If you listen to the network news (I have to, I can't afford cable any more), you'd think that the recession was over. It's not. Despite "a growing economy" no one is actually hiring. Because of all the uncertainty, there really aren't any jobs around. Most of those are merely seasonal for the holidays. The competition for those is so fierce that it's almost frightening.
How do I know? I'm working all of 14-16 hours a week...for a catering company. That's all the work I've been able to find. I have 10 years experience as a cabinetmaker/carpenter and 22 in restaurant, but the best I've been able to find is part time work as a bartender...no tips straight hourly wage. My wife isn't doing much better. She works 22 hours a week for a big box department store as an HR clerk. That's despite having 23 years experience in retail management.
On Tuesday, November 23, at 10 am, we are scheduled to be evicted unless we can raise $873.50 to pay October's rent. I don't know what I'm going to do about November's rent at this point either.
With the largest tax hike in history looming come January 1st, I don't think I'm going to be able to find a job any time soon. We tried applying for food stamps. But here in Maryland the system is so screwed up, we were notified that we would have a "telephonic hearing" two days after the hear was scheduled. Needless to say, our application was denied.
I worked for just under 30 days as with a company as a cabinet maker, but what I thought was a permanent position, was only to finish a deadline job...and was laid off as soon as that work was completed. To compound it all, I didn't work long enough to qualify for unemployment! What makes it even worse, is that I turned down a position with a new restaurant in downtown Baltimore that just opened in October as "Service Lead" (head waiter in prepolitical correctness days). About the only good news I have is that I do have a job interview on Tuesday morning with a company that assembles office furniture. A friend has recommended me to a couple of the incoming Congressmen and I am supposed to undergo an FBI background check in the next few weeks, but I've not heard anything directly on that as of yet.
I this point I don't know what to do. We can't even afford to rent a storage unit to what few things we have left since I closed my cabinet shop in December of 2008 when we lost the house. So we'll pack up this weekend, and hope we can find someone who will allow us to use their garage to store our things.
I don't want a free ride, I want to work...but what do you do when there's no work to be found? It's not like I'm not putting our 20-30 resumes a day. I've long since begun applying to jobs all over the eastern US...but so far I've only had "thanks for applying if anything meeting your qualifications opens up we'll..."
If you can afford to do so, I'd appreciate you're hitting the tip jar to the right.
UPDATE: I would like to thank everyone who has been so kind and generous to help my wife and I. I will be contacting everyone who donated, directly in the next day or two, but wanted to get something up here now. Thank you again for all your generosity, you have no idea how much it means to us.
Rich Vail
Pikesville, MD
5 years ago
Rich Vail's comment feed
