Gray skies are going to clear up...
The end of this summer has been pretty rough. It started about a month ago when we got hit with an unexpected expense that had to be taken care of. It wound up putting us behind on getting things paid, but we moved some things around to make sure we could still get them paid. Then the beginning of September hit. The weather should have been an omen, because the clouds moved in thick. On the 2nd, we discovered the brakes had suddenly gone all but dead... no warning, no grinding, no screeching. We were a month late now on the rent and were going to pay it on the 4th, but now we were looking at a car repair. At first it looked like we might get by with just patching or replacing a leaking brake line. On the 4th, we sat at the tire/brake place, watching the rain pour down from the remnants of Hurricane Gustav. The mechanic said it would require replacing most of the rear brakes, which wound up costing us around $600.
The rent would have to wait. We paid them part of last month's rent and told them we could pay the other part of last month and all of this month on my next paycheck. I later found out that wouldn't be possible, as we had to get a nearly $400 electric bill paid by the 15th or we would get disconnected. The landlords told us we had to get them paid by the end of September or they would proceed with eviction. My next paycheck would be on October 2nd.
Now, Chrissy's financial aid was due to be sent over to her college on September 9th; within two weeks, she would have about $800 left over that could be used to pay things off. So it looked like things would still be okay. That is, until that Saturday the 6th. Chrissy went to her college's Web site and logged into her account to check on an upcoming class when she found a notice saying her financial aid was being denied due to past academic performance. We were shocked and puzzled over what it might mean, but we eventually figured it out.
See, in 2003, Chrissy submitted her FASFA for the 2003-2004 school year. Normally information on those come back in late August/early September, around the same time classes start. Well, that year the state of Illinois was running behind on paying everything due to budget problems, and financial aid somehow got caught up in that. Chrissy was starting her classes (a full 15 credit hours) but there was no word on any aid. She was getting concerned because the deadline to withdraw from classes without penalty was coming due. If she wasn't going to get the aid, she was going to have to withdraw. She talked to the school, who advised her to just wait and had her sign a waiver to allow her to wait for the funds. After a couple more weeks, the financial aid information was finally released, but Chrissy was only being offered enough in loans to cover half of her expenses. We certainly did not have money to cover the other half, so Chrissy was forced to withdraw from all her classes, which made her (and me) feel sad. But then the school sent us a bill for all the classes. After talking with the school, it turns out the waiver she signed so she could keep going to class put her on the hook to cover the cost of the classes if the financial aid was not enough or was denied. We had to (bitterly) protest this, and eventually the school agreed not to charge us for the classes. But it appears the withdrawals were left on her record, and were now being used against her in getting financial aid.
All this time, the clouds kept hanging around and the rain kept coming down. We were out of money, threatened to be evicted at the end of the month, and getting electricity disconnected on the 15th. Chrissy went to her school and had to fill out an appeal. We also tried to e-mail the financial aid director, trying to appeal to reason. No word came at all that week. And that Friday, the most unexpected and gloomiest thing happened... I was called into a closed door meeting at work with my manager, a co-worker, and an HR person. I was socked with the news that the accounts we had been providing technical support for were being dropped because they were losing money. As a consequence, I was no longer needed. I was being laid off. I was at a loss. I packed up my things, broke the news to Chrissy, turned in my key card, and drove home in the rain. This had never happened to me before. I had left jobs to go to other jobs or parts of the country, but this was the first time a job was taken away from me.
We did catch a break. We had asked Chrissy's mother if she could lend us the money for the electric bill until I got paid on the 18th. She at first agreed, which allowed us to pay the electric and keep it from being disconnected. Then she went a step further and said it would be an early Christmas gift to us that we wouldn't have to repay. I updated my resume and started hunting down some jobs online. On Monday morning, the 15th, we awoke to find the sun shining for the first time in two weeks through cloudless skies. Not only that, but I got a call with allowed me to get my first interview scheduled for Thursday. I also applied for unemployment. On Tuesday, I got a call for a another job I applied for. I e-mailed them a resume, and this morning called them to get an interview this afternoon. The job is for an IT support person for a high-end country club in one of the upper-class parts of town. I was a little intimidated at first, but when I interviewed with the office manager and general manager, both very nice women, I learned that the work itself would be fairly light and for the most part easy. I think I put together a good interview and will hear from them in about a week. I also got a call asking to set up an interview with yet another company I applied to. Nothing is ever certain, but I'm hoping one of these interviews will lead to a job very quickly.
The rent would have to wait. We paid them part of last month's rent and told them we could pay the other part of last month and all of this month on my next paycheck. I later found out that wouldn't be possible, as we had to get a nearly $400 electric bill paid by the 15th or we would get disconnected. The landlords told us we had to get them paid by the end of September or they would proceed with eviction. My next paycheck would be on October 2nd.
Now, Chrissy's financial aid was due to be sent over to her college on September 9th; within two weeks, she would have about $800 left over that could be used to pay things off. So it looked like things would still be okay. That is, until that Saturday the 6th. Chrissy went to her college's Web site and logged into her account to check on an upcoming class when she found a notice saying her financial aid was being denied due to past academic performance. We were shocked and puzzled over what it might mean, but we eventually figured it out.
See, in 2003, Chrissy submitted her FASFA for the 2003-2004 school year. Normally information on those come back in late August/early September, around the same time classes start. Well, that year the state of Illinois was running behind on paying everything due to budget problems, and financial aid somehow got caught up in that. Chrissy was starting her classes (a full 15 credit hours) but there was no word on any aid. She was getting concerned because the deadline to withdraw from classes without penalty was coming due. If she wasn't going to get the aid, she was going to have to withdraw. She talked to the school, who advised her to just wait and had her sign a waiver to allow her to wait for the funds. After a couple more weeks, the financial aid information was finally released, but Chrissy was only being offered enough in loans to cover half of her expenses. We certainly did not have money to cover the other half, so Chrissy was forced to withdraw from all her classes, which made her (and me) feel sad. But then the school sent us a bill for all the classes. After talking with the school, it turns out the waiver she signed so she could keep going to class put her on the hook to cover the cost of the classes if the financial aid was not enough or was denied. We had to (bitterly) protest this, and eventually the school agreed not to charge us for the classes. But it appears the withdrawals were left on her record, and were now being used against her in getting financial aid.
All this time, the clouds kept hanging around and the rain kept coming down. We were out of money, threatened to be evicted at the end of the month, and getting electricity disconnected on the 15th. Chrissy went to her school and had to fill out an appeal. We also tried to e-mail the financial aid director, trying to appeal to reason. No word came at all that week. And that Friday, the most unexpected and gloomiest thing happened... I was called into a closed door meeting at work with my manager, a co-worker, and an HR person. I was socked with the news that the accounts we had been providing technical support for were being dropped because they were losing money. As a consequence, I was no longer needed. I was being laid off. I was at a loss. I packed up my things, broke the news to Chrissy, turned in my key card, and drove home in the rain. This had never happened to me before. I had left jobs to go to other jobs or parts of the country, but this was the first time a job was taken away from me.
We did catch a break. We had asked Chrissy's mother if she could lend us the money for the electric bill until I got paid on the 18th. She at first agreed, which allowed us to pay the electric and keep it from being disconnected. Then she went a step further and said it would be an early Christmas gift to us that we wouldn't have to repay. I updated my resume and started hunting down some jobs online. On Monday morning, the 15th, we awoke to find the sun shining for the first time in two weeks through cloudless skies. Not only that, but I got a call with allowed me to get my first interview scheduled for Thursday. I also applied for unemployment. On Tuesday, I got a call for a another job I applied for. I e-mailed them a resume, and this morning called them to get an interview this afternoon. The job is for an IT support person for a high-end country club in one of the upper-class parts of town. I was a little intimidated at first, but when I interviewed with the office manager and general manager, both very nice women, I learned that the work itself would be fairly light and for the most part easy. I think I put together a good interview and will hear from them in about a week. I also got a call asking to set up an interview with yet another company I applied to. Nothing is ever certain, but I'm hoping one of these interviews will lead to a job very quickly.