More and More Chagnes
So over the past few months there have been some major changes in my life...most not so good.
First off, I lost my major bus driving job back in June. Got laid off indefinitely. Apparently I was low enough on the food chain for them to warrant a sudden lay off to save the company money. So there went that. Things get worse from there. As the summer dragged on, I was looking for work and then in July, the piece of shit van I was driving all of a sudden breaks down and dies on me. As is the case with any high mileage Chrysler vehicle, the water pump went bad in a hurry, causing the van to overheat itself as I'm driving. I put some water in it to keep it from overheating, but it was merely a temporary fix, as the last time I drove it, the pump went bad again and overheated the motor to the point of no return, and I was barely able to get it into my driveway just before it shut off for good. Couldn't get it started again right after that. That's when I knew the motor was gone. On top of that, my brakes went out on me the month before, so I also had that to contend with. Lost half of a rotor on the right hand side, so I didn't have time to replace either one of the rotors or the pads. That van was a lemon from the start, and I found out the hard way that InstaCredit Automart, the place where I got it from, was one of those places that has a bad reputation for selling overpriced, junk cars that aren't at all reconditioned and will break down on you within the first year of you owning it (like I had with CarHop, a similar dealer to InstaCredit), and you get stuck with a stiff bill in the end, thus hampering your future car buying efforts for the worse. It fucks you up in the long run, basically. As a result, I forfeited the van back to them, thus screwing up my credit score significantly. So it's like, damn, I got one car stolen on me, then I get a lemon van that I have to forfeit due to it dying on me. Please! And to top that all off, my roommate's car got repossessed on her due to her ex-husband not making the payments on it, and the both of us, while working temp jobs at the time, depended on that car, too, at least until I tried to get myself a new one.
On the bright side, I did manage to get a new job back in August. It's at a place I least expected to find myself working at...WALMART! Yes, folks, I now work at the dreaded Wally World, but don't worry. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I got hired on as an early morning stocker at first. Then the roommate's car gets repoed, and I can't get to work on time because of how the bus system works here in Madison County, IL. Thankfully, the store management wanted me to be there so badly, they switched me to an overnight Maintenance Associate position on a whim, so I can get in and out of work on time using the buses. Granted I have to walk a good 70 minutes to catch the bus every day I work, but I make it work, and it's totally worth it.
I hate taking public transportation in St. Louis, so I'm planning on saving up as much as I can for a car. Won't be easy as I'm working a 28 hour a week job, but I'm sure I can save up for something. I need to get mobile again. I can't take living without a car. It makes me feel like I have no life outside of work and home, and I want to get out and travel. I'll make something work out of this. I have to.
First off, I lost my major bus driving job back in June. Got laid off indefinitely. Apparently I was low enough on the food chain for them to warrant a sudden lay off to save the company money. So there went that. Things get worse from there. As the summer dragged on, I was looking for work and then in July, the piece of shit van I was driving all of a sudden breaks down and dies on me. As is the case with any high mileage Chrysler vehicle, the water pump went bad in a hurry, causing the van to overheat itself as I'm driving. I put some water in it to keep it from overheating, but it was merely a temporary fix, as the last time I drove it, the pump went bad again and overheated the motor to the point of no return, and I was barely able to get it into my driveway just before it shut off for good. Couldn't get it started again right after that. That's when I knew the motor was gone. On top of that, my brakes went out on me the month before, so I also had that to contend with. Lost half of a rotor on the right hand side, so I didn't have time to replace either one of the rotors or the pads. That van was a lemon from the start, and I found out the hard way that InstaCredit Automart, the place where I got it from, was one of those places that has a bad reputation for selling overpriced, junk cars that aren't at all reconditioned and will break down on you within the first year of you owning it (like I had with CarHop, a similar dealer to InstaCredit), and you get stuck with a stiff bill in the end, thus hampering your future car buying efforts for the worse. It fucks you up in the long run, basically. As a result, I forfeited the van back to them, thus screwing up my credit score significantly. So it's like, damn, I got one car stolen on me, then I get a lemon van that I have to forfeit due to it dying on me. Please! And to top that all off, my roommate's car got repossessed on her due to her ex-husband not making the payments on it, and the both of us, while working temp jobs at the time, depended on that car, too, at least until I tried to get myself a new one.
On the bright side, I did manage to get a new job back in August. It's at a place I least expected to find myself working at...WALMART! Yes, folks, I now work at the dreaded Wally World, but don't worry. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I got hired on as an early morning stocker at first. Then the roommate's car gets repoed, and I can't get to work on time because of how the bus system works here in Madison County, IL. Thankfully, the store management wanted me to be there so badly, they switched me to an overnight Maintenance Associate position on a whim, so I can get in and out of work on time using the buses. Granted I have to walk a good 70 minutes to catch the bus every day I work, but I make it work, and it's totally worth it.
I hate taking public transportation in St. Louis, so I'm planning on saving up as much as I can for a car. Won't be easy as I'm working a 28 hour a week job, but I'm sure I can save up for something. I need to get mobile again. I can't take living without a car. It makes me feel like I have no life outside of work and home, and I want to get out and travel. I'll make something work out of this. I have to.