When life gives ya lemons, eh? Ain't no one buying lemonade in this economay.

Been here for 12 months and a couple days and ain't much shit gotten better. Thankfully ain't much shit gotten worse. But all the same, not a ton has gotten better. I finally scored a full time job at a grocery store. Shit pay, wonky hours, but it's better than nothing. The job market out there is truly fucked right now. I blame a lot of it on how we "pivoted" during the pandemic, we ain't bounced back to the tried and true old ways of applying for a job and talking with management and either leaving with a job or being told that you'll hear from them if they're interested. It's wild out there. The number of applications and interviews it took for me to secure this entry level, low paying, bullshit job was just fucking astonishing to me. But here I am.

As luck would have it, however, my time and luck ran out and my landlord get fed up with waiting for rent. I can't blame him. I also wish he was a little more understanding to my situation and the current economy and job market, but I understand that that is not his job. His job is to collect checks and pay his mortage and property taxes. And when I'm having difficulty paying my rent or finding it simply impossible, that impacts his bottom line. But fuck, man, shit is wild out there, a little grace goes a long way. I've offered to work some of it off. I've been grinding. It's only recently that things have started lining up and it simply was not fast enough.

So, I'ma catch a quality night sleep with this fine air conditioner and my dog on a sleeping bag in the middle of the floor and grab some breakfast and try to go figure out the next move tomorrow. Because I have no idea what it is or could possibly be. I'll be moving all my shit into a storage locker tomorrow afternoon and returning the truck in the evening and after that, I have no fucking clue what the next move is. Or should be. Or can be.

I've sourced a truck stop relatively close to home where I can shower and do my laundry, for a price of course. But it's better than having no options in those realms, and I will greatly need both now that I've secured a full tiem job. I can sleep in my car - well it's not even my car, someone I barely know is letting me borrow theirs indefinitely as I try to get a leg up. At least it's somewhere dry and able to be climate controlled, the heat and humidity and rain here the last 3 weeks or so has been brutal, so this is a pretty clutch arrangement. Keeping fuel in the motherfucker until I get paid, as well as paying for shower and laundry, is gonna be a real damn chore.

My dog is thankfully tiny and likes to sleep on or close to me, so we really don't need a ton of space for getting some sleep, but she's super skittish - lil 5lb rescue chihuahua and all - so it's gonna take her some getting used to. But feeding her is also going to be an issue, financially and logistically. I've learned how to cop dog food from Walmart with no one knowing, but where I'm at there's only 2 Walmarts and I can only push my luck stealing for so long.

Foodshelf appointment tomorrow will hopefully alleviate some of the food pressure.

I guess I just keep trying to figure it out one step at a time, because the storm is so big I can't see raind drops from clouds.

If anyone reading wants to help, in large or small, I would be eternally grateful. I'm happy to trade art/logo/branding work for any help.

My PayPal address is aintiller@protonmail.com. And if you're concerned about helping but ensuring your donations go to the "right" place, E-giftcards for food/gas/etc are also greatly appreciated at the same email address.