Tales of a 99er aka Collateral Damage

Postscript

2015-06-25T19:05:00.001-04:00

If you are reading this blog for the first time let me give you a brief recap. My husband lost his job in 2008. I lost my job in 2009. We were told to update our skills, attend outplacement meetings, unemployment support groups, all of which we did. We were told to reinvent ourselves. Our lives were up in the air.
I would recommend watching the movie, Up in the Air, about people losing their jobs and what a devastating experience it is. When one person in a family loses their job it is frightening. Try to imagine having two people without a job in a household. You know your life will never get back to where it was especially when you are both in your late 50s and early 60s, no matter what you do to try to fix it. Not everything can be fixed.

Then to add insult to injuiry, my husband had a stroke in 2010. We put our house on the market and after a year took it off the market. I became a substitute teacher and my husband got a temporary part time job in a library. We cut back on everything and continued to live in NJ. After a while, it became clear that we could no longer afford to stay in NJ. We put our house back on the market in 2014 and four months ago, moved to Delaware.

It was a big adjustment, picking up and moving lock, stock and barrel to another location where we didn't know anyone especially when we never wanted to move in the first place. Both our families are still in NJ. We are gradually adjusting to our new life here and although there are things we miss about our old life, there are more plusses than minuses to the decision we made to relocate. It was, after all, a matter of survival, something we had to do.

We reinvented ourselves all the way to Delaware.

I am still substitute teaching. We live in a nicer house in a friendly community and all things considered, it's not bad. It's just different but we are okay.

Three Years Later

2014-11-02T20:03:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back. I am still substitute teaching but gave up the caregiver job for a few reasons. First, the agency wanted me to pay $500 to train to become a certified home health aide in addition to paying for my certification and books. Second, and most importantly, I was notified by social security that they overpaid me for making too much money. The caregiver job put me around $3,000 over what I was supposed to make while taking early social security benefits. They will be deducting money from my checks for the next 3 1/2 years as an alternative to paying it in one lump sum.

My husband is still working at the library through National Council on Aging which was taken over by another outfit. He has to find another job when that job expires next year.

The school district I work for has limited me to working 4 days a week because they don't want to pay for health care. I am working in another district to try to fill in the gaps whenever possible.

We are still living in our little house which we put back on the market five months ago. We have found another place to live in Delaware contingent upon the sale of this house and closing before the end of the year which without an offer, thus far, doesn't seem likely. Still, the thought of moving lock, stock and barrel after almost 35 years of living in the same house is daunting.

We are in a holding pattern and not able to get to where we want to go. How we have managed to survive without going into debt, I can't even tell you except to say that you'd be surprised at how many things you can live without if you have to. We're not starving and I've become quite adept at preparing economical, tasty and nutritious meals.

That is my story as it stands for now.

Acceptance

2011-08-26T17:31:00.000-04:00

At this point, it is a safe assumption that my husband and I have been forced into semi-retirement. We are working part time and per diem jobs. Our unemployment benefits have been exhausted. We have accepted our downgraded lifestyle and don’t think very much about the future. We are happy with the essence of our jobs but not the wages. Right now, there is a lot less stress in our lives on a daily basis and we are grateful for every new day.

Life is a lot like a carton of eggs; one stumble away from being scrambled. This is what I have taken away from the last several years.

Status of Unemployment

2011-07-26T07:06:00.000-04:00

Where is the hope?

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/07/25/4-4-million-americans-unemployed-for-a-year-or-more/?icid=maing-grid7%7Caim%7Cdl8%7Csec3_lnk2%7C80933

Summer 2011

2011-07-02T17:58:00.000-04:00

We have taken our house off the market and relieved that we are no longer dealing with the realtor or his company. He actually offered to take it off the market a week before the contract expired. He came yesterday and took the lock box and the signs off the lawn. I can put my pictures back out, take down the indoor signs and start to feel like I live here again.

The home care agency is keeping me busy with several clients and I am finding it to be interesting and rewarding. My latest client is 102 years old, living in the independent living setup. I see her first thing in the morning several times a week and I look forward to our visits. Another client has a garden which I enjoy helping him with. My clients also look forward to seeing me so it is mutually satisfying.

My husband is working at the library, although they have reduced his hours due to Federal cuts.

Our daughter got engaged on Father’s Day so we are looking forward to a wedding sometime in the not too distant future.

All in all, we are still in a holding pattern, but in a better place than we were at this time last year. (My husband was in rehab with no income due to being denied temporary disability.)

That’s the latest from this 99er.

“Abundance is a state of mind within you. If you just look at ‘lack’ the lack increases in life.” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Buyers' Mirage

2011-06-16T11:42:00.000-04:00

In conjunction with my previous post is this article I found describing the problems both buyers and sellers are having in the present real estate market.

http://realestate.msn.com/is-the-buyers-market-a-mirage

Point of View

2011-06-15T10:20:00.000-04:00

Let me tell you what is going on in the real estate world right now based on my experience with a house on the market for the last year. First of all, no matter what you are told, it’s all about three things: the buyer purchasing an affordable house, the seller coming away with enough money to move on, and the agents getting their commissions. If you think about it, that’s what it has always been about.

That has all changed. Before the bubble burst, mortgages were being granted willy nilly to people who couldn’t realistically afford them. In the last few years, homeowners suddenly found themselves underwater or treading water; thus, the creation of short sales (mortgages higher than home values) and more foreclosures at one time. High unemployment is one of the reasons, lack of good paying jobs, rising prices of gas and food, and lack of confidence in the American Dream and the economy in general. I am not an economic expert but in simple terms this is how I see it.

For all of these reasons, those making a living in real estate have found themselves in trying times. Well, join the masses. A realtor will list your home at a price you think is reasonable. If your house hasn’t sold, a month later he asks you to lower your price by about $10,000. When you agree to do that and your home sits for another month or so, he asks you to lower the price again. So you lower your price another $10,000. No offer yet? Must still be priced too high. In the meantime, buyers are sitting on the sidelines watching and waiting for prices to keep dropping, maybe even watching a few homes in particular to see how far they will drop before making an offer.

While this is happening, realtors are putting pressure on sellers by subjecting them to high pressure sales meetings (under the guise of evaluating their sales agent’s performance). They are telling sellers that they are competing with many foreclosures and that the competition is stiff. They e-mail you reports and statistics supporting their position, predicting the doom and gloom ahead, all with the intent of getting you to lower your sales price.

Then you receive a Saleability Check List, really more of a realtor’s wish list which you are asked to check and sign off on. Some of the items include: list below market rate, above market commission, extra items included, home protection plan, avoid contingencies, owner financing. Good luck with that!

Not once do they offer to lower their commission. After all, they have to make a living but expect you to sacrifice your financial position for their benefit. The realtor and the seller become at cross purposes.

Then if you get an offer, they try to get you to make a counteroffer as close to the buyer’s offer as possible. They tell you the buyer has made their best offer and is considering another house in the neighborhood, your competition. You tell them so be it. So they ask to meet with you again. When you refuse, they try to bamboozle you into a “scheduled” telephone conference but you don’t take the bait. Then they e-mail you asking if you will make a counteroffer. You tell them no and to stop calling and e-mailing in an effort to dissuade you and the seller/agent relationship finally breaks down.

Sellers continue to lower their prices, lowering the values of all the homes around them. Buyers believe the sellers are overpricing their homes. Appraisers come in basing their evaluations on the homes that have recently sold (at greatly reduced prices) and it’s a vicious cycle where no one is winning but the buyer and the agent. With the Internet it has become easier for sellers to do a For Sale By Owner. The way things are going, if you can eliminate the middle man (the realtor) you will pocket more in the transaction. I’m not suggesting this is an easier route but it eliminates the commission (unless a realtor shows your home) which is a big savings.

This is the view and has been the experience of a seller in this market. I welcome other viewpoints and any comments.

More Than a Crisis of Confidence

2011-06-10T10:58:00.000-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/09/nearly-half-of-americans-fear-depression_n_874406.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing9%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk1%7C69748

With home prices continuing to decline, cost of goods increasing and unemployment figures rising is it any wonder that there is real concern and worry? Tell me how things are getting better. If you voted for change, you got it. The Carter days are starting to look good.

My husband and I are underemployed, our house has been on the market for nearly a year and we have cut back on our lifestyle. We are not in the minority.

Anyone else with a story?

Retrospective

2011-06-01T14:20:00.000-04:00

It has been almost three years since my husband first lost his job, almost two years since I lost my job, a year since my husband had a stroke and almost a year since we put our house up for sale. Looking back I can honestly say it has truly been one of the worst, most awful periods of my life, thus far. I am only now beginning to feel like I have finally emerged from the tunnel. We are both working at jobs we love and still managing to pay our bills. We are still looking ahead to a time when we will move into a more affordable home with a less labor intensive lifestyle but for now we are staying put. We’re not out of the woods yet, but I think (and hope) we are approaching a clearing.

The New Normal

2011-05-24T06:55:00.000-04:00

My husband and I have settled into a new sort of life. We are both working – he at his part time job at the library and me at my two jobs substitute teaching and care giving. We both like what we are doing but, having been cut off at the knees, are making far less money than we were before we lost our jobs.

Our contract with the realtor will expire in the beginning of July. People are still looking at our house (three this week) but no takers. The real estate market has nosedived even since we put our house on the market in September of last year. We are tired of vacating the house and having people traipse through only to get negative or disinterested comments. What the market will hold next year is anyone’s guess. We are not sure what we are going to do about the house, but we do need to move at some point in the near future. I would like to sell the house to someone we know without a realtor, but don’t know of anyone at this time.

We are still in a holding pattern for the time being but subsisting. As I talk with people I am meeting through my work, I am finding that many (young and older) are working at least two jobs to pay their bills. Recent college graduates are finding the competition very stiff in the workforce with as many as 1,400 applications for one job. Frankly, I don’t see any improvement in the economy thus far. Get down in the trenches with real people trying to make a living and see what is really happening right now in this country.

Anyone who thought the world was going to end on May 21 didn’t’ get an easy out and the beat goes on.

Among the Trenches

2011-05-14T08:34:00.000-04:00

Since I have started substitute teaching I have met a number of different people. One woman who is divorced is working three jobs sometimes logging 80 hours a week. Once a week she does an overnighter in a home for the mentally ill. Despite the long hours she is working, she has an upbeat demeanor. I have met people who have been subbing for years, some finally landing a permanent position as a teacher’s aide or paraprofessional. Each school has its own environment, e.g dress code and rules. Most everyone has been helpful and friendly. My sister-in-law has worked in this district for over 20 years so I have an instant familiarity with people who know her. It makes me feel not so strange. I am finding my way through, asking questions and getting to know the secretaries.

My care giving job is a little more isolating. I visit people with whom I am on a one to one basis. One evening my neighbor’s mother who lives in a facility I have been assigned to was having an art exhibit. I saw her family there on my way out one evening. All in all, I have been getting out and meeting all sorts of people everywhere I go.

Between the two jobs, some days I am out the door at 8:00 a.m. and finish the day at 8:00 p.m. It’s a completely different life.

Update

2011-05-05T08:20:00.002-04:00

How is everyone out there in blogger land? I have entered a new phase in the workforce. Between substitute teaching and care giving I have returned to part time employment. This is quite a departure from sitting behind a desk all day.

The house is still for sale but our realistic expectations are that it will probably not sell until next year. We may have to take it off the market for awhile. In the meantime, we are on a tight budget in a holding pattern. My friends check in with me periodically for which I am grateful and life goes on.

Spring Has Popped

2011-04-25T15:54:00.000-04:00

The weather has warmed up (finally!!!). I have started working, subbing for two days so far. I had two very different days in the schools; one day with a difficult class (noisy second graders) and another day with good classes (first and third graders) and room assistants. I have also visited clients in an independent /assisted living facility five minutes from my house . The caregiving clients I have been assigned to are men in their eighties, also very different from each other. One is in assisted living, quiet, polite and very low key. The other is in independent living, a former engineer, and quite exact as to what he wants. So far, so good.

Every week someone else looks at our house but the only offer we have had is from an investment company which really amounts to no offer. Below are pictures of the lower and upper front yards.

No Age Discrimination

2011-04-16T14:39:00.001-04:00

During the last month, in addition to applying for office positions, I have been actively pursuing substitute teaching and caregiver jobs. I have been given low pressure interviews and readily accepted for hiring without question (after background and reference checks). I believe the reason is because people are needed in these jobs. Substitution teaching has become saturated, but this week I have been called a few times by one district immediately after being approved by the Board of Education. I have also been contacted several times by one other district. So far, I have applied to four school districts.

Next week I will be training for a caregiver job. My objective is to earn a living between the two jobs, by balancing both. This is unchartered territory for me and a new direction to pursue.

The Unemployables

2011-04-08T15:55:00.004-04:00

On April 3 the CBS Sunday Morning Show featured a segment on ageism in the workplace. These are the statistics. The chances of finding a job within a year if you are over age 50 is 24%. If you are over 60 you have an 18% chance. Experience is less valuable when younger people will do the job for less. To test the hiring market, 4,000 fictitious resumes including graduation dates were sent to various want ads. The results were predictable. Companies were 40% more likely to hire the younger applicants. Because of this, older workers are involuntarily working part time or dropping out altogether. There are many who will not find jobs again.

What must also be taken into account is that health insurance is, more often than not, lost in the process. Consequently, people over the age of 50 will become a burden on society.

An auto salesman was interviewed who eventually found a part time job in his profession. To see the full report and video click on the link below.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/sunday/main3445.shtml

Real Life Outcomes

2011-04-03T10:06:00.000-04:00

At this time last year, I was taking a computer course program to update my skills offered by a tri-county employment and training service. It was a small class and recently I contacted a few of the people I met to find out how they had fared. One of them had interviews but not as many as he thought he would and said that his own field of expertise was rejecting him. He will take a part time job but ultimately wants to work full time. Another classmate, after submitting numerous applications, making resume revisions, going on interviews, and being consistently rejected, finally accepted a part time job with a retail store. Both suspected ageism was a factor but, unfortunately could not prove it. We were all in that class to upgrade our skills and improve our chances of obtaining gainful employment.

As for me, I am still applying to administrative jobs, including temp work. The only interviews I have had since last year were for substitute teaching and caregiving. My husband, as described in one of my previous posts (see February, Henry Beemis Gets a Job at the Library), took a part time job after almost two years. This is a small but realistic sampling of what has been happening to people who have been displaced from their jobs. Those in their 50s and 60s have been put out to pasture well before their productive working years have ended. There is also the stigma of being chronically unemployed and worth less. If companies are given monetary incentive to hire the long term unemployed, placing them in a protected class such as the disabled, they would be getting jobs because their bottom line would be worth more. The 99ers are not being protected. Even so, first, there must be jobs to fill. But are there really? And, if so, exactly where?

Underemployed or Unemployed

Best Laid Plans

2011-03-28T08:15:00.003-04:00

In my quest for answers, I have recently read the book “Ninety Minutes in Heaven” by Don Piper recommended by a close friend. It is about a man who died for 90 minutes and came back to tell about it. He was left for dead but believes that the power of prayer is what brought him back and kept him here. It is the most convincing account of the hereafter I have ever read. I have always wavered between believing and not believing in an afterlife but this book gave me pause for serious thought.

I have been told there are your plans and there are God’s plans. God helps those who help themselves. Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. At this juncture, it has been three weeks since anyone has looked at our house. Maybe I am “philosophically rationalizing” but it is starting to feel like there are forces keeping us right where we are. I have also been reading stories of struggle and desperation written by people who are losing everything because they have lost their jobs and have health problems. If you think about life on earth with all its struggles and strife, hardship and poverty, and the evil that exists, perhaps earth is hell with glimpses of heaven.

No one knows where their journey is leading them and maybe you have to suffer more than you expected along the way but is there something more? The answers aren’t clear but hindsight sometimes brings insight.

The New Normal in Process

2011-03-22T16:42:00.000-04:00

These days when my husband comes home from his part time job he sounds upbeat. Although he is not making the money he was before he lost his job, he can’t imagine going backward to the days he was working at a job he hated. As for me, it has been so long since I worked in an office that I have developed a new perspective on what it is I want to do next. My income will also decrease but I am hoping my next field of endeavor will bring me more satisfaction than mere dollar value. Make no mistake. We would have continued with the jobs we had indefinitely but because of lack of opportunity, ageism, and the circumstances we found ourselves in, we have been forced to rethink our lives. I am moving in another direction and will post when that eventuality takes shape.

Different is the New Normal

Dedicated to Those Who Have Helped

2011-03-18T09:06:00.001-04:00

Credit is due. First of all, to our daughter who provided us with a car when the lease on our car expired. Without jobs, we were unable to lease another car and we did not have the money to buy another one. Next to my brother-in-law who volunteered to help us paint our house and power wash our deck when we decided to sell. He also did a few repairs. To another brother-in-law who offered us free access to outplacement services with his company. To our friends who have checked in on a regular basis (you know who you are) to offer moral support through words and deeds. Finally, to my readers for your positive feedback and interest in my blog. You have buoyed us up during a very difficult (not to be confused with challenging) time. I've always hated when the word "challenge" is used in place of the word "difficult." If you look up the words "challenge" and "difficult" you will see the difference. Let's call this what it is. Thank you all for your loyal support.

Diminishing

2011-03-16T07:45:00.004-04:00

We had our fifth open house on Sunday. Two lookers stopped in and one neighbor. One person went to school with my daughter and thought the house was cute. But no offer. I have resigned myself to being here longer than anticipated, at this rate, probably through at least the rest of this year. We are going to have to accept the reality of diminishing further. I will be entering Tier V pretty soon which means I hope I find underemployment (just like my husband). Our income will be further reduced and I am not eligible to collect early social security. We all have to make choices but for some of us, those choices aren’t good when you are caught in a recession. As for the 99ers we weren't given a choice unless you want to call survive or die, a choice. You decide.

What Economic Recovery?

2011-03-10T09:25:00.000-05:00

This is a rather interesting account of what is actually happening in the economy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/08/AR2011030804456.html

Movement

2011-03-08T16:55:00.001-05:00

This article gives advice to 99ers about how to be heard. Just because our benefits have expired, doesn't mean we have. We are not invisible.

http://www.thenation.com/article/157292/mobilizing-jobless

Calling All 99ers to Unite and Act

2011-03-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

Please see link below. Also see comment section under my post in February entitled, "For My Followers and Readers."

www.publicrecordsdetectivesjournal.co.cc

The Guitar Man

2011-03-05T09:35:00.000-05:00

Since we decided to move, I have been selling, giving away or throwing away many items in this house. I came across a drawing my daughter had done of her high school boyfriend. It consisted entirely of dots drawn together to compose a picture of him playing the guitar. The drawing was entered into an art contest and received distinction in the Congressional Record. Because they had gone their separate ways, she and I decided that he should be given the picture. I drove to his house and he answered the door. He invited me in and we talked for awhile. I wasn’t surprised to know he is pursuing a musical career and teaching guitar. As I was ready to leave he gave me a hug and I said, “High school. Those were fun times.” He told my daughter back then that my husband and I liked him more than she did. I’m sure that was true. I smiled as I left looking over my shoulder and started to feel sad. It felt as though I was looking at him in my rear view mirror.

Hope v. Desperation

2011-03-02T09:08:00.006-05:00

The article below describes the desperation of many 99ers who have exhausted their benefits and hope. There comes a limit. This post is an expression of fear of what could lie ahead. It's difficult to sustain optimism on a daily basis in this situation, also known as situational depression.

Incidentally, I am having another birthday today. Happy birthday to me? My wonderful daughter is taking time off from work to treat me to lunch.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-99ers

You take my life when you take the means whereby I live.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, The Merchant of Venice