when dealing with retail middle management types whose adherence to "the book" and "office politics" overrode logic, analysis and/or common sense. Low self esteem. The inability to sell "Myself".

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Literature (Creative Writing). I snuck up on it after 10 years of avocationally taking classes. A counselor called me in and said I was 10 units shy of earning an AA degree. I'd had no idea...but it was too late, the hook was in. After attaining the degree I felt a bit of loss. Was this the end of the line for me? Having not cared about going for a degree just months earlier, happy just to be taking classes and feeling competent in my abilities in academia, I was now confronted with an un-dreamt of possibility for my life. To become a college graduate. Thanks to a fortuitous meeting with an old high school friend who just happened to work in a local university Financial Aide office I was lead to a path that lead to my eventual BA degree.

An advanced degree! High paying jobs hear I come! unfortunately that never came to be. I've lived my life never achieving an income above $25K/yr.

Luckily, I am very good budgeting with what I have. (Which is why I've been able to live on under $11K/each of the last two years. But I paid my rent & bills, looked for work and even tried my hand at self-employment and still had enough resources to visit friends and do a few excursions from time to time and feel I was living a decent life.

But zero income and zero shelter makes for tougher times. Sitting still is not an option - especially in California, my home state, where the unemployment rate is at 12.2% and in the Los Angeles Metro Statistical Area was just surpassed by the state for the first time, registering in at 11.8 % as of August 2009. (When I ceased to be counted as one of the "Unemployed")

Theres a place in the world For a gambler

Theres a burden that only He can bear Theres a place in the world For a gambler...

...Theres a light in the depths

Of your darkness Theres a calm at the eye Of every storm. Theres a light in the depths Of your darkness. Let is shine Oh, let it shine...

The decision.

I had for sometime had the notion that taking the journey that Steinbeck attempted would be a great adventure as well as an overdue updating of the american scene. Add to that interviews with people I'd meet along the way, capturing their stories and experiences as Studs Terkel had done with Working and Hard Times. I have nothing to prevent me from taking on this journey except the resources to complete it. I have a list of publishers I am sending quarry letters to in this regard and am looking to see if I can get funding to make this a video documentary someplace between Ken Burns and Michael Moore.

I was heartened by the Emmy acceptance speech of Jeff Probst this year when he said:

"Tonight I also want to share this (Emmy) with anybody who has a dream, because I am living my dream right here in this moment. If you have a dream, dream big -- pursue it with a passion. In the words of the great storyteller Joseph Campbell, 'The adventure you're ready for is the one you get. Life is short, go for it.'"

"The Adventure you're ready for is the one you get." - I am so ready for it and I AM going for it.

I think of the words from Dances With Wolves when the post commander asked why Lt. Dunbar requested that assignment.

His reply:

Lt. Dunbar: I wish to see the frontier.

Major Fambrough: You wish to see the frontier?
Lt. Dunbar: Yes sir, before it's gone.

It also reminds me of the grand vistas seen in the movie The Frisco Kid.

Such beauty was breathtaking and I remember sitting in the theater thinking "Where did they shoot this? Does that part of America must still exist!" I had been surprised by the natural beauty of our land and also surprised that I had so easily believed that it was already gone.

A friend on facebook posted more inspiration just last night.

People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success. - Norman Vincent Peale

And to bring this post to a close I will post the other inspirations for this journey.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

by William Hutchinson Murray (1913-1996), from his 1951 book entitled The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

And

“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism."

[this is commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln or Shearson Lehman (American Express) or anon.]

I care little as to who really is the source of these quotes, only that they resonate in the soul and inspire.

- Rik

Homeless, Not Hopeless

Sometime between Wednesday the 7th of this year (2009) and Monday the 12th I will officailly become homeless.

I've been unemployed since the 30th of January 2008. I am no longer even even that. As of August, I have exhausted all the benefits the government believes they can see fit to provide persons like myself.

We have paid into the system for all of our employed lives, even had to set aside what little money we received in march to pay our taxes out of the benefits we received. And once we are dropped off roles, the unemployment levels will not even count that we are out there.

As you can see below, I was attempting to become self-sufficient, but when you only get $249/wk and your rent is nearly $600/mo., there is not much left to build a business with. Even drop shipping was not a productive solution. I had to take my website down after three months as I had run out of funds to keep it open.

I was still applying for jobs during this time but all I would get as a reply (if anything at all) to my 3-6 applications/wk was often an email 2-3 months later stating they'd filled the job but would keep my application on file.

Things started picking up over the last three months. I got my first two interviews. One in June for a job in a start up division for $10.00/hr and no benefits. (And I'd have taken it, too.) I was in a second interview that day with the general manager and they said they'd call me the next week or the week after. I actually thought I had that one.

The next one was two weeks after I applied just last month. It was for a Bakery Trainee. I was to meet the bakery owner at his store in the evening and talk about the job after a presentation about Kangen Water. After the hour and a half presentation he met with the 3 people who were there primarily for the job.

I was the second to go outside the store with him and talk about the job. He was highly distracted with the presentation people packing up and leaving and him giving out the water. The interview was very disjointed and he seemed not to be very interested in filling the job he was offering. He told me to call him the next day, which I did. He never called back. I suspect that my main importance for him was that I was just filling a chair for his presentation that night.

So, with no safety net to keep my rent paid and basic bills, I find myself moving out with, as Dylan sang,

How does it feel?

To be on your own

With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

I paid for another week which ends after the 7th and I may extend my stay until the 12th by having those days taken out of my security deposit. I have been spending the last week or so getting all the things I own ready to put into storage. Storage that I will have difficulty paying for very quickly.

I got my old tent out today and tested it out for my dog and myself. It needs to be washed as it had motor oil spill on it when I had it stored in the lock box of my old Toyota pickup.

I'm listing the minutia of my preparation for homelessness, not to relay some sad story, but to document what is going on with me and perhaps a multitude of others.

For you see...I have a plan.

I am an optimist by nature.

A favorite folk singer of mine, Slaid Cleaves, has a song called One Good Year

Just give me One Good Year
To get my feet back on the ground
I’ve been chasing grace
Grace ain’t so easily found
One bad hand can devil a man,
Chase him and carry him down
I’ve got to get out of here,
Just give me One Good Year

[watch/hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mz0fDFRwTs ]

[Lyrics here: http://www.lyricstime.com/30-odd-foot-of-grunts-one-good-year-lyrics.html ]

And so, My plan, If I can arrange it, is to travel the contiguous 48 states and DC over the next year, 48 states in 50 or so weeks. Doing what Steinbeck attempted to do in his Travels with Charlie. And gathering along the way interviews and stories from people in each state an oral history of how and how we are today as a country much like Studs Terkel did in his Hard Times and Working books.

I am hoping to be surprised. I am hoping to be inspired.

More on my plan another day.

And so it Begins!

Today I sent out invitations to significant friends (You know who you are) to come and explore my website Cohalen's - The Garden Room.

I've spent the last three months getting to this day. Sourcing vendors, trying different website hosts, learning to use the software and loading in products.

It's been intense...and I'm not done yet. But I'm close enough to give it a test run: see how orders ship to my customers; Explore the product selection; find out how customer service and returns flow.

My hope is to grow this business naturally and organically.
Not having "too much success" to early.
And so, my plan is to gain customers slowly, person to person, by referral and word of mouth.

In the early days I plan to be able to act as a personal shopper for my customer base. If you don't see what you want, can't find it anywhere...let me have a shot of it.

I even plan to try to make regular trips to places like Amoeba Records in Hollywood to look for rare out of print items.

Also, if I can't find a vendor I can buy through at a price that is competitive for you, I can often still find your item being sold by someone I have an "associate" relationship with.
They give me a small percentage of the sale that I refer to them, you get what you're looking for at a good price. A true win-win all the way around.

I also plan to give links to some cool things I find in my searches even If I can't sell the item myself.

Here's an example:
Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey
I don't have the required license (yet) to sell alcohol, but if I did I'd sell this.
I saw it on History Channel's Modern Marvel's episode on Whiskey.
Made from local barley grains and Rocky Mountain spring water, I was impressed that they were a whiskey "micro-distillery".
They lease vats for their first wash from their a neighbor brewpub, Oskar Blues brewery. It is then double distilled in a Scotch style and a Bourbon style, then aged for two years. Made in small batches, it sells in only 30 states (so far) from between $50.00 to $60.00 a bottle.

I went to the Jamison's Distillery in Middleton, Ireland (Not far from Blarney Castle) and was fortunate enough to be one of four chosen tasters that April day in County Cork.
Before getting to "the good stuff" we toured the plant and saw the giant kettles and the casking rooms and learned about the "Angeles' share" that is lost to evaporation and how the burnt casks add to the mellow color of the Whiskey.

While I can't yet claim to be a Whiskey sommelier (there are actually courses for it) I sure enjoy the "training" have had so far.

I invite you to post; ask questions; speak of your discoveries out there on the web and just open a dialog here.

Well that's it for this blog. Who knows where my adventure will lead me next.
I'll leave you with my new favorite quote - from the movie "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"

Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.

Till then, my friends, "take the journey"!

- Cohalen