What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[REPO Man]

Had to postpone my move by two weeks. I was originally going to leave next week but I can't get a ride. Plus I have craptons to do.

Still having a hard time finding potential roommates. Also joined a Facebook group dedicated to people renting out their rooms or looking for rooms.

I've also expanded my rent threshold from $700 to $800.

But there's also the issue of needing a job lined up since most renters will probably refuse me if I say I'm still looking for a job.

How do people do this crap?! You need a job to get a place, and to get a job you need a place so your have an address in the city for when you fill out the resume.

I'm hoping being able to pay a second month's rent will help get them to overlook my temporary joblessness and my lack of credit since I never had a credit card.

[marurun]

The kind of lower end work you are looking to do starting out, people aren’t going to hire you until you are there to walk in and submit an app and interview in person. There are more than enough people in and around NYC looking for that kind of work. It’s one of those situations you just have to navigate even though it sucks.

[isiolia]

I'm hoping being able to pay a second month's rent will help get them to overlook my temporary joblessness and my lack of credit since I never had a credit card.

Usually you'd have to pay at least an additional month's rent up front as a deposit, if not more. For a less formal agreement, maybe not, but if you're actually going onto the lease then you should be expecting to pay a good bit more than just rent when you move in.

[ElkinFencer10]

Yeah, your security deposit is almost always at least a month's rent. So if your rent is $800, you'll need at least $1600 on hand to sign the lease and pay one month, $2400 if you want to have two months' rent available. Really, you're taking a big risk making the move without either a job lined up (which is unlikely for minimum wage-type labor) or several months' rent, utilities, and food saved up already.

[REPO Man]

May have found a decent lead on a place in Bushwick for $760 a month. I got a reply after messaging the person who posted it on Roomi and after a bit I told him I was interested but that I wouldn't be in the city for a few weeks. He was okay with this and even offered to FaceTime to show me the place. I told him I was busy and that I'd keep in touch and said "sounds good".

Also, a friend (the one who lived in NYC) recommended the NY Tiger bus, which leaves Virginia Beach at midnight and arrives in Canal Street at 7am. It's 40 or so minutes further away than the Greyhound stop in Edenton and the tickets are less than half the price. Oh and the bus ride is shorter. I just gotta find out if there's any restrictions on carry-on luggage. I'm only taking a duffel bag with enough clothes for 1-2 weeks.

[samsonlonghair]

Wow, I can’t believe after all these years Repo is finally going to New York! Go get ‘em Repo!

How do people do this crap?! You need a job to get a place, and to get a job you need a place so your have an address in the city for when you fill out the resume.

Don’t stick to just food service and dishwashing jobs. There are plenty more opportunities available. Consider a warehouse job. They pay better than minimum wage, and they’re usually not to hard if you don’t mind walking around inside a warehouse. They usually hire people with little or no experience. It takes all of ten minutes of training to operate a pallet jack. Once you’re onboard you can ask to be trained to operate a forklift. Then you’re set. It’s not terribly hard work so long as you’re reasonably able-bodied. Just tell them you have lots of experience moving water heaters.

As for me, the world keeps turning. I’m loving life in Newport News. I can tell things aren’t going to work out with my fiancé. I kept asking her to move here with me, but she’s not going to. I’m seeing the end of this relationship after seven years.

Unlucky in love; lucky in life. I have a fifteen hundred dollars in savings. It’s not a fortune, but I remember a time four years ago when I had to charge my phone at work because I couldn’t afford to turn the electricity on in my home. Back then fifteen hundred dollars would have seemed like a fortune. I’m reminding myself to stay humble and remember how badly I used to want what I have now.

There was a time when a car breakdown was a financial catastrophe for me. Tomorrow I’m dropping my car off at the shop to have new rear struts installed. The old ones haven’t even fallen off yet; I’m replacing them to stay on top of repairs. I’ve already bought and paid for the parts, and I set aside money in my checking account for the labor. I’m still going to have fifteen hundred dollars in savings even after getting this work done. I’ve already bought my bus pass so I won’t miss work while my car is in the shop.

Life is going to be alright.

[bmoc]

I'm sorry to hear about your fiancé. I hope things get better for you buddy.

[ElkinFencer10]

I got some terrible news yesterday afternoon. Elizabeth Gremmels, who took me under her wing when I started teaching, passed away Tuesday night from an apparent sudden heart attack. She was my colleague, my role model, my mentor, and my friend; but more than that, she was like a mother to me. She made me the teacher I am today, and I'm so grateful to have had her guidance and advice and wisdom for the past five years. She had just retired a year and some change ago. No one could ever fill her shoes. I just hope I made her proud.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I am certain that you did, Elkin, and I am sorry for your loss.

[samsonlonghair]

Respect for the memory of Elizabeth Gremmels.

Monday night I bought myself a bus pass at a local grocery store in preparation for a day without my car. They were sold out of day passes, so I bought a week pass. I dropped off my Subaru Outback at the Mechanic yesterday with the new struts in the back. The mechanic himself hadn't gotten into the shop yet, so I dropped my spare car keys in the key box.

I crossed the street and walked to the bus stop. I had never used the Hampton Roads Transit System before. For my first time, I found it fairly navigable. The HRT website uses google maps, which in turn uses some... optimistic times. There's a phone number on each bus stop that I called to get a more accurate time. The bus was only one minute late after the time I got from the automated telephone system (eleven minutes late compared to the time google maps gave me).

I boarded the HRT bus and slid the bus pass into the electronic reader next to the driver. I then discovered that I could have simply paid cash (and saved a bit of money) instead of buying a bus pass. Live and Learn. I rode the bus four miles north to work.

At the end of my work day I called up the mechanic to confirm that they had finished installing my new struts. I started walking back towards the bus stop. When I called the number on the sign, the automated phone system told me that the next bus wouldn't come by there for forty-five minutes. Well, I'm a stubborn man, and I'm lucky enough to be able-bodied, so I decided to start walking south.

I had a nice time walking the route I normally drive. A car is something like a bubble that separates you from the world around you. Walking gave me the time to soak in the sights, sounds, and smells of Jefferson Avenue in Newport News. I walked past a pond and a fountain that I never took the time to appreciate before. I walked past a restaurant called Crown Fried Chicken that smelled absolutely mouth watering. The weather was sunny and warm but not too hot.

The bus caught up with me an hour later when I had walked about halfway. I boarded the air-conditioned bus and rode back to the mechanic shop. When I got there the door was locked, but the mechanic was still in. I knocked on the door and assured the mechanic I was just there to even up with him. The mechanic chuckled while he rang me up for the labor and the alignment. He told me that my Subaru Outback was a good vehicle, and he gave me a little praise for putting in necessary maintenance. It felt vindicating to hear that all the little maintenance I had put into my Subaru Outback was paying off in longevity. Lessons learned in poverty are paying off today.