Coz strazer said so! (UPDATE: 12 October 2011)

monkey0506 · Mon 18/07/2011 23:54:53

Hey gang,

I'm running a limited-time competition whereby you, yes you, can win the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of having a real-life AGS Celebrity come live in your home and mooch off of you while he tries to get back on his feet financially! Candidates probably must live in the U.S. (considering that's where I live and I have no passport! 8))

And just so you know this isn't a joke, it's been officially endorsed by our very own, strazer:

Quote from: strazer on Mon 18/07/2011 23:37:42
No worries! I'd gladly offer you a place to crash if I lived in the US...

You know as well as I do that there are great guys in the AGS community, so I suggest asking around here if you need a place to stay.

I hope everything works out for you! Keep your chin up!

Chris

In all actuality what's happened is that over the course of the last week, I've gotten my truck out of the shop only to have it break down three days later, my roommates who were helping me out with rides (with me paying their gas) decided 1) they will never give me a ride anywhere ever again and 2) they want me out of their house, and so as a result of these former reasons, I've also lost my job (because 32 miles (each way) is a hell of a walk).

I'd never even think of asking around here in this fashion, but strazer said I should, and I don't know any better than to blindly follow everything strazer tells me to do.

If anyone is capable and willing to help me out with my situation, that would be incredibly awesome and also incredibly unexpected (simply because we don't really know each other in "real" life). So, discuss.

By the way, I do have other familial-related options, but they are very limited (in resources, not in a desire to help me out). Just to let you know.

Joseph DiPerla · Tue 19/07/2011 05:07:17

Hey man, sorry to hear about your troubles. I would help out, but I am not in a position to since I am preparing for a newborn child to come into my life soon. But keep your chin up. You will definitely find some way to get by. If I Can make some suggestions, since you are out of a job, I would try collecting unemployment. As far as a vehicle goes, try zipcar.com. It might actually be handy for you to try their service for now. As far as housing, try income based homes in your area or carabetta.

I know these are not pleasant options, but they will help you get by until you get back on your feet. I hope this helps.

Kweepa · Tue 19/07/2011 17:32:07

If I was a single man, I'd help you out.
Hope you find somewhere to crash and somewhere to work!

Stupot · Tue 19/07/2011 19:30:43

That totally sucks man. Why did your roommates just suddenly decide not to help you anymore? Did they have a geniune reason, or just being total arseholes?

Hope you get sorted, mate.

LimpingFish · Tue 19/07/2011 19:34:53

Quote
1) they will never give me a ride anywhere ever again and 2) they want me out of their house...

Dude...what did you do? $:-\$

Anyhow, keep hanging in there. I came close to finding myself in a similar situation once, and my best advice is to take any steady paying job and, if you can, move in with family. Hopefully for free. What you need now is the security of knowing you won't be homeless, while you figure out any future plans.

NickyNyce · Tue 19/07/2011 20:37:34

1) where do you live ? and what kind of work do you do ?

2) Do you swear to not sleep with my wife even if she is incredibly hot and comes onto you

3) Do you promise to teach me everything about AGS without telling me to check the manual first

All kidding aside...Life can really suck sometimes, you sound like a very smart guy so you should have no prob getting on your feet pretty quickly. Good friends and family and of course a significant other is a must these days to get through every day life. If you live in New York and follow rule 2 and 3 maybe we can talk.

monkey0506 · Tue 19/07/2011 21:38:46

Regarding the roommates, I should explain further. As with any people living together there is give and take in what we all contribute to the experience, but they have explained that I didn't really so much do anything wrong that they are holding against me. They have simply explained that due to my current financial situation they are not financially able to help me in getting back on my feet. Considering the fact that there was a time period that I was the only person contributing food while they were both unemployed, I was a tad bit, well, bitter about it. But I'm presently staying with a married couple in their house, so, I don't much have a real say in the matter as we had an entirely open-ended agreement about my residency.

Oh, and regarding them not giving me a ride, they said that I wasn't giving them enough gas money. However, I weekly calculated the amount of driving that was actually used in relation to taking me to work, and the gas mileage of the vehicles given, and am rather confident that I actually put more in than what I used. Without "conclusive evidence" to prove that though it's just down to a difference of opinions I suppose. Also, for the record, their only working vehicle broke down a few days after mine did.

Karma much?

Unemployment is not a viable option for me because, speaking from experience unfortunately, they won't consider "lack of transportation" as a valid reason for quitting the job that I had.

Given the fact that I am currently in debt, I doubt that I would be able to find any type of apartment or anything that would allow me to move in without a deposit, which I don't actually have the ability to provide (hence the reasoning why I can't just pay to get my truck immediately fixed and pay my roommates off to convince them to settle

).

Finally (I guess, for this post), I'm currently residing in Texas, but I have zero strong ties to this place. As a matter of fact I believe my entry in the wiki still says something to that effect. Having had experience in "rooming" with married couples and committed relationships alike, I can assure you that I've never caused issues of any sort in that regard, and I have nothing to hide.

I am actively looking into "other" options, perhaps involving staying in the same area that I'm currently in (despite my vehicular, financial, employment, and housing situations, there may indeed be some unexplored options available...). To anyone who is or has actually seriously considered this proposal to any degree, let me say thanks. As serious as my situation is, I'm ill experienced in this type of proposal, and the idea that anyone would consider it is beyond my comprehension for awesomitity. So, whatever may come of all this, thanks for all the kind words and consideration given here.

Ponch · Wed 20/07/2011 04:46:43

Ouch. Sorry you're going through some tough times. Hang in there. I believe in you, Oceanspirit Monkey!

Armageddon · Wed 20/07/2011 07:54:00

That sucks man, hope you find a place soon. If I didn't have a roommate I'd consider having you come and stay awhile.

bicilotti · Wed 20/07/2011 08:00:26

Is there no form of public transport which would allow you to reach your workplace?
How much is it for a car (used)?
How many dollar bills to get you back on your feet?

A tad curt, I know, but maybe I could help.

monkey0506 · Wed 20/07/2011 08:55:34

The nearest public transportation would probably be the Metro buses that run routes about 45 minutes to an hour from where I live. One of the many advantages of living in Cleveland, Texas.

I haven't looked into used cars, probably because I figured I wouldn't have the money to buy one right now anyway. When I got my truck out of the shop most recently it was about $400, and if the reason it's now broke down again is something different I suspect it would probably end up being something similar again.

It's difficult to give an exact figure considering the number of variables that kind of caved in on me all at once. The first priority I feel is probably to get transportation again (considering I have a very open-ended understanding of when I'm actually expected to leave my present residency, and have discussed a timeframe as late as a month from now). I figure I'd probably need some way of actually moving out.

For the record, if anyone did want to help me out after any fashion, I would consider any help given as a type of loan to be repaid once I have the means. I can provide the names and contact information of friends who can vouch for my honesty in this matter if you don't believe me.

I don't want to come across as some guy asking for a free hand-out. That's not me. I actually hate having to ask (and wouldn't have if strazer didn't seem so keen on the idea), but you've all been very kind about all of this, and for that I thank you.

In any case, I'm gonna be alright. One way or another I'm gonna get this all figured out. I may not know where the future will lead me, and sure, that can be a scary thing to face, but I'm gonna face it like a man. A monkey man! 8) I'm gonna look that future straight in the face, make some monkey noises at it, and if it does something I don't like, well, I'll throw some poo on it!

Phemar · Wed 20/07/2011 09:11:41

Monkey that sucks man! I'd offer to help out but alas, I am in South Africa which is pretty far away :/

bicilotti · Wed 20/07/2011 10:13:44

Quote from: monkE3y_05_06 on Wed 20/07/2011 08:55:34
It's difficult to give an exact figure [..]

Well, make up your mind, I might be able to help a bit! And in the meantime, don't lose your coolness and let us know how things are going.

R4L · Wed 20/07/2011 12:39:31

If I wasn't a poor bastard myself I'd say you could stay at my apartment. But me and my fiance are probably breaking up so I might be in the same situation soon myself.

Just keep your head up. You're a smart dude, you'll figure it out.

Ryan Timothy B · Thu 21/07/2011 01:45:53

Move to Canada man. My house is definitely looking for someone to clean it. And once I get grass, which will be a matter of weeks, I'll definitely need someone to mow it.

Anyway, I hope you make it out alive. I've noticed with money it doesn't feel like there is an in-between. It feels like you either have money just piling in and saving up faster than you can even think of what to spend it on, or you're juggling your paychecks to pay your bills. I actually expected that once I bought this house in December, that I would have been struggling to pay my mortgage. I was unbelievably stressed signing the documents from the lawyer, the bank, calculating my monthly payments to realize how tight it was. But it's crazy, I'm very relaxed and seem to have more money than I did while renting, even though this works out to be a hundred or two more than the apartment a month.

Is there any way you could get a loan or credit card to help out your situation? Sometimes spending more money than you have is the only way to remedy the situation. Of course, unless you're bad at budgeting your money and end up in even more of a mess.

I have a brother who was always in debt. He would always find things he'd rather spend his money on instead of saving it up. Smokes, alcohol, video games, women, expensive snacks, etc. Even while he had a $1000 rent a month, he decided he didn't like his job anymore and just randomly quit. He was throwing everything onto his credit cards and living like someone who still had a job. Rent was backing up. The landlords were threatening to evict him. Everything he bought new was tossed onto a credit card or he signed up for a buy-now-pay-later deal where he didn't have to pay for a year or something. Anyway, where my story was going, he ended up owing $30-50,000 on credit cards and such. Of course no one can pay that off in a sensible time and it'll end up just costing more in the long run.

His credit rating is so messed up, he couldn't even get a car with my dad cosigning for him - and my father has an outstanding credit rating. I didn't realize how important your credit was until his little spending moment. Maybe with him there as my older brother, he taught me before I even had a credit card, what NOT to do with it. Maybe he's the reason I don't go spending crazy no matter how exciting it may be, or easy it may seem.

Anyway, sorry for sidetracking, it was kind of a related topic. I'm not saying you're crazy with your money or anything. I know what losing a job can be like. I walked away from my job about a year ago and didn't worry about getting a new job for about a month. I literally sat around at home and said screw getting a job, I'm enjoying this sitting at home. I ended up spending my entire nest egg, and once I got a job, it took me months to balance everything out back to normal.

I hope everything works out for you. Or just move to Canada and be my cleaning bitch. haha

ThreeOhFour · Thu 21/07/2011 02:21:15

I would totally move to Canada and be RT's cleaning lady.

Actually Monkey_05_06 and I did discussing getting a place in Canada together at one stage. Sounds perfect

monkey0506 · Thu 21/07/2011 02:24:14

Is that a serious offer to move to Canada? Coz if it's even remotely serious then we should discuss it. I have a Google Voice number so I have absolutely no qualms in posting it on the internet in a public forum because if someone starts harassing me I can just block you.

My number is 8323031724. Call me if your offer was serious in the slightest. (You don't need a passport to go to Canada from the US, right?)

Regarding getting a loan, that's not really something that's probably viable as banks are reluctant to give out loans to people who have debt, no job, and absolutely no collateral.

Based on the story of your brother, Ryan, I want to explain something that I was just explaining to my brother the other day. Two years ago I had my own apartment. I say "my own" because I was the only person on the lease. 3 bedrooms and a garage on this lease. I had two awesome roommates and we actually enjoyed the hell out of the shared experience. I lived a mile from my work, so worst case scenario in the vehicular realm I'd still be perfectly fine, and I had $1000 in the bank. Not a particularly huge nest egg, but to get me to that point I was pretty much living paycheck-to-paycheck with relatively little extra spending. All-in-all things were pretty good two years ago.

From there, I went out to San Antonio (from just north of Houston), where the starter on my truck went out (it's a 1988, so give it some slack

). My mom convinced me, "why don't you just move out here?" My roommates were already planning on moving because one of them was moving back to a newly renovated unit at his prior complex, which the owner had renovated specifically for him. I didn't have any particular reasoning to want to stay where I was at, so moving somewhere new for a change of pace and scenery seemed a viable option. I decided to take her up on it. A month later I realized that with no vehicle and no job, San Antonio wasn't going to work for me. Place is like a desert, only hotter (I grew up in a very "green" area in terms of plant life (not recycling fanatics

)).

Since that point, I have moved around and I have been trying to fully recover from the move to San Antonio (which retrospectively was my biggest mistake). At the present, I actually have somewhere around $600 of credit card debt (which is growing exponentially since it's actually over the card's limit), and I have to get my truck fixed. So to just get my finances stabilized would probably be around $1000. For me to actually get back on my feet will actually depend how long it takes me to find a job once my truck is running again. So to answer bicilotti's question, that's where I'm at.

Ben posted while I was typing, and yes, we did discuss that. So Ryan give me a call and Ben..get in touch with Ryan to discuss the terms of surrender of his household. Also, stop spelling my name wrongly. It's "monkey_05_06" not "Monkey_05_06". Geeze! 8)

Ponch · Thu 21/07/2011 02:51:15

Don't do it, monkey! It's a trap! Canada has the metric system! And their milk comes in bag form!!1!

Armageddon · Thu 21/07/2011 03:16:02

Quote from: Ponch on Thu 21/07/2011 02:51:15
Don't do it, monkey! It's a trap! Canada has the metric system! And their milk comes in bag form!!1!

And they have those bugs that are a cross between roaches and scorpions!!!!

monkey0506 · Thu 21/07/2011 03:46:53

At least the metric system makes some form of sense. I mean, 12 inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, 5280 feet in a mile?? I refuse to accept the logic here. You can prove me wrong and I'll refuse to accept it.

Bagmilk sounds wonderful to be honest. I could sew some straps on it, insert a straw, and I'd have milk foreveerrrr!

However, this roach scorpion sounds like a serious and previously undisclosed flaw. I mean, you might as well tell me they have bloodthirsty flying chupacabra dragons. Ryan, I demand you address this matter!