On October 28th 2015, I bought an old surveillance van that once belonged to the New York City Police Department. It was a beat up 1997 Ford E-350 that was being used to store scrap metal. Although its law enforcement decals had long been removed, you could still read "Detective Bureau" and "NYPD" where the paint had unevenly faded beneath the lettering.

I milked the month of November for every single spare moment I could and poured it into the renovation and construction of the van. Thankfully my ever supportive childhood neighbors were used to my antics at this point and never so much as complained as I worked on the van in the shared driveway of my parent's townhouse; cutting wood and drilling holes late into the night.

By December my new home was ready.