Dragoncon is on, but I'm not there.
Today I was driving down Brainerd Rd. As I crossed Chickamauga Creek I looked over and saw a tent pitched in the floodplain beside the stream. I wondered if this was any indication of a modern Hooverville or just a newly homeless person not aware of the safety in keeping their camp hidden.
I will attempt to sum up the last year in this one post. The July before last I decided to sell the house because I was struggling with the payments and I wanted to move into a less expensive place. It was sold just before or just after Dragoncon last year. I remember cleaning out about half the empty boxes they had at registration. And I used them too. Thanks again to the good people at Dragoncon.
But then my troubles began. I tried to buy a nice house in the Brainerd area of Chattanooga but I couldn't get a loan because I didn't make enough money. And after that I got notice that my job at the Times Free Press was being downsized. For about a year now I've been looking for a job. Any job. Right now I would be open to anything, but anything doesn't seem open to me. Or they're kept well hidden. I'm wistfully hoping that a job I interviewed for on Monday comes though, but I've got a feeling that may be a forlorn hope. Even if it does come through, I wouldn't start until early October. By then I'm going to have to stay at my sister's house, since I will have no money to rent a place. If I'm unable to be hired anytime in the next four weeks, I'll have no choice but let my creditors know that I'm broke. I don't want to declare bankruptcy, but at that point I'll have to do so.
Which brings me back to Dragoncon. I won't be there. And I hate not being there. I had no choice but to sell my ticket. I hope Eeyore enjoys it. The guest list for this year includes Eric Flint and Lois McMaster Bujold, both of whom I would have loved to see again. Also Glynnis and the Wilcoxes and other Baen Barflies too numerous to mention. This Labor Day weekend will seem desolate after the hurly-burly of the last five Dragoncons.
I hope, and pray, that next year I'll be able to attend Dragoncon. That I'll have a job. That I'll have a home of my own. If I disappear in the meantime it will mean that my Internet access to LiveJournal will be spotty.
I don't think that Hooverville has wi-fi.
I will attempt to sum up the last year in this one post. The July before last I decided to sell the house because I was struggling with the payments and I wanted to move into a less expensive place. It was sold just before or just after Dragoncon last year. I remember cleaning out about half the empty boxes they had at registration. And I used them too. Thanks again to the good people at Dragoncon.
But then my troubles began. I tried to buy a nice house in the Brainerd area of Chattanooga but I couldn't get a loan because I didn't make enough money. And after that I got notice that my job at the Times Free Press was being downsized. For about a year now I've been looking for a job. Any job. Right now I would be open to anything, but anything doesn't seem open to me. Or they're kept well hidden. I'm wistfully hoping that a job I interviewed for on Monday comes though, but I've got a feeling that may be a forlorn hope. Even if it does come through, I wouldn't start until early October. By then I'm going to have to stay at my sister's house, since I will have no money to rent a place. If I'm unable to be hired anytime in the next four weeks, I'll have no choice but let my creditors know that I'm broke. I don't want to declare bankruptcy, but at that point I'll have to do so.
Which brings me back to Dragoncon. I won't be there. And I hate not being there. I had no choice but to sell my ticket. I hope Eeyore enjoys it. The guest list for this year includes Eric Flint and Lois McMaster Bujold, both of whom I would have loved to see again. Also Glynnis and the Wilcoxes and other Baen Barflies too numerous to mention. This Labor Day weekend will seem desolate after the hurly-burly of the last five Dragoncons.
I hope, and pray, that next year I'll be able to attend Dragoncon. That I'll have a job. That I'll have a home of my own. If I disappear in the meantime it will mean that my Internet access to LiveJournal will be spotty.
I don't think that Hooverville has wi-fi.