Edited on September 10th, 2010.
Well it happened. At 3 pm today the job he is on will be complete and there isn't another waiting in line. Living in our town means he will be one of the first group of guys to start the next project, but who knows when that will be. He still does not want me to work nights. If I were to work days, I'd need to quit the second he gets called back to work. And I wouldn't be able to work if he finds side work. An ad is going up on Craigslist momentarily. Hopefully that will bring in some work.
If not... I guess we will be selling baby items I am not ready to sell, canceling my only daughter, most likely last child's 1st birthday party. And going back on state assistance. Our rent was due 4 days ago, our van payment is due every Friday.
Things will get better. The wheel will turn again. Things were just problem free for a bit too long for us. I just hope this time it isn't an almost two year layoff again. And of course it doesn't help I am married to the most pig-headed man on the planet and he will not work for anything less than he'd bring home in unemployment-which he needs to claim for 4-6 weeks before he can receive a check.
How the hell did we survive while using, with him being laid off?
How the hell did we support our over $135/day habit for 5 months?
How will we do this now?
Originally posted on August 3rd, 2010:
With a wheel, each little spoke of it has its time on the bottom, then climbs to the top and drops again. And the cycle continues.
Things have been increasingly getting much better around here over the past few months. My little spoke on this wheel of life turned a bit last month, but quickly rose back to the top. Things have been going very well. And now it is time to start that rotation to the bottom again.
Sometime in September Tom will be getting laid off again. I hate construction in such a craptastic economy. This means I will have to go back on foods stamps, WIC, etc. Fight tooth and nail again for any help I can get, and this time, he will not have unemployment until 4-6 weeks AFTER his lay off date and I am not working. He doesn't want me going back to work for a while. He claims we will be fine and he will find side work.
Growing up with my father in the same line of work, I know you cannot rely on side work. I remember many weeks where we only had peanut butter, milk, and eggs. I remember the school not giving us free lunch because my father's yearly income was so high but my mom not being able to afford for us to eat. I remember being the loser in the cafe w a peanut butter sandwich, no jelly. Jelly was a luxury some weeks. No that didn't happen too often, but it was often enough that I know I don't want my kids to deal with it.
Time to take a deep breath and hope the wheel speeds up and we are headed up again.
Yeah, that sucks; seasonal work is so tough. And although we're ok now, at one point we weren't, and I hated the thought that my kid was maybe someday going to be the odd kid out that never had new stuff or could eat anything because we didn't *have* anything and did what we could.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, you're smart and resourceful and although it'll bite, you'll figure it out and make it. Maybe at some point Tom can pick up the skills on something like plumbing or something to add to his construction background (HVAC maybe?) to help with the ease of finding off-season work.