Fixing an air conditioner for extra cash
When I first moved here I had nothing but a garbage bag filled with clothes, my tools, and my old station wagon.
My plan was to live in the station wagon for a few weeks while I put together some money.
It wound up being a lot more difficult than I anticipated, and it was only through the generosity of an old friend that I got to move out of the car. I stayed in an old work shed on my friend’s property, so it wasn’t much better than a station wagon. I drove to the local swap meet to get a bedroll, a lamp, and to look for a portable air conditioner. Buying the portable air conditioner served two causes – first, it would keep me comfortable in my new environment, and second, I could tune it up and resell it for a profit. I am not a super smart guy, but I am good at fixing things, and always had a knack for the older models of air conditioners. The newer AC units are too complex for me, but the old ones are not hard to tune up and refurbish. I bought a broken air conditioner at the swap meet for a couple of bucks. Over the next few days I repaired it, and then used it at night for cooling down the shed where I was staying. The following week I was able to resell that air conditioner for forty bucks. I was able to get some food, some beer, and I spent a few bucks to buy two more broken air conditioners.