Beggars with Cell Phones

Mobile Phone Gives Beggar Away
Aug 11, 10:13 am ET
SANAA (Reuters) - A man begging at a mosque in Yemen was exposed as not being so destitute as he pretended when his mobile started ringing inopportunely on Friday.
The Yemeni news agency Saba said the embarrassed man beat a quick retreat after worshippers heard his phone ring inside his bag.
There are only about five telephones, both land-lines and mobiles, for every 100 people in Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries.

This is something I've thought about for a while, I'm almost positive that there are beggars in downtown Santa Cruz with cell phones (though they are apparently smart enough to turn off the ringer unlike the dumbass above). Though I'm not sure who they would be talking to.

I also saw a guy in a suit who was begging outside Noah's the other day. Sure, it was a threadbare suit but a suit nonetheless and it made me wonder whether he got more money because he'd apparently fallen farther or whether people shunned him more because he once had the trappings of a better lifestyle.

Personal Update News
Today should mark the end of the sublet housing saga. Hopefully without any blood, sweat or tears. But it will end and that's the important part.
P also had a promising interview this morning and we are both hopeful that she'll be gainfully employed again soon. With a company that has a structure to deal with idiots, assholes and work-shirkers.

An excellent forward (though, the followup IM chat exposed a few flaws in the article's logic) from Esther is called Tales from the Dark Side: A PR Exec's Story.

I've got a few projects in the works that'll hopefully start to bear some fruit before too long. And the book that's on life support and in much need of a jolt of juice to get it rolling again. Maybe I'll get that blog up and going again, I like the idea of writing a book in a blog forum format.

Oops, P's here, gotta go.