The year is 2025. I'm currently writing this from sunny Ontario, in lovely Canada; I've been back for one month, after a six-month exile in a small undisclosed European republic.
The country is in a terrible state, I've got no source of income, and my 1998 Toyota Sienna (fully loaded, mind you - she's a beauty) is my soon-to-be home.
I'm starting this website as a little log of sorts; a place to catalogue my many misadventures, and revisit old stories. I hope, whoever you may be, dear reader, and wherever you may be reading this, that my silly mishaps prove to be a source of great amusement, interest, or perhaps even - inspiration.
Now, I'll avoid a lengthy introduction, as who I am isn't too important; however, I will include necessary details so as to provide a bit of information, where warranted. At the moment, I am unemployed - to an incredible degree, if that's something that one can say about the status of their career.
This little detail is relevant, as it is rather relevant, given my current circumstances.
The Canadian economy has been in quite the sorry place for years at this point, and I know I'm not just speaking for myself when I say - work has become impossible to find. Nonetheless, a man has got to eat, and so, I've spent the past month since my return, thinking extensively about how to make money.
Living in a van, of course, is a big plus. Living in a minivan is an even bigger plus - half the gas of a full-size cargo van, easier repairs, and cheaper insurance.
When it comes to finding a means to not starve, thinking on what sorts of things one can do, and what sorts of things one can do well, is a decent place to start. For eight years, I've worked as a technician; that's really the best term I can find, as I've done everything from software development, to laying cable in dusty university laboratories. For a brief time, I was even a senior partner in several startups - everything ranging from blockchain to AI, and ran my own small contracting company.
Of course, that is all in the past now, but, I will say, I did pick up a thing or two in that time. When thinking of how to make an income, one needs to take what they do well, and combine it with their environment. In my case, I know that this is a very complex financial situation for many; I would argue, a time of complete crisis, but, I will discuss neither policy nor politics.
What I do know, though, is, when people don't have much cash to go around, they tend to avoid buying new things (there's an interesting effect of briefly increased consumption as a coping mechanism during stressful situations, but, in my experience, it tapers off quickly.) People buying less means one thing - what they do have tends to fall apart, and repairs become once again viable in a collapse-economy.
Continuing with that train of thought - there is nothing in this world that falls apart faster than modern electronics!
And so, my pitch was set - a folding table, a folding chair. A small air compressor. A respirator, to keep my anonymity and to keep the dust out. A simple sign, advertising my services as a technomedic, and a small assortment of precision tools. An old solar generator I'd bought. Some toothpicks, to be carved into custom picks whenever warranted. A single cashless payment terminal, and, finally, a cart to lug everything around in.
Income source: secured.
Next is the problem of shelter; this is the part where we talk about the minivan.