Update, 10/31: I have re-posted my GoFundMe campaign to focus on travel fare to Arizona. Please consider a donation now.
It's looking like this two-year experiment in making Houston, Texas, my home is having to come to an end.
As of this moment no one has contacted me for any of the jobs I have recently interviewed or applied for. I am slowly shifting my focus to getting ready to vacate my apartment this weekend.
I have posted a crowdfunding campaign on a reputable and fast-growing website called Indiegogo. I'm looking for folks to post donations and help me get my graphic design/branding business off the ground. It is my hope that before long I can cobble up enough donations from the "outside world" to get me a bus or Amtrak ticket to Phoenix, at which point I'll take it from there.
My GoFundMe campaign is also still very much active and I will also gratefully accept any donations to that.
Houston is a great town, and something still might happen at the last minute to keep me in my place (an apartment that I love) but I've also got to start taking action based on the information I have at the immediate moment.
I need to get finally get serious at long last about my career
I've also got to realize that at the age of 42, I am no longer confident I can just waltz into any company at will and get a job by showing my resume and flashing my pretty smile. Age discrimination exists and is rather difficult to prove, and I'm at the point where I've grown tired of the "rat race" of working for someone else. It is truly time to sink or swim as a creative professional and take full responsibility for the direction of my career going forward. Unless the perfect opportunity comes forward, I will lean towards building my freelance design business, and I will do it from a homeless shelter if I must. This is a dream I have had for well over 25 years and I'm tired of putting it off so I can have a couple of years of "job security" here and there.
So my immediate plan right now is to gather about $250-500 to get myself to Arizona and raise whatever I can to establish the design business.
Again, your assistance and contributions are greatly welcomed and appreciated.
Out of respect for the people impacted by the Northeastern superstorm, I will hold off until tomorrow to actively promote this blog post.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Help me pay my rent, America!
My status so far: Help me pay my rent
***Update 10/29*** I am slowly shifting focus to a relocation effort as I have not heard back about the jobs I interviewed for. I will vacate my apartment next Sunday unless I get hired this week. Right now, I am thinking I need to move back to Phoenix. I'm pretty much at the end of the road here in Houston. No one is hiring for any jobs that I am qualified for, and companies nationwide seem to be holding back on any major hiring until after the election (if not the beginning of the new year) I can't wait that long, folks, my life has to move on. Any ideas? Thanks for your support.
***Update 10/27*** number 2: The PayPal donation button will be returning soon. For now, you may make a direct donation to my GoFundMe page. Thanks for your support!
***Update 10/27***: No word on any new job, still waiting to hear back. If I do not get some donations in this coming week I will lose my place. I am at the end of my lease and I will simply vacate the unit and leave. I may shift focus and use any donations that do come in to take Amtrak or Greyhound back to Arizona and start over. I'm not exactly sure what my next step is, but I will need to take that step soon, whatever it might be. See the bottom of this post for ways you can donate.
------
I haven't been posting comments on here in quite some time, as I have been preoccupied with several issues, but in light of those issues, I feel I need to make a particularly special announcement.
I am in danger of losing my apartment if I don't get at least $700 in the next two weeks.
Yes, I am currently unemployed. Here's the situation: I left my job at a major local employer voluntarily in early September after working for a year and a half there. It was time to depart for many reasons. I took a low-paying call center job not long afterward, but found after about 3-4 weeks, I simply could not stick with it after giving it my 100% best effort (and not doing too badly IMHO).
Since then I have applied for (and interviewed for) two separate and relatively well-paying graphic design related jobs, one of which I am fairly certain I am a leading candidate to get - but the soonest I will know the status on that would be the middle of this coming week.
Therefore I am putting my appeal out here on my blog. In order for me to remain available for these and other opportunities, I will need to be able to meet my basic expenses for at least another 30 days, and at this immediate time I'm not able to do so.
If you have read through this entire blog, you will see that after much frustration in both Phoenix and Austin in 2010, I came to Houston because this is a city of opportunity. This is a city that has its positives as well as its flaws, but the economy here is strong and there is a "can-do" spirit among the people here. After getting on my feet and being "OK" for nearly two years, I still firmly believe that, and I think I might be eventually hearing some good news on the job front.
However, in order for me to remain here and continue to be a happy and productive part of this town, I need some help.
I don't particularly enjoy asking for help, but my political, moral and social beliefs say that we live in a nation and a society of abundance, and that abundance is available to those in need for the asking. I would not be doing the right thing if I didn't put such a request out there for all to consider.
The original function of this blog back in 2010 was an appeal for assistance, and we're back in such a situation now.
There are some outside resources I am considering to help with rental payment assistance that I'll be checking into over the next few days, but I do want to ask the blogosphere for help first.
Here's how you can help:
1. A direct donation using the "donate" button on this page.
2. Purchase my downloadable "e-art" on Scribd. I created three PDF files which can be great posters for your wall, at home or in the office.
3. Purchase items from my CafePress store (with my logo on them!)
4. Contribute to my GoFundMe campaign.
5. Consider becoming a client of mine for creating a custom logo/brand identity for your startup/small business.
Any help would be much appreciated and I'll give you updates as things progress. And please, just in case anyone wants to try something funny, would you kindly spare the negative comments. If you don't have anything nice to say...well, you know the old saying.
Thanks very much.
***Update 10/29*** I am slowly shifting focus to a relocation effort as I have not heard back about the jobs I interviewed for. I will vacate my apartment next Sunday unless I get hired this week. Right now, I am thinking I need to move back to Phoenix. I'm pretty much at the end of the road here in Houston. No one is hiring for any jobs that I am qualified for, and companies nationwide seem to be holding back on any major hiring until after the election (if not the beginning of the new year) I can't wait that long, folks, my life has to move on. Any ideas? Thanks for your support.
***Update 10/27*** number 2: The PayPal donation button will be returning soon. For now, you may make a direct donation to my GoFundMe page. Thanks for your support!
***Update 10/27***: No word on any new job, still waiting to hear back. If I do not get some donations in this coming week I will lose my place. I am at the end of my lease and I will simply vacate the unit and leave. I may shift focus and use any donations that do come in to take Amtrak or Greyhound back to Arizona and start over. I'm not exactly sure what my next step is, but I will need to take that step soon, whatever it might be. See the bottom of this post for ways you can donate.
------
I haven't been posting comments on here in quite some time, as I have been preoccupied with several issues, but in light of those issues, I feel I need to make a particularly special announcement.
I am in danger of losing my apartment if I don't get at least $700 in the next two weeks.
Yes, I am currently unemployed. Here's the situation: I left my job at a major local employer voluntarily in early September after working for a year and a half there. It was time to depart for many reasons. I took a low-paying call center job not long afterward, but found after about 3-4 weeks, I simply could not stick with it after giving it my 100% best effort (and not doing too badly IMHO).
Since then I have applied for (and interviewed for) two separate and relatively well-paying graphic design related jobs, one of which I am fairly certain I am a leading candidate to get - but the soonest I will know the status on that would be the middle of this coming week.
Therefore I am putting my appeal out here on my blog. In order for me to remain available for these and other opportunities, I will need to be able to meet my basic expenses for at least another 30 days, and at this immediate time I'm not able to do so.
If you have read through this entire blog, you will see that after much frustration in both Phoenix and Austin in 2010, I came to Houston because this is a city of opportunity. This is a city that has its positives as well as its flaws, but the economy here is strong and there is a "can-do" spirit among the people here. After getting on my feet and being "OK" for nearly two years, I still firmly believe that, and I think I might be eventually hearing some good news on the job front.
However, in order for me to remain here and continue to be a happy and productive part of this town, I need some help.
I don't particularly enjoy asking for help, but my political, moral and social beliefs say that we live in a nation and a society of abundance, and that abundance is available to those in need for the asking. I would not be doing the right thing if I didn't put such a request out there for all to consider.
The original function of this blog back in 2010 was an appeal for assistance, and we're back in such a situation now.
There are some outside resources I am considering to help with rental payment assistance that I'll be checking into over the next few days, but I do want to ask the blogosphere for help first.
Here's how you can help:
1. A direct donation using the "donate" button on this page.
2. Purchase my downloadable "e-art" on Scribd. I created three PDF files which can be great posters for your wall, at home or in the office.
3. Purchase items from my CafePress store (with my logo on them!)
4. Contribute to my GoFundMe campaign.
5. Consider becoming a client of mine for creating a custom logo/brand identity for your startup/small business.
Any help would be much appreciated and I'll give you updates as things progress. And please, just in case anyone wants to try something funny, would you kindly spare the negative comments. If you don't have anything nice to say...well, you know the old saying.
Thanks very much.
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