Update and Personal Request
Look! Almost a year to the day!
Obviously still not dead. For those of you who attended Escapade in March, you already knew that. But for the rest of you, yes, I'm still not dead.
I'm also still not writing much (although I have been toying with an original novel idea) but I am still watching SPN. I haven't quite made it to Furious 7 yet because I feel like I need to be emotionally ready to see it (which is never something I ever thought I'd say about any Fast and Furious film. They've always been high-adrenaline over the top fun, but this one is going to be hard to watch.)
The Tiny partner-chick Becky(completely stolen from Leela & Batdina) is still the love of my life (going on 5 years - go us!) and is happily ensconced in a Garden Center doing something she loves. It's still retail, but at least it's retail she likes. The adorable grandchild is still adorable and funny, despite the occasional stereotypical Terrible Twos Tantrum. She doesn't turn two until the 20th, so we're hoping this isn't just a build up to utter destruction. The red-headed demon child (My long-term bff and roommate Melissa) is holding her own and anchoring the house with the occasional foray into being Super Aunty Mel to adorable grandchild. Also, Chief Ice-cream procurer.
And I am doing pretty good. I'm still loving my job and coworkers (and hating the commute,) I'm still occasionally archiving things to AO3, and reading new stuff that snags my interest. All in all not too bad, with a few worrisome exceptions. And now is the time for all of you facing similar financial struggles, to bail at the update. Not because you don't care, but because I know as well as anyone that a lot of people are still struggling to recover from the past few years, and I'm not in such dire straits that I'm going to lose my house or be unable to provide for my family. If you do skip, know that I am well, that I miss fandom and fans and peeps like crazy, but at the moment my life has taking some interesting and challenging turns but all in all, I am happier than I have been in a couple of decades, if not longer. A huge part of that is tiny (but scrappy!) partner chick, who really is kind of sunshine, and sour lollipops, and a really good cosmo buzz all rolled into one. So I just wanted to pop in and wave and let all know I haven't forgotten the awesomeness of fandom, that I'm still not dead, and it's great to still see so many familiar faces and names on LJ.
So, upfront, this is request for financial assistance. In the past 18 months I've dealt with a flood in my house, the complete disruption of electricity to the house due to squirrels with apparent iron deficiencies chewing through the grounding line to the house, a hospital visit due to a couple of syncopal episodes, (I'm fine, we figured it out and I have very inexpensive meds for it,) some car repairs (stupid A/C) and then three weeks ago, the refrigerator broke down. I have been able to stay ahead of everything but the last.
I have homeowners insurance which covered the flood and electrical, but I have a fairly hefty deductible per incident, to keep those rates low - and it does not cover the appliances.
During the whole recession, I've manage to keep on top of the bills, the mortgage, feed the household, and obviously, go to Escapade (although that was before the car and the refrigerator). But this last one has reached the end of my ability to stretch my finances to cover everything. We've replaced the refrigerator already, because, you know, an ice cooler will only go so long as a stop gap when you have a two year old in the house who drinks enough milk to justify owning our own cow, and you live in Georgia where we're already hitting 90 degrees during the day.
The problem is that I used a mortgage payment to cover the appliance and now I'm short there - so I can either double up on the mortgage or I can pay on the rest of the necessary bills (Utilities, car payment etc.) I was already behind half a month because of the hospital visit earlier in the year, but I just tapped out the last of my credit. So what I'm asking for is small loans, and I mean small loans, with a return on investment and everything (although it may take me a year to pay them back.)
So my request is this, and hopefully it's a win win all around; If you have the wherewithal to LOAN me up to about $50 dollars (And I mean up to -- $5.00 covers the late payment transfer fee) I will happily pay you back with 10% interest. For those of you who say, "Friends and Fans don't charge interest!" my reply is this - I believe in paying it forward. If you don't want interest, that's fine, I'll track the interest anyway and make a donation to the Atlanta Community Food bank*. If you don't want to be paid back at all, I'll donate the equivalent amount plus the interest to the Atlanta Community Food bank - paying it forward and helping someone else out that has even fewer resources than I have.
That's the pitch. I'm not actually looking to get the whole payment, just enough to keep me from having to pay late fees on everything while I try to juggle my paychecks over the next couple of months. (And yes, Becky is working too, but it is retail, and she largely keeps Kieran in clothes she grows out of in two minutes flat and keeps us fed with her paycheck.)
If you can help, thank you in advance. If you can't or don't want to, believe me, I understand and really no hard feelings at all. Plenty of other people are struggling and having uncomfortable conversations with their utility providers and their mortgage holders. I really am not going to lose my house over this - I'm just doing my best not to let the hole we've fallen into get any deeper, and paying back a few friendly loans at $5.50, $27.50 or $55.00 is a lot easier than trying to continue to pay late fees and penalties on top of actual costs.
If you can help and the no interest/no payback is your thing, just let me know, otherwise I'll assume the 10% and payback accordingly. If/When I hit the mark I have in my checkbook (between $700 and $1200) I'll let people know.
my paypal address is the usual: maygra@bellsouth.net
I'll be dilligent at thanking, but for now, just thanks for coming this far with me.
*I picked the Atlanta Community Food bank because it's local and because it is a food distribution center for a huge swath of the Southeast and not just Georgia, sending out shipments to smaller community foodbanks all over. They prefer cash donations, although they take product donations too, because then they can buy at a wholesale prices what they actually need.
Obviously still not dead. For those of you who attended Escapade in March, you already knew that. But for the rest of you, yes, I'm still not dead.
I'm also still not writing much (although I have been toying with an original novel idea) but I am still watching SPN. I haven't quite made it to Furious 7 yet because I feel like I need to be emotionally ready to see it (which is never something I ever thought I'd say about any Fast and Furious film. They've always been high-adrenaline over the top fun, but this one is going to be hard to watch.)
The Tiny partner-chick Becky(completely stolen from Leela & Batdina) is still the love of my life (going on 5 years - go us!) and is happily ensconced in a Garden Center doing something she loves. It's still retail, but at least it's retail she likes. The adorable grandchild is still adorable and funny, despite the occasional stereotypical Terrible Twos Tantrum. She doesn't turn two until the 20th, so we're hoping this isn't just a build up to utter destruction. The red-headed demon child (My long-term bff and roommate Melissa) is holding her own and anchoring the house with the occasional foray into being Super Aunty Mel to adorable grandchild. Also, Chief Ice-cream procurer.
And I am doing pretty good. I'm still loving my job and coworkers (and hating the commute,) I'm still occasionally archiving things to AO3, and reading new stuff that snags my interest. All in all not too bad, with a few worrisome exceptions. And now is the time for all of you facing similar financial struggles, to bail at the update. Not because you don't care, but because I know as well as anyone that a lot of people are still struggling to recover from the past few years, and I'm not in such dire straits that I'm going to lose my house or be unable to provide for my family. If you do skip, know that I am well, that I miss fandom and fans and peeps like crazy, but at the moment my life has taking some interesting and challenging turns but all in all, I am happier than I have been in a couple of decades, if not longer. A huge part of that is tiny (but scrappy!) partner chick, who really is kind of sunshine, and sour lollipops, and a really good cosmo buzz all rolled into one. So I just wanted to pop in and wave and let all know I haven't forgotten the awesomeness of fandom, that I'm still not dead, and it's great to still see so many familiar faces and names on LJ.
So, upfront, this is request for financial assistance. In the past 18 months I've dealt with a flood in my house, the complete disruption of electricity to the house due to squirrels with apparent iron deficiencies chewing through the grounding line to the house, a hospital visit due to a couple of syncopal episodes, (I'm fine, we figured it out and I have very inexpensive meds for it,) some car repairs (stupid A/C) and then three weeks ago, the refrigerator broke down. I have been able to stay ahead of everything but the last.
I have homeowners insurance which covered the flood and electrical, but I have a fairly hefty deductible per incident, to keep those rates low - and it does not cover the appliances.
During the whole recession, I've manage to keep on top of the bills, the mortgage, feed the household, and obviously, go to Escapade (although that was before the car and the refrigerator). But this last one has reached the end of my ability to stretch my finances to cover everything. We've replaced the refrigerator already, because, you know, an ice cooler will only go so long as a stop gap when you have a two year old in the house who drinks enough milk to justify owning our own cow, and you live in Georgia where we're already hitting 90 degrees during the day.
The problem is that I used a mortgage payment to cover the appliance and now I'm short there - so I can either double up on the mortgage or I can pay on the rest of the necessary bills (Utilities, car payment etc.) I was already behind half a month because of the hospital visit earlier in the year, but I just tapped out the last of my credit. So what I'm asking for is small loans, and I mean small loans, with a return on investment and everything (although it may take me a year to pay them back.)
So my request is this, and hopefully it's a win win all around; If you have the wherewithal to LOAN me up to about $50 dollars (And I mean up to -- $5.00 covers the late payment transfer fee) I will happily pay you back with 10% interest. For those of you who say, "Friends and Fans don't charge interest!" my reply is this - I believe in paying it forward. If you don't want interest, that's fine, I'll track the interest anyway and make a donation to the Atlanta Community Food bank*. If you don't want to be paid back at all, I'll donate the equivalent amount plus the interest to the Atlanta Community Food bank - paying it forward and helping someone else out that has even fewer resources than I have.
That's the pitch. I'm not actually looking to get the whole payment, just enough to keep me from having to pay late fees on everything while I try to juggle my paychecks over the next couple of months. (And yes, Becky is working too, but it is retail, and she largely keeps Kieran in clothes she grows out of in two minutes flat and keeps us fed with her paycheck.)
If you can help, thank you in advance. If you can't or don't want to, believe me, I understand and really no hard feelings at all. Plenty of other people are struggling and having uncomfortable conversations with their utility providers and their mortgage holders. I really am not going to lose my house over this - I'm just doing my best not to let the hole we've fallen into get any deeper, and paying back a few friendly loans at $5.50, $27.50 or $55.00 is a lot easier than trying to continue to pay late fees and penalties on top of actual costs.
If you can help and the no interest/no payback is your thing, just let me know, otherwise I'll assume the 10% and payback accordingly. If/When I hit the mark I have in my checkbook (between $700 and $1200) I'll let people know.
my paypal address is the usual: maygra@bellsouth.net
I'll be dilligent at thanking, but for now, just thanks for coming this far with me.
*I picked the Atlanta Community Food bank because it's local and because it is a food distribution center for a huge swath of the Southeast and not just Georgia, sending out shipments to smaller community foodbanks all over. They prefer cash donations, although they take product donations too, because then they can buy at a wholesale prices what they actually need.