OK, folks, I'm in a funk.
Jobless claims are allegedly down, but I can't buy a job right now. I have filed applications with every business in town that is hiring, gotten 3 interviews, and zero job offers.
Yet another day that the unemployment determination has not arrived, so I don't know if I will be getting any money off of that. And, from my reading of the letter from the welfare office, somehow, they don't feel we qualify for TANF (and I can't talk to the case worker until Monday). We have jumped through every hoop they've put before us, we have NO savings, and NO assets, not even a car of our own..
Unfortunately, this is all adding up to: Vegas. The one option we didn't want to exercise, because the crime rate in Vegas is horrible. It is also the worst place to be if you're homeless. We also have no place to store our belongings, so we will have to give up everything short of what we can fit in the motel room when we find it. I'm going into Vegas Monday to look at cheap motel rooms. We will stay here until we're forced out, but it's time to start gathering our eggs in one basket; it's NOT going to work out here. We still won't be able to get TANF money (which I don't understand; the sad thing is, if my wife and I divorced, she could receive TANF money and I'd have no problem finding a cheap trailer to live out of; that's the "family values" party for you, huh?), but at least I know I would have work everyday, even at the low wages.
I thank you all for your prayers and support, and ask that you keep praying for us. My morale has hit an all time low, as I have been unable to sustain my optimism for 3 1/2 weeks.
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish