Hello everyone!
I know it has been a loooong time since I made a post to my blog here on myspace or any blog on the internet in fact. I have done a horrible job of keeping up with the people that have helped me throughout the whole hurricane experience and certainly not done enough to thank them. So, first I'd like to thank everyone for helping Sebastian and I through the hardest time we've ever shared. Without the assistance with Christmas presents, bicycles, clothing, food and quite literaly everything one needs to survive in todays society Sebastian and I could have easily turned into a casualty of Katrina instead of the survivors we have both turned out to be. You know who you are and please know everything you've done is very much appreciated
So now the update! These days Sebastian and I are living with our friends
AmyBeth and her daughter Elizabeth. To keep things interesting the manager of my old cyber cafe is also living with me. We've all kinda piled into AB's place causing a burdon no doubt. My update with FEMA? I've been denied a loan from the SBA and FEMA also denied me a grant because I apparently failed to sign a document. When I call and ask which document did I accidently forget to sign, explain they can simply fax me the form and I'd be happy to fax it back, etc I'm told they have no idea what document is lacking the signature. The FEMA website has continuously shown (from the beginning) they are not waiting to receive any documents from me even when they were. So ya basicaly everything I owned is worth $0...
But on the lighter side of things I have actually obtained employment as a Web Developer for a local IT firm. A good salary, medical/dental with an awesome work environment. After my probationary period I will be able to work from home as needed! It's almost as if my dream company just came by and sweeped me into their fold. As you can imagine this is great news after being unemployed and basically homeless since the hurricane. I still don't have a car so actually getting to and from work is a daily challenge. All attempts at obtaining a card to date have remained unrealised. At this point I wonder if I will have the money to purchase a car before all the help channels available are able to assist with this. Even an organization like GoodNewsGarage.com who's sole mission is to help people obtain used cars to assist those having difficulty getting to and from work hasn't been able to produce anything. Unfortunately I can't even think about a car until I've saved enough money up to get into my own place. Even though AB's original arrangements allowed her to be in this townhouse for 6 months from move in, that, like many things has changed and become until the end of February. This of course leaves us both scrambling to figure out what the next stop in this unpredictable life of being a katrina victim is. Atleast I'm working now, within a month or so I should have enough money to move in some place.. My first check won't even arrive until Feb22nd I have know idea when that pay period officially begins.. it could be a big check or a really small check there is no way to tell. Either way it will likely not be enough to cover 1st month and damage (which seems to be 2x Rent around here). I need a two bedroom which runs $1000 a month minimum in this area.. so I'm looking at $3000 I need to save up by the end of this month just to move in. Since I started work this past Monday there just literaly isn't enough time to generate that kind of cash.
So.. Good and bad.. I'm very excited about the job, the challenges I will surely face and just simple the fact I managed to land a Corporate Web Development job WITH 4 inch flaming red goatee and bald head sporting dragons tattooed on either side! I'll get around to taking a picture of Corporate Uber soon enough, I'm certain you will all get a good laugh :). The challenges and aftermath of hurricane katrina continue and will likely continue forever (unless I give up first which is truely more likely)
Well until I blog again..........
~Uber