Many things are happening. Most of them are good, but I don’t have enough money to make any more progress. Even worse, if I can’t get more cash in the next 24 hours, I will lose a lot of progress and, ironically, I will have to spend money undoing some progress I have made.
- Today, I finally found and purchased some equipment I need to make the medicine that will cure me.
- It’s easier and faster if I just use Mexican pesos in this post.
- I’m writing this in a hurry. I hope I explain it well enough and include the most important information.
- I only have MXN$559.50 in cash and MXN$253 in PayPal. Total: $812.50, which is less than two days of costs here.
- Sleeping: I’m in a large city. I can’t camp. I don’t know this city very well. I slept outside for two nights, but by the third night, I realized that my location was very unsafe and I had been lucky. Last night, I got lucky and found a room for $190. My research indicates that I can usually find a crappy room or hostel for less than $250 per night. I don’t have plans for tonight yet, in part because many hotels and hostels are already full this weekend.
- Food: when I can prepay for a location for at least a week, I can lower my food costs substantially by cooking. But when I am uncertain where I will be, I must buy more expensive food. $200 per day is normal when including all costs, such as increased costs because of my health.
- Medicine:
- I bought 10 days of Venlafaxine because if I don’t have that medicine, then I suffer severely 24 hours per day: horrible nightmares so I never get enough sleep, no appetite so I don’t eat and that makes everything worse, serotonin withdrawal syndrome, body aches, all symptoms increase, and the result is… not something I want to write or think about right now.
- I bought 45 days of Vitamin B. That will help.
- I still need modafinil, diazepam, and alprazolam to reduce my symptoms, and increase my productivity, as much as possible.
- I must buy omeprazole or I will suffer pain soon. The cost is small: usually less than $2 per day.
- Other equipment I need immediately: I must create agar dishes immediately or some of my samples will spoil. I might have found a way to delay purchasing a pressure cooker (as a substitute for an autoclave) and a couple of other items by using the demonstration lab at the supplier. Maybe. If so, then it delays my need for about 10 days.
- An opportunity to make money: the smallest bottle they had creates 4500 ml of agar and my immediate need is only 120 ml. Many people in Mexico want to buy smaller amounts of agar. Therefore, with some local help, I can sell the remaining agar online. In fact, selling prepared agar Petri dishes could be highly profitable. My back of the envelope calculations suggest I could earn $4000 profit on $4000 of costs. I already bought the agar, so the remaining costs are about $2700. I don’t have $2700. To make the most profit from this situation (i.e., I have excess agar mixture), I need a little more cash.
- Equipment I will need in the next few weeks: some things, such as agar, are difficult to find, but the total cost is reasonable. Assuming I can find everything, I am confident the total cost is less than US$500.
- Housing and electricity: I must control the temperature and humidity, so I need electricity. The cost and quality of housing in Mexico has a huge range. The very high-end is MXN$7000 per month. Different factors can reduce the cost. In good, not perfect conditions, I can certainly find something for less than $3500 per month. See the next issue.
- The cost of poverty: it costs less to prepay for 30 days of housing than to buy housing each night. Almost all costs are lowered when I can plan ahead. For example, after I purchase all equipment, I don’t need to be in a major city. Therefore, I can purchase housing in smaller towns based on price and quality instead of based on access to specialty stores (for agar, for example, or vermiculite). I also mentioned above that my food costs drop when I can stay in one place. Additionally, without all medicines to help me cope until I make the medicine that cures me, I am less productive and need more time, which costs more money in housing, food, and medicine. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Poverty is more expensive than having enough cash to plan ahead.
- This is a cure. I must make the medicine because it’s impossible to reliably purchase it. I need more cash. The sooner I have more cash, the less cash I need. The sooner I heal, the sooner I won’t need any cash.
- Please, PayPal [email protected]
