Nomad Life 7 and Anologic's ConneCT X-Ray Machine
My life as a nomad and airport security
Nomad Life
While I was busy being a nomad, I had to develop skills to solve a problem that I was hoping would not come to pass. Since my relationship with my property manager broke down, I had to learn everything there was to know about property management. I went to my local library and found this book.
I did my best to absorb all of the information. I was debating if I would be able to show my properties to potential applicants if I had a full time job, but my realtor came to the rescue. She said she would be able to rent my properties out for me. This was one less headache, but I still needed to figure out how to collect the rent and establish a more formal business structure. I searched around for property management software and found one that had a free version. It was called Avail.
The free version was limited, but I only had 4 tenants at the time so I knew I could make do. To make my lease, I used another website that my realtor recommended called Evict.com. This is the website of the Law Offices of Heist, Weisse, & Wolk, PLLC. Even though it sounds like the website is all about evicting tenants, the lawyers also provide lease structures and other educational materials. They charge $45 per lease, which I consider a fair price. To make the lease, all I have to do is fill in information about the tenant and lease amount and the rest is filled in with generic but necessary information.
In early April, a miracle happened. As I drove past the property I actually saw signs of the tenant packing up and throwing away garbage. Finally, on April 8 2024, the tenant had moved out and the unit was vacant. I went to inspect the property and saw that it was messy. Garbage was piled on the streets, garbage was piled near the door, construction waste was piled next the the property. The outside would need a lot of work.
The inside was better, but still not good, considering that there was chunky milk in the fridge. There was a gross couch that clearly had animal hair covering it and there was little remaining furniture, besides a bed frame and mattress.
Chunky Milk I promptly through away
You cannot comprehend how many stuffed animals there were in that pile.
The only bright side to this is that I got to rummage through everything that was left and the items that were not completely trash could be donated. I got a grand total of $323 worth of tax write-offs and all I had to do is dig around garbage for 3 months and sort it out. After the place was cleaned, I moved all of my personal belongings to my new home. This allowed me to leave my storage unit which saved me $60.14 a month. I broke my TV during the move so that was a bummer. Some of my family members visited and helped me to decorate and finalize the furniture locations. We even got to go to Universal Islands of Adventure for an event my company was having. I had 1 week left in the Bear Country room but decided to stay at my new house. I went from being a nomad to having 2 places I could live. I was finally landed. The nomad life for me was over. The next steps for my life were to manage my new property, build up my reserves and find my next property to buy. But that is a story for another day.
If you are looking to invest into real estate or learn more about me, check out my website and Youtube channel:
ReaganClo.com
https://www.youtube.com/@RocketsandRealEstate
Anologic's ConneCT X-Ray Machine
I am someone who is always excited when I see a new technology or something that looks futuristic. So, imagine my surprise when I saw the brand new x-ray machines in my airport.
x-ray machine, credit: L-3 Communications
Now compare that to this older model. The Anologic looks way more advanced. That is when I had the question, “How does a x-ray machine work?” To start, we need to understand what the electromagnetic spectrum is. You have probably seen a chart like this in a science textbook when you were at school. Essentially, electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that moves in waves. The higher the wave length, the more energy it has. As you can see by the chart, x-rays are very energetic.
The electromagnetic spectrum. x-rays have higher energy than visible light. Credit: iStock
This allows the x-rays to penetrate through suitcases or backpacks. Once these waves have passed through an object, they are intercepted by a detector before passing through a filter. This filter blocks out any waves from the scanned object that were taken by the x-ray. A second detector is then used to analyze the remaining waves. A computer algorithm then compares the results of these 2 detectors. It’s like weighing your self, weighing yourself carrying something, then subtracting the 2 values to get the objects weight.
x-ray machine detectors, credit: L-3 Communications
The different wavelengths the detectors scan are represented on a screen by different colors. Concerning airport x-rays, organic compounds, that most explosives are made from, are flagged as orange which helps them stand out.
An x-ray of a bag. Notice that all organic items are a shade of orange., credit: L-3 Communications
This is not fool proof though and complex electronics, such as laptops, can still have a bomb hidden inside of it. That is why a second test will be used that allows a chemical sniffer to find any traces of bomb materials.
Concerning medical x-rays, since the waves are absorbed into the material that passes through it, that means your body is absorbing ionizing radiation, which can be harmful. However, the small doses that a human will experience during a scan is insignificant. It is well worth the risk since x-rays provide such valuable data for either hospitals or airports.
If you are looking to invest into real estate or learn more about me, check out my website and Youtube channel:
ReaganClo.com
https://www.youtube.com/@RocketsandRealEstate
references:
https://www.analogic.com/imaging-and-detection/checkpoint/
https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/x-rays
https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/airport-security4.htm