5. California Land Management brochure and American Land & Leisure banner: Observed during visits to the annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show in Quartzsite, Arizona, 2014–2016.
7. Minimum-wage workers’ rent shortfall: Diane Yentel et al., Out of Reach 2016: No Refuge for Low Income Renters. Washington, D.C.: The National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2016. http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2016.pdf.
7. One in six households spends majority of income on housing: Marcia Fernald, ed., The State of the Nation’s Housing 2016. Cambridge, MA: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2016, p. 31. http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2016.pdf.
11. Ortega Highway hazards: Dan Weikel, “Driving a Deadly Dinosaur,” The Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2001, p. A1.
13. “Grout” didn’t stick: John McKinney, “Grout Bay Trail Leads to History,” The Los Angeles Times, July 25, 1999, p. 8.
14. Butler II wildfire consumed more than fourteen thousand acres: Incident record from Cal Fire, September 21, 2007.
16. Silvianne’s blog: Silvianne Wanders, The Adventures of a Cosmic Change Agent, https://silviannewanders.wordpress.com.
17. Lyrics for “Queen of the Road”: Written by Silvianne K. Delmars and reproduced with her permission.
18. Books Linda was reading: Anne LaBastille, Woodswoman: Living Alone in the Adirondack Wilderness. New York: Penguin Books, 1991; Scott Belsky, Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles between Vision and Reality. New York: Portfolio, 2012.
23. Article on workampers Greg and Cathy Villalobos: Jane Mundy, “California Labor Law Also Applies to Seniors,” LawyersAndSettlements.com, July 16, 2014. http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/california_labor_law/interview-california-labor-law-43-19945.html.
When reached on Facebook, Greg Villalobos confirmed his identity as the man in the article and added via direct message: “The problem is very common but most camp hosts just do the extra work quietly with no compensation. I have worked at two camp host positions and both were handled the same. These were two different companies. I do not do camp hosting anymore. Loved the campers but not the management.”
24. California Land Management’s one-star review: https://www.yelp.com/biz/california-land-management-palo-alto.
25. Email from California Land Management President Eric Mart, dated December 26, 2016, also included:
“Working ‘off-the-clock’ for any reason is a violation of Company policy and employees violating this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. . . .
“In the 36 years we have been in business we have investigated many employee complaints. What we often find is that the facts surrounding the complaint are different than what the employee alleges. When, however, we do find evidence of management abuse we take corrective action against that manager.
“We employ over 450 people during the height of the summer season and we have a very high percentage of our seasonal work force returning from year to year. This would clearly not be happening if our personnel policies were permitting the things alleged in your letter.”
CHAPTER TWO
32. U.S. Postal Service rejected “Casino” as name for a town: Frank Aleksandrowicz, “Nevada by Day: The Other Attractions Around Las Vegas,” The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, June 17, 1990, p. E11.
35. Dennis Weaver’s documentary: Dennis Weaver’s Earthship. Directed by Phil Scarpaci. Robert Weaver Enterprises, 1990.
35. Jokes about Weaver’s Earthship by Jay Leno, neighbors: Associated Press, “Actor Builds Treasure with Other People’s Trash,” Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, November 28, 1989, p. B8.
36. Cost to build Weaver’s Earthship: Patricia Leigh Brown, “Father Earth,” The New York Times, January 10, 1993, p. A1.
36. New Zealander Brian Gubb’s Earthship: http://gubbsearthship.com.
36. “Earthdinghy” in Seattle: Sara Bernard, “Earthship!” Seattle Weekly, August 12, 2015, p. 9.
36. Michael Reynolds on Heaven’s Gate: Martha Mendoza/Associated Press, “ ‘Earthships’ Meld Future with Past,” The Los Angeles Times, May 18, 1997, p. 1.
36. Documentary on Reynolds’s struggle: Garbage Warrior. Directed by Oliver Hodge. Open Eye Media, 2007.
36. Statements from Reynolds’s website: “monster called the economy”: http://earthship.com/a-brief-history-of-earthships; “economy is a game”: http://earthship.com/Designs/earthship-village-ecologies.
38. Older women and poverty: Jasmine Tucker and Caitlin Lowell, National Snapshot: Poverty Among Women & Families, 2015. Washington, D.C.: National Women’s Law Center, 2016. http://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Poverty-Snapshot-Factsheet-2016.pdf.
38. Women earning less Social Security than men: Joan Entmacher and Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Fact Sheet: Women & Social Security. Washington, D.C.: National Women’s Law Center, 2015. http://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/socialsecuritykeyfactsfactsheetfeb2015update.pdf.
38. Gender pay gap: Ariane Hegewisch and Asha DuMonthier, The Gender Wage Gap: 2015. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2016. http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-2015-annual-earnings-differences-by-gender-race-and-ethnicity.
38. Outliving men by five years: Jiaquan Xu et al., Mortality in the United States, 2015. Hyattsville, MD: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics, 2016. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db267.pdf.
CHAPTER THREE
Most of the reporting about Empire, Nevada, in this chapter originally appeared in my article “The Last Company Town,” The Christian Science Monitor, magazine/print edition, June 13, 2011, p. 33.
42. The Hills Have Eyes: The cult classic: The Hills Have Eyes. Directed by Wes Craven. Vanguard, 1977. The remake: The Hills Have Eyes. Directed by Alexandre Aja. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006.
44. Comparing Empire to Chernobyl: Jenny Kane, “Gypsum Mine, Town of Empire Sold,” The Reno Gazette-Journal, June 4, 2016, p. A5.
44. Unfinished coffee and unturned calendars: Jenny Kane, “Empire Mining Co. Will Only Restore Part of Ghost Town,” The Reno Gazette-Journal, August 24, 2016, p. A4.
44. As of this writing, Google Maps had still not updated its street view and a citizen of Empire could still be seen watering her lawn here: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.572901,-119.34298,3a,75y,340.84h,74.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNxq0MbTKOKuCSPq0olMttQ!2e0!7i3328!8i1664.
45. More than fifteen miles: “Amazon CamperForce Program,” promotional video, published by AmazonFulfillment on July 19, 2013, https://youtu.be/jT1D1RsW1bQ.
47. “Okies of the Great Recession”: http://lovable-liberal.blogspot.com/2013/08/grapes-of-workamping.html; “American Refugees”: http://unlawflcombatnt.proboards.com/thread/9293; “Affluent Homeless”: http://earlystart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/12/workampers-filling-temporary-jobs-for-amazon-com-cnns-casey-wian-reports-on-these-affluent-homeless; “Modern-Day Fruit Tramps”: http://unionperspectives.blogspot.com/2012/02/workampers-are-new-iww-wobblies.html.
47. Workamping classifieds: Workamper News http://workamper.com and Workers on Wheels http://www.work-for-rvers-and-campers.com.
48. Preparing for fireworks job: Workamper News, July/August 2013, p. 33.
49. Story Land recruiting ad: Workamper News, November/December 2015, p. 36.
49. Georgia farm llamas ad: Workamper News, September/October 2013, p. 20.
49. Water taxi volunteer ad: Workamper News, September/October 2013, p. 17.
50. South Dakota residency requirements for “people who travel full time”: http://dps.sd.gov/licensing/driver_licensing/obtain_a_license.aspx.
50. Recreation Resource Management hiring: Kristyn Martin, “Working into Their 70s: the New Normal for Boomers,” Al-Jazeera America, October 17, 2014. http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/real-money-with-alivelshi/2014/10/Workampers-retirement-babyboomers.html.
50. KOA hiring; Workamper News membership: Melissa P
reddy, “Work Camping: Seasonal Jobs on the Road,” AARP Bulletin, December 2014.
50. Fashionable vandwelling: Eric Spitznagel, “What the Kids Are Doing These Days,” The New York Times Magazine, November 6, 2011, p. 9.
52. CamperForce referral bonus $125: Amazon CamperForce Referral Form, 2015; was $50 in 2012: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, May 2012, p. 5.
52. CamperForce veterans’ tips: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, July 2012, pp. 2–5.
52. Hard Times Dance in Fernley, Nevada: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, April 2012, p. 3.
52. Pecan-preneurship: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, March 2013, p. 3.
53. CamperForce Recruiting handout: https://www.scribd.com/document/133679509/CamperForce-Recruiting-Handout.
53. Less touchy-feely incentives: “Bottom Line at Amazon.com: Money,” Workamper News, July/August 2014, pp. 31–34.
57. Busing in workers: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, July 2013, p. 1.
58. AmCare: Unhappy workers later coined the portmanteau “Shamcare” while discussing Amazon’s in-house medical service on Facebook.
59. CamperForce administrator on older workers: “Workamper News Jobinar with Amazon CamperForce,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STC3funa1Gg [uploaded March 21, 2013].
59. Blog comment on Amazon’s use of tax credit: http://talesfromtherampage.com/amazon.
60. Beet harvest recruiter on older workers: “Workamper News Jobinar with Express Sugar Beet Harvest,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbJtFHJHf_M [uploaded February 26,2014].
63. Older Americans’ employment: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Unemployment Level 65 years and over: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNU02000097.
63. Fear of outliving assets: “Reclaiming the Future: Challenging Retirement Income Perceptions,” Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 2010.
63. Retirement views: S. Kathi Brown, “Retirement Attitudes Segmentation Survey 2013,” AARP Research, Washington, D.C., 2013.
63. Editorial on William Osler: “Old Men at Forty,” The New York Times, February 24, 1905.
64. Unpopular novel The Fixed Period: David Lodge, “Rereading Anthony Trollope,” The Guardian, December 15, 2012, p. 16.
64. Pension advocate’s dire outlook: Lee Welling Squier, Old Age Dependency in the United States: A Complete Survey of the Pension Movement. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1912, pp. 28–29.
64. Poorhouses in Colorado and Ohio: Harry C. Evans, The American Poorfarm and Its Inmates, Des Moines, IA: The Loyal Order of the Moose, 1926, pp. 13, 29.
65. Monopoly poorhouse: Nancy Altman, “Social Security at 80: Lessons Learned,” The Huffington Post, August 18, 2015.
65. Older Americans’ self-sufficiency: U.S. Social Security Administration, “Historical Background and Development of Social Security: Pre Social-Security Period,” https://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html.
66. Transferring risk: Jacob S. Hacker, The Great Risk Shift: The Assault on American Jobs, Families, Health Care, and Retirement and How You Can Fight Back. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. x, 5–6.
66. Social Security as major income source: “Fact Sheet: Social Security,” U.S. Social Security Administration, https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/basicfact-alt.pdf.
66. From three-legged stool to pogo stick: Emily Brandon, “The Retirement Pogo Stick,” U.S. News & World Report, February 5, 2009, online only http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2009/02/05/the-retirement-pogo-stick.
66. Five-dollars-a-day food budget: Teresa Ghilarducci, “Our Ridiculous Approach to Retirement,” The New York Times, July 22, 2012, p. SR5.
67. Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson on Social Security: Jeanne Sahadi, “Co-Chair of Obama Debt Panel under Fire for Remarks,” CNNMoney.com, August 25, 2010. http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/25/news/economy/alan_simpson_fiscal_commission.
CHAPTER FOUR
Biographical information on Bob Wells comes from in-person interviews, along with attending his seminars at the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous for three years and reading his website, http://CheapRVLiving.com. (Earlier published versions of the site were accessed via The Wayback Machine, http://archive.org/web/.)
69. “Maybe you were a gypsy”: https://web.archive.org/web/20130114225344/http://cheaprvliving.com.
71. The Great Alaska Earthquake: “The Great M9.2 Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami of March 27, 1964,” http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/alaska1964.
72. Damage to Denali Elementary School, Anchorage International Airport control tower and J. C. Penney building: “The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964: Engineering,” National Research Council, 1973, pp. 310, 416–418, 823; Wallace R. Hansen et al., “The Alaska Earthquake: March 27, 1964: Field Investigations and Reconstruction Effort,” U.S. Geological Survey, 1966, p. 83.
73. Bob on getting forced into the van: “What’s Your Vision for Your Life?” https://web.archive.org/web/20120728075840/http://cheaprvlivingblog.com/2012/07/whats-your-vision-for-your-life.
73. Bob on recession popularizing CheapRVLiving.com + fraying social contract: “Thriving in a Bad Economy,” https://web.archive.org/web/20121223110050/http://cheaprvlivingblog.com/2012/09/thriving-in-a-bad-economy.
74. Mid-thirties house trailer boom: David A. Thornburg, Galloping Bungalows: The Rise and Demise of the American House Trailer. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1991.
74. Living in house trailers: “Two Hundred Thousand Trailers,” Fortune, March 1937, p. 220.
74. “Escape taxes and rent”: Philip H. Smith, “House Trailers—Where Do They Go From Here?” Automotive Industries, November 14, 1936, p. 680.
75. Trailer prophesies and Roger Babson: Clyde R. Miller, “Trailer Life Seen as Good for Nation, Aiding Instead of Displacing Homes,” The New York Times, December 20, 1936, p. N2.
75. A new way of life: Konrad Bercovici, “Gypsy in a Trailer [Part I],” Harper’s Magazine, May 1937, p. 621.
75. A million and a half to two million house trailers: David A. Thornburg, Galloping Bungalows: The Rise and Demise of the American House Trailer. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1991, p. 181.
75. Bard of the trailerites: David A. Thornburg, Galloping Bungalows: The Rise and Demise of the American House Trailer. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1991, pp. 2, 60–61.
76. Bob on budgeting: “Where Does My Money Go?” http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/where-does-my-money-go.
77. Trooper Dan: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/survivalist-truck-dweller.
77. Charlene Swankie profiled: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/inspiring-vandweller-charlenes-story.
80. Lance5g’s introduction: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/liveinyourvan/conversations/messages/2.
80. Ghost Dancer on his jury-rigged internet connection: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vandwellers/conversations/messages/156516.
81. “Live in Your Van 2” Yahoo group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/VanDwellers.
81. “Vandwelling’s founding father”: http://swankiewheels.blogspot.com/2012/01/ghost-dance-arrived-at-rtr-today.html.
82. “Vandwellers: Live in Your Van” Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vandwellers/files.
83. Vandwellers subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/.
83. Walmart parking lot melee: Jim Walsh, “Family in Walmart Melee Performed,” The Arizona Republic, March 25, 2015, p. A8; Jon Hutchinson, “Camping Ban Now Enforced at Cottonwood Walmart Store,” The Verde Independent, March 27, 2015, http://www.verdenews.com/news/2015/mar/27/camping-ban-now-enforced-at-cottonwood-walmart-st.
83. “Morons” ruining overnight parking: http://rvdailyreport.com/opinion/opinion-will-walmart-camping-become-thing-of-the-past.
84. Mobile food pantry founder on Walmart denizens: Jimmy Maas, “Meet Austin’s ‘Real People of Walmart,’” KUT 90.5 FM, May 26, 2016, http://kut.org/post/meet-austins-real-people-walmart.
84. “Walmart Overnight Parking
Locator”: http://www.allstays.com/apps/walmart.htm.
85. The Adventures of Tioga and George: http://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net.
85. Hobo Stripper blog: https://rvsueandcrew.com.
86. RV Sue & Her Canine Crew: older posts: https://rvsueandcrew.com/; newer posts: http://rvsueandcrew.net.
91. Jimbo’s Journeys blog: https://jimbosjourneys.com.
CHAPTER FIVE
95. Amazon Town: To the best of my knowledge, this phrase for the ephemeral CamperForce settlements was first coined in the following article’s title: Stu Woo, “Welcome to Amazon Town,” The Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2011, p. B1.
96. Climbing anchors: Shelby Carpenter, “What Happens When Climbing Bolts Go Bad?” Outside website, November 4, 2015, https://www.outsideonline.com/2031641/what-happens-when-climbing-bolts-go-bad.
97. Hunter charged with starting wildfire: “Man Charged with Starting Massive California Blaze,” The Associated Press, August 8, 2015.
97. “The Value of Friendship”: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, June 2013, p. 1.
98. “Getting Ready to Make History in 2013!”: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, March 2013, p. 1.
98. “What to Expect . . . ”: Amazon CamperForce Newsletter, April 2013, p. 1.
99. Some of the material about scrutiny of Amazon’s warehouses originated in my column “With 6,000 Jobs, What Is Amazon Really Delivering?” Reuters, June 17, 2015, http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/06/17/with-6000-new-warehouse-jobs-what-is-amazon-really-delivering.
99. Some of the material about Amazon’s employee tracking systems originated in my article, “We’re Watching You Work,” The Nation print edition, June 15, 2015, p. 28.
102. OSHA report: Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration Inspection Report Number 317326056 (October 7, 2013). This and other reports were provided by Nevada OSHA in response to a May 2016 request under the Nevada Open Records Act.
103. Amazon wage case: Richard Wolf, “Justices Say Security Screening After Work Isn’t Paid Time,” USA Today, December 9, 2014, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/09/supreme-court-amazon-workers-security-screening/20113221.
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