Arghrrr!!!!!

In traffic, on hold.

That's what this morning is feeling like.

That's what my life feels like....

We've exceeded our data limit for the month.

See, even though there's major subdivisions just up the road in both directions, we live just outside the coverage zone for all the cable providers. Charter doesn't come here and neither does AT&T. So, internet connection is problematic.

I think there's at least one rant on Hughes Net in the archives of this blog. We started out with Hughes Net, cuz that's who Direct referred us to. They held us captive for 2 years with a contract that was too expensive to cancel. When we could see an end in sight with them I went looking for alternatives and, after long hours of research and calling around, I settled on mobile internet as an option to satellite. T-Mobile had the best bang for the buck with, at the time, 13gigs for $80 a month. Which was a better deal than we got with Hughes.

And all was well. We had to be careful about the data use, but we were making it through most months without being throttled.

And then they introduced Binge on, and well, that's a long story of 'in traffic on hold'. But, we got it all ironed out in the end, and T-Mobile was all I wanted with the ability to stream Netflix, Hulu, and now Amazon. For the $80 a month we get unlimited streaming with the aforementioned sites and 18gigs a month. For the past several months we've been coming in under the data usage and all was well again.

Now, suddenly we've exceeded the data limit by 13gigs and there's a week to go before the account resets. So, we're throttled.

And believe me, that's what it feels like....

Yes, I admit, I'm suffering withdraw.

I have a routine. I get up, hit the bathroom, make coffee, take the dogs out, refill the water dish, and then I sit with the first cup of coffee, surf FaceBook, and feed my zoo. That's the present progression. Disruption to the routine is irksome. Leaves me all flummoxed for the day.

So, here I am all flummoxed.

It's gonna take me all day to feed the zoo.

And it's gonna be like this for the next week.

I can't feed my zoo.

I can't stream anything.

Trying to research anything takes forever.

I've got a draft in process online that I'm going to have to cut, paste, and finish off line. So I don't know if that will ever get done...

In traffic on hold.

This is a symptom of adaptation. I'm sipping my second cup of coffee and typing this off line.

See, while I have a routine and messing with that gets me all flummoxed, I'm not totally inflexible. The morning routine has existed since Steve and I first moved in together, but it has changed drastically over time.

And it can change to accommodate these glitches in the system.

This glitch is feeling like a long, strung out 'Come to Jeebus' moment.

Wow, Jeebus moves in mysterious ways.

And this will consume the other draft sitting in the blog list....

 Jeebus's origins are shrouded in mystery. While some claim Homer Simpson as the first, and only, profit of Jeebus others argue that Jeebus has been with us since the dawn of time.

I have no opinion on that debate.

In my experience, Jeebus is synonymous with a sudden, forceful understanding of an unpleasant fact or situation.

My present forceful understanding is of the unpleasant fact that it costs more to be poor in this country.

At present, I share space, rent, and expenses with 3 other adults and a newborn. 3 of us work slightly better than minimum wage jobs. We're lucky that our rent is way below the average of what most people are paying, and we're still struggling.

We're getting the bills paid, but food has been in scarce supply for the past few months. We had to get propane this month and that has put a severe kink in my life. We came up short for the propane payment and I used the money for the internet bill to make up the difference.

I'm in the middle of a seasonal slow down with work, so my next check isn't going to cover everything I have to pay out of it.

I just paid off a loan with an outrageous percentage rate. (That sparked the 'Come to Jeebus' thread, if you will recall.) The loan company has been calling me since the day after I paid them off, wanting to know if I want another loan.

See, they know I don't have any money, cuz they just took a really, really big chunk of the money I got, and they're looking to get another big chunk.

And it's looking like they, or some other predatory lending company, are gonna get what they want.

Cuz, I don't have the money to pay the bills, put gas in the car, and feed the animals in this check.

If I don't pay the electric bill, they're gonna shut us off. If thy shut us off, I don't work.

I have to pay the internet bill, if I don't, I don't work.

I have to have gas to get to my jobs, and I have to pay insurance on the car.

I'd really rather not have the dogs nibbling at my toes next week.

So, in order to keep everything going and everybody fed, looks like I'm going to have to take out another loan, and the bills will cost me 3 times more than they would have if I had money....

 

Even with a newborn in the house, we made too much to qualify for heating assistance.  With 3 people working slightly better than minimum wage jobs and a low rent payment, we're still having trouble making ends meet.  We've been subsisting on dollar pizzas, ramen noodles, peanut butter, and Mac'n cheese for a while now.  We've cut back on pretty much everything we can and all we're getting is, deeper in debt.

And now, I'm throttled....

This is gonna take a while to upload, assemble, and post.  So, that's all for now cuz,  I've got stuff to do so I can go work a job that doesn't pay enough to live on....