Saturday, March 21, 2009

Lady Liberty - El Monte, California

My plan for this blog is to tell stories of encounters on the road. Those encounters may be places or people or both, but I am hoping to limit them to things are are at least a little out of the ordinary. Since I'm not "on the road" yet, initially the tales will be limited to somewhat local oddities or at least those visited in my limited travels.

Thus, we come to the story of Lady Liberty in El Monte, California.

How many Statue(s) of Liberty are there?

If you're like me, you've always assumed just the one, near Ellis Island in New York. Turns out, there are more. Depending on your requirements, MANY more. This is the story of just one!

When I first was transferred to El Monte, I was pretty sure it was a transfer to hell or at least something closely resembling it. One of the first interesting things I saw though was a "Statue of Liberty" sitting outside the Civic Center, proud as could be.

The mural honoring the fallen police officers behind Lady Liberty was actually erected after my arrival in December 2007, but it makes a pretty poignant backdrop in my not so humble opinion. My first reaction to the statue was pretty much, 'HUH?" I had no clue why or how or who put it there. I had assumed there was only one such statue. I had never seen or even heard of another.

The inscription on the plaque reads, "Dedicated to the citizens of El Monte on the occasion of the kick-off ceremony for the year long diamond jubilee celebration commemorating El Monte's 75th anniversary of incorporation." So, I guess that gives me the "why" it is there, but now the who and the how.

The statue was dedicated on November 18, 1987 but further down the plaque, it seems it was donated over a year earlier, July 4, 1986. Again, according to the inscription it was donated by "Dr. Jung T Wang, Paul Mu and Victor Chiang". So I guess we have the "who" now as well.

It's the "how" that really intrigues me, more specifically, "how it came to be." According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, dated July 25, 2002, the 23 foot, fiberglass, one ton statue has both its admirers and its detractors. The article tells that the statue was donated by a local physician who operated a clinic in El Monte for 29 years. He obtained the statue in exchange for forgiving a $50,000 debt. Dr. Wang, a Taiwanese immigrant, said that he knew he wanted to donate the statue to a city near a freeway. "so that people could see it when they drove by." Although the location of the statue in front of the Civic Center does not allow passing motorists on the freeway a view, it has become a sort of mecca to many.

Apparently, some have called it "akin to a plastic lawn flamingo". To others, the statue is an important symbol to the community. El Monte's population, according to census numbers, is more than 1/2 foreign born and only one in five households speak English at home.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, many laid flowers, wreaths or candles around Lady Liberty. In a bizarre act of misguided patriotism, a man from a nearby city attempted to commit suicide in front of Lady Liberty because he was not allowed to serve in the Persian Gulf War.

So, here in El Monte, we have Lady Liberty, similar in her inspiration to the "huddled masses" but on a smaller scale physically. She has become a symbol of the city, adorning the city's webpage and much of the city's stationery. She remains remarkably void of any of the maladies of the city like graffiti and vandalism. I pass her every day, but now I know her story.

Monday, March 16, 2009

A Bit of Review

A lot of things start, then stop. We all have false starts, plans that go awry or get put to the side... and then forgotten. Such is this idea for a website/blog. Below are two entries to a previous blog begun 2 1/2 years ago now. I wrote twice and then forgot about it. At any rate, they explain a bit about what I want to do and how I want to do it. Most of it is still valid. I'll edit some of the irrelevant stuff out.


From November 2, 2006:

Well, I guess we (right now, just me) are about to take the first step toward a life that I've been talking about for some time now. I am nowhere near able to actually live this life yet, either financially or otherwise, but I'd love to get started, read, hear and learn more about the adventure before it actually begins. Please help me out with your comments, emails, etc. It is my hope and desire to crawl into an RV and travel as a "fulltimer".

I don't want a "home base" or any sort of base for that matter. What I would like, is to travel full time, going wherever life leads me, based on nothing more than whim or fancy. Main problem is... I'm poor.

As this is written in early November 2006, I don't even have the RV yet, let alone the financial base upon which to embark upon this journey. I feel certain that in order to do this, I will have to have some sort of residual or traveling income.

Internet businesses come to mind, but I am open to any and all suggestions (HINT: invitation for you to respond?). I have read about many who work at the campgrounds where they stay; work in national parks, etc. I think I want to find something a little different from all of that, but I don't know for sure what that is yet.

I am thinking that I will travel in a Class "B" RV or even just a van as I do not need a large amount of space and want the mobility of a smaller vehicle as well as the economy. This particular opening post (my first "blog" ever) is being written on a borrowed laptop at a local library. Boy... do I have a long way to go?????

If you read this... let me know... if nothing else... just to show that someone, other than myself, actually visited the page.


From November 18, 2006:


As far as I can tell, no one has even seen this blog other than me. I guess at this point I am practicing little more than literary masturbation. Oh well....

I have taken the first real step, I hope, in achieving my plan of traveling full time in an RV. Well, maybe the first real tangible step. I have been planning and dreaming of this for a while, so I guess those are the first steps.

It seems to me that I will have to support myself through some sort of online income as I have previously mentioned. In that regard, I now have a laptop. It's a replacement laptop. My prior Sony, which I loved and HIGHLY recommend, met it's untimely death on Easter Sunday when my roommate's dog saw fit to piss on it. Motherboard instantly fried, computer now a doorstop. :(

What was worse about the situation is that when I came home that night to find that my computer was "dead" (nothing happened on power up), my roommate at the time decided NOT to "fess up" or let me know what had happened. Imagine my surprise when the repair place called me later to ask... "Do you have pets in the house?" Apparently the odor of pet urine was strong enough that they could tell pretty quickly what had happened. A bit of checking around with a few of roommate's friends and story confirmed. I gave my roommate a chance to "man up" and admit this to me... he kinda sorta did.... "well, my dogs WERE in the apt. that day... and I guess something like that COULD HAVE HAPPENED"

Enough said... sour grapes

New laptop is an Alienware Area 51 - M5550. As expected, faster, more RAM and hard drive, better graphics and sound, CD & DVD reader/burner. So far, so good. I'll keep you posted here as far as problems, etc. If anyone reads this and has tips, comments, complaints or praise, please let me know. (Editor's Note: Laptop now old and used... but... no use in complaining)

I would really like for anyone out there who has ideas for online income to also let me know. I've seen all the late night infomercials, I get phished and emailed all the time for these things. I'd love to hear from anyone who is making real money online and willing to share. I am not expecting any get rich quick scheme. I just want to do something that will make money. Lately I have been reading a bit about "virtual assistants" who appear to be online order processors, secretaries or typists. This might work for me, however, I have pretty extensive experience as a researcher also. I was a licensed private investigator in Los Angeles for 15 years, 11 of which I had my own agency. If anyone out there needs web based research, I'd be happy to discuss this.

I am also becoming reasonably proficient in webpage/website design. If anyone out there would like to "hire" me to do a website, or update existing pages, let me know. Although I don't have a lot of experience or even sites to show you, I am happy to work something out "on spec." You like what you get, you pay me. You don't like it... we delete the files and both go our separate ways, hopefully without ill will. I know I will treat it as a learning experience.

Thanks for reading and please comment... just to let me know you were here if nothing else!

Friday, March 6, 2009

The Kids Think I Am Nuts (First Entry)

Wow... another blog... I have no clue how many of these or even how many domain names I've owned and lost or currently own, trying to get this thing started! Hopefully people will flock to my site(s)... I will become the next Internet millionaire... and you can all say... I was reading his blog back when....

OK, all that would be nice but it's not going to happen. So I will hopefully spell out the purpose of this blog and you will come back to be entertained, to check up on me, to learn something perhaps or maybe just to satisfy your curiosity. Whatever the reason, please keep coming back.

Here's the deal. As of this date, I'm 51 years old and up to this point have pretty much lived the "good life" by my standards. I'm not wealthy monetarily, but I have had the great good fortune to have exceptionally good friends, fantastic life experiences and along the way a couple of kids that constantly amaze me with their talent, intellect and personalities (I have no clue how I came to be their father... unbelievable).

The reason for this blog is to hopefully put into words my next big adventure and bring you along with me for what I hope will be a great and glorious ride. This next undertaking will be the most planned (yet unplanned in it's fruition) part of my life thus far. I am three years away (2012) from the "kick off" but already far behind in the preparations. In a nutshell, I plan to crawl into a small RV sometime between March 2012 (my youngest's 21st birthday) and July 2012 (my 55th birthday) and begin a full time life on the road!

There's a lot to do between now and then. I mentioned earlier that my "good life" did not mean that I am financially sound. Quite the contrary, I live paycheck to paycheck like most folks these days. The good thing about being in the RV is that I will already be homeless!!! Since I will only be 55 there will be no Social Security benefits, pensions or anything to sponsor my wanderings. Somehow, some way between now and then I need to discover a way to make money on the road. I have several ideas which will be discussed in further blogs, but one of my hopes is that a site like this will draw enough people who will click enough ads (I'm not sure I'm supposed to mention that) to help out. There will also be "jobs" along the way and I am working on acquiring some specific skills that will hopefully allow me to get a job when the need arises. Some of these "jobs" will also be discussed in future entries, but one might fit in right here.

One of these jobs that I'm thinking about is "Santa Claus." People seem to want to know about who's writing these blogs including description, so this is a good opportunity to tell you about me. I am fond of describing myself as an "old, fat, bald guy with white hair and a white beard". Sounds like Santa Claus to me!!! I am actually serious about this. One of the possible ways that I might support my nomadic lifestyle is to find a nice place in early November and somehow offer my services as Santa. This might be a mall Santa or something else. But, I figure I already have the physique and the look. This past year I experimented with my beard and found that I need to begin to let it grow about 3 months in advance to have a passable "Santa's beard".

This brings up the title of this blog and the closing of this first post. This lifestyle is NOT for everyone. There are, however, thousands of people "full-timing" all over North America and the world. I am not talking about going out into the wilderness like Jeremiah Johnson or testing my own survival instinct as depicted in "Into the Wild." But I do want the kind of life where every morning when I wake up my big decision of the day is "Go?" or "Stay?" It is a lifestyle that will take me all over North America I hope. A journey that will allow me to meet all sorts of people. A way of life that is dictated by the my own desires rather than the needs and desires of the way of life most enjoy.

The kids think I am nuts!