“I haven’t been winning anything playing at the casinos,” Todd Bufford said at the start of our interview on a cold, grey March day in Reno, while standing next to a van he bought four months ago.
When he purchased the van, he says it had a leaking water pump, so he’s trying to make sure to repair that and other issues right now.
Bufford, who admits to spending too much time gambling, has been living in his van in northern Nevada, and he’s trying to fix it right now to get around to different small jobs he relies on for survival, such as yard work, handyman work and helping others with their own mechanical issues.
A native of Ukiah, California, Bufford who also previously lived in Fort Bragg, can’t afford rent locally…