1:50 pm - Fri 8/11/06
Showing My Ass For Chump Change

One of the things that�s had me feeling a little �stressed� lately is that it�s �that time of year� again--time for my yearly rent increase (I don�t have the exact amount in front of me, but starting in September, I�ll be paying another 30-plus dollars a month).

When the rent goes up, and I�m scraping by as it is, that�s always my cue to start thinking about what homelessness might be like, going back to Lansing with my tail between my legs, etc and so on.

But for now, I�m going to try and stick it out for a couple more weeks...

Apparently, I haven�t paid my bill yet, and they�d really like me to.

This situation reminds me of when I was a young adult, didn�t have a car (I didn�t learn to drive till I was in my late 20's), and had to depend on other people to get rides; sometimes I�d end up being late to a thing because of my ride. And that would bother me, but I couldn�t say anything, because they were doing me a favor just giving me a ride in the first place.

How do you call a charity that�s helping you out, and say �Ummm...can you help me out a little faster, please?�. That feels awkward and...ungracious to me.

I�m thinking about maybe calling the emergency people, and telling them my story. I�m not sure they�ll care�I imagine them saying �Ultimately, the bill is your responsibility�- but who knows? It would be nice if I could get them to talk to QueensCare, so I can continue to be the nice, grateful poor person, and not the guy who�s become a pain-in-the-ass to deal with.

(Nate is Jane�s eldest.)

Here�s the position I�m in-- even if someone gave me airfare (Or frequent-flier miles), and room and board while I was there, I couldn�t go, because I couldn�t afford taking the time off work (As I think I�ve said before, ArcLight has no paid personal/vacation days, so if I don�t work, that�s money out of my pocket).

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