Lol...Yup. Wish I didn't drink away my opportunity. I'm starting
all over again. Right now I'm on survival mode-doing anything to pay
rent. I'd love to be the boss Larry. I'm jut not sure what to do.
Trash picking? Hmmm...yeah being the boss is the best. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Steve
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You sort of have to play it by ear when trash picking. If you are big and
imposing, you can stake out territories near dumpsters and make lots of money.
Otherwise, you almost have to have a small truck and go down the alleys looking
for plastic bottles and aluminum cans. I knew an old black guy who made big
money picking up scrap metal and selling it to recycling centers. When my father
was a teenager he learned how to make money during the Depression by trash
picking. All you need is a magnet to check that the metal is non-ferrous.

Around here, homeless guys steal grocery shopping carts and walk miles and miles
to get to the recycling centers. Others rig kiddie carts to bicycles to carry
huge plastic bags full of bottles and cans.

As for homeless heavy drinkers, they eventually all discover that if you drink
cheap Tokay wine, it has lots of nutrients so you don't kill yourself from poor
nutrition.

In the meantime, you can get food stamps. I found out from a guy on another
autistic list, "Asperger's Circle," that if you use recipies that rely mainly on
rice and dried beans you can eat like a hog with nothing but food stamps.

I'm about ready to retire, and I'll be using all the tricks I learned over the
years. I'll report back to you as soon as I decide to actually get my toesies
wet with being *truly* self-employed.

Regardless, I hope you have good luck until you can get back on your feet again.
Last night a gardener friend of mine I hadn't seen in four years stopped by and
told me he was broke. It amazed me. Fifteen years ago he saved up $8000 and
invested in a dump truck. Prior to that he had been a gardener like me. He
ended up becoming a big success and had been earning nearly a million dollars
per year as a demolition contractor, but the mortgage meltdown had ruined him.
He wanted to talk to me because he had to go back to gardening. It was killing
him to have to start over like that. He is getting old. However, a man does
what he's gotta do.

Yours,
Larry