EPTI live in California, for those of you who know me/my story you know that I lost my license among many other things over the past 1-2 years. Cutting a long story short, I was fined 1,250.00$ and had my license suspended for expired registration. It went to a collections agency (GC Services) which is very strange sounding to everyone I've talked to about this. I mean usually the gov't will issue warrants or other brute force methods to get 'their' money. It's probably because CA is so fucking broke they do crap like this now.
Since I am poor I haven't been able to pay it off in full via unemployment until now and I have been saving up since 12/2010. I'm still unclear on how this debt is to be taken care of. For starters, I don't trust this GCS, I've read countless posts online about their shadiness, harassment, etc. And I've tried to call them a dozen+ times since December just to figure some stuff out and it's always ringing forever, busy, or just hangs up automatically. So I read a few articles This and this which were very enlightening (especially the latter). But they mention nothing about non credit card/loan debts. And I couldn't find anything on this kind of court fine/debt. I took the advice of writing out an 'Agreement To Compromise Debt' letter to the company and they didn't respond.
A month later I called them yet again (which the advice recommends you never do in the first place), and to my surprise someone actually picked up. I was just calling to get information though, (as recommended if you must call). And the whole time the dude would not give me his name and kept trying to get my info and changing the subject back to me. Finally he transferred me to his supervisor who just gave more of the same. She finally gave me her last name but wouldn't spell it. After I got most of what I needed I gave her my name and she started telling me shit I already knew and told me to make payments, blah blah. I asked her if they got my letter and she said yes, but "You don't do that for court fines, only credit card debts.". I am skeptical of what she is saying obviously, but I had also thought this from the moment I started looking into settlement options. I told her I have been trying to contact them for months and no one ever picks up the phone. She basically called me a liar and even was retarded enough to say I just talked to someone in February, which upon my inquiry found out was Feb. of 2010. So she was the liar. They used to call me and send letters every week/month until I moved in Dec. And she wasn't even aware of that.
The debt is well over a year old now and I of course would rather find a way to settle the debt or at the least avoid paying the debt to this company because I am afraid something shady will happen and they will charge me more, or hold the payment for a long time, I dunno it just feels bad in my gut.
I'd also like to mention that when I call Long Beach Superior Court it rings 3-4 times and goes to an automated message that says to call back during a time when I am already calling. So getting through to them is just as aggravating..
I also looked into getting a personal loan or a credit card to help me pay the debt off but I was denied for both (because I have no credit and no job). The bank lady actually told me that banks don't even do personal loans anymore because everyone is so scared and the economy is fucked etc. Btw, when I got my denial letter for the credit card, I tried to call and do the online free credit report (which is a right to CA residents in the event of denial) and It kept saying error or incorrect info or whatever. I followed the instructions for a paper version through the mail but I sent that 2-3 weeks ago, anyone know how long it takes or if I should be afraid of someone who stole my identity or something like that? I did lose one of my SS cards like a month or two ago.
So does anyone know what I should do? Any advice at all?
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As I said, I have been unemployed for over a year now since I got laid off when my store closed down. The pay was not enough to cover my rent and bills but I had a debt being payed to me every month that barely gave me enough to pay and eat minimally. It was terrible, and I had to move but I had no car, no job, and no where to go. And It kind of screwed over my friend/roommate because he had to find the first person he could to move in and it ended up being some tweeker dude who boarded up the windows and didn't pay his bills. My friend ended up moving out too.
I actually had a friend who had hooked me up an interview and it went so well, I typed faster than their receptionist, aced the interview process. But lo and behold I had an issue with a seatbelt ticket that I paid, that didn't get paid, and the background check denied me. I told my sister that I would only need to stay at her place for a month or so while working this new job and I could move to my friend's place as planned. "ERRR" 1st wrong. Then my friend had his own legal troubles with his family and himself and it turns out his sister and her fam are moving in on the room I was going to get "ERRR" 2nd failure. So even though I wanted to wait until I had a job and could have technically moved in there and afforded it off unemployment, I now can't.
I have applied on average to 4-5 places a week and let me tell you online application is both good and bad. 1 its convenient because I can get up and just start filling out shit in my PJs, but 2 the process takes fucking hours for each one. Submitting your resume` but still filling out your last 3 jobs on their thing should be outlawed. Then there are the commen sense questionnaires, and the invasive questions and legal mumbo jumbo you have to read every time. I've been on dozens interviews from a variety of places and cities. 30 minute phone interviews, 2 and 3 interviews with the same company. All of them have the same problems. Everyone is looking for a job, so it's me vs 30 other people for 1 position. Or wait until July and we have a fulltime graveyard shift opening for minimum wage. Not exactly qualified etc.
I actually found a job last week, 12$/hr + commission. And it was 4 blocks away so I could ride my bike. Fucking perfect. I was excited. Telemarketing to set up appointments for home owners who pay high bills to get a salesman to come out there and help them finance solar and other energy efficient upgrades and swap out that monthly payment for their electric bill payment which after 5-8 years would end up earning you money in the long run.
Problem is, I came in during a bad month. Even my seasoned co-workers who had been there for years were complaining about the bad leads and being in the red. I actually made 4 or so appointments in the 6-7 days I worked (2 of which were just training, not even calling) but the people reneged or didn't confirm or some shit. Which apparently counts for nothing and is my fault, so they laid me off among others (or so they claim). It's really kind of silly but I guess their MO is to waste time and money training a group of people every week or so and just cherry pick the top 2 or so lucky ones who get some appointments/sales.
Having worked in sales, telemarketing, poker, hell even trying to get a girl's number, I and (even they know) that it's all a numbers game. A grind. The rejection, the giving 100% and sticking with your A-game and just not coming out ahead and doing it again next month, the tedious repetitive actions. It actually sounds like the definition of being insane. I am the type of person that has dealt with this my whole life, I am probably one of the most tenacious people on the planet. I don't quit easily, I hate doing it. I love to learn new skills and apply them to the field as well as in daily life because they are usually transferable as I mentioned in the first sentence. This is somehow relevant .
I never like to walk away from something without saying I learned something or comparing the pros and cons of it at least. First, I made 465$ in 1 week, which is retarded good. Man I wish I could have stayed on the team. Second, I relearned that once you have a job and feel important that minor shit or personal relationships aren't as important or critical as you were making them out to be. The potential bad thing is that since I was on unemployment before, and I worked a job (even for just a week) I may lose my benefits. Or have to wait super long before they restart. I need to call them and find out. The other bad thing was that I was beginning to make some friends there at work, and never really got to meet/talk with a cute girl there. Oh well, work relationships probably are a bad idea anyways.
So now that I am laid off, again, I am back to looking for work again. I actually reapplied to a local community college for summer courses but I don't know, and they don't know, when or even if grants will be available any time soon. Signing up for classes also started May 25th, but when I look on the site it still says TBA for shit like math and english which is really annoying because I can't even pick the other major related/elective type classes yet until I figure out the times and appropriate a schedule (I think I can use 'appropriate' there in that sentence right?).
Also since the last time I was in college was like 6 years ago I have to retake the assessment tests to even get into math or english classes on June 8th. Classes start on the 13th so I don't know if I'll even be able to take the 12 units worth of classes to get financial aid which means I can't even take any at all because as I mentioned 5000 times before I am poor. In fact I have never seen 5000 dollars. This is the closest I've come to any large sum of money while at the ATM http://imgur.com/9W0z9 . It really made me think, what is this person doing sitting on 50,000$ why would you need this much money? Everything I have ever wanted has been under a few hundred dollars except maybe a car which I would be happy with a few thousand dollar one that works well. Point A to point B. I wouldn't even know what to do with that much money, how to invest it, what to invest it in, etc.
Sorry for such a long post but I've been gone for a while. If anyone cares I met this girl back in March
and dropped my ex. I still think about her and I found out some cheating type stuff she did for the 4 years we were together so I'm just not thinking about it for the time being. This new girl was smart and pretty but kind of crazy and controllingish. She has her own issues shes dealing with too so she came on too strong and too fast and kind of tripped me up. Then just as quickly she pulled out. Things have been hot and cold, I dunno she just kinda flips out when she's drunk or something.
I'm kind of ambivalent towards her and she is towards me too. I think something could be possible but I don't know if she's ready and in the back of my mind I know I don't want to deal with baggage and bullshit even though I know she would be nearly perfect if not for all the crap.
PS- It's kind of funny how TL has changed. The whole time I was banned I never really even wanted to post anything except this: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=198210 and no one really cared about it anyways, even though it took me a week or so to write it up. And then the maps were changed shortly there after. I like to think that blizzard read it and it got them to change up the pool.
Maybe in the future I will do the new maps, because it's pretty clear that Tal Darim is one of the worst maps from GSL for ZvT (although once again an upgrade to previous maps) because of the low ground that completely surrounds the natural, especially when they spawn on the side that is closest to there.
PPS- Found this old pic from blizzcon 07 :
DJEtterStyle, Colbi, x_woof_x, darkghost]coon[, Testie,Tasteless, Messiah]coon[, Dknight,Hurricane, OMGBnetsux
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/1dwKy.jpg)
I hope I can make it to blizzcon 2011 in october and hopefully buy some beers for those of you who have helped me out last year.And I saw this car at work sirl
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/9qriO.jpg)
