October 09, 2017

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid Emergency

God, this is so embarrassing. Okay, let me do this in something resembling a proper, civilized order. First, many thanks to those who made donations in response to my recent posts. I received several donations after the second post (thanks again!), but unfortunately it was less than the $300 to $400 I needed. So I'm still trying to pay bills that have to be paid, including the internet bill that has to be paid tomorrow. Because I still can't pay the bills, I am still waiting to order groceries. There's almost no food left in the house at this point.

Then, just a short while ago, I received a message from PayPal informing me that my "preapproved payment" to The Washington Post had been made -- in the amount of $149.00. Since I only had $60 in my PayPal account, I'm now in the red for $90. But ... WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!, I thought. $149?!?!?! To The Fucking Washington Post?!?!?! So I did some checking -- and godammit to hell, but there was a preapproved payment in that amount. I had signed up for The Washington Post a year ago. If I'd remembered the deal, it would have been a good one -- the first year for $29, then the second year for $149. If I'd remembered it, I'd have canceled the prepayment, of course -- in the past year, as my funds grew less and less each month, I've canceled all the recurring payments I'd had. Because my funds are always so tight, I simply pay bills as I have the money.

But I forgot about The Fucking Washington Post. Oh, it's canceled now, you can bet your ass. And I'll contact the WP, and try to cancel the renewal and get a refund. I'm dubious I'll succeed; in any case, that will probably take a little time. In the meantime, I'm even more broke than I thought I was.

It's totally my own fault. Stupid, stupid me. But I still have some bills to pay, and I haven't had a decent meal in close to a week. Relatedly: I apologize for being late with the second part of my article about the Ken Burns Vietnam series. But I've been feeling very crappy -- anxiety about the financial situation, compounded by eating very poorly, with major intestinal problems as one of the results, and then it got very, very hot again for a few days. It's been a truly, horrendously rotten week.

Anyway, I'll try to get the next part of that series completed by mid-week. For the reasons explained above -- and because I am sometimes very, very, very stupid -- I could use a little more help.

My apologies for all of this. Well, not for the actual writing, when I get it done. But for everything else. I'm genuinely sorry.

Okay. Maybe I've beaten myself up enough. Time to get on with the tasks at hand. But can I just say one more thing?

FUCK PISS SHIT

Alright, three things. Ah, better.