Living As One of The Invisible Homeless in Ventura County

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Guest post by (now) formerly homeless Conejo Valley resident, Lon V.

The Invisible Homeless

I frequently post about my own personal experiences while living as one of the invisible homeless in America.  My blog posts on the subject of homelessness are therapeutic for me and allow me to share my day to day experiences and insight on what’s sadly a growing trend in America.  As I’ve written before, the stress on living homeless can be deafening at times, and sometimes overwhelming both physically or emotionally.  I also believe often my stress level is reflected in my writings with posts specific to my day to day activities.  However sometimes, my posts are simply more level headed, offering my insight on today’s social issues that may effect myself and many Americans.  Ultimately, I concluded that that whatever topic I write about, as long as I am true to the subject and my writing; that’s the best I could really hope to do.

When I finally become comfortable and settle into a unique style of my own, I will decide on what my blog is really going to be consistently about.  Clearly my name in on the blogs header and my life as an invisible homeless man in America has caught the interest of many people. I thought to myself, perhaps I’m not so invisible anymore.  It’s amazing, I’ve received so many positive and encouraging emails from absolute, complete strangers.  Furthermore, I’ve forged several new wonderful and inspiring relationships with local leaders, and re-discovered family members who are now following my blog more closely.

The most remarkable relationships that I’ve been blessed with so far while being homeless  have come from two people, that I’ve been so fortunate to re-discover.  One is my older sister, Debbie, who lives in Florida.  The second is my brothers ex-fiancee’ Tina, and my nephew, Ben, who both reside in South Carolina.  Why are these two relationships, perhaps more remarkable to me than the others at this time in my life?  Well first, because they’re family members, and it’s truly heart warming to me that these two are so interested in me, and understanding of the  obvious challenges that are ahead of me.  Second, like the good lord above, these two wonderful people don’t judge me or have any preconceptions about my circumstances.  They’re both keeping an eye on my well being as best they can, and they offer friendly, common sense guidance, whenever I ask for it.  They don’t push their opinions on me, they listen and ultimately offer constructive criticism if needed.  It

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Happy Year of the Rabbit to all Conejo Valley Residents!

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The 4th year of the 12 year Chinese Zodiac is upon us...Happy Year of the Rabbit! This Year of the Rabbit starts today, February 3, 2011 and ends January 22, 2012, leaving it about 11 days short of a year. But who's counting? (Other than me.)

Boey, the reknowned foam coffee cup artist whose work was previously featured here on Conejo Valley Guide, created this cute depiction of our rabbit reverence on this fine start to the Chinese new year. More of his work can be seen and purchased at iamboey.com.

Year of the Rabbit has a special meaning for us here at Conejo Valley Guide for obvious reasons. Rabbits allegedly have the following attributes, some, but not all of which reflect our style at CVG: Gracious, friendly, kind, sensitive, cautious, thorough, self assured, astute, lucky, soft spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, artistic, tender, shy, compassionate and flexible. Happy New Year!

Camarillo Artist Chuck Trunks Presents His Latest Work "Moonlit Pools"

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Announcing the world premier of yet another Chuck Trunks' piece, entitled "Moonlit Pools." This one really wowed me with its 3-D effect. And if you look carefully, well...if you just look...you just may well see something very familiar in this piece...but where's the moon!? See his other work on Conejo Valley Guide by clicking here.

I immediately thought Malibu and Ventura when I saw this piece. Here are a handful of Malibu activities and a few dozen Ventura activities.

Now if you'd like to order this piece*, Chuck has an arrangement with Pi Studio Printing in Camarillo where for only $39, you can order a 16 x 20 Luster Photo Print that would look great on your wall. You can also order a full blown, framed canvas gallery wrap in any size that will knock your socks off.

* The print comes with the moon, not the CVG bunny. Though come to think of it, 2011 (2/3/11 to 1/22/12) IS The Year of the Rabbit, so if you want the bunny, just ask for it!

First 2011 Chevy Volt Ordered in Ventura County Arrives at the Murphy Auto Museum on January 7th

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The Murphy Auto Museum finally received the 2011 Chevy Volt ordered by Museum Director Dr. Dan Murphy.  It was the first order placed in Ventura County.  Dr. Murphy was able to take delivery last Friday, January 7th, at Paradise Chevrolet in Ventura. (Note from Conejo Joe: I believe Volt pricing starts in the $41,000 range). Volt is not cheap, but certainly interesting. It'll take you 35 miles gas free, then gas kicks in for another 340 miles, or a total range of 375 miles.

Awesome Christmas Story - Two Brothers Surprise Father by Restoring His 1969 Norton Commando

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This 15 minute video is worth the watch. Priceless. This is what the holidays are all about. Two brothers "steal" their father's 1969 Norton Commando motorcycle from his basement in September 2009 and have it restored for him for Christmas.

Resolving to Say "NO" by Gail Small

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A vignette by Gail Small, co-author of "Joyful Volunteering: Making a Difference." This one is called "NO" and is timely as we approach yet another new year!

NO by Gail Small

It was a warm winter day and I remember wearing a short-sleeved red checkered blouse with my favorite blue skirt. Suddenly though, I felt a chill and I froze.

It was at a community meeting of women. I was comfortable as we visited and shared stories. And then, it happened. The hostess handed us each a paper and pencil and asked us to write down our New Year's resolution.

My pencil wouldn't write. Those around me smiled and wrote non-stop. I knew my friend to my left was writing about the new diet she was going to go on the first of the year. My friend to the right had to be writing about making more money in her job, as that was always her primary focus. Someone across the room was chuckling out loud as she described the man of her dreams who she was determined to find in the coming year.

I was blank. Blank and confused. I thought about my everyday life. I am content. Sometimes I am really tired and often wish there were more minutes in a day. But, don't most of us think those things? I am happy in my relationships. I love my job and my family and friends. I work out and feel fit. I volunteer in the schools, in the community and for many organizations. I am always there when someone needs me for carpool, an emergency, or to run an errand. Wow! What to do?

Others were folding their resolutions in half once and then again. The crackly sound of the paper folding annoyed me as my page was still empty. Everyone smiled as they placed their well-chosen words into a

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This Biochemist Who Discovered EPO Has Had a Tremendous Impact on Thousand Oaks

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Last Friday, Eugene Goldwasser died at his home in Chicago at the age of 88. While Eugene Goldwasser is not exactly well known by the general public, his greatest accomplishment changed the course of the biotech industry and the world in 1977 when he isolated the human protein erythropoietin "EPO."

EPO stimulates the production of red blood cells. It is a blockbuster product with over $5 billion in annual revenues for local Amgen because it has changed the lives of millions of dialysis patients and others suffering anemia due to the effects of other diseases. Without Eugene Goldwasser, Thousand Oaks and Ventura County most likely would be much different today, as Amgen employs roughly 10,000 people locally in 4 million square feet of office space! Amgen is the largest private employer in Ventura County today!

It took Goldwasser 20 years to isolate EPO, starting in 1957, when he discovered EPO in minute quantities of anemic rats (now that sounds like fun).

Then by 1971 his lab purified six millionths of an ounce of EPO from 125 gallons of plasma from anemic sheep.

In 1973 a Japanese anemia doctor collected 673 gallons of urine from his anemic patients. (I think someone should have told Mike Rowe, The Dirty Jobs guy, but he was only 11 years old at the time.) From that pee, Goldwasser's team isolated eight milligrams of EPO and perked up anemic rats like a charm!

Seeing the huge unmet need of EPO, the next step was to clone the gene and produce it in enough quantities to create a drug. Local Amgen scientist Fu-Kuen Lin and his lab figured this out in two years and the rest is history. Amgen figured out how to manufacture the drug by propagating the cells in a fermentation process (Kirin Brewery helped them on this!) and starting selling it under brand name Epogen in 1989.  It was Amgen's first drug and it was and still is a blockbuster.