My car hasn't been able to be driven in I don't know how long. It's just been sitting out in my parking spot. The back right tire has gone flat and the battery has run out of juice. I looked out one day and saw a really bright orange (and I don't see red or orange as bright as most people) tag on my car saying it is a parking violation because it is undriveable. It said I had a week before it was towed. Wonderful. I put it up on Craigslist, said everything that was wrong with it, and put the price for highest bidder. The week came and went and no one called about it. My apartment manager came out the day before it was going to be towed and said I should put it for $500 and he guarantees I'll get hits. I did that. My neighbor helped me pump up the tire and jump-start my car so I could drive it out onto the side of the street outside the complex. The tire goes flat afterward, so I had to get it out there and park it before it did. That night a police officer came by and saw that my car was parked facing the wrong way and put a ticket on it. It rained that night, so I couldn't even read the ticket the next morning.

Rent was approaching. I got hired on at Computers and Things a few days after turning in the application. He just paid me cash under the table, $60 a day, and had me run the shop and fix people's computers. He was busy with his corporate stuff and just left me there. I could pay myself from the register if he didn't come in. He paid me a few days in advance so I'd have enough for rent. That job only lasted a month and then he was going to be there himself and didn't need me anymore. I was out of a job again.

Rent was approaching again and I had enough to pay it. My friend was doing this huge project of restoring the film "The Thief and the Cobbler". I had followed his multi-year progress of it and really wanted to lend a hand. He was out of money because the people he had done work for didn't pay him. He needed at least $200 for one of the parts of the restoration process. I was thinking of taking out a loan to just sit in my account and give me some money to live on until I got another job. I got approved for the loan and just had to go show proof of income. I gave my friend $200 just before going to the bank to show them my pay stub.

I got a mock pay stub from my former boss at Computers and Things and went to SELCO. They took a look at it, realized I had only been there a month (which is what I put on my loan application), and decided not to give me the loan, because they read my application wrong and thought I had been there since 2001. This was probably the biggest blow to me out of everything. I was really depending on this money. Everything hinged on it. I thought I could take their word for it that when they approve my loan after days of considering it, they mean it. This meant I didn't have enough for rent because of the $200 I gave out. I was $15 short. Even if I had enough, I would be broke after that. Thanks to my mom, she wrote me a check for the rent amount and I gave her all the money I had. That got me out of that bind.

I was looking for a job and applied at Guaranty, the local car dealership, for the tech support position that they just got an opening for. I kept checking up on it regularly and kept getting told the progress and that they'd call me in a few days, which never happened. I went in and talked to a couple of the guys. It went on like that for a month with me being broke. Rent was approaching again and I had no money. I got a notice from my electric company that my credit card had expired and I was 2 months behind. I had forgotten to update the new expiration date in their records. They came out and told me this and I gave them the new expiration date. They wanted me to pay the previous 2 months and I said I'd have to wait until the end of this month and pay all 3 then. They said that would be fine, but if it didn't get paid, my electricity would go off without warning. So now I had rent and 3 month's electricity to pay on the 1st of October and no money in the bank.

Finally, a couple called me about my car and came out to look at it. They wanted it and asked me to hold onto it until they got paid in a week and then they'd come by with cash, a spare tire, and jumper cables. I held onto it until Friday like they asked, but they didn't come by. I called her and she apologized, gave her excuses, and said they'd be out around 2 the next day. They never came and I called her again. She didn't answer even after I left voice mails. I called a few more days and never got an answer. My mom told me to lower the price to $400, which I did, but still no calls about it.

Then, one Friday morning, I was awakened by loud, continuous knocking on my front door for a long time. I got up and looked and it was my dad. I opened the door and he was like, "Do you know you have an interview at Guaranty at 10?" I said I didn't. He said they must have just scheduled it that day. They couldn't find my application or something and forgot my phone number. Since my dad works there, they just told him. I remember it was 9:23 at the time (lol, I just looked at the time right now and it's exactly 9:23). I got dressed and went with him. They had 3 tables forming the 3 sides of a square and 4 of the IT employees were sitting behind them. I had to sit in a chair in the middle. They all asked me questions and I answered most of them without too much trouble. They said they'd call me and let me know toward the end of next week. Great, another week to wait. Next Monday was the 1st and I had to have rent and 3 month's electricity by then. The dollars I had were in the single digits. I was really hoping to sell my car and have $400 or $500 from that.

My mom said she could put the amount I owed on her credit card if I could pay her back every paycheck from my next job. If Guaranty didn't work, I could work for my brother-in-law. She put the cash advance in her account, wrote me a check for rent, and gave me enough for my electric bill in my account. She got me out of that bind as well. Then, while I was out with her, I got a call from Guaranty offering me the job. I started on Monday. I'd work full-time and make $10.50 an hour. After 90 days I'd go to salary. FINALLY!

So now I've worked there one week. Today is Monday, the start of week 2. I'm mostly trying to get used to the programs they use here and everything. I have to go meet with Sky in half an hour for him to train me on one of the programs that he wrote. I'm still completely broke (I have to wait until the 23rd to get paid for what I've worked so far) but my co-workers have been paying for my lunch and one even said he'd be willing to let me borrow $100 because he knows that being broke sucks.

So yeah, that's pretty much everything. Let's hope it's smooth sailing from here on out.