So frustrated right now...
Another seemingly solid job lead has dissolved, just as another promising job lead emerges. I should be happy to have a new opportunity, but this has been happening for months.
Last week, I was certain I would at least have 1 job offer this week, but this week, I ended up with none. Next week I fully (perhaps, fooly) expect at least 1 job offer.
In June, as I was staring at an empty refrigerator and an empty wallet, I debated the offer to leave my apartment to stay with a friend because I was certain I was close to getting a position.
I wasn't.
People respond to my plight as if I'm lazy. I'm not. I was raised hauling in firewood, and shoveling hog manure since I was in the 5th grade.
I'm not good at the easiest to get jobs. Perhaps the catalyst responsible for me starting Poor Blog was when I went to work at Amazon a couple years ago to get off of unemployment. I knew it would be hard, but I had to do something. I was so bad at the grueling warehouse work that after two days, I was laid up, unable to stand, other than to slowly and painfully shuffle my feet, for two days. I wasn't lazy, I was terrible at that sort of work.
People keep suggesting things in the key of 'why don't you just...' and you can fill in the blanks with serving, cooking, and other restaurant work. What those people never believed or listened to was that I did apply for those types of jobs and never made it past the interview. I'm always amazed at people that can just go out and get one of those jobs in a couple days and start the next week. If I got the dishwasher job or the chicken restaurant job, I probably wouldn't have done much better than I fared at Amazon. I could suffer through hard, physical labor when I was younger, but now, I'm just too terrible at it and my back and feet are too weak.
So even if I were hired for one of those jobs(and I have applied for them), I probably wouldn't last very long. Instead, I try to look for work that compliments my skill set.
I find good positions in chunks. Usually, there is a job I really want, but my skills may be a little low and my prospects aren't as high. Another job fits my skills well even though I wouldn't prefer that work as well as other types of work. A third job is some customer service type job that I have done a version of in the past and that I'm a mortal lock for, I perceive as a fallback position if the other two fall through. Then, all three positions fall apart.
This has happened several times since January; it may be happening now.
I hope not.
I lost the Sam Adams position and the same temp agency that sent me to that interview, called me about the opportunity at Sugar Creek Packing. I didn't know this at the time, but they already knew I wasn't getting the Sam Adams job when they called about the Sugar Creek job. I only found out after my Sugar Creek interview, when I called Lab Support to follow up on the Sam Adams job. Today, Lab support called to talk about a lab tech position they thought I would be interested in. Suspicious, I asked about the Sugar Creek job, and sure enough, they already knew I wasn't getting it. When did they plan to tell me?
I had a good interview for a call center job in Columbus yesterday and earlier this week I applied for another Columbus call center position. The former could be viewed as the safety pick, the fallback choice. I have an interview next week for a technical writer position here in Cincinnati as well as an open house in Columbus for that second call center job.
I would love to get the technical writer job, but even more than that, I would love to not have all my job leads fall apart.
I had a few big donations last week, but that is all going toward gas, food, car insurance and rent for my possessions sitting in Public Storage. If anyone reading this hasn't donated and wants to, or knows of someone who can donate, please donate or pass along the link to this blog. Even if I get hired next week, I'll still need money to get by until I get my first check. Every little bit helps.
Thank you.
Showing posts with label #inners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #inners. Show all posts
Friday, August 21, 2015
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Employment!
I can haz job!
I started a job today! I lost my last full-time job on June 13, 2013 and started this new job exactly 9 months later.
It's just like a pregnancy, except all I gave birth to was debt and sadness. I applied everywhere and got turned down or straight up ignored by almost everyone. Most recently, I applied for - and was turned down for - a Team Leader position with the local General Mills plant. I still have a shot at a QC role in a local flavor company, so I'm still hopeful for that.
The job I got is a low wage job driving vans for a rail transportation company. Basically, I will be driving rail workers from one rail yard to another. I will make $8.67 per hour during training and while waiting at the rail yard for rail workers to show up. I'll make 20.5 cents a mile once I start driving, them; so as long as I average 55 mph, I'll make over $11 per hour. We'll see how the pay shakes out.
If I get offered the QC, job, I'm taking it.
I'm still poor, but at least now I'll have an income. I can start treading water and stop drowning.
I started a job today! I lost my last full-time job on June 13, 2013 and started this new job exactly 9 months later.
It's just like a pregnancy, except all I gave birth to was debt and sadness. I applied everywhere and got turned down or straight up ignored by almost everyone. Most recently, I applied for - and was turned down for - a Team Leader position with the local General Mills plant. I still have a shot at a QC role in a local flavor company, so I'm still hopeful for that.
The job I got is a low wage job driving vans for a rail transportation company. Basically, I will be driving rail workers from one rail yard to another. I will make $8.67 per hour during training and while waiting at the rail yard for rail workers to show up. I'll make 20.5 cents a mile once I start driving, them; so as long as I average 55 mph, I'll make over $11 per hour. We'll see how the pay shakes out.
If I get offered the QC, job, I'm taking it.
I'm still poor, but at least now I'll have an income. I can start treading water and stop drowning.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Good News & Bad News...
Well, the last time I posted, it was out of desperation. My beloved Late 2006 Intel iMac was dying. It stopped conducting heat properly and the soldered on graphics chip was throwing all sorts of graphic 'artifacts' on my screen. The computer would only run for about 10 minutes at a time in most cases, and that was the real problem.
I'm unemployed and still looking, although I was fortunate enough to gain some experience in freelance writing. Most job applications were filled out online, and obviously, ALL freelance writing is done online. If my computer was only going to run for 10 minutes, then there was no way for me to apply for jobs or continue creating content to attract more freelance writing assignments. So I took to the internet to try to raise funds to replace my computer.
The response was somewhat cold, to say the least.
I got a grand total of ONE PayPal donation, for which I am eternally grateful, but $30 isn't enough to replace my computer. I got several negative remarks about what they called Twitter begging and also a scam. I was hurt, embarrassed, and still very much screwed. Due to a tax refund, my rent was paid through March and my utilities are paid through February, but without a full time computer, my chances of getting hired on somewhere was practically zero.
Many people, well intentioned as well as trolls, suggested I use the computer at my local library. In a pinch, sure, but as the sole means of marketing myself to employers? No. My local library is the Main branch of the Cincinnati Public Library, located on Vine Street downtown. I would need to take a bus there, which costs $1.75(exact change only) one way. That's $3.50 per day in exact change to use the libraries computer for a limited amount of time.
Lucky for me, my sister agreed to let me use one of her families laptops. So the good news here is that I now have a laptop to work from and apply for things from. My sister lives 100 miles away, so it was going to take a 200 mile road trip to pick it up.
My car is also in bad shape, though, and loses coolant every time I drive it. My dad arranged for his very kind Korean mechanics to take a look at it. They discovered that my head gasket was partially blown and that was causing my radiator to overheat and boil off the coolant. It's a 1997 Dodge Stratus and the cost of repair is barely worth the value of the vehicle. Besides... neither myself nor my family have the money to get this done.
So I drove back to my sister's house, very distraught about my situation. I was so riddled with despair that I accidentally locked the keys in my car when I got out to collect my laundry and my borrowed laptop.
Eventually, I got AAA to show up and get my car door open, so I could drive me and my defeated car home. I now have to factor the commute into any job I take, since my transportation is no longer reliable.
So this time next month, things may really start to come undone as I won't have my car insurance funds I need for the automatic withdrawal, then I won't have the electricity, then the internet, then the rent. Food and gas money will probably dry up before that.
Hopefully, I can find a job before then.
I'm unemployed and still looking, although I was fortunate enough to gain some experience in freelance writing. Most job applications were filled out online, and obviously, ALL freelance writing is done online. If my computer was only going to run for 10 minutes, then there was no way for me to apply for jobs or continue creating content to attract more freelance writing assignments. So I took to the internet to try to raise funds to replace my computer.
The response was somewhat cold, to say the least.
I got a grand total of ONE PayPal donation, for which I am eternally grateful, but $30 isn't enough to replace my computer. I got several negative remarks about what they called Twitter begging and also a scam. I was hurt, embarrassed, and still very much screwed. Due to a tax refund, my rent was paid through March and my utilities are paid through February, but without a full time computer, my chances of getting hired on somewhere was practically zero.
Many people, well intentioned as well as trolls, suggested I use the computer at my local library. In a pinch, sure, but as the sole means of marketing myself to employers? No. My local library is the Main branch of the Cincinnati Public Library, located on Vine Street downtown. I would need to take a bus there, which costs $1.75(exact change only) one way. That's $3.50 per day in exact change to use the libraries computer for a limited amount of time.
Lucky for me, my sister agreed to let me use one of her families laptops. So the good news here is that I now have a laptop to work from and apply for things from. My sister lives 100 miles away, so it was going to take a 200 mile road trip to pick it up.
My car is also in bad shape, though, and loses coolant every time I drive it. My dad arranged for his very kind Korean mechanics to take a look at it. They discovered that my head gasket was partially blown and that was causing my radiator to overheat and boil off the coolant. It's a 1997 Dodge Stratus and the cost of repair is barely worth the value of the vehicle. Besides... neither myself nor my family have the money to get this done.
So I drove back to my sister's house, very distraught about my situation. I was so riddled with despair that I accidentally locked the keys in my car when I got out to collect my laundry and my borrowed laptop.
Eventually, I got AAA to show up and get my car door open, so I could drive me and my defeated car home. I now have to factor the commute into any job I take, since my transportation is no longer reliable.
So this time next month, things may really start to come undone as I won't have my car insurance funds I need for the automatic withdrawal, then I won't have the electricity, then the internet, then the rent. Food and gas money will probably dry up before that.
Hopefully, I can find a job before then.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
KickStart Me.
A big ask, but first, a big update...
I made $14,943 last year, including $3,200 in unemployment benefits that were collected from mid-June through September. I made 30% above the poverty line for a single male with no dependents. Should I stop complaining about how little money I have or should we all be outraged that the poverty line is set so embarrassingly low at $11,490 per person?
I think the latter.
Most of my income from last year came from the first half of the year when I worked at Kroger's inbound call center. Thankfully, I got a tax refund of about $1,200 this week, which I can use to pay February and March's rent, with what's left going toward utilities.
I was fortunate enough to get 4 published features on Food Dive, 2 of which I've already been paid for and the other 2 I will use towards food and gas. Of course, my last 2 features only owe me a total of $80.
I'm not supposed to tell people that... I think because they would be embarrassed for people to know that they pay so little.
So while there have been small bright spots, I am still as poor as ever. Despite the tax returns, I am only able to pay up one month on rent. Hopefully, I'll have a job by April, but honestly, it feels like things are slipping away from me, and the honest truth is that the longer I'm unemployed, the less likely I am to get hired.
Writing has been one of the few bright spots of this whole situation, but even that has been strained. I've told you guys that I have a 7 & 1/2 yr old iMac that is starting to show it's age, but it's now preventing me from writing. Most of the time, I can't keep the computer on for more than 10 minutes before it crashes. It's a Late 2006 Intel iMac, so there isn't much I can do to upgrade it. I've also been able to apply to less employers for the same reason. I start to do an online application, then the computer crashes. I need to do something about that...
The Big Ask...
Here is where I need your help again. This time, my rent is secure for at least another month, my food/gas is sketchy, but my big problem is a dying computer.
I need to raise money to get another computer, so I can continue blogging, freelance writing, and of course, applying for jobs.
As before, you can use the PayPal Donate button on the right.
The money I raise(unless I get a massive amount of money) will be used for a new computer that will not fail me, so I can continue to create content when I'm not applying for positions or researching companies I'm about to interview with.
So if you can donate, please do, and if you can't donate, please tweet this blog or share it on facebook so others may donate.
I made $14,943 last year, including $3,200 in unemployment benefits that were collected from mid-June through September. I made 30% above the poverty line for a single male with no dependents. Should I stop complaining about how little money I have or should we all be outraged that the poverty line is set so embarrassingly low at $11,490 per person?
I think the latter.
Most of my income from last year came from the first half of the year when I worked at Kroger's inbound call center. Thankfully, I got a tax refund of about $1,200 this week, which I can use to pay February and March's rent, with what's left going toward utilities.
I was fortunate enough to get 4 published features on Food Dive, 2 of which I've already been paid for and the other 2 I will use towards food and gas. Of course, my last 2 features only owe me a total of $80.
I'm not supposed to tell people that... I think because they would be embarrassed for people to know that they pay so little.
So while there have been small bright spots, I am still as poor as ever. Despite the tax returns, I am only able to pay up one month on rent. Hopefully, I'll have a job by April, but honestly, it feels like things are slipping away from me, and the honest truth is that the longer I'm unemployed, the less likely I am to get hired.
Writing has been one of the few bright spots of this whole situation, but even that has been strained. I've told you guys that I have a 7 & 1/2 yr old iMac that is starting to show it's age, but it's now preventing me from writing. Most of the time, I can't keep the computer on for more than 10 minutes before it crashes. It's a Late 2006 Intel iMac, so there isn't much I can do to upgrade it. I've also been able to apply to less employers for the same reason. I start to do an online application, then the computer crashes. I need to do something about that...
The Big Ask...
Here is where I need your help again. This time, my rent is secure for at least another month, my food/gas is sketchy, but my big problem is a dying computer.
I need to raise money to get another computer, so I can continue blogging, freelance writing, and of course, applying for jobs.
As before, you can use the PayPal Donate button on the right.
The money I raise(unless I get a massive amount of money) will be used for a new computer that will not fail me, so I can continue to create content when I'm not applying for positions or researching companies I'm about to interview with.
So if you can donate, please do, and if you can't donate, please tweet this blog or share it on facebook so others may donate.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Low.
It's been a while since I last posted, so I felt an update is in order.
The word of the day is low.
I'm low on food and low on money. I have just enough money leftover from a few kind PayPal donations to pay my utilities... and that is it. I have no money for food, rent, or gas.
I haven't had a face-to-face interview in months and only 2 phone interviews in the last month. I have to keep looking, of course, but I've been looking for months with only a couple temp jobs in between.
It isn't all bad, I just submitted my 3rd freelance article to Food Dive.
You can read my latest article here. I don't get paid much, but it will be enough for gas and food, which I will need with or without an apt to live in.
My friend bought me dinner on Tuesday night and I hadn't eaten all day. The next time I ate was 24 hrs later, and I didn't eat at all Thursday. I had a turkey sandwich at 3am this morning and another at about 2:30pm. I'm trying to make what food I have last.
So yeah, right now things are pretty low. While it's nice to receive a donation to support my writing or even just to help me out, it's not really a sustainable income stream. I hope I find something soon. I'm tired of looking and worrying.
Until next time,
Sam.
The word of the day is low.
I'm low on food and low on money. I have just enough money leftover from a few kind PayPal donations to pay my utilities... and that is it. I have no money for food, rent, or gas.
I haven't had a face-to-face interview in months and only 2 phone interviews in the last month. I have to keep looking, of course, but I've been looking for months with only a couple temp jobs in between.
It isn't all bad, I just submitted my 3rd freelance article to Food Dive.
You can read my latest article here. I don't get paid much, but it will be enough for gas and food, which I will need with or without an apt to live in.
My friend bought me dinner on Tuesday night and I hadn't eaten all day. The next time I ate was 24 hrs later, and I didn't eat at all Thursday. I had a turkey sandwich at 3am this morning and another at about 2:30pm. I'm trying to make what food I have last.
So yeah, right now things are pretty low. While it's nice to receive a donation to support my writing or even just to help me out, it's not really a sustainable income stream. I hope I find something soon. I'm tired of looking and worrying.
Until next time,
Sam.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Bootstrappers.
When you stick out like a sore thumb, everyone becomes a hammer... I know that is a horrible mixed metaphor, but that is how I feel.
As my story got out there, I received more than PayPal Donations and kind words of encouragement. I've been getting lots of annoyed responses followed by advice that usually starts out like this:
'Why don't you just...'
Some of them tell me their own experiences where everything worked out fine in the end, and I get the sense from their stories that there is a little revisionist history going on.
I get a lot of what I call, 'Bootstrappers'. These are people who start at self sufficiency and work backwards from there. If you try, you will get a job... If you just make the effort, you will get hired... You just need to get off your ass and pound the pavement... Just take any job that comes along! Go flip burgers!
A lot of the hasty responses followed a tough love approach, as if the only reason I am not currently working is because I don't want to and this guy is going to get real with me and they're the one that's going to step up and tell me the hard truths that these other pussies are too afraid to tell me.
Bootstrappers.
First off, no job is easy to get right now, even though the labor market is slowly improving, it's still multiple applicants per job. Another thing that people don't consider is that it is possible for a job to pay too little to except. Sure, $7 or $8 an hour is $7 or $8 an hour more than what I currently make, but if the hours max out at 28, then I'll barely have enough to make rent, let alone food and utilities and fuel. If the schedule changes every week then I can't hope to get a 2nd job to add up to enough money for just my basic bills. Sure, $170 a week after taxes is $170 more than I make now, but it's still less than what I need to live on. The utilities still get shutoff, even if I have a little money. I would still get evicted, eventually, even if I had only some of the money.
I'm not exactly living high on the hog, either... except this week where I literally slow cooked a pork shoulder to eat on all week... a weeks worth of food that would not have been possible had it not been for my friends getting me Kroger Gift Cards for Christmas. Thanks, guys.
I have internet, which despite what some bootstrappers say, I really do need for applying to and following up on jobs. Obviously, I have electricity, and my heat/water is paid with the rent.
The only thing extra that I have is an $8 per month Netflix subscription and wow, have I got some fierce blowback for that. Most negative comments go right at the Netflix first.
That's how it is when you're poor though. Bootstrappers have to believe that you are only poor because of your own personal failings, otherwise, their worldview kind of falls apart. If you buy anything other than flour, eggs, milk, and maybe a chuck roast and potatoes at the store, you are living it up in the bootstrapper's eyes.
Your life is not permitted joy if you are poor. Poverty, according to the bootstrappers, is a punishment. Poverty is for the losers of capitalism and social darwinism. Not being homeless and a bowl of gruel is all the poor deserve in the eyes of the bootstrapper.
So people pile on and it wears heavily on me. My back strains from the weight of a world that owes me nothing and sees no reason to help someone who obviously can't help themself.
But I'm lower than my own self dug shovelfuls should account for. The world fines poverty with exponentially worse poverty. I pay what I can on utilities and I don't just fall behind on what I owe, I have fees added. I don't compete with people who were just out of work, they get the interview first. My poverty isn't merely the sum of my misfortunes, there's an added multiplier that makes things exponentially worse.
My misfortunes gain steam and attract other misfortunes. Car trouble get's patched by friend-of-the-family mechanics who do just enough to keep it running while my family tries to pay the bill. Family members try to help out, which puts a strain on them. If they have the misfortune of being short on their own meager funds, then they can't help. Some friends get tired of your complaining and unload on you for a simple facebook status that didn't warrant the response you got.
It just all piles on.
The month is almost half over. No February rent. No car insurance that is due in a week. Getting pretty low on food. What am I going to do, have another Twitter-Thon to raise PayPal donations? How many times can I reasonably expect others to help? I'm in a pretty low place right now and I really don't know if I can climb out.
As my story got out there, I received more than PayPal Donations and kind words of encouragement. I've been getting lots of annoyed responses followed by advice that usually starts out like this:
'Why don't you just...'
Some of them tell me their own experiences where everything worked out fine in the end, and I get the sense from their stories that there is a little revisionist history going on.
I get a lot of what I call, 'Bootstrappers'. These are people who start at self sufficiency and work backwards from there. If you try, you will get a job... If you just make the effort, you will get hired... You just need to get off your ass and pound the pavement... Just take any job that comes along! Go flip burgers!
A lot of the hasty responses followed a tough love approach, as if the only reason I am not currently working is because I don't want to and this guy is going to get real with me and they're the one that's going to step up and tell me the hard truths that these other pussies are too afraid to tell me.
Bootstrappers.
First off, no job is easy to get right now, even though the labor market is slowly improving, it's still multiple applicants per job. Another thing that people don't consider is that it is possible for a job to pay too little to except. Sure, $7 or $8 an hour is $7 or $8 an hour more than what I currently make, but if the hours max out at 28, then I'll barely have enough to make rent, let alone food and utilities and fuel. If the schedule changes every week then I can't hope to get a 2nd job to add up to enough money for just my basic bills. Sure, $170 a week after taxes is $170 more than I make now, but it's still less than what I need to live on. The utilities still get shutoff, even if I have a little money. I would still get evicted, eventually, even if I had only some of the money.
I'm not exactly living high on the hog, either... except this week where I literally slow cooked a pork shoulder to eat on all week... a weeks worth of food that would not have been possible had it not been for my friends getting me Kroger Gift Cards for Christmas. Thanks, guys.
I have internet, which despite what some bootstrappers say, I really do need for applying to and following up on jobs. Obviously, I have electricity, and my heat/water is paid with the rent.
The only thing extra that I have is an $8 per month Netflix subscription and wow, have I got some fierce blowback for that. Most negative comments go right at the Netflix first.
That's how it is when you're poor though. Bootstrappers have to believe that you are only poor because of your own personal failings, otherwise, their worldview kind of falls apart. If you buy anything other than flour, eggs, milk, and maybe a chuck roast and potatoes at the store, you are living it up in the bootstrapper's eyes.
Your life is not permitted joy if you are poor. Poverty, according to the bootstrappers, is a punishment. Poverty is for the losers of capitalism and social darwinism. Not being homeless and a bowl of gruel is all the poor deserve in the eyes of the bootstrapper.
So people pile on and it wears heavily on me. My back strains from the weight of a world that owes me nothing and sees no reason to help someone who obviously can't help themself.
But I'm lower than my own self dug shovelfuls should account for. The world fines poverty with exponentially worse poverty. I pay what I can on utilities and I don't just fall behind on what I owe, I have fees added. I don't compete with people who were just out of work, they get the interview first. My poverty isn't merely the sum of my misfortunes, there's an added multiplier that makes things exponentially worse.
My misfortunes gain steam and attract other misfortunes. Car trouble get's patched by friend-of-the-family mechanics who do just enough to keep it running while my family tries to pay the bill. Family members try to help out, which puts a strain on them. If they have the misfortune of being short on their own meager funds, then they can't help. Some friends get tired of your complaining and unload on you for a simple facebook status that didn't warrant the response you got.
It just all piles on.
The month is almost half over. No February rent. No car insurance that is due in a week. Getting pretty low on food. What am I going to do, have another Twitter-Thon to raise PayPal donations? How many times can I reasonably expect others to help? I'm in a pretty low place right now and I really don't know if I can climb out.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Frustrations
One week ago, I didn't think I would have a place to live and I thought I might be in the beginning stages of an eviction. I've since raised enough in PayPal donations through the PayPal button to the right of this post to be able to pay for December & January's rent.
I'm trying to remain positive but new frustrations make getting out of this mess seem less likely.
I applied to many places in the past week. I applied to Starbucks, both retail and corporate. The great thing about Starbucks' retail online app is that you can apply for multiple positions at once in a cluster of locations in an area. Costco uses the same online application software, so I have, with 2 online applications, applied for over a dozen positions.
My expertise is in food and the food industry(not restaurant industry), so I have applied to positions in several companies and several positions in one food company.
To date, I have had a phone interview with one company and several rejection emails from another. That is it. I reach a point where I run out of things to do on my end. At a certain point, I have to depend on someone to hire me. Hell, at some point, I have to be lucky enough to get just a phone interview. The truth is that nobody has to give me a moment, a thought, or a chance.
Then the panic sets in...
Am I unemployable? Is my resume bad enough that there are always going to be other people that get interviews ahead of me? My resume makes me look a lot worse than I really am as an employee. I'm smart, I have skills, and I'm a fast learner, quickly absorbing technical knowledge. But as I tried to start a career after college, I embarked on an odyssey of finding a good job/person fit.
What normally happens is that I run out of time/money and I am forced to say yes to the next opportunity, regardless of if it's right for me. I took a position in 2008 with Cargill to work in their feed mill. Cargill is a great company, but my training was in food science and operations, not necessarily mechanical engineering or management in a feed mill. Boo hoo, right? I know... I took the job because Cargill has 54 different business units and I was assured by a corp recruiter that I could get into a different area of the company if my training to be a Plant Manager of a feed mill didn't go well. That wasn't the case, and after trying(and failing) to catch on in a different business unit, I left. Cargill was nice enough to give me a month and a half to try to find another position, after which, we would part ways. Unfortunately, Cargill has a very decentralized HR, and were unable to pluck me from one area and put me in another.
That lasted 5 months.
My odyssey continued with several other jobs where the company was bad or the training program was bad, and in between, I worked lower level jobs to sustain myself until the next opportunity. So this will be the part where people comment, telling me it's my fault, and to a certain extent, that's true. The question is whether the punishment for being brutally honest about my job/person fit is a life sentence or something I can overcome. I will not apologize and do not regret being picky about a career position. If I'm going to work somewhere every day until I retire, then it's going to be doing something I have a passion for and wake up every day wanting to do.
I tried to get into the creative end with marketing and the prospects there seem even worse. I'm great with ideas, well spoken, and well written. I thought that I should have no problem being a copywriter... except that I didn't go to school to be a copy writer... except that I didn't work an unpaid internship doing copywriting... except that every copywriting opening starts at 3-5 years of experience in copywriting.
I found the same thing to be true of the ad world. You can't get a start in advertising... I know this sounds insane, but you have to have always been there to get a foot in the door. There are no entry level ad jobs.
I like writing and even have a standing offer for freelance writing work, but at $40 a published submission, it's more a hobby than a job. To make matters worse, I have a computer that keeps shutting down as I get into anything like writing or a long online application.
I have a Late 2006 Intel iMac that I got when I was still at Ohio State. It's about 7 and a half years old and really starting to show it's age. To make matters worse, these particular iMacs have a known issue with the soldered on graphics card, where the screen will go black or the computer will overheat. If my computer freezes while I type this sentence, then blogger will have my progress saved and I can return after waiting for the computer to cool off. If my computer freezes while in the middle of a long application, I will have to start over, in many cases.
I only asked for the bare minimum amount of PayPal donations to pay rent. I didn't want to overly rely on online solicitations for all my bills. But if you like my writing or if you're a fan of Mac OS, I would be willing to accept donations that would help me get another iMac.
I'm probably as likely to get enough donations for that as I am to get hired on somewhere... Either way, I hope I'm wrong.
I'm trying to remain positive but new frustrations make getting out of this mess seem less likely.
I applied to many places in the past week. I applied to Starbucks, both retail and corporate. The great thing about Starbucks' retail online app is that you can apply for multiple positions at once in a cluster of locations in an area. Costco uses the same online application software, so I have, with 2 online applications, applied for over a dozen positions.
My expertise is in food and the food industry(not restaurant industry), so I have applied to positions in several companies and several positions in one food company.
To date, I have had a phone interview with one company and several rejection emails from another. That is it. I reach a point where I run out of things to do on my end. At a certain point, I have to depend on someone to hire me. Hell, at some point, I have to be lucky enough to get just a phone interview. The truth is that nobody has to give me a moment, a thought, or a chance.
Then the panic sets in...
Am I unemployable? Is my resume bad enough that there are always going to be other people that get interviews ahead of me? My resume makes me look a lot worse than I really am as an employee. I'm smart, I have skills, and I'm a fast learner, quickly absorbing technical knowledge. But as I tried to start a career after college, I embarked on an odyssey of finding a good job/person fit.
What normally happens is that I run out of time/money and I am forced to say yes to the next opportunity, regardless of if it's right for me. I took a position in 2008 with Cargill to work in their feed mill. Cargill is a great company, but my training was in food science and operations, not necessarily mechanical engineering or management in a feed mill. Boo hoo, right? I know... I took the job because Cargill has 54 different business units and I was assured by a corp recruiter that I could get into a different area of the company if my training to be a Plant Manager of a feed mill didn't go well. That wasn't the case, and after trying(and failing) to catch on in a different business unit, I left. Cargill was nice enough to give me a month and a half to try to find another position, after which, we would part ways. Unfortunately, Cargill has a very decentralized HR, and were unable to pluck me from one area and put me in another.
That lasted 5 months.
My odyssey continued with several other jobs where the company was bad or the training program was bad, and in between, I worked lower level jobs to sustain myself until the next opportunity. So this will be the part where people comment, telling me it's my fault, and to a certain extent, that's true. The question is whether the punishment for being brutally honest about my job/person fit is a life sentence or something I can overcome. I will not apologize and do not regret being picky about a career position. If I'm going to work somewhere every day until I retire, then it's going to be doing something I have a passion for and wake up every day wanting to do.
I tried to get into the creative end with marketing and the prospects there seem even worse. I'm great with ideas, well spoken, and well written. I thought that I should have no problem being a copywriter... except that I didn't go to school to be a copy writer... except that I didn't work an unpaid internship doing copywriting... except that every copywriting opening starts at 3-5 years of experience in copywriting.
I found the same thing to be true of the ad world. You can't get a start in advertising... I know this sounds insane, but you have to have always been there to get a foot in the door. There are no entry level ad jobs.
I like writing and even have a standing offer for freelance writing work, but at $40 a published submission, it's more a hobby than a job. To make matters worse, I have a computer that keeps shutting down as I get into anything like writing or a long online application.
I have a Late 2006 Intel iMac that I got when I was still at Ohio State. It's about 7 and a half years old and really starting to show it's age. To make matters worse, these particular iMacs have a known issue with the soldered on graphics card, where the screen will go black or the computer will overheat. If my computer freezes while I type this sentence, then blogger will have my progress saved and I can return after waiting for the computer to cool off. If my computer freezes while in the middle of a long application, I will have to start over, in many cases.
I only asked for the bare minimum amount of PayPal donations to pay rent. I didn't want to overly rely on online solicitations for all my bills. But if you like my writing or if you're a fan of Mac OS, I would be willing to accept donations that would help me get another iMac.
I'm probably as likely to get enough donations for that as I am to get hired on somewhere... Either way, I hope I'm wrong.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Dreams & Ambitions.
During this whole ordeal of not having rent, I mentioned in a tweet to Chris Hayes that, I too, had dreams and ambitions. The perception, which I feel is woefully undeserved, is that poor people are rudderless, lazy, and don't want to improve their situation.
That just isn't true. I do think many poor people reach a point where being poor for so long has sapped their energy. If you treat someone like a prisoner, they will begin to act like a prisoner. If you treat someone like they are not good enough, then eventually, they will begin to believe it.
Someone on twitter asked me to 'sell myself' to him before he would consider donating. It felt a little demeaning, considering the guy only had about 70 followers and less than 900 tweets to his name. Of course, I was begging for money...
But I do have dreams and ambitions.
Ultimately, I would like a creative career. My strengths are in retaining technical knowledge, coming up with ideas, writing, editing, and saying inappropriate things. Ok... not sure if the last thing is a huge selling point, but I my speech is not muted by fear of ridicule.
My education is in the food industry, operations management, and food science, so I feel I should try to incorporate that into my career. The 2 directions I come up with is R&D and marketing. Both are what I consider creative careers. I like thinking about possibilities, brainstorming... meeting, I love meetings. I like environments where I can display my thoughts on a particular subject.
When I watch shows like All In with Chris Hayes, I imagine myself on the panel, adding my two cents to whatever is going on in the world. Of course, that seems a lot less likely. The point is that I like to think about an issue and offer my analysis or solutions. As far as that goes, I don't have a preference between doing product development or proofreading a weekly grocery ad.
GREAT NEWS!!! I have hit the amount of money I set out to raise - $1,040! That amount is what I need to cover December and January rent. It was a colossal effort that has left me very emotionally drained. I was raised(mostly) on a hog farm, living in an old farm house with a wood burning furnace and no indoor plumbing, so asking for help is not very easy for me.
I honestly don't know how politicians maintain sufficient guile to continually fundraise.
A big thanks to the following for RT'ing my tweets:
Chris Hayes - Being mentioned on his show was huge.
Ed Schultz - Many RT's came from his followers.
Keith Olbermann - Honestly, nobody increased my page views more from a single retweet. That man is a force of nature. MSNBC should regret losing him.
Lawrence O'Donnell - Big fan of his. His RT garnered page hits and much respect.
Ana Marie Cox - Not only did she RT, but she donated as well. Someone get her a show! My cat, Ms. Teschmacher thanks you...
Tracy Clayton a.k.a. @BrokeyMcPoverty
My next step is to call up the building manager, Rick, and see if he'll stop the eviction if I give him all the rent. If not, I'll have to take the money I raised, and scramble to find another apartment.
Last special thanks to my great friend, Shane Chaney. We grew up in the same town and now live 1 street away in the Clifton neighborhood in Cincinnati. He has bought more dinners for me than I can count, and thanks to him simply being there, I have maintained my sanity. He also loaned me the money for November's rent, which I hope to pay back sooner than later.
Shane is an accomplished freelance Audio/Video engineer who can think fast on his feet, direct, and consult on anything from home theater set up to coordinating sound/video for a major convention.
If you need someone that fits that description, please look him up.
Thanks to everyone. I'll update you all with what the building guy says later.
That just isn't true. I do think many poor people reach a point where being poor for so long has sapped their energy. If you treat someone like a prisoner, they will begin to act like a prisoner. If you treat someone like they are not good enough, then eventually, they will begin to believe it.
Someone on twitter asked me to 'sell myself' to him before he would consider donating. It felt a little demeaning, considering the guy only had about 70 followers and less than 900 tweets to his name. Of course, I was begging for money...
But I do have dreams and ambitions.
Ultimately, I would like a creative career. My strengths are in retaining technical knowledge, coming up with ideas, writing, editing, and saying inappropriate things. Ok... not sure if the last thing is a huge selling point, but I my speech is not muted by fear of ridicule.
My education is in the food industry, operations management, and food science, so I feel I should try to incorporate that into my career. The 2 directions I come up with is R&D and marketing. Both are what I consider creative careers. I like thinking about possibilities, brainstorming... meeting, I love meetings. I like environments where I can display my thoughts on a particular subject.
When I watch shows like All In with Chris Hayes, I imagine myself on the panel, adding my two cents to whatever is going on in the world. Of course, that seems a lot less likely. The point is that I like to think about an issue and offer my analysis or solutions. As far as that goes, I don't have a preference between doing product development or proofreading a weekly grocery ad.
GREAT NEWS!!! I have hit the amount of money I set out to raise - $1,040! That amount is what I need to cover December and January rent. It was a colossal effort that has left me very emotionally drained. I was raised(mostly) on a hog farm, living in an old farm house with a wood burning furnace and no indoor plumbing, so asking for help is not very easy for me.
I honestly don't know how politicians maintain sufficient guile to continually fundraise.
A big thanks to the following for RT'ing my tweets:
Chris Hayes - Being mentioned on his show was huge.
Ed Schultz - Many RT's came from his followers.
Keith Olbermann - Honestly, nobody increased my page views more from a single retweet. That man is a force of nature. MSNBC should regret losing him.
Lawrence O'Donnell - Big fan of his. His RT garnered page hits and much respect.
Ana Marie Cox - Not only did she RT, but she donated as well. Someone get her a show! My cat, Ms. Teschmacher thanks you...
Tracy Clayton a.k.a. @BrokeyMcPoverty
My next step is to call up the building manager, Rick, and see if he'll stop the eviction if I give him all the rent. If not, I'll have to take the money I raised, and scramble to find another apartment.
Last special thanks to my great friend, Shane Chaney. We grew up in the same town and now live 1 street away in the Clifton neighborhood in Cincinnati. He has bought more dinners for me than I can count, and thanks to him simply being there, I have maintained my sanity. He also loaned me the money for November's rent, which I hope to pay back sooner than later.
Shane is an accomplished freelance Audio/Video engineer who can think fast on his feet, direct, and consult on anything from home theater set up to coordinating sound/video for a major convention.
If you need someone that fits that description, please look him up.
Thanks to everyone. I'll update you all with what the building guy says later.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Eviction!
As a prologue to my last post, my internet was disconnected just moments before my sister called, telling me she put some money in my bank account so I can get my internet turned back on.
I was pretty relieved to have that fire temporarily extinguished and thought it would be a great time to step outside, get some fresh winter's air, and buy some cat food for Ms. Teschmacher.
Then I saw this taped to my door...
I had to get a loan from a friend and a family member to pay October and November's rent, but I was never able to pay rent for December. I am now a month behind with next month's due in a matter of days.
Rent is $520
Presumably, $520 would buy me a few more weeks and $1,040 would get me through the first half of February. I say presumably, because there is a possibility that he just wants me to leave regardless of my ability to pay.
So unless I get a lot of PayPal donations or a good paying gig real fast, my next Poor Blog post may be from the car I'll be living in. The notice says that if I'm not out by the 2nd(keep in mind that many businesses will close early tomorrow and remain closed for New Year's Day), then he will start formal eviction proceedings. I may have no other choice than to let the court order me homeless.
I was pretty relieved to have that fire temporarily extinguished and thought it would be a great time to step outside, get some fresh winter's air, and buy some cat food for Ms. Teschmacher.
Then I saw this taped to my door...
I had to get a loan from a friend and a family member to pay October and November's rent, but I was never able to pay rent for December. I am now a month behind with next month's due in a matter of days.
Rent is $520
Presumably, $520 would buy me a few more weeks and $1,040 would get me through the first half of February. I say presumably, because there is a possibility that he just wants me to leave regardless of my ability to pay.
So unless I get a lot of PayPal donations or a good paying gig real fast, my next Poor Blog post may be from the car I'll be living in. The notice says that if I'm not out by the 2nd(keep in mind that many businesses will close early tomorrow and remain closed for New Year's Day), then he will start formal eviction proceedings. I may have no other choice than to let the court order me homeless.
Disconnection!
The threat of disconnection hangs over all of us poor people daily, especially as we may not be able to pay our full utility bill... or any of it on a given month.
My electricity was set to be turned off by Duke Energy next week. I owe a total of $178, which includes several months of non-payments, partial payments, and late fees. Thankfully, I was able to negotiate a 6 month payment plan for the past due amount, where I pay $30 a month + whatever the current charges are.
So I started today with over $150 to my name and that $30 payment brings me back done to $120.
My internet is very behind as well. Usually, I carry a month past due and end up paying the minimum amount due to Time Warner, which is half. That 'half' increases every month as new late fees are added into the total I have to at least pay half of.
I called Time Warner to make arrangements and they were much less flexible. My total bill is $228, of which, a minimum of $154 must be paid to keep the service from being disconnected... which is supposed to happen today or tomorrow. Should I fail to pay that amount before they pull the plug, it will cost an additional $36 to have the service scheduled for reconnection.
Remember, I now only have about $120, so... not enough for Time Warner's minimum payment.
I called Time Warner and navigated their prompts until I got someone in billing. I told her my situation and said I would like to set up a payment plan. The only payment she could accept was the minimum $154.
So I may not be on the internet for a while, except for a friend's WiFi. I currently use the internet for job applications and Netflix($8/month). No internet, no job applications. No job applications, no interviews and no jobs. No job, no money for the internet.
It's very hard using a friends internet to apply for jobs because you have to upload resumes that usually reside on my iMac. Also, I have to go to his place to use the computer, which means it may be several days before I can check on emails regarding jobs and do the follow up I need to be competitive in the job market.
My electricity was set to be turned off by Duke Energy next week. I owe a total of $178, which includes several months of non-payments, partial payments, and late fees. Thankfully, I was able to negotiate a 6 month payment plan for the past due amount, where I pay $30 a month + whatever the current charges are.
So I started today with over $150 to my name and that $30 payment brings me back done to $120.
My internet is very behind as well. Usually, I carry a month past due and end up paying the minimum amount due to Time Warner, which is half. That 'half' increases every month as new late fees are added into the total I have to at least pay half of.
I called Time Warner to make arrangements and they were much less flexible. My total bill is $228, of which, a minimum of $154 must be paid to keep the service from being disconnected... which is supposed to happen today or tomorrow. Should I fail to pay that amount before they pull the plug, it will cost an additional $36 to have the service scheduled for reconnection.
Remember, I now only have about $120, so... not enough for Time Warner's minimum payment.
I called Time Warner and navigated their prompts until I got someone in billing. I told her my situation and said I would like to set up a payment plan. The only payment she could accept was the minimum $154.
So I may not be on the internet for a while, except for a friend's WiFi. I currently use the internet for job applications and Netflix($8/month). No internet, no job applications. No job applications, no interviews and no jobs. No job, no money for the internet.
It's very hard using a friends internet to apply for jobs because you have to upload resumes that usually reside on my iMac. Also, I have to go to his place to use the computer, which means it may be several days before I can check on emails regarding jobs and do the follow up I need to be competitive in the job market.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Behavioral Economics of Being Poor.
Note: I made a very simple edit to this early blogpost, and as a result, it shows up as a new post. This was written before I became homeless...
Groceries
Poor people spend a greater percentage of not just income, but total cash on hand, on groceries. For someone making $72,000 a year, spending $60 on groceries isn't a big deal, but for someone with little to zero income like myself, it's impossible.
I can only take advantage of cheap deals, not good values. This is due to something known as total ring in the grocery industry. An exec for Kroger once explained this to me in terms of downsizing certain food items, which was causing a lot of grief among shoppers. He said that they could sell a big Kroger brand can of coffee at a great price, but that doesn't help a poor person buy that item. 'It may be a great value, but that shopper may only have $20, so they can't take advantage of that value.' So Kroger made smaller cans of coffee, jars of mayo, et cetera. Poor shoppers like me could then buy more things with my money.
Obviously, the goal here is to buy the cheapest foods, but there is also a focus on calorically dense foods. I have no real vices, and food is my only real escape. People will perhaps see this as reckless, but keep in mind that poor people live paycheck to paycheck at best and their next meal is never guaranteed. You'd go crazy if you couldn't have a supply of simple comfort foods such as snack cakes, chips, or pop to go with your meat and potatoes.
Cheap pantry items are a must, including ramen noodles, mac n cheese, canned tuna, and some simple seasonings. Milk, eggs, bread, and cheese are essential perishable items. Large cuts of meat can be bought only when on sale and must be eaten for every meal until it's gone.
Also potatoes. At only $2 or $3 for a 10lb bag, potatoes are not only filling, but a great source of potassium and an unbelievable value.
Eating out
Eventually, a friend will call and ask if I've eaten yet, and after a long pause and a sigh, I answer that I have no money. Many times, my good friend will offer to pay, mostly because he wants to eat and needs someone to accompany him.
Sometimes, I'll go out to eat anyway. Again, this does seem irresponsible, but consider being holed up in the same small apartment for days or weeks on end. I have no money for entertainment other than $8 a month for Netflix. Same as with groceries, going out to eat is focused on getting the most for my money. Buffets are the first choice for this reason, even if it isn't the cheapest meal, it will most likely be the only one I eat the whole day.
Clothes
Only bought as an emergency, like when something rips. Only one pair of pants at a time.
Cars
Cheap as possible. Car loans are out of the realm of possibility. Most cash sales are way too much money, even with family helping. The cars I've been driving have been either hand me downs or cheap charity cases. I currently drive a 1997 Dodge Stratus that my sister bought for me from a friend after my previous car, a 1995 Ford Taurus that was a hand me down from my parents, died. The oil burns off slowly, there is a bad seal in the torque converter, so it drinks a lot of transmission fluid, and the car's coolant system leaks.
Someone making more money would observe that making constant repairs is more costly and time consuming than getting a new car. A new car is under warranty and doesn't tend to break down, but you need credit and stable income for that. I, like most poor people, have poor credit, but I'll save my rant on consumer credit scoring for another post.
Savings
None.
Technology
My cell phone is a part of a family plan with my parents. When employed, I paid all or most of it. Now my parents have the full burden.
I used part of my student loan money in 2006 to get a top of the line 20" iMac with an intel Core 2 Duo processor. I still have it. Several years in, it started acting up, randomly overheating and crashing. It turns out that this is a common problem for the Late 2006 iMac, but Apple never issued a recall. Despite those problems and despite the fact it's really showing it's age(7+ yrs), this iMac was the single best value I have ever been able to take advantage of. At $1,700 and lasting more than 7 yrs, this computer has more than made up for any shortcomings.
Social Life
My friends are in the band Swear Jar, so I go to their shows and hang out with them quite a bit. I don't date. I have no girlfriends. I frequent no bars or clubs or go anywhere to meet anyone. What could I possible have to offer someone? I'm too poor to be anything other than a complete bummer to be around.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Unemployment.
I have been unemployed for for most of the last 6 months.
I had a customer service job in a call center, answering questions about food for a major grocery chain. I wasn't directly employed by the grocer, but through a staffing agency.
The call center operated on a ratio that was 40% Associates and 60% temporary placement. Management reasoned that they needed such a mix because of all the upward mobility in the call center, as talent would be plucked from their cubicles and hired on to other departments. I never really bought that argument. I think it had more to do with not having to offer benefits and increased pay to 60% of the call center.
As temps, we were expected to work many holidays that the full-time associates didn't. Last May, it was announced that the call center would be open on Memorial Day and all employees would have to work their regular schedule. It turns out that nearly all the Associates called in or used personal days, leaving the temps to staff the call center.
What was so infuriating about this is the fact that it was horrifically slow that day. Imagine that... all the customers are celebrating the troops and having cookouts and not calling in to ask if their canned corn is still good. One temp employee was upset that he had to work on a day that the call center didn't really need to be open, so he wrote a mass email...
He was walked out about 15 minutes later... fired. There were no managers with the ability to fire someone in the call center at that time as they were out... with family...celebrating Memorial Day. So that means a supervisor got the order over the phone to walk that guy out for speaking his mind.
Well, fast forward a couple weeks and they announce that the call center will also be open for the 4th of July...but you could put in a request to have the day off.
I put in mine and left a little note in the comment section...
My comment basically stated that it was pretty shameful that they decided to be open on such an important holiday when nobody would be calling us anyway. Only 1 person would have seen my comment and that is the person that approved the day off request. That person forwarded my note to management, and while I was on my way to work the next day, my staffing agency contact told me to not bother coming in. My contract was terminated.
Now that was a long story to get to unemployment.
In Ohio, you have to be employed a certain period of time and you have to make a minimum amount to qualify for unemployment benefits. Basically, you have to average at least $200 a week during a 10 week period within the last 6 months.
Unemployment is half of what you made in a week on average and up to $400 a week. So if you made the bare minimum $200 a week, you would get a paltry $100 a week unemployment. If you made $900 a week, then you would max out and only get $400 a week unemployment.
I qualified for $232 a week in unemployment compensation and elected to have federal taxes withheld(you know, to keep the roads paved). After taxes, my weekly unemployment was $208. Normally, my paychecks were $345 after taxes and I skimmed by without any real savings, so having $137 less every week was a real shock.
Ohio doesn't even give you all your unemployment, though. For instance, the first week that you file is NEVER paid. Not withheld for an extra week... unpaid. I have no earthly idea why they do this. Also, it takes 3-4 weeks for you to get your first unemployment payment. So as you can imagine, I was pretty strapped for cash when I got my first payment a month later.
Only the most fiscally responsible people can make an unemployment budget work and I'm bad with money. So where my much better sister could take the $832 a month & pay all the bills, I couldn't. I was and still am very inefficient with money. It just gets away from me, I guess. I don't smoke and I rarely drink. I don't do any drugs and my only real vice is food.
So after getting a first unemployment payment that is 1 week light and 3 weeks late, I started to fall behind. By September, I was a month behind on rent with the building manger threatening eviction. I applied to work in one of Amazon's fulfillment centers, putting away incoming merchandise. The work was excruciating and after a few days, I couldn't walk. I had to call in a couple days in a row while my feet recovered. I felt so embarrassed and defeated, but this wasn't work I would have ever applied for in any other circumstance.
I KNOW i'm no good at manual labor and standing on my feet all day, but I was desperate. While I was off, I got calls about 2 jobs I was much better suited for. I figured that I had a really good chance at one position and the other was more or less a lock and I could take that job if the first opportunity fell through. So I quit the Amazon job that I couldn't stand to do(literally) and prepared to accept a new, better paying position.
I didn't get either job.
Remember how you have to be employed for a certain amount of time to get unemployment? Yeah... I know longer qualify. I've worked a series of temp jobs since then, but nothing that has panned out long term.
In the mean time, I have borrowed money from my sister, friend, and grandpa. There are no more favors, no more money to borrow. If I don't get some sort of stable employment very soon, I'll lose my apartment and whatever possessions I can't fit in my car.
I had a customer service job in a call center, answering questions about food for a major grocery chain. I wasn't directly employed by the grocer, but through a staffing agency.
The call center operated on a ratio that was 40% Associates and 60% temporary placement. Management reasoned that they needed such a mix because of all the upward mobility in the call center, as talent would be plucked from their cubicles and hired on to other departments. I never really bought that argument. I think it had more to do with not having to offer benefits and increased pay to 60% of the call center.
As temps, we were expected to work many holidays that the full-time associates didn't. Last May, it was announced that the call center would be open on Memorial Day and all employees would have to work their regular schedule. It turns out that nearly all the Associates called in or used personal days, leaving the temps to staff the call center.
What was so infuriating about this is the fact that it was horrifically slow that day. Imagine that... all the customers are celebrating the troops and having cookouts and not calling in to ask if their canned corn is still good. One temp employee was upset that he had to work on a day that the call center didn't really need to be open, so he wrote a mass email...
I am truly sorry we work for such a non caring family of companies and
people who care so little about what this holiday is really about.
That’s right. They have made every effort to make sure, the real Kroger
employees at their call centers are off for what should be and
with most company's, is *A NATIONAL HOLIDAY*. Here at The Kroger Company.They feel the temporary workers, that they don’t have to
pay overtime, or give a different day off to make up for them working on
this day. They can be the slaves of the Kroger call centers.
Barney is probably rolling over in his grave.
We work side by side with many different people. White, Afro American,
black, brown, Indian, and American Indian.
I have probably missed someone. Not my intent to shun anyone.
We have different beliefs, but we are all the same. We are all American’s.
American’s that would like to be home with their family’s.
American’s that would like to honor those who have given their lives and
limbs to make sure we are free.
My father is a veteran. My uncles and yes a couple of aunt’s are and were
veterans. People I grew up with that are gone but not forgotten and many
others
were and are veterans as well. I’m sure we have veterans working here as
well.
I’m sure they are proud they work for such a fine caring organization.
Personally, I am sick that we work for such a company.
In previous years, I have taken the time to visit the graves of those that
I no longer can personally thank.
This year I am working. A real shame when you think what this holiday is
truly about.
Thanks KROGER. Thanks for only caring about the Kroger employees.
Hang your heads in shame KROGER. Shame on you for being so uncaring as to
what this holiday is all about.
He was walked out about 15 minutes later... fired. There were no managers with the ability to fire someone in the call center at that time as they were out... with family...celebrating Memorial Day. So that means a supervisor got the order over the phone to walk that guy out for speaking his mind.
Well, fast forward a couple weeks and they announce that the call center will also be open for the 4th of July...but you could put in a request to have the day off.
I put in mine and left a little note in the comment section...
My comment basically stated that it was pretty shameful that they decided to be open on such an important holiday when nobody would be calling us anyway. Only 1 person would have seen my comment and that is the person that approved the day off request. That person forwarded my note to management, and while I was on my way to work the next day, my staffing agency contact told me to not bother coming in. My contract was terminated.
Now that was a long story to get to unemployment.
In Ohio, you have to be employed a certain period of time and you have to make a minimum amount to qualify for unemployment benefits. Basically, you have to average at least $200 a week during a 10 week period within the last 6 months.
Unemployment is half of what you made in a week on average and up to $400 a week. So if you made the bare minimum $200 a week, you would get a paltry $100 a week unemployment. If you made $900 a week, then you would max out and only get $400 a week unemployment.
I qualified for $232 a week in unemployment compensation and elected to have federal taxes withheld(you know, to keep the roads paved). After taxes, my weekly unemployment was $208. Normally, my paychecks were $345 after taxes and I skimmed by without any real savings, so having $137 less every week was a real shock.
Ohio doesn't even give you all your unemployment, though. For instance, the first week that you file is NEVER paid. Not withheld for an extra week... unpaid. I have no earthly idea why they do this. Also, it takes 3-4 weeks for you to get your first unemployment payment. So as you can imagine, I was pretty strapped for cash when I got my first payment a month later.
Only the most fiscally responsible people can make an unemployment budget work and I'm bad with money. So where my much better sister could take the $832 a month & pay all the bills, I couldn't. I was and still am very inefficient with money. It just gets away from me, I guess. I don't smoke and I rarely drink. I don't do any drugs and my only real vice is food.
So after getting a first unemployment payment that is 1 week light and 3 weeks late, I started to fall behind. By September, I was a month behind on rent with the building manger threatening eviction. I applied to work in one of Amazon's fulfillment centers, putting away incoming merchandise. The work was excruciating and after a few days, I couldn't walk. I had to call in a couple days in a row while my feet recovered. I felt so embarrassed and defeated, but this wasn't work I would have ever applied for in any other circumstance.
I KNOW i'm no good at manual labor and standing on my feet all day, but I was desperate. While I was off, I got calls about 2 jobs I was much better suited for. I figured that I had a really good chance at one position and the other was more or less a lock and I could take that job if the first opportunity fell through. So I quit the Amazon job that I couldn't stand to do(literally) and prepared to accept a new, better paying position.
I didn't get either job.
Remember how you have to be employed for a certain amount of time to get unemployment? Yeah... I know longer qualify. I've worked a series of temp jobs since then, but nothing that has panned out long term.
In the mean time, I have borrowed money from my sister, friend, and grandpa. There are no more favors, no more money to borrow. If I don't get some sort of stable employment very soon, I'll lose my apartment and whatever possessions I can't fit in my car.
Welcome To Poor Blog!
Hi. My name is Sam and I am poor.
That is an awkward, uncomfortable, and embarrassing thing to admit, but it's true.
When I say I am poor, it's important to note that I am not saying that I have failed to become rich, I'm saying I don't have enough money to cover most basic living expenses. When I say I am poor, I don't mean that I only make $30,000 a year or that it is sometimes difficult to pay on my student loans. I have been unemployed for most of the last 6 months. I am 2 months behind on rent and several months behind on utilities. I have no savings and I am in real danger of eviction and losing my electricity and internet.
What I intend to do through this blog is document my misadventures and give the more fortunate in this country an uncensored window into one person's poor life. I'm not sure how often this will get updated and I'll have to decide whether to plan specific posts or merely vent bout the suck, my life has become.
Check back in for more updates...
That is an awkward, uncomfortable, and embarrassing thing to admit, but it's true.
When I say I am poor, it's important to note that I am not saying that I have failed to become rich, I'm saying I don't have enough money to cover most basic living expenses. When I say I am poor, I don't mean that I only make $30,000 a year or that it is sometimes difficult to pay on my student loans. I have been unemployed for most of the last 6 months. I am 2 months behind on rent and several months behind on utilities. I have no savings and I am in real danger of eviction and losing my electricity and internet.
What I intend to do through this blog is document my misadventures and give the more fortunate in this country an uncensored window into one person's poor life. I'm not sure how often this will get updated and I'll have to decide whether to plan specific posts or merely vent bout the suck, my life has become.
Check back in for more updates...
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