The temp service I was working for when I got laid off called me and asked me to do a one day thing on October 11th, and to come for the orientation on September 25th. A little while later, I went outside to go to the store and found THIS
We tried to air it up, but it was not holding any air at all. Even after a long time, there was no change whatsoever. I was actually very depressed that night, and did not want to see anybody. I waited until the sun came up the next day before pursuing the problem further.
The next morning, my roommate beat me outside and got the tire off. I came out and he showed me why it was not taking any air in. It was completely off the rim in the back. Completely!
Obviously, that is why it would not hold any air...
I thought I was doomed. I had no money to speak of, fixing and replacing tires is expensive. Unemployment was not coming until the day AFTER I was supposed to go to Champaign. I was thinking if I did not make it, and had to say I could not do it, that might count as refusing work. If it did, I would lose my unemployment and have ABSOLUTELY NO INCOME! Which was scary.Fortunately, my roommate's dad knew how to put a tire on a rim. He had helped Matt put part of a tire back on a rim once. It turns out, all you have to do is have a strong enough air compressor. Matt's dad was not sure if he had a strong enough compressor or not.
He did!
Matt's mom picked us up on her way to somewhere and we took the tire to his parents house, ate some marvelous soup, and turned the air compressor up to max capacity of 100 psi. We put the nozzle to the tire... it popped right back out and, mostly, back onto the rim! Matt adjusted it so something would line up better and put the nozzle on it again. It popped the rest of the way out, fully on the rim after just a few seconds.
He left it on too long and overfilled it, but fortunately it did not explode. I stood there flabbergasted, looking at my nice, round, plump tire and my first reaction was to do this (ok, I know it seems hysterical, but that was the key to my nearly lost livelihood I was dealing with, ok?)...
I got to the orientation today and they told me that the lady I was to meet had a family emergency and had to reschedule. So I drove an hour and borrowed about half the pay I will get tomorrow for a wild goose chase that I would have to do again. The job was a one-day assignment for six hours in Champaign, an hour away just like the orientation and my last job were,so initially I was breaking even or slightly better on the pay, now it appears it will be in negative numbers... I got disgusted but chose to let it slide, tried to just be thankful that I would be able to keep my unemployment and the graphic art study that I am hoping to get going tomorrow.
I have to report training and education to the unemployment office too. Depending on how they classify that graphic art program, I may not be able to do it. Receiving training can cancel your benefits in some circumstances. If that is the case here, my only current wherewithal to pay for it would be taken away BECAUSE of my starting it! Of course, that would mean I couldn't do it. I have been, I think understandably, very stressed out over all this and so has Matt. I will know tomorrow, I presume, whether I can sign up or not.
Today, both my roommate and myself were nearing the end of how much more crap, and one "uh, oh" after another, we could stand. Though every situation has somehow been resolved, having one serious/potentially catastrophic difficulty after another get quite old after a while. Today I also got a call for a full time, non-temp job right here in Decatur. I found the message this evening, when I got home from writing in the cemetery and visiting the library. It is not unusual for an "attack" to happen right before an important breakthrough. "All is darkest before the dawn," as the saying goes.
I will return the call tomorrow, and hopefully resume working again very soon. The job is to be a machine operator in a custom embroidery and silk-screening factory, it is here in town, but starts at minimum wage. That would at least pay the bills and not keep me from writing or studying graphic art.We'll see how it goes... I am hopeful. :)
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