Hot Links: Shipping container home, Gust of fresh air for Windy City, Red bandana man

The lines were taut and the take was plentiful this morning. Come and see the treasures of the net!

Mom Lives In This Shipping Container With Her Daughter After Transforming It With Her Bare Hands – (littlethings.com)

This mother is possibly the thriftiest person we’ve ever seen. She has made a beautiful, functional home for only a few thousand dollars:

With no building experience, Lulu spent one month and $4000 installing windows, insulation and a functioning kitchen, which includes a water heater and camping stove. “When you don’t have money, you just get creative,” Lulu told Fair Companies. After taking multiple trips to the junkyard, Lulu found practically everything she needed to build the home out of recycled materials. Everything from the floorboards to the cabinets is pre-used, but still in great working condition. The mother-daughter duo have a bathtub, toilet, sinks and a makeshift playroom. The shipping container only offered 160 square feet, and Lulu eventually decided she and her daughter needed more space. So, she built their new bedroom on a used flatbed trailer. “This was really a choice about how many hours do we have to our life, and how do I want to spend those hours?” In turn, Lulu is challenging the stereotype of a “normal” mother in an effort to live a simpler life and spend more quality time with her daughter.

Chicago Paleta Man’s Story Inspires Nation, $140K Raised To Help His Family – (dnainfo.com)

After the record high number of shootings in the Windy City, it’s nice to see this heartwarming story:

Fidencio Sanchez has spent years selling paletas — a type of popsicle — on the Near West Side, pushing a cart for hours each day and typically making just $50-$60, said Gustavo Gutierrez, who provides the paleta cart to Sanchez. Sanchez, who is about 90 years old, retired two months ago, Gutierrez said. He wanted to “take it easy” and relax with his wife. But he returned to work soon after his only daughter died in July and his elderly wife fell ill, needing a way to pay the bills. Joel Cervantes Macias became inspired by Sanchez while buying paletas, he wrote on GoFundMe. He bought 20 popsicles for $50 but wanted to do more. He began a campaign on GoFundMe, writing that he wanted to raise money for Sanchez and his wife. By Monday morning, more than $138,000 had been raised for Sanchez and his family, and those giving said it showed how Chicagoans really do care about one another.

Remembering The ‘Red Bandana Man’ Who Died A Hero Saving 12 Strangers On 9/11 – (littlethings.com)

The story of how an unknown hero of 9/11 was identified:

On 9/11, Welles Crowther gave his life and became a true American hero. He was not a firefighter, he was not a police officer. He was a 24-year-old equities trader for Sandler O’Neill and Partner. His office was on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Minutes after the plane struck the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. between the 78th and 85th floors, Welles called his mother and left her this short but powerful message: “Mom, this is Welles. I wanted you to know that I’m OK.” After he hung up, Welles proceeded to encounter a group of survivors trying to flee the tower. One of those survivors was Ling Young, one of the 200 victims who’d been waiting by an elevator bank when the first plane struck. She’d been blinded by the plane crash and wouldn’t have made it had it not been for Welles carrying her out.