“No houses on our joint income. Amasa pays me something, but it isn’t much above the minimum hourly wage, which doesn’t buy you much in the Bay Area. I should become a programmer for Facebook, but the schedule for dialysis is getting in the way.” “You could change to a night dialysis, right?” “If we were just patients, yes. But we don’t have that flexibility: the clinics puts us in whatever shift they need us, not what works for us. I thought the stipend would help, but the relationship is actually costing me money. And freedom. For both me and my family.” “I am sorry to hear that. I hadn’t thought that through… everything is so new” “Not for long”
ROOFS After leaving Boronne I drive to Home Depot to talk with David about a mass purchase of siding, lumber, bolts, etc. My goal is to make twenty very small houses. I recently acquired a light-industrial unit off Old Middlefield road, and believe we can build twenty units in about a week. Probably two weeks, but the target is one. There is no problem with the order, and the price is fine: about half of what Virginia gave me for the units, so the other half can be used to pay for the labor involved. If we get it done in two weeks, that will be fine. We might sell some of the units to defray costs, but the bulk will be donated to people living in tents or worse. By the time I am done it is noon, so I head to dialysis. My clinic is in Menlo Park, almost within the Facebook campus. I was on Facebook when it first came to California, but got off it when the social value of the social network became very suspect. - 22 -
