Things are not going well

Too long; didn't read version: I'm unemployed, broke, and the storage place is going to auction off all of my belongings in a few days. Send money.

When I began blogging, about fifteen years ago, I debated with myself over how personal I wanted to get. Should I talk about my depression and other issues or stick to commenting on the rest of the world? I chose the latter. I'm a fairly shy and private person and just wasn't that comfortable opening up to a bunch of strangers. I've opened up a bit on social media, but I still keep the blogs (when I get around to writing anything) pretty much business only. But, I can't do that anymore. I need help and I don't know where else to turn.

In 2012, my life imploded somewhat. Among other things, I lost my house, got divorced, and my baby sister died. I tried living by myself for a while, but that didn't work out. I decided to move back to Alaska where my family and oldest friends are. And there I ran into a snag. When I called around to get estimates from movers, I found out it would cost several times more than I thought, about twice as much as I had to my name to ship my stuff. Two tons of books kind of complicates things.

I haven't been able to get back on my feet up here. My sisters have covered my room and board. I try to cover my other expenses. I sold my comic book collection (which had been at my baby sister's house all these years). I had two jobs, but neither was permanent. I sold my book and lived off the advance. That ran out just before Thanksgiving. At that point I had a few encouraging looking job prospects that might open after the first of the year. My ex, Tessa, set up a GoFundMe to raise, what we hoped would be, enough tide me through to a first paycheck. One by one they each fizzled out. We begged for enough to get me through another month, and then another after that. And, I'm back where I was in December: I'm broke, my bills are overdue, and I have one good job prospect, but, even if it pans out, the first check won't arrive in time.

The only long-term solution is that I get a job that pays an adult wage so I can be independent again. My ideal is a telecommuting job that I can do in Alaska while I save up enough to go to Washington and get my stuff. But anything that pays my bills with some walking around money left over is good. If you know of anything or have any connections, please let me know.

Meanwhile, this is where I am. I need $450 by EOD Thursday to save my belongings**, my life. Soon after that, another round of bills hits.

PS - My hard drive is making funny noises.

* My bills. I's hard to rank them. Obviously the storage unit worries me the most. I have a phone. Everyone needs a phone. I also need mine for data since there is no internet where I live. I have an old credit card that I'm trying to pay off. Medicaid pays most, but not all of my medical and medication bills. That leaves food and walking around money. I'm out of coffee for the first time in about forty years, but the storage unit is more important (see below).

** About my stuff. I'm clinically a bit of a hoarder. Hence the 110 boxes of books. Just not living with my stuff is a big source of anxiety. But, I'm also the family historian. The storage unit includes about 150 years worth of photographs, family bibles, Masonic paraphernalia, my dad's papers from the Atomic Energy Commission, and a china hutch hand-made in the 1890s. I live 1500 miles away from the storage unit. I can't borrow someone's van and drive over to rescue the best stuff before the unit becomes reality show prop. It's either all saved or all gone.

Please help Tessa and Marlowe

This is a plea to save my ex from a financial death spiral. The short, short, short version is that she needs about $3500 by the end of next week or she loses both her car and her apartment.

Tessa lost her job soon after the crash in 2008 and hasn't had a permanent job since then. For a while, we tried to build a home business around soaps, lotions, and scents that she made, but that never did more than break even. She's an experienced technical writer and has been able to get short contract gigs from time to time, but nowhere close to enough to live on. When we split up, we divided what equity were able to get from the house, but that didn't last very long. By last year, she was pretty much completely broke. The one bright spot was that she was enrolled in a computer programming course under a state program that came with a modest living stipend. She was doing very well in the courses and it looked things were finally bottoming out for her. Then WellsFargo seized her stipend.

Like many people in her position, she had been juggling her bills, sometimes having to choose which bills would be paid that month and which would be skipped. She closed the bank account from her business so that the card wouldn't be a temptation. And she talked to their support people and thought she had a verbal agreement to pay what she could, when she could. They didn't remember it that way. After a few late and missed payments, they called the whole amount due. A few months ago, when her quarterly living stipend was deposited, they simply drained her personal account. This is completely legal in the state of Washington. Her rent check bounced and she didn't have any money for groceries. This is why people hate banks.

When I found out about it, I set up a GoFundMe account for her. Thanks to some very kind people, we were able to cover about half of what she lost, the rent was paid, and she was able to finish out the quarter. She graduated with flying colors and glowing recommendations. But, that means the stipends have stopped. She's had some short contract jobs and unrelated office temp jobs, but not enough to keep her from falling further behind. Her roommate doesn't make enough to cover both of their bills. Last week, her car was repossessed and her current temp job is in another town.

The world is full of these stories. There's nothing that makes hers stand out from the crowd. She's not a veteran. No one is forcing her to bake a cake. She's not a cute kid with a horrible disease. Its not tied to popular culture like a Tesla museum or new card game. I can't offer clever tee shirts or fun prizes for donations. She's just another person who made some mistakes and had far too many bad breaks. If it helps to make her story more personal, here's picture of her cat.

I restarted the GoFundMe account. There are more details of her fight with the bank there if you're interested. We've made a couple hundred dollars this week. If she already wasn't so far behind, that much each week would be enough to get her by. But now her bills are being called due again. I would completely cover her bills if I could, but I'm already homeless. At this point in her life, she should be looking forward to retirement, instead, she's staring into the void.

If you can, please donate. If you can't, please share her story. Thanks.

Last night I set up my first crowd funding effort

WellsFargo just drained Tessa's (Clever Ex-wife's) checking account to apply to the balance on her credit card. Like me, she's been barely hanging on since we lost the house and split up. We're trying to pay down our debts, but it's not always possible to make full payments on time. She's missed some payments. She's currently enrolled in a retraining program funded by the State of Washington. They cover the tuition so she can to take classes to improve her programming skills. The state also sends her a small living stipend. When her stipend was deposited earlier this week, WellsFargo seized the entire amount. Her rent check, written on that same WellsFargo account, is going to bounce. She has nothing to live on. When she called to explain her circumstances to the bank, the collections agent cut her off and said, "You're not getting that money back."

In the first twelve hours after I put the crowd funding page up, WellsFargo contacted me three times on Twitter asking me to get Tessa to call them or DM them. They were oh so eager to see what they could do to help. As long as it was just between Tessa and the bank, they were happy to see her tossed out on the street. Now that it's gone public, in however small a way, they're falling all over themselves to work something out.

This why people hate banks.

The details of what she needs are on the GoFundMe page. Please help.