This isn't a GBCW. Because I'm not leaving by choice, and I'll be back to check my TU status the first chance I get. But my Bush Economy Chickens are coming home to roost.
It seemed almost surreal when I called the cable company yesterday and told them to disconnect, not just my internet service ... but my cable TV too.
She was so conciliatory, almost motherly. "Oh my," her voice had a southern lilt with a soft caressing wisp, "this is like the 4th one of these today I've gotten from down around your way. You folks are really takin' this hard ain't ya?"
Nah. Not really. It's not like we didn't see it coming. I'm grateful it took longer for me, and so far I'm blessed in that I'm still employed. But in my business, you don't have only one revenue stream. One might be a salary from your full time job. That covers the regular nut and the insurance. Another stream might enable you to have a few luxuries around the house, and still another might pay off a charge card so you can splurge with clothes and stuff occasionally.
It's been a good run!
But it's over now. And if my guess is correct it's going to get worse. MUCH worse ... before it gets any better for those of us in the Widget Upper Midwest/Great Lakes area.
So, the first thing to go is the cable and internet, which has been flowing freely into my home for almost 15 years - since I got sober and started being able to afford a real life!
The maid service went last week. Now, before you wrinkle your nose, this is Merry Maids. It's a sort of suburbanite version of a housecleaning service where they just give a pair of gay men's house the once over a couple times a month for 80 bucks. They did bathrooms. It's not my forté. It was affordable ... was.
So anyway, probably some time tonight I will be without digital communication in my home for the first time since Al Gore invented the internets. And I still don't have it as bad as 90% of my fellow Michiganders who are in dire financial straits, some of which have already become a part of the State System, which if you ask me can seem like the closest thing to the Debtor's Prison that folks say doesn't exist in North America.
It's a hard time. But you know what, it doesn't change my view about letting auto companies and banks and whoever all else thinks they can just screw everyone and the tax payer will pay for it, to fail and fail hard. I think they should fail just like the rest of us. Their workers are eventually going to be screwed anyway. The CEO's will scamper off to Dubai with their shiny little golden parachutes and million dollar nest eggs, and we'll be trying to figure out how to make Kraft Mac n Cheese taste like an Italian entree.
So, this is Detroit Mark, signing off ... probably some time around 10pm tonight when they cut the switch and take the box. I'll be back as soon as things turn around and I can pay the fees to turn it back on.
Hang in there folks! The Mayan Calender runs out in 4 years. How much worse can it be?!
UPDATED With My Thanks: I swear, this place can be like an Affirmations Group sometimes. My humble thanks to you for raising me up and listing me over your heads. It's like a mosh of love. I am indebted to the kindness of this community.