Keeping clean on the streets

A young adult male the other day related his issues of personal hygiene while hardsleeping. Looking at the size of his backpack I reasoned he was overburdened with items amounting to personal mementos rather than survival needs.

What I recommended to him was

1. Towel with tight weave to dry quick.
2. Liquid Gel, rather than soap bars.
3. Dental products kept in a ziploc baggie.
4. Deodorant or antiperspirants.
   
5. Essential haircare products. Clippers possibly since they can be used for bartering services or use.
   

These are the basic essentials. Once sheltered, additional items such as acne pills or other daily regimen health care products can be brought in 'then' once additional storage space is found.

The difference can amount to an unnecessary burden on the back when you're homeless.

Still studying homelessness in Germany

So far after twelve days I'm seeing more signs of homeless in Germany, not from the local residents, but from the military dependent children whose parents are stationed in the nearby facilities.

Couch surfing and doubling up with friends, stories of adult teens eating out of garbage cans are making it to my ears even.

Sad.

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Mobile computing going home

The years that I used laptops and PDAs out of necessity are over, but I still regularly use an Acer Aspire One netbook regularly for my mobile computing. I haven't looked into acer desktops, but my experience using Ubuntu/Linux on their netbooks has been promising. Chances are their desktop systems should be as easily a setup as well.

The main thing about breaking the homeless cycle is cutting cost barriers, trying to find newer and cheaper ways of doing the same things required in day to day living...in my area, computing. While Mac and Win based systems 'are' easier for consumers, they also come with a higher pricetag.

Air, moisture, and heat

Years ago I always wondered why our neighbors regularly used a dehumidifier, then the family ended up in Florida...and I learned the value of one.

Being in Germany now we don't have as much a need. At best we simply open the windows three hours once a week to make sure the apartment gets aired out, not doing so can cause a tenant to be charged damages on move out.

Are you homeless?

Or do you have an experience with the homeless you'd like to post a guest entry? From direct interaction to inspired art work, anything goes here.

Currently I'm on sabbatical which provides a great chance for anyone wanting to do some posts here. You can contact me by providing a comment below with your name and email address, and don't worry...only I'll be able to see it.

DIY small notepads

Guest post written by Ronnie Harris

I'm a big fan of moleskins and small notebooks like that. They're great for to-do lists, directions to places and all kinds of great little things that you jot down at the last minute. But the best part is that they're small and I can take them with me anywhere. I just don't like that they're so expensive and at the rate that I go through them, I need to come up with a less expensive answer. I had all this scrap paper in my recycling bin so I thought that I could put some of that to use and make some of my own small notebooks out of it.
But I'd never made anything like small notebooks before, so I went online to find some directions to help me out. While I was doing that I randomly found some wireless internet pricing that I thought sounded so good that I signed up for one of the internet packages associated with it.
I found the easiest directions for a DIY small notepad and got to work. I thought it would be easier to go ahead and make several of them at once, so that's what I did.