Man, I hope our housemate gets a job soon . . . We both do contract work, and unfortunately, he's just not been getting any jobs lately, so my income is literally just keeping the house afloat right now. This isn't a new situation for me, but what's annoying about it is when stuff starts breaking down . . . It all goes at once, it seems.

I have an old IBM lappy that I used to work on until the powersupply died. So, we ordered a new one from e-bay, and the one that arrived was dead . . . but it would have cost us more to fight to get it replaced (the seller wouldn't respond, so we did leave scathing negative feedback.), so the lappy sits in a closet until we figure out where to get another power brick . . .

My current lappy, a dell inspiron 9200 that I was given because the former owner decided that a few sticky keys (she stupidly poured soda on the keyboard one night and never bothered to clean it out) meant that she had to have a NEW lappy. Not gonna complain, it was free . . .

Except the power plug on the motherboard for this model has a known problem of eventually working loose . . . not like falling out, but just enough so you have wiggle the cord to find the 'sweet spot' to get it to charge or even just realize that the right KIND of power supply is being used. This isn't a big deal for me, except that it's been slowly getting worse over the last year . . . And finally today, just when we REALLY can't afford to replace the motherboard (About $250 on ebay) or get it repaired (which, depending on the shop, costs nearly as much as the replacement board after you figure in shipping) the thing starts acting dangerously . . .

The speakers are outputting a patterned 'fuzz' that goes away if you unplug the cord. This combined with the touchpad not working right when the cord is working (sweet spot and all) says that there is some sort of arcing going on, and this means I stop using the lappy.

Which would be fine if we had the home office set up properly . . . but since we bought the house at a HUGE deal because of a lot of unfinished work, every time we turn around, we find more that we have to do before we can finish anything . . .

It's days like this that make me wonder if we'd have been better financially if we stayed in Kentucky . . . but then I remember how miserable we were down there.

meh . . . just bitchin, I guess.

d

I feel for ya bro. It always seems to pour on me to. Hopefully
some sunny days are heading your way :-)

Your roomate might have a few options open that are not very attractive, but can help get through a rough patch:

Geting job he is overqualified for (Minum or or low wage job) Resteraunts have the side benefit sometimes of givng you free meals!

If they are very close to home, he can walk or wont use much gas to get there.

I made Pizzas and subs for 5$ an hour for 2 months when I got laid off once back in 92, was just around the corner from my Apartment too!

Wal-Mart, Mcdonalds, Best Buy, Gas stations, Security Gaurd, or factory work are almost always hiring, even when the economy isn't so hot.

I just kept applying for other jobs till something good came up.

There are other ways to generate modest income, doing "Odd Jobs" in the neighborhood, from cutting lawns to shoveling snow, but those are usually jobs done by kids for next to nothing.

He might want to look more at things like cleaning gutters, home repairs (Handyman type jobs) you just have to be inventive!

He might also try and step up a notch for his contract business (You didn't specify what you guys do!)

Make up some flyers (With "Special Deals") and put them on cars at the supermarket, post them on bulliten boards, put business cards up at resuraunts, make a web page, call old customers and ask if they need any more work, or know of any, etc...

You can also "Barter" for services, people often will trade things of value you might not want or need, but could easily be sold for a decent amount of money.

Friends and family (Extended too..dont forget cousins, aunts uncles, etc...) can often bee a good place to start, since you may know of items they have that are surplus.

I could go on and on..but maybe this will help him spark him to get going in the right direction!

Of course selling stuff (Old junk you are hanging on too like golf clubs, car or computer parts, sports equip, computer hardware) on ebay, pawn shops, garage sales, classifieds etc.. is always an option too.

Just remember 5$ here and 10$ there can add up over time if you are disaplined enough to keep it in a cookie jar or something and not spend it.

Good luck!

All excellent input, Necro, and much appreciated.

::edit::By the way, we're both computer consultant/contractors . . . Fixers, if you will. he's much more focused in the database arena as well as web design, whereas I'm more of a catchall at the moment, working towards sys administration specialties. ::end edit::

The main problem we have with the roomie and finding work is he's currently in a bad divorce situation that pretty much has him screwed to the wall. Long and short of it is that with no proof that he hasn't been paying, his ex is saying that he hasn't paid jack for child support, when he has all kinds of evidence he has. Crooked DHHS official in this state (Who has since been fired for starting hundreds of these collection cases with little more than heresay) enforced collection and when the roomie presented the evidence to the contrary, they took it and said it didn't matter, they were still collecting. . . and since the roomie was making $40/hr at the time, that's what they collect at, regardless of the rate you are actually working.

DHHS has since said that they know they goofed up, but they 'fix it', a judge has to order it done . . . and this ultimately requires us to hire a lawyer to make sure we have ALL the ducks lined up in that nice little row to make it happen.

The ultimately frustrating part is that because it's an international dispute, there's no lawyers locally that will help him start the process of getting this crap rescinded, even though he stands to get several thousand back from the state, which a healthy percentage would go towards the lawyer . . . . We're still hunting for a good lawyer who'll help, but until then, we need to try to help saving up for the court fees . . .

So, he works for barter when he can, but unless he can get $20 an hour at least, working over the table just isn't worth it for him right now.

Frustrating as hell, but we're doing our best to find the loophole that helps us close this all up nicely.

d

drougnoir, I was going to go into a little bit a lament to try to make y'all feel better and that you guys aren't the only ones in a bad situation, but I can't compete with that story. Not even close. Hell, bankruptcy wouldn't even help him 'cause the courts won't dismiss child support debts and such and as you already know only a family court judge can undo what the crooked DHHS official did.

Instead I will agree with SOLID in that everything he says is good, solid, advice. Selling things on ebay could be a very lucrative side business. Go around to yard sales, buy stuff, and sell it on ebay. Or advertise that you will sell people's stuff on ebay for a cut.

And SOLID, I'm gonna need your help in the near future when I launch my personalized printing business. Those are some great advertising and marketing ideas!

DN, I greatly appreciate that you are trying to help me see the bright side . . . And it does help. Man, Levittown, eh? Next time we go to visit our friends in Queens, we'll have to arrange a meetup!

Quote: Originally Posted by drougnor DN, I greatly appreciate that you are trying to help me see the bright side . . . And it does help. Man, Levittown, eh? Next time we go to visit our friends in Queens, we'll have to arrange a meetup!

Sounds like a plan!

There's that other shoe . . . was waiting for it to fall for a few days now.

Things are generally quite good in my life right now . . . but for the lappy, it's current mobo has just hosed. Listening to tunes at work and there was a gentle pop through the headphones, and the screen went black, accompanied by the sound of the fans stopping and the harddrive's head parking 'click'. The power light stayed on, however.

So, I hold the power button in to try to force a reboot, hoping that it's just a simple lockup . . . But alas, no love, for there is now 'THAT SMELL™'. You know what smell I mean . . .

Yes, the Magic Smoke™ has escaped, never to return. Alas, it seems that when they pumped the mobo full of Magic Smoke™ didn't secure the adapter plug where the power brick attaches properly . . . The connection holds in this model Dell for a few years, then, poof, out the smoke goes . . .

So, yah, that put a damper on my day . . .

But, we did get the 1,000 plus pound boiler and dead waterheater that were cluttering up our basement removed, and at some point this week, the same people will be coming back to remove the old cast iron radiators that we have on the third floor so we can actually begin working towards getting MODERN heating on all three floors, so THAT's a 'woohoo' moment!

Now, to go find some bux in the budget to get a replacement mobo.

d