Looking for work, a home, & money
So I’ve been job hunting. I currently have about a dozen applications out for State and local college jobs. The whole experience is highly demoralizing. Everyone keeps telling me that a job will come, and no doubt it will, but this interim time sucks.
I can only stay here at my aunt’s place for a total of three months. That period comes to an end a month from now. I have been looking for a place to live here in Salem. I had hoped to have a job before deciding where to live but I’m running out of time. I have been accepted to move into an apartment just south of downtown Salem. All things considered, I think it will be good. But I need to give the landlord some money soon.
However, money is in short, short supply. I didn’t receive my unemployment check this week. When I called to inquire about it, the woman told me that I hadn’t filled out the claim form correctly and a new one was being sent out. So at this point I’m hoping to get that check only 6 days late. Until I receive it, I have $0. Good times.
Resump-Sean
It’s been about a month since I stopped posting. It got pretty hard there for a bit. Things are better now. I’m not entirely out of the woods, but some people have really helped me out, and I have a plan.
I’m moving to Oregon by the end of this month. I asked my aunt if I could come live with her in Salem for a couple of months and she very graciously said yes. I’m looking forward to being an Oregonian. Not sure how long it will take for that to truly happen.
Anyway, either the cost of hosting this blog is already covered from when I first signed up, or a little money is taken each month and I didn’t notice it, clearly, the blog is still here and I can post to it. So I guess I will resume. Not sure I’ll continue/get back to a post per day. We’ll see.
Ok, maybe that wasn’t the last post
You can click below to contribute to my “Emergency cost of living fund”.
Final post
This will be my last post here.
Here’s the secret that I’m always afraid someone will find out. I suck at life. I am hopeless when it comes to managing money. I’ve tried to get better, and honestly, maybe I have. But I am staring at the biggest financial crisis of my life right now and I’m just about ready to give up hope. Last month, there was an $800 wage assessment on my paycheck. IRS. I guess I didn’t do my taxes right or something. This month, there was another assessment on my paycheck. $1500. I guess I REALLY didn’t do my taxes right. Or was late. Or forgot to file last year. I don’t know. Maybe all of the above. Anyway, this month’s paycheck doesn’t even cover rent, nevermind utilities, food, car payment, etc.
You see, somehow, I’ve become an avoider. Something unpleasant comes along, and I do my best ostrich imitation. Yeah, maybe it will go away. Thing is, it almost never does. It might fade from sight for awhile, but it always seems to come back, and just when I’m least prepared for it. Yes, yes. I know. I need to be different. Believe me, I’m trying. It’s not something I talk about much because it’s rather embarrassing and humiliating really. I really believed that I was on track to getting all caught up and maybe even getting ahead by the end of this year. Maybe that could still happen if I wasn’t getting laid off. Maybe it can still happen if I find a new job quickly. But will I be able to eat in the mean time? Will I still be able to live here? Will I still have a car?
Yes friends, I suck at life. I’m really ready for things to get easier.
In any case, I won’t be paying to continue hosting this blog, and I really don’t feel up to the whimsy that inspired the blog anyway. Thanks for reading.
Another Monday home
Without the previous intention to do so, I called in to work and stayed home again today. As appealing as that may sound, I rather do not like it. I’d rather be at work. But I’m having a bit of trouble sleeping, perhaps due to anxiety, or maybe running after 9 PM is detrimental. Either way, when I woke up this morning, I was definitely feeling sleep deprived. I am determined to go to work tomorrow.
So instead, I played LOTRO, did laundry, watched tv, walked across the street for some groceries, and had a conversation with my apartment complex’s property manager. I asked about getting the nails of the landing outside my front door hammered down, and I explained my pending employment situation and asked if something could possibly be done to reduce my monthly rent, for example, by signing a new lease. She gave me reason to be hopeful, so I am. Stay tuned.
I smell like smoke
Got up at 6 AM this morning when I received a phone call from Jose asking about how to unlock the gate behind the community center. Too damn early! By 7 AM, I was down there to help get the day going. The bbqing and sales went well; at one point I even had to go get 50 more lbs of meat. Even with that, we ran out after the noon Mass. So sorry 2:00 Mass.
In the middle of it all, I had to step away and do the music for the 10 AM. You know what? I fricking rock at leading music for Mass. Mike is a way better guitarist than me, but I kick ass at leading.
Went for my run tonight. Was a bit harder than I’d like. Part of the problem his how arid the weather is. It gets difficult to breathe as my throat dries out. Despite my poverty, I’ll have to see about getting a hydration belt or something. Carp.
Back to the salt mine
Back to work today. I actually woke up fairly easily this morning, despite getting less sleep than I would have liked. Huh. So let’s see. I did some research, compared and contrasted options, and concluded that going to school out-of-state would be really expensive. Going to school at Stanislaus State is a lot more feasible, but I’d still need an infusion of funding. Student loans are an option but they’d have to cover all costs of living as well as school. I’ll need to speak to an advisor over there.
My résumé is online in a couple of places. I’ve applied for 3 or 4 positions, including some in the greater Portland area. Still holding on to an against-all-odds hope that something will change here at the college. I’m expecting that my last check will be enough to pay off my car. Not having that monthly obligation while unemployed will be a relief. Even so, missing even a single week of unemployment will be devastating.
Haven’t run for several days now. Sunday was my regular day, but I wasn’t feeling great. Even ended up taking a multi-hour nap late in the day. Plus, my calves and feet hurt! Perhaps I overdid it a bit last Wednesday and the problem had persisted throughout the rest of the week and weekend. In any case, I feel quite recovered today. But I still took tonight off so as to get back on my regular schedule tomorrow.
Had soup for dinner. I sometimes forget how much I enjoy soup. Help me to remember people!
Feel the fever coming You’re shaking and twitching
I began week 3 of my 5K training this afternoon. Because I’d had a pretty good session on Sunday, I was expecting an easy time of it tonight. Not to be. It was actually rather difficult. This week, the training consists of: 5 minutes warm-up, 90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes jogging, 3 minutes walking, 90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes jogging, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes cool-down. That last 3 minutes was really tough. I very much wanted to stop jogging before the time was up, but I forced myself to power through it. Ugh. Hopefully, days 2 and 3 of this week will be a little easier.
After that, I met with my Liturgy Goals subcommittee. We didn’t accomplish as much as we had last week, but we did move the process forward. So I’m counting this a win.
Do you ever have dreams that seem very real, and even after you’ve woken up, and realize that it was just a dream, you still tend to believe what was true in the dream? Yeah, me neither.
Ok, really I experienced this when I woke up this morning. I had dreamt that I’d won a $10,000 shopping spree to Best Buy. I knew right away that it had only been a dream, but all day I was distracted with thoughts of what I was going to buy.
Adam’s punishment
I am really unhappy at my job right now. Maybe I’ll have the energy to go into all the details of my dissatisfaction at some point, but not today. One factor I will mention is that the college has recently undergone a reclassification study. This is necessary every five years or so to make sure that the jobs we are doing are accurately reflected in our titles and job descriptions. There are many people who’ve been told that the job they are doing is worth more than they are currently being paid. They are the winners in this reclass lottery. I, on the other hand, have been informed that I am being paid too much for the job I do. That’s a pick-me-up.
At the same time, I am ruled by inertia. When do I ever do anything until I have to? So I may just burrow deeper into the pile of excrement that is my job and ride it out. I highly value putting in one’s time and this seems to dovetail nicely with that attitude.
