#insurance literally only payed $100

[adrianlookatthis]

A little over a month ago my toddler got a cut on her finger. We called her pediatrician who told us to go to the pediatric hospital's urgent care. After 6+ hours we were finally seen by the doctor. By then, the bleeding had stopped. They cleaned her hand, took one look at the cut, and said it was hardly anything. It was a tiny little dot, and not very deep at that. They put a little dot of Dermabond on it (after saying it's not really necessary but would help keep it clean and from opening again), gave her a popsicle, and sent us on our way.

We were billed over $2,000.

[scringee]

This is the only way to express how I'm feeling

[xoxoemynn]

anyway thinking about how fucked up it is that tomorrow I'm going for routine blood work and I'm actually hoping there's something wrong with me because I had my physical on Friday and my doctor prescribed me a couple of medications that would make a huge different to my quality of life but my insurance won't cover them at all because they're "non-essential" and there's no way I could afford either of them on my own but maybeeeee if I'm more unhealthy than I thought we could make a better case for it anyway fuck the American healthcare system I am tired.

[butchzilla]

god i am soooo fucking glad i finally got the ball rolling on my mental health treatment again these last two months.

[sirfrogsworth]

I'm moving out of the city and I'm going to have to learn to drive. Any advice for someone (reluctantly) looking into cars for the first time?

Sorry for the late response, but I really wanted to answer this because I think I have some relevant advice.

I started driving the very day I was allowed to get my learner's permit. I took it very seriously. My dad was a mechanic, my brother literally built a car when he was 16. They were car guys and I was the goofy comedian they didn't really understand. So I wanted to be a really good driver to impress them.

I practiced every chance I got. I took driver's ed in school and got a 100% in the class. And I got a perfect score on my written driver's test and only got dinged for 1 thing on the main exam (it was bullshit, but apparently there is no way to protest a near perfect score).

But then I got sick and it didn't make sense to pay for car insurance and maintain a vehicle. So I didn't drive for roughly 15 years.

Then both my parents got sick and they became dangerous drivers and so I had to figure out how to drive again. And at first I was nervous, but after about a week of driving, I was nearly as good of a driver as when I was younger.

The reason?

Muscle memory.

Muscle memory will save your life over just about anything. The less you have to concentrate on the physical actions and habits required to drive, the more you can concentrate on situational awareness. If you don't have to think about turning the wheel, or braking, or even activating the turn signals, you can use all of that brain power to pay attention to all of the dumb fucks they let drive cars.

So my biggest piece of advice would be to break down all of the physical actions required to operate a vehicle. Even the tiny stuff like switching the station on the radio or turning down the fan on the A/C. Then find a way to practice these things over and over and over until you have that muscle memory embedded into your brain. My muscle memory was so deeply ingrained that it lasted through 15 years of not driving and a batch of mind-wiping electroshock treatments.

Find a safe place to practice and just repeat things until they feel like second nature. Especially checking your blind spots. If you can get checking blind spots to the point where you do it without even thinking about it, you will increase your safety substantially.

Other tips...

Small cheap cars are best first cars. Big cars can make you feel disconnected from the road. Almost like you are piloting the vehicle in a video game. I started on my grandma's 1987 Chevy Cavalier. It was tiny. It had no power. It was free. But I could feel everything I was doing. I could feel the turns. I could feel the road. I could feel braking and acceleration. And it really helped me understand the relationship between driver and vehicle. It was like a big go-kart but I think having that as my first car really helped me develop my driving skills.

And my last tip is to learn gradient braking and acceleration. It's mostly for the comfort of your passengers. It gives them a smoother experience but it also makes them feel safer driving with you. Basically you want to figure out how to apply pressure to the pedals in such a way that almost no G-force is felt. So you start with very light pressure and gradually transition into the max pressure you need. And you need to do it quick enough to stop and accelerate at the proper rate. If you don't transition fast enough you might not stop in time or be able to merge onto the highway. And if you transition too fast people will be lurching back and forth in their seat. But, again, practice makes perfect.

My brother is horrible at this, though mostly on purpose. He likes driving like everything is a race. And with his muscle cars, that can be fun at times. But when you are just going to the store it can make one a little nauseous. I find myself just grabbing the "oh shit" handles and never letting go.

But if you can smooth out your acceleration and braking to the point it is barely felt, all of your passengers will thank you for it.

Hopefully that helps. And maybe other folks can reply with additional advice. And if you have any more specific concerns feel free to ask. I wasn't sure if you were more worried about driving or picking out a car, so hopefully we can collectively cover both.

I wish you luck and hope you learn to love driving. It is pretty cool once you get the hang of it.

[legy]

hi! i'm caelum. you might know me from @goldentruths-pod or from posting online. im in a financial quicksand pit and i really, really, really need help.

i'm disabled and receive approx ~$950 a month from social security. this has gone from "rough but survivable" when i first started receiving SSI to "i am literally not making ends meet" in 2024. right now my current status is that i am covering my basic needs but any kind of extra purchases are impossible. and the extra purchases i need to make keep piling up because i just can't afford them. some things i need include, in vague level of priority:

dolphin, my cat, is years overdue for a vet visit. this is going to be $300 minimum, possibly more because she has an adversarial relationship with the vet. she needs dental work done which they had quoted me as being $1500 but ive been putting it off for so long that i would not be surprised if that's more expensive too

i have learned today that my gold crown needs to be replaced. really unhappy about this one. it was a miserable experience the first time (everything that went wrong did go wrong, i'll spare you the details) but what is relevant here is that my insurance does not cover this and it was $900 last time. insurance also does not cover extracting the tooth either so that's cool. i have some time before this one is due (my next consult is in july)

my phone is approaching "unusably broken". i've had it for close to 4 years now. the call speaker no longer works (i can only use the phone on speaker mode) and it struggles to run apps or a web browser which makes things like GPS pretty dire. this would be like ~$100-$150 probably, i havent done serious phone shopping yet

my driver's license is expired and i need to get a new one. this was $110 last time. note i havent driven a car in years due to the disability but it's really valuable to have a universally recognized form of photo ID and ive already been hassled over it being expired

god this one is so embarrassing to get into but i had to flee my previous apartment last year due to it escalating into a DV situation. the other tenants did not pay the heating bill, which was in my name (and my dumb ass didnt close the account because it was the middle of february and i didnt want to freeze them to death) so i have a $250 utility bill in collections. i might be able to dispute or debt forgiveness this one but tbh ive been so fucking drained given everything else going on and also my phone barely works so i havent pursued it. especially since i can't afford to pay it if i cant challenge it

i would really like to have a passport again. my previous one was destroyed by my landlord in 2018 but even if it wasnt it'd also be expired now. not sure how much this one costs. likely $200?

my food stamps were slashed in half (covid emergency ending lol) and do not cover my food costs for the month so im paying like $150 a month on food that i didnt have to previously. i can maybe fix this one but im slowly losing my mind from malnutrition from trying to not go into debt and also eat. so i havent had it in me to go 1v1 welfare bureaucracy and possibly make everything even worse

my shoes are probably two months out from fully decomposing. they were $100 three years ago and id like to get something comparable given they lasted me this long

the rest of my clothes are also very literally becoming threadbare, falling apart, or are too big and keep slipping off. i legitimately feel embarrassed to go in public these days because i dress so shitty all the time

insurance doesnt cover my HRT anymore so that's $30 a month i didnt used to have to pay

im sorry this turned into such a ramble. i'm in such a bad way right now, i have been for quite a while and the dental work news is really just the final straw. i can't really have a fundraising goal because due to the SSI asset limit i can never own more than $2000. & i'm aware both that this is the poor people sending each other the same 20 dollars website and that there are people urgently trying to raise money to escape an active genocide. but i held off from making this post as long as possible & idk what else i can do

anyway if theres anything you can contribute to help me i would appreciate it more than anything. at the very least i need to do something about my tooth.

http://paypal.me/hivehum

[gremlingottoosilly]

And they said I couldn't be a psychologist [COD x fem! Reader]

Tired of living with a family that genuinely thinks that being a psychologist is a wild ride to being poor and lonely? Got too many student loans to ever think that you will be able to repay them? Just join the army! Good company, great benefits and lots and lots of travel.

AO3

Characters featured in this chapter: Captain John Price This fanfic will contain incorrect use of psychology, my dead dreams of becoming a therapist instead of a journalist, basically a harem "The only girl on the team" plot and a reader who can't fight to save her life, literally. Each chapter will concentrate on one or few characters at the same time, I hope you will like it!

Google search: average school psychologist salary in my state

Allow Google to search for your location?

Fuck it, the government already know who you are, where you are exactly, and what you will do with this pretty wrecked mental state of mine, if I wouldn’t get an affirmative answer.

School Psychologists made a median salary of $62 000 in 202X.

Google search: average psychologist salary in my state without Master’s degree

National average salary for Bachelors in psychology is: $32,395 per year

Google search: master’s degree psychology how much

Average cost to earn a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology: $62,650

Average cost to earn your doctorate in psychology: $115,500

Google search: how many days can person not eat

Google search: annual striper’s salary

Google search: can I become a stripper if I’m not attractive

Google search: Army enlisting

💬💬💬

In highsight, perhaps, you should have stayed with the stripper option. Sure, it would be a lot more mentally draining, but at least you would make much more money out of the utter humiliation this work would promise to be every day. Military, on the other side of the spectrum, wasn’t really different from being a sex worker – you are still selling your body and mind, still have too much time in a dominantly male field, and will probably experience a lot more patriarchy sausage parties once you get there. The only thing that was different was the employer. 

And tax benefits. 

And health insurance. 

And a special program for those who would like to receive an education after they are done killing people, but don’t want to pay more than 100 000 dollars for a diploma that would look good on exactly one photo on the wall and then would be forgotten by pursuing the career of a sandwich artist. Ah, oh no. Negative thinking again. 

Jesus fucking – oh no, blasphemy, looking not good for your all-american goody-two-shoes portfolio – Christ, you have to get herself together – and at least somewhat presentable, even this would mean very little, considering the fact that for a woman in such masculine field, any signs of traditionally feminine things would be considered a bone thrown to a pack of wolves, but…no, no, no. You can’t have this new age psychology shit while she is on a mission…by being a new age psychologist, enlisted to the army just because you don't want to be a stripper, and too slow to become a good drug dealer. 

Cynthia Cockburn once wrote an essay about women's role in maintaining patriarchy by joining the army. How a lot of females are helping salvage the old system, that has to be put down for good for a long time already – and how this system continuously throws them out, without even acknowledging their input. 

You are wondering, if by applying your makeup right now, you are doing pretty much the same. Ah yes, a woman in a field dominated mostly by psychotic men! Let me just put on my brightest red lipstick, a short that will barely cover anything important and, of course, a pair of heels that would set anyone in the hearing range to a Vietnam flashback even if they never been in Vietnam to begin with. Oh no…is that a risky joke? PTSD is a serious matter, you know. You shouldn’t joke about flying helicopters and war flashbacks – not when the training for the military psychologist courses were so hard, that even you, with your pretty much good mental health, would have to check herself double time for any trauma that the instructor would leave with you. 

Two weeks of torture for an opportunity to apply the blandest eyeshadow known to mankind, the pinkiest lipstick that barely holds any pigments – it’s not like you have money to splurge on something better even given the permission – and a mascara as clear as the mountains fresh air. God – oh no, blasphemy again, you really don’t want to get a good grade with all of these God-fearing old-fashioned men, aren’t you? – you really hated just how bland you look. You feel like one of these girls in your college – with tightest buns, cream sweaters and perfectly high-pitched laugh that would make them desirable for even blander college boys. Ah, how much you hated this place. 

The military base, however, is far worse. 

First, there are just too many people here. Second, everyone looks at you like you are some sort of ghost. Judging by your loosely hanging white doctor’s coat, they aren’t too far from the truth, but it still was weird. And finally, third – you are still not sure that your papers have been sent correctly, and this is even the right place. 

Instructor – a terrible, horrible, horrendous woman – told you that there would be plenty of study material for you here. That with these people, writing your master’s or even doctorate would be a “ ‘king breeze, rookie, if they ain’t decide to eat ya first”. The males around you – and some women, of course, because the newest military recruitment made sure to include as many people as possible, providing everyone with the opportunity to kill people as much as they would want – doesn't sound quite as great material for your research. 

And you are not going back to the fucking college. 

She said that some Captain brought you here specifically – and that higher-ups made him do it, as he was dismissing any previous attempts of sending psychological help for any of his units. So this is going to be a classic conflict between a person and the government – and you, a useless specialist – are going to be stuck in the middle, as long as you don't get shot. Perfect, terrific, just a great fate for someone who got out of college after 4 years of destroying her own hopes and dreams in a giant cell of a US education system. 

You haven’t even met the man before, and now you are sitting here, in the middle of nowhere on this gigantic base. Fighting with the fabric of your clothing – a nice buttoned shirt, nothing that could be considered a provocation from your side, and trying to breath as the reality of the situation is slowly thinking it. 

Breathe in 

You stuck here for only god knows how long – until you either will be dismissed, or decide to go away by your own choice. With people you know nothing about, and who probably doesn’t even want you here. 

Breathe out 

This is a perfect opportunity for you to write your Thesis – just pick one of these perfectly twisted specimens, and make his mental state even worse. Or better, if you would feel nice enough for such hard work. 

Breathe in 

Perhaps, it’s not so bad – only a few years of service, and you will be back in your education. The children and their easily molded minds are waiting for you to be their perfect school psychologist. With average salary of “fuck you and your savings too”.

Breathe out 

Health insurance is nice. Would be even better with some dental insurance, but this is reserved only to soldiers. And you are…well, not a soldier, that is for sure. 

Breathe in 

– Greetings. I suggest you are the mental health expert? 

…and, all of your neatly putted breathing schedule is fucked. Stupid army people and their stupid questions with such nice and deep voices that would make you think of deeply fucked up stuff any other day and…

– Oh, um, yes. A psychologist. And you are..? 

– Captain Price. You have to work in my unit, but I figured out that just sending my men to get you would be too much on your first day. 

– Thank you, I…I would rather greet them myself, that is. I kinda have to. 

He frowned. Oh, great. A perfect example of stoic  fatherly type – the guy who is probably thinks of his soldiers as his kids, definitely don’t have a wife – alive one, at least – and slowly cooking himself alive in a pot full of misery, machism and “I don’t buy any of this mentally ill stuff”.

His mustaches are great though. And a hat. 

– Do you really? 

– Well, I don’t want to earn my paycheck for just sitting around. This would be nice though. 

– In that case, higher-ups would put us both in trouble for this. 

– Do you have anything for me to start working with? Like a personal file or…

– I’ll show you around. 

– Oh. Okay. 

He seems harmless enough. As much as one man wearing a full uniform with too many weapons and a tiny hat could be – but you still feel well protected while walking beside him. With this still hanging loose coat of yours – you’ll have to search for something more adjusted for your tiniest fucking height – you can feel everyone’s gazes on you. Jesus, you will have to work with this many people? Let’s just hope that no one here believes in magic powers of therapy, and you would be pretty much free for any of your working hours. 

— But you do have personal files of your soldiers, right? 

— I thought your people like more of a personal approach? 

— Well, it would be really great, but I need some documents to write off my work and…

— Then you are going to write those documents, kid. I don’t want to scare you, but a young miss like you really wouldn’t want to see real portfolios of my men. 

— Sir, with all honor, I am not a…

– We’re here. 

Oh. Saving you the humiliation of being able to recognise patronizing tones and understanding, that you are, in fact, a kid, a young miss, and generally a useless fucking person. Psychologists in a place, where most of the people probably believe, that getting drunk will save them from nightmares? What a joke. 

At least the office is nice. 

Tidy place, neatly furnished room with a table, a sofa – something right out of Freud’s fantasies. A small empty closet for all three of your psychology books. You can already picture whimsical and fun soldiers laying here, trying so bad not to laugh in your face as you were trying to uncover all of their mental trauma without being strangled to death. 

– Thank you, sir…captain? It’s nice. 

– Not much, but everything that we were able to put when they said that we need a mental expert here. 

– I will try my best not to disappoint you, I promise. 

– You can unpack here, someone will show you the bed later. Still don’t know whether to put you with soldiers or medics. 

– Um…I would really prefer a… A nice and roomy bedroom, preferably with no one to snore alongside you, and definitely not with soldiers who can get the wrong ideas about a nice and sweet lady psychologist sleeping right next to them on their base. Of course, you can’t say that. 

–...I need to gather as much material about them as possible, so it would be really neat to sleep closer to the soldiers. 

You are the architect of your own demise. You and your stupid Thesis that you are not even sure, whether you could write it right now or not.

– Oh. 

He scratched his chin in a manner that you have seen too many times. Do all older males with bears share the same mannerism? 

Then he smiled – a ghostly feature on his face, that almost made him look like he actually wanted you here, and not just putting up with higher-ups bullshit because every special task force needs its psychologist just so the soldiers won’t kill each other on one sunny day. 

– Okay. I’ll think about something, doc. 

– I am not…not a doctor, sir. Not yet, at least. 

– Well, it’s either a doc or a kid. What do ya prefer? 

– Doc would be better. Perhaps, I will earn my doctorate after the service. 

– That’s the spirit, kid. 

– But sir- 

Shit. He is gone already. 

You were never a fan of dad jokes. Or dad types. Or anyone, who is questioning what the fuck you are doing here, even though you spend 4 years fighting for this position in the college. Who cares, if you can’t shoot guns? Words are just as deadly! 

Well, judging by the size of the rifle on the Captain's body, maybe, your words would definitely be less threatening than his guns. But this doesn’t change the whole picture! 

Oh, well. You might as well try to get yourself as comfortable as possible – considering all of the possibilities, they might simply forget that you exist, and you would have to sleep on this tiny couch at least for today. What a great opportunity and definitely something that you spent four years waiting in awe of. Perfect, beautiful, something right from her dreams. 

“You can still get out of here, you know. Just go out of this door and we will never ever speak about joining the military ever again. Trust me, babe, I am your conscience.” 

Oh no. You hated talking with your conscience – mostly because it was an annoying prick, and also because, as studies were showing in many of the presentations you would make for your classes, this is a first sign of not just a person being self-aware, but also the step to being proclaimed a mad man. Even if you are, in fact, a very self-aware and mentally healthy person. Mostly. You liked to think of yourself as one, at least. 

“You don’t want to be here. And you shouldn’t – there is plenty of work outside.” 

Yeah, like a sex job. Or secretary. Or a waiter – what a beautiful line of work for someone already in too much debt to her government. And judging by the already dismissive faces of your parents, going home as a stay-at-home daughter is also not going to be an option. So, go far and beyond. 

You just need to find a few people who would be interested in psychotherapy – how hard is that?

[notfinancialadvice]

It's been awhile, but I have a new thought for folks starting out investing

This blog is called "not financial advice" so this is not financial advice. Nothing on this blog is.

And.

I am working on a large-scale D&D-style banking system for a private client (my job is weird). This is putting me in touch with a lot of people in very expensive suits and it I keep pinging them:

"Let's say someone has $100 to start investing, what should they do. Like, literally $100. With $0.00 added after."

I've cobbled together some thoughts (not advice don't sue me) and cut out the bullshit and sales pitches.

Start a high-yield savings account in an FDIC insured bank. As of this writing (April 27, 2023, United States-based), it'll be somewhere between 3.5 - 4.25% APY (annual percent yield -- i.e. interest)

Go with a bank that is FDIC insured. Banks pay for this, you do not. Here are smart people talking about what FDIC is.

The percentage difference listed above is 0.75%. Moving money is a bitch, is it worth chasing 0.75%? That depends on your situation, time, etc. Here are smart people who built a calculator to help you figure it out if it's worth it to you.

Touch it as little as possible.

Start a spreadsheet that tracks your finances.

In the cell that lists the amount of this balance, give it a name. Something fun, something that speaks to you. I did this as an experiment + to participate, mine is "Slime Research Adventurer Destruction Fund".

Write a prospectus (fancy word for "this is what the goal for this cash is to do").

Slime Research Adventurer Destruction Fund prospectus: Follow the path of high-yield savings rates at {bank}. Review quarterly if other banks have a substantially better rate (+1.5%).

The entire point is to break the idea of "them not me" and "today vs. someday" and "I cannot begin to build wealth vs. someone else can."

A $100 savings INVESTMENT IN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT with a rate of 3.5-4.25% will give you interest of $3.50-4.25 at the end of the first year, then continue on growing onwards.

That is your return.

Is it as high as investing in the market? No.

Is it safer? Holy fuck yes.

When you invest in stocks, bonds, etc. you are looking for a return. This is your return.

This is not a grindset mindset work 24/7 chunk of advice. This is not a reality-disillusionment "I am struggling I need to work harder."

You need to be knowledgable about how things can work for you so you can leverage what you have, where you are, when you have it, as you can.

A high-yield savings account is not going to make you rich.

It probably won't make a difference in an emergency.

It will absolutely make a difference in non-emergency times, over a period of time.

Slime Research Adventurer Destruction Fund Destroying Adventurers.

That last point is where I'm coming to.

If you don't have enough cash to invest and/or you're not comfortable investing, that's fine.

Give your savings account a name that speaks to you. This is your investment. Your savings account = your investment account.

There is no moral or ethical difference between "I have cash shoved into a savings account" and "I have cash shoved into the stock market."

The only difference is potential risk, growth, and fees (never pay for a savings account), liquidity ("how quickly can I convert this thing into cash to buy an apple at the grocery store, pay a bill, etc.").

Make money less scary via weird names and fun graphics.

Go to a piccrew site and make a catgirl with pink and blue hair.

Name your fund "Catgirlsnax Fundsies".

Make. Money. Management. Less. Scary. By. Taking. Control. Via your own. Desires. Goals. Weird quirks.

Here is to hoping these gifs are not from horrible shows I don't know anime I know money and business and monsters.

If they are then I apologize for it.

I've read the notes on my blog and a lot of you like anime. I'm hoping these resonate.

[usertiff]

the worst part about disability and struggling, is that the struggle just seems to continue, and honestly? get worse and worse. so yes, i know, like, "hey, it's me again! needing help..." but as my wait for disability/SSI continues, the harder and harder it is getting to survive. i'm on the verge of losing my home and my car (that transports me to health appointments and my partner to work). like many others in america, they took away our food stamps. to make things harder, as you may know, my mom has recently had 2 heart attacks and 3 different surgeries, which has only increased my struggle by tenfold, because instead of paying certain bills, we had to use our very limited income to pay for gas to get back and forth from the city hospital (3hrs away) multiple times, bandaging and other medical expenses her insurance doesn't cover, and things of the like.

being disabled is catching up to me, being the caretaker for my disabled mom is catching up to me. i'm so far behind it's absolutely terrifying. under the cut you can find my more important bills and a breakdown of things i need.

i know that life is really hard for everyone right now, everything is so expensive and assistive programs are so depleted, so i definitely want to offer what i can for any help received. this idea was 100% inspired by lomapacks, and i did ask permission to use it before doing this! so here we go.

how much do i need? basically i'm $2,291.11 behind in bills, plus have literally nothing for food or gas, which if we add it up for a month or so would then be like almost $3k.

how does the raffle work? for every dollar spent commissioning, you will earn an entry! for every dollar donated of good will, you will earn 3 entries! example, if you order $15 worth of gifs (150 gifs), you will have 15 entries! if you donate $15, you will have 45 entries! (or if you donate $1 = 3 entries, $3 = 6 entries, etc)

what are the prizes?

first place: 1500 gifs, 5 manips of your choosing, 1 crackship gifset

second place: 1000 gifs, 3 manips, 1 crackship gifset

third place: 500 gifs, 2 manips, 1 crackship gifset

every single person that commissions or donates gets: 1 manip

when will the raffle end? the raffle will continue until i've reached the massive goal, so it really depends on how quickly i can climb out of this financial grave! i'm hoping that it can be as quickly as possible!

what do you do to join? you can find my payment info below to donate or commission. if you plan to commission, please message me first so we can sort out what it's for/how much! then, please fill out the form in the source link when payment is completed. :)

when will everything be delivered? commissions will be completed in the order they were received, and delivered as soon as i can possibly get them done. once the raffle ends, the raffle prizes will be delivered upon your request for them and completed as soon as possible! i will try to deliver the manips for everyone same-day!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, FOR SHARING, FOR BEING KIND, AND FOR GIVING ME ANY TIME OF DAY.

payment information:

kofi! https://ko-fi.com/tiffanyvalentine

paypal! selinaaakyle@gmail.com

venmo! oraclelauren

cashapp! $selinaaakyle

amazon wishlist! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/259VCVX9R5LCS?ref_=wl_share

so, here are screenshots of the most important bills i'm behind on.

RENT (update is the top screenshot, i have late fees)

CAR PAYMENT

UTILITIES (2 mo overdue, power will be shut off soon) PAID!!!!!!!!!!

other important things i don't have screenshots of:

some things are on my amazon wishlist like my cats special food.

FOOD: we have no food stamps. the need for food money will not necessarily end. food banks only provide so much.

car maintenance: overdue for oil change and the brakes are squeaking badly (oil change is like $50 around here plus brakes idk maybe $80?)

gas: to transport myself to health appointments and my wife to work.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I quit my job working for my dad and got a different job?

I (25fx) work for my dad (late 50s) at the machine shop he manages. My siblings (30m, 28f) also work there. I have pretty severe ADHD, coupled with autism and a healthy dose of anxiety, and it impacts my ability to work regular hours, mostly because of delayed sleep phase issues (basically my circadian rhythm is pushed several hours so my sleep time is usually like 12 or 1am to 9 or 10am) that I have tried literally everything under the sun to fix. That coupled with an inability to focus on the work that I'm being given (mostly office work. If I was in production I would be fine but Dad doesn't want any of us kids working in the shop cuz he wants to train us to take over for him even though none of us want to) means I'm averaging about 15 hours a week. Fine, okay, not a huge deal. I live at home with him and my stepmom and don't have to pay for rent or food, a fact that I'm endlessly thankful for and don't take for granted at all.

The issue is that I have about $1000 a month in student loan debt. I tried college three separate times, and in the end even after doing part-time classes, it was unsustainable and I wasn't able to complete my degree. My dad is only paying me $10/hr, which isn't nearly enough to cover my student loans, let alone leave me with any money for things like hobbies or going out with friends. I've talked with my dad several times about giving me a raise, even just to $12/hr, and every time he says that I need to put in more hours to prove that I'm worth it. Every single time I have tried to put in more hours, I end up extremely burnt out by the end of the week and end up needing to go back to my usual schedule.

To exacerbate the situation even more, I turn 26 in less than a month and lose my insurance. I have several prescriptions that cost about $100 a month with insurance right now, and I can't stop taking any of them. Even if I was eligible to join the company insurance, it would take so much out of my paychecks that I would be making almost no money each week. I am likely eligible for Medicaid and have been going through the channels to get that set up, but it's still an extremely stressful situation that's been taking up a lot of mental energy, further impacting my ability to work.

Would I be the asshole if I found a better job and quit? I know that pretty much the only reason why I can stay at home is because I work for my dad. The car I drive is a company car so I would likely lose access to it. I just can't work the hours he needs me to work, but I need more than $10/hr to survive.

What are these acronyms?

[antiloquist]

Please help if you can

Hey there, I didn't want to have to do this but I got my work hours slashed and they eliminated a bonus that would have paid this whole thing off. The soft deadline is two weeks out and I can probably negotiate an extension but I don't want to take my chances.

My Homeowner's Association dropped a $6k (for each unit out of 46 units in my building) Special Assessment for a modernization of one of our only two elevators. It's necessary because they're older than me but the cost is quite steep for my single income. I was doing fine until my work slashed hours for everyone.

The rest of my bills I can pay with what I make even with the cut but I was making little payments on this thing from the rest of my paycheck which will no longer exist from here on out. I've made it 2/3 of the way there and I just need a little boost to finish it off.

If I don't make it from this, that's okay. I just need a little help, any help.

I don't have much to give in return. I'm a so-so writer and can probably do small fics for folks in fandoms I'm familiar with. In addition I will document that 100% of everything given here will be put into the elevator.

My insurance denied me coverage for this because it's an assessment for a proactive/preventative job rather than an assessment for a sudden and accidental loss (earthquake, fire, etc).

Literally even a dollar will put my mind just a little more at ease. Thank you for hearing me out.

-Ant

ps: I can also be found at paypal(.)me/antiloquist

[ambassadortotrilliusprime]

I hate that I’m doing this again, but it didn’t work last time and it’s so much worse now.

Hey guys,

So some of you may know, some may not, but I’m floundering right now.

In January 2024 I was in a car accident with my boyfriend. He then lost his job for a second time in a few months. We had to move out of our house we were renting and into a small apartment.

The apartment in question was infested with roaches, had people literally beating each other up in the hallways, breaking into cars, drugs, and numerous other issues. With only me working as he tried to find another job, we quickly fell behind on the rent and the eviction process started. When we got evicted, I lost my job, as they said that if I didn’t have a stable residential address I could no longer work for them (remote work, I don’t get it but oh well). We moved into an extended stay. The extended stay ended up having roaches and being too expensive, as my partner got a job but then lost it again due to them hiring new employees at a cheaper rate.

We moved into a room at a boarding house. There was again roaches, people screaming, making noise all hours of the night, leaving the bathroom we shared with the toilet unflushed, mold on the walls, hair everywhere (not from the head). 

He got a new job that came with a hotel for a month. So we left. The project ended in a little over a week and we’re now completely homeless again. I’m freelancing but not making enough money to support living anywhere, and I’m getting desperate. I’ve lived in my car before and I can’t go through that again. I’m now having to ask questions like can I afford to eat, should I eat or can I wait, which bills can wait without losing the essential things (car insurance, phone bill, gym to shower).

I need help so badly, and tumblr is the only place I can turn too. I have no family.

In order to pay my bills and buy me a few more nights with a roof over my head so I can find a place, I need $1k. I have $100.

If ANYONE can help, even if it’s just to send me something so I don’t feel guilty about eating, I’d be forever grateful and you’d quite literally change my life.

Please message me for my CashApp or Paypal or Zelle.

[princess-of-the-corner]

On the Ojiro stuff, I legit have no idea what Masumi's plan is? Like, I know she's in a shitty financial situation of mostly her own creation, but like. Not sure what her actual plans are, in trying to weasel in with her family? Get them to pay off her debts? Try & use Ojiro's slow-growing fame as collateral? Also, no idea if she actually makes up with them, or is just there to be a leech? Literally, the only character traits I have for her are "good gambler" & "self-absorbed".

Honestly we have a few options:

General 'looking to use him for the money' in that like. There's a lot of benefits to being tied to a Hero. They're paid well enough that surely any good son would love to pay off his mother's debts! Plus Heroes get bomb ass health insurance that extends to immediate family members.

Get more specific and have Masumi be involved in a Hero-centric gambling ring, and wants Ojiro to be an inside informant. (what they're gambling on is on the table. Outcome of fights? Who gets what ranking? Romance drama?)

She got in trouble with some people during her gallivanting, and knows a Hero could help but wants the connections to keep herself safe rather than turning herself over to some rando (like he's still a student ofc, but Ojiro would know which Heroes are more likely to cut a deal and might have some friends already that would be even more lenient on her.)

Something happened and she genuinely 100% wants to fix things..

[shock]

state benefits are the funniest bullshit ive ever experienced. when I was doing art commissions as my only gig before I could find a job in a new state, they accepted nothing but a paypal screenshot of my typical income and then gave me $300 a month for food and health insurance that paid 100% of a 40,000 surgery. the literal second I got a job paying $16 an hour they took away my food stamps but kept my health insurance because i should be able to go to planned parenthood to get HRT for free but im not allowed to eat. then i decided to try again for food stamps this year and they accepted me this time, even though my pay has increased, and in the acceptance letter they're giving me $13 in food stamps as back pay for June, not giving me any for July, and then giving me $280 for August. Fascinating governmental structure

[mjohnso]

The Work of Auditions

S.E.S Bada’s recruitment story is the stuff of SM legend. Personally scouted in 1996 by Lee Soo-man after he saw her perform at her school’s annual festival, she did not then dream of debuting as a pop singer, let alone being in a girl group. By most accounts, she wanted to be a musical theater actor. But she agreed to Lee’s offer because it literally paid the bills. In exchange for joining the company, Lee paid her full university tuition and expenses, where she studied theater.

I begin with Bada’s origin story, not only because it is unique among SM audition stories but because of what it says about SM. Specifically, it demonstrates the company’s recognition early on that acquiring the best performers, regardless of cost, was integral to their survival and success. They would need talent to grow their stable of new acts and replace any new acts that disbanded. Furthermore, maintaining a pool of potential replacement talent was an insurance policy. Their mere existence would apply downward pressure on their already debuted idols, discouraging them from agitating for more (or any) money or better contract terms or material conditions lest they be replaced.

But first, SM had to find trainees, which they did so using a multi-pronged strategy. Street-casting, like the kind that found Bada, was part of their approach, as was their affiliation with the for-profit training academy Starlight Academy beginning in 2003. There was also their more formalized Audition process, which they started advertising on their official website in 2000. In the early aughts, versions of this Audition section of their website listed three language options (“Korean” “English” and “Chinese”), with different options for each. In particular, the Korean version listed six options:

Mail: An applicant could send via snail mail a letter or postcard listing their name, school grade, and contact information, along with two photos, to the attention of the Entertainment Audition Manager at a Gangnam PO Box.

Email: An applicant could send an email to the casting director with all the information they would include in a letter to the casting director if they were mailing their application and two scanned photos.

Franchise Store: Instead of mailing or emailing their information and photos, an applicant could drop off a letter with their information and two photos at one of the various music or record stores around Korea that SM listed on their site. If an applicant who utilized this method was selected for an in-person audition but lived outside of Seoul, SM would pay 100% of their transportation costs.

Recommend a friend: A person could send all of the same information of a friend or family member they believe is talented in a letter or email. If that friend or family member signed a contract with SM, the person who referred them would receive a scholarship of 1 million won.

Live Auditions: Every Saturday at 3pm, SM Entertainment held in-person auditions at their headquarters.

Live Auditions: Applicants could apply for an audition via directions obtained by calling a phone number. If an applicant passed the first round of screening, they would be invited to attend the in-person auditions held on Sunday at 3pm.

Today, SM has not radically changed these options other than revamping them to reflect technological changes and expanding their in-person auditions. They eliminated the snail mail and franchise store options in favor of digital options, including applying via the SM website or direct message. In-person auditions are still held weekly at the SM Entertainment building but are supplemented by audition tours. Earlier this year, they announced their 2024 Global Audition, which consists of stops in Daegu, Busan, Daejeon, Wonju, Gwangju, and Jeju, as well as Thailand, Japan, the United States, and Canada.

Much as their audition methods have not drastically changed, only expanded, the same could be said for the motivation behind their auditions. The need for new trainees, especially as the industry has become increasingly competitive, and the necessity of maintaining that power dynamic that I discussed above all still applies, but I would also add a third reason. That is much as trainees function as a way to apply pressure to acts on an agency’s roster, so does the audition, with all its spectacle, do for trainees. Between the multiple dates and increasing amount of locations, often announced with much fanfare, there is a dual impression. The auditions are extremely competitive, with participants going up against not only those at that audition but also highly desirable and affirming, as evidenced by the turnout.

Yet even though a trainee may have made it through the gauntlet of auditions and been selected as a member of an elite club, they cannot rest. On the contrary, as a trainee, they will have to work harder than other trainees whom they are competing with to maintain their spot and for one of the scant opportunities to debut. Moreover, they cannot complain about their training or the conditions of it or even negotiate for better contract terms, lest they get replaced by any one of those other people auditioning and vying for their spot.

It is no wonder SM Entertainment has not developed a more efficient way to audition potential new trainees. The current system is the perfect tool, conveniently downplaying their role outside the selection process. If a group of trainees encourages existing acts to stay silent even in the face of poor working conditions, that is not because SM has explicitly pushed them to but as a consequence of the system. Similarly, if trainees who acutely feel the precariousness of their situation overwork themselves, that is their decision. No matter that these are the results of a system created by SM's choices, and thus are not immutable. As far as the industry cares it works, so why would they fix it?

[garset-grocery]

I don’t usually make vent posts like this but I need to scream into the void about this right now and my friends don’t want to hear it anymore.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment about an hour’s drive away. Unfortunately, I don’t have a car because I just paid for school and insurance would tear me apart.

Outside my building is a train track that goes right up to the edge of the property. It’s hidden by a fence, but every time a train goes past it’s like a continuous rolling clap of thunder that you feel in your inner ear. Naturally, one would assume that there would be a train station in town. One would be dead wrong. There isn’t a train station for miles in any direction, and the only way in and out of town is through the highway.

Looking up bus routes on google maps shows me several with the same rough timing: SEVEN HOURS. Somehow, taking the bus is more time than it would take to bike all the way there (six hours). Even with all the stops a bus makes, you would assume that once it got on the highway there wouldn’t be much of a difference. But if it takes me FOURTEEN HOURS to see the only doctor that does HRT nearby, then that’s simply not viable. I have free time, but not that much. Not that much.

Of course, I could take an Uber. At this point it seems like the best option. Pay hundreds of dollars for a drive that would normally cost <$100 for gas, while stranding a complete stranger in an entirely different town. An Uber driver once told me that if they drove out of a certain area, they would have to drive all the way back to it before they could pick up more riders, which wastes their time and their money. If I order an Uber, I’m asking two separate strangers to make a two hour round trip drive in which they’re only allowed one rider at a time. Just an absolute dogshit thing to do to another person.

I live in Ontario, which is supposed to be Canada’s number one industrial powerhouse. We have the highest population of any province in the country, mostly in one dense area along the US border. Every year the government spends millions of dollars to maintain the roads and highways connecting all these places. And not one, NOT ONE train station in my whole fucking town? You’re telling me there’s enough money for the roads and highways and all the streetlights and fuel for transport trucks and construction. But it’s just not in the budget to lay down some fucking tracks and make commuting without a car fast and affordable? Really?

I guess if everyone just buys a car then that’s good for oil companies and insurance companies and car companies and… you know, all the people that get rich off covering everything in pavement and waiting for people to die. But for people like me who don’t have a car and need to get somewhere an hour away? Well, I guess we can just go fuck ourselves. It’s our fault for not having enough money to buy our own personal 3000 pound death machine.

Look. I get it. People like driving their little metal boxes around. It’s fun. Whatever. But human beings have been laying railroads (not like that) for literally hundreds of years. The industry my country loves so much was built on railroads. We KNOW that trains work, we KNOW that they’re fast and easy and they get people places on time, and we KNOW that they can transport WAY more people than a highway while taking up way less space. SO WHY THE FUCK IS THERE NO TRAIN STATION IN MY TOWN. WHY IS THE ROAD THE ONLY OPTION. WHY AM I STUCK USING BUSES AND RIDESHARING AND SHITTY HALF-MEASURES TO GET AROUND THIS OBVIOUS GAPING HOLE IN OUR PROVINCE’S AWFUL INFRASTRUCTURE. STOP ADDING MORE LANES TO THE GOD DAMN HIGHWAYS AND GIVE US A WORKING TRANSIT SYSTEM. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.