Thanks for reading my plea!
I’m requesting $1500 to cover the various necessities while I wait for someone to hire me. PayPal link at the bottom.
Donations of any size will genuinely restore my faith in humanity.
If I can’t find work this month, I will create an ongoing request here or elsewhere for a monthly wage in exchange for picking up trash, in lieu of a traditional job.
I’m not sure how much anyone wants to hear my sob story but I’m willing to try to tell it as of lately. Sorry it’s going to end up being a novel. I haven’t had anyone to talk to in years and have the type of problems that the therapy available only makes worse.
I’m an intelligent hard worker with a variety of low-paying but translatable skills. I’m not sure what more I can do be hired somewhere. I’m already writing eloquent cover letters, dripping with desperation for custodial positions at the truck stop/Wendy’s. And being turned down to pick up the trash that blows away from the dump.
I live hand-to-mouth, paycheck to paycheck. My expenses are minimal because I live in a van and my only family is a cat. This month though, I have to renew my drivers license and registration which has really added to the pressure.
I suffered what should’ve been a treatable injury to my wrist in September, in Oregon, USA. I’m poor though so my options for care are limited to an MRI by springtime. I was a dedicated, heavily invested, 38 year old whitewater raft guide so now this is a life-changing injury.
Where I was in Oregon is cloudy, cold and wet almost every day in the winter so my solar panels couldn’t charge my batteries, in fact I was so desperate to use lights or charge my phone for work or distraction that I let those conditions damage my solar batteries permanently. Not for lack of effort though. By December I attempted to buy something that would plug in to the equipment that I ready have and use my van’s engine to charge my solar batteries when I drive. The “reputable” international company I purchased the gear from was so incompetent that I had to purchase it twice and in the end never received it nor was refunded and had to go through my bank’s fraud department. So many hours on the phone and of providing documentation of a confusing situation this company created. Merry Christmas to me!
So I’m sitting in the dark, in Oregon, injured more seriously than ever before in my life, climbing on my snowy van’s slippery roof at least once a week to move propane around to supply my heat. It’s suggested to me that, I could just go south to wait for MRI. South from Oregon generally has significantly more sun, less precipitation which alone would improve the quality of my life.
So I take care of what little business I had in Oregon and drove until the weather suited me. At which time my van broke down.
I guess it’s lucky I didn’t break down sooner. The weather here is better.
I took my van to the only place open on a Saturday. The entire experience was unbelievable but here are the highlights. When receiving a quote for the repair, I asked the manager to please let me know if anything changes because, well, I’m poor. He assured me he wouldn’t spend my money without telling me. I asked how did this dangerous problem happen to my van so I can avoid it better in the future? The manager and mechanics spent five days telling me I have nothing to worry about, they’re going to take care of me.
Then, on the manager’s day off, they finish with my van. The poor guy stuck giving me the bill knows all of the prior events and apologizes. The manager told him to charge me $750 more. They didn’t even have real reasons for the additional charges.
Cool.
I get in my van and the root cause of the problem is not fixed. Guaranteeing that eventually this dangerous break down event that occurred will happen again. The necessary part to fix it cost less than $10.
After being robbed at the register, I didn’t bother to go back inside and bring it up. They obviously don’t care, they already had all my money. And there was no more money to give them. I’ll just try to never drive this vehicle that is my house and is not allowed to be anywhere for an extended period of time since I don’t own land or have money for a campsite. And living in fear of the consequences of driving my only form of transportation is just a new fun part of my life.
Cool.
So now I’m stuck Arizona, USA. Because I live in a van, everything that requires providing an address is difficult. I don’t even know what address to use to renew my license and registration. Additionally, I don’t have an address for food stamps or Medicaid.
Which is special, because I pay for an annual digital mail service that provides me with an address to receive mail. But PO Boxes aren’t residences so it’s difficult to force the computer or convince a person to accept one when you need to deserve things like food, shelter, and healthcare.
I’m doing my best but everything is so pointless. The harder I work it seems like the less I get for my efforts. And people are so regularly willing to do worse things to me than I would ever do to anyone. People have taught me that my only role is to let people exploit and abuse me or they’ll punish me for existing near them. I’m also required to maintain a positive attitude about this or else, definitely, there’s a chemical imbalance in my head that no doctor will ever check for, they just know that no one could ever be displeased in world that is simply not for them.
I’ll stop now, sorry for the word vomit.
Those who are able to, please share what you can.
@TGRiverGuide