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Home > Archive: October, 2008

Archive for October, 2008

A bit of a pick-me-up.

October 30th, 2008 at 10:44 pm

Things have been rough lately... very rough. Lots of stuff breaking, necessary things that we had no choice but to do, unexpected medical costs, blah, blah, blah.

I got the dreaded WaMu statement in the mail today. When I started this blog we owed roughly $10,000 on it. The interest rate at that point was 9% or so. Then one day they jacked up the interest (for no reason whatsoever... never made a late payment on that card even once, and I at that point had never paid any bill late) to 19.99%, which they wouldn't change under any circumstances..) Anyway. on the statement today we owe a little bit over $5,000 : ) Still a crapload of money, but HALF of what it used to be : ) : ) : )

I work at Burger King.

October 29th, 2008 at 11:46 pm

I am a professional. I make $56,000 a year at my full-time job. I put on a suit, do my hair and go off to my pretty well-respected career in a highly trained skill.

In order to get out of debt (at this point we're trying to even just get current on bills. We've had a LOT of bad luck lately) I needed a part-time job so that we even had a chance of surviving. My husband can't work because of health issues, and he doesn't get any assistance, so it's all on me.

I looked for other part-time jobs. I put in a lot of applications. Everyone said I was overqualified. Then I figured "geeze, why I don't I work in fast food?" I put in application in at BK, much like I did 10 years ago when I was sixteen. Being that I was willing to work crummy hours, they hired me.

So yes, I work at Burger King. It's a block from my house so I don't have to drive. I work 40 hours a week at my full-time job and I work 20 hours at BK. I also am fostering a mama dog and her litter of six puppies that were dumped at the side of the road somewhere (those costs are paid by the rescue, they cost us nothing but time... the puppy kisses and the look in the mama dog's eyes saying 'thanks for saving us' is worth everything.) I also take care of the house when the husband is having one of his episodes, which is frequent. All that medical care adds up fast.

Sometimes people come into Burger King that I know, whether it be through work, family, friends. They act embarrassed for me, as if I somehow should be ashamed that I'm wiping down tables and mopping floors and saying "would you like fries with that?" for measly pay. Funny, I'm more ashamed that we can't pay the bills.