LuLu

Well, we can't claim squatter's rights, so no worries there. And no, us moving in when we did was never something they did to help us out. They were moving into a new house and were going to rent the place anyway but asked my mom and grandmother if they wanted to split the rent for it. So they did and we've been here ever since. I would go into detail about why they want to sell the place (and it has nothing to do with us), but this isn't the place for it. Yes...he gets just enough $$ to make our car payment and pay for my internet service. So when you total that up, it comes to less than $400 a month. I do, everyday. But our job market is scarce here. People at Workforce have told me that with the way things are here, the only way anyone in Orlando is getting a job is if they know someone who can get us in. And sadly, I don't. But that doesn't mean I've stopped trying. I'm actually making an appointment to take the test for the 2010 Census stuff. Maybe that will pan out. Even though it's temporary, it's better than nothing. No government assistance other than dad's SS disability check and my intermittent unemployment checks. I've not been able to find anything that can help us, so if you know of programs please clue me in. Even the section 8 housing here has a 2+ year waiting list. The first thing they tell you when you apply is "you can apply but it doesn't mean you'll get in anytime soon". So that doesn't offer much help or hope either.

I will have to look into that stuff, though the VA is out since my dad isn't a vet.

I wonder if we have a similar law here. I'll have to look into that, because that would be awesome. You're probably right. But it was worth a shot. Yep sure can.

Yeah there isn't much of that, but what is there will put up in a garage sale. We've already sold some of mom's jewelry, but there wasn't much of that either. Getting visitors was also a question I had. I'm really not sure. lol My idea had been to just put up fliers around town or something of that sort, but wasn't sure how well that work. Mom already works full time and has been picking up whatever extra hours she can get...which is killing her. She's 68 years old and is not in prime condition anymore. I've been looking for a job since the very day I lost mine back in 08 and have gotten no where other than the odd jobs I get asked to do for friends and neighbors. But those are far and few between. And my dad is disabled and confined to a bed, so even he can't do anything.

LOL that wasn't for you. I thought I had quoted Hazel in my reply but I didn't. I need to go fix that.

I will have to check that out, thanks. I'm just not sure if it would work in our favor since my uncle never had a formal rental agreement drawn up when we moved in. In other words...no signatures or anything ever took place. But we do have lots of cancelled rent checks and a nice piece of information that could be used as blackmail should it be needed. I do plan on having a garage sale. As I've been packing up things, I've been setting stuff aside for it. Just not sure how much we'd actually get that way since we really don't have that much to sell. But it's worth a shot. Thanks

Yeah I imagine a majority of people out there would think the same way. Myself, I've donated like that before. I try to help anyone I can...even now when I have nothing I do what I can for people. People tell me I'm too compassionate. Maybe they're right, but it won't stop me from helping someone out if I can. Oh well, I can always go stand out on a street corner with a tin can. lol

I wouldn't be asking this if it wasn't necessary and since I trust all of you, I trust that you all can offer some sort of help or insight or advice or just, whatever. My parents and I have recently been told by our landlords (who happen to be my aunt and uncle) that they are going to sell the house we've been living in for almost 25 years. After losing my job in '08 and having my grandmother pass away shortly after, my mom has been struggling to keep up with bills and whatnot. Her savings are now gone and she is the only source of income. I've helped her with my unemployment money and with any extra funds I've been able to raise by doing odd jobs for friends and neighbors, but since it's not steady income, it doesn't help for very long. I took her to a lender last week, and while she qualifies for "some" assitance, it may not be available once she qualifies for a loan. Her credit score is a few points too low to qualify for one now (we had to buy another car last October so that's what brought it down), so she was told to work on bringing it up over the next 6 months and she should be ok. That's assuming the bottom doesn't fall out on us...again. That's also assuming they don't try to get us out of here before then. If they do, then I honestly don't know what will happen. So here's what I'm wondering from you guys. I know this probably sounds petty and whatnot, but if I set up a website that asked for donations (sent to my PayPal account) in order to help us move out, do you think there are people out there would donate? It would go towards a downpayment on a house; or worse case scenerio, a deposit for an apartment (which would be hard considering certain aspects of my family). Any leftover money would be donated to a charity so that others could benefit as well. What do you guys think? Do you think it's worth a shot? Or do you think my family is forever cursed and that we should just give up? lol Thanks guys

That's why I use a fictitious name and junk email address.

Don't....touch...my....Facebook! lol Seriously, it's nice if you want to find old friends or whatever and keep in touch. I was able to get in contact with some high school friends that I never though I'd ever talk to again. So it's been good for me. Though I will admit I've gotten sucked into ao couple of the apps on there. But all in all, it really isn't bad.

You are correct!

You're welcome!! And I just realized I have that pic on my iPod. How cool. lol

BTW here's mine for the month. lol I've probably posted this one before but who knows. haha

OMG I love this!!

Hehe thanks!! It's been *years* since I've gotten to play in snow. Better pack them in dry ice so they don't melt!

Merry Christmas and...

Anti-spam is fine and dandy, but when you've been a member for quite a while it sucks to be told you can't PM again for 5 minutes. Oh well, just one more quirk to deal with. lol

Ok yep still having the PM problem. I sent you a PM at 10:58am and it said I couldn't send another until 11:03am.

Thanks, Hazel. I'll test it in a sec. I have no idea what board email settings I have. Never looked, but have also never had the problem before. I'm using IE 6. Yeah yeah yeah I know but it happened in Opera too lol.

Hmmm, strange. I don't know if it's still doing it (no one to PM at the moment) but I guess I'll find out sooner or later.

Hopefully. It's pissing me off. lol

Is this something new? I was PMing with someone, sent my first reply and then when I clicked the reply button to send them another message, it told me I couldn't send another one for like 5 minutes. Happened twice. It's never done that before so I was wondering if I just totally missed it or if something's amiss or what...