HELP ME!

May 20, 2008 10:12

I'm starting to realize more and more how much Big Rapids is eating my soul. There are things I like about the town, the nature and the trees and such, but the economy here is so terrible and so many of my friends are subsisting on barely enough money to feed their kids that I know I'm lucky to even have a job, even the job that I have that requires me to walk 3 miles there, work 8 hours, and walk 3 miles back. the thing is, I know I could subsist here on this income for a long time, probably forever, and turn out like my mom, who will never build upon or use her college degree for anything and feels trapped in this low-income lifestyle forever because she either has no opportunities to move out and move on or she's afraid to do it.

Thing is, though, I have a real opportunity here to move out and move on and at least take a shot at something new and see if it pans out. I've never really had anything to work for before except a bunch of low-end jobs in Big Rapids (even taking jobs at the university here, which never panned out after the first interview, would keep me stuck in the little backwoods town that while I DO love it is, if you recall, eating my soul). I have a chance to move to Orlando, Florida, a city I've never even seen, and move into a house with a friend and take a shot at getting a better paying job with a shot at insurance, a different area, a CHANGE. For the first time in my life. I've never lived out of the Reed City/Evart/Marion/Big Rapids area. And this isn't like those vague offers from people to move to Grand Rapids and try to get a job and try to pay half of the $600 rent a month, this is a guaranteed place to live that's one mile from Disney World so even if I can't get a ride every day I can walk, and 2 miles round trip is better than six, and even if I don't get a job at Disney there are enough places around there hiring because it's such a resort area that there's no doubt in my mind I would be able to find something. If I can find something in a depressed area like Big Rapids, I can find a job there (hell, I had job offers from places in Traverse City when I was planning to move there a few years ago because it's such a resort town there, and their resort area is one tenth the size of Orlando's).

Yes, I know, Florida is hot and it's far away and things can happen and maybe Brett and I will get in a fight and I'll have no place to go home to and it's scary and it's a big city and there are no guarantees. I know all of that, don't talk to me about it like I don't (and I mean that, every time I say "please don't say this in my journal" someone pops in and says it anyway. This time, don't. I know all the bad and all the worry, I know the concerns and fears inside and out better than you ever could because I'm a borderline personality that does nothing but sit and think up worst case scenarios all day long every day). I'm not jumping into this idealistically thinking everything will be ok. Thing is, I've lived with Brett before and he's practically living here now, he's the only roommate I ever had that I didn't want to kill, we have our fights but we actually talk and work things out unlike every other roommate I've ever had, and we'd never screw each other over as far as housing is concerned, I have no doubt that we'd work as roommates but even if we didn't, he'd give me time to find a new place before he kicked me out (same as John did). And I know all about how it's hot there and it will take getting used to, I will learn to deal. If I can deal with the cold here I'll adapt and deal with the heat there. There's things in Orlando we can't even dream of in Big Rapids, like a free clinic for basic health care and prescriptions, paid opportunities to tutor people in English because of all the people who only speak Spanish and want to learn English. I know it's not perfect and I'm sure there is a ton of poverty and a lot of danger and it's a big city and if you think I haven't considered that already, you're being ridiculous. I don't jump into things blindly, I'm worried now about things that haven't happened yet, I KNOW THE RISKS and I'm smart enough to know there are risks I don't know about and haven't even considered. But I want to take a risk for once. Everyone who bashes me for staying in Big Rapids always bashes me every time I mention trying something new. It's funny. Just trust me on this, I'm not stupid, please don't talk to me like I am, I have had several friends work for Disney and a few who currently are, I know it can be a rough job with long hours, but all of them like it, and it's not like I haven't had a rough job with long hours before. At least this time I'd be in a bigger city with better opportunities. I know the risks. I'm willing to take them (which for someone with anxiety like me, that's something to applaud, not something to discourage, right? Right?)

The biggest problem now is, as it's always been, getting money stashed away so we can make the leap. Brett and I did some numbers crunching and planning over the past few weeks and given our depressed financial state, it made things even more depressing. As previously stated, I have $13 left over every month after all my bills and rent and wage garnishing. That number rose this past month, I had about $56 because I got more hours, but it dropped again with this past few weeks. Brett hasn't been able to find a job at all. He even got turned down by MPI, the telemarketers, which for those of you who know how easy it is to get hired into that hellhole tells you how bad the job market is here. Currently, we figure we need at least $600 (at the very least) which is $300 in gas, $250 to get utilities turned on and validate the lease for the house, and $50 for food until we get paid (and that's considering we get hired in right away, which is never certain; he's more certain of that than I am). I'm saving as much as I can and I really wish I could have saved my economic stimulus check, but I needed glasses so bad and my lenses are so expensive that even with the cheapest frames I could find ($18) they were still $267. The money situation is pretty depressing. Brett is considering having sex for money to get enough to move back there (no, I'm not joking) and I'm really worried about him and I want this opportunity but I'm discouraged at how to make it happen.

For those of you who have signed up to Pinecone Research, you know that they are one of the few legitimate paid survey companies out there, who send you $5 for every survey you complete through their website (though I hear they're paying $3 to people who sign up now...stupid economy). Another legitimate company is MySurvey, and be careful here, because there are companies with the same name that try to dupe people and only one is legitimate. Unlike Pinecone, instead of paying you $5 per survey, you get points for every survey, and once you reach 1000 points, you get $10. I know they're legit because I've gotten paid before once I reached 1000 points, so they're not a scam (though I have definitely signed up for some that ARE scams). MySurvey works off referrals, which means I can refer people by sending them an email through the site, and once you click the link in the email you can sign up, take your first survey (it takes like, 2 minutes I swear) the person who referred you gets credited with 150 points and you get credited with 20 points. Now I know this sounds like a scam, but it's not, I know because I've gotten paid through the site before and I've gotten to try some cool products too.

So why am I telling you about this (cue the sentimental music here)? Because you can help me! If you say you're interested and comment with your email (or just email me your email address, or if I have it leave a comment telling me you don't care if I refer you) then I can send you an email, get you signed up, and get 150 points. I did more numbers crunching today and figured out that with my current stash of points, I need to refer 196 people in order to get to $300 in my account. This is depressing. But I'm not giving up, I figured most of you guys wouldn't mind getting signed up since all you have to do is spend 20 minutes tops filling out a form and taking one survey and getting me toward my goal (and who knows, you might like MySurvey, they're pretty cool).

Of course if you don't want to put forth all that effort you can just send me money, checks payable to Lillian Patterson, to my address at:

1127 Fuller Ave. Apt. #12
Big Rapids, MI, 49307

HAHAHA. Just kidding. Come on, laugh with me. Humor gets us through the pain of life.

So yeah. Comment here if you don't mind me sending you an email with a link. Either include your email address here or email me your email address at edwardnortonfan@gmail.com

Come on, gang, we can do this! :-p

In totally unrelated news...I might have a girlfriend once I move to Florida. Come on! Help me move to her!

EDIT

If you click here, I will get $10 and you will get $25. It's legit, I got my $25 and you can ask bohemianeditor if you have doubts, she's gotten her money too.


friends, money, florida, werk

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