u/Select_Tax_3408

Last night I parked in a rest zone/trucker stop, drank a few beers at the casino to waste some time and then slept in my car. It wasn't bad, I made a pillow out of sweatshirts, I also just so happened to bring a blanket along, and I slept in my clothes. I figured Nevada is a desert and I'm in an insulated box, I'll Crack open my sunroof a little to let the heat out just in case.

Well 7:30am rolls around and I wake up not only to see grey clouds but rain coming down. My front seats are wet, my dues recipt is wet, and I pop up to fix this before it gets any worse. As soon as I slide my key into the ignition my car alarm goes off, honking over and over in the early morning while I assume others are also sleeping. I didn't even know I had a car alarm but thankfully a press of the unlock doors button managed to silence it first try.

Great start to my day.

Time to calm down. I lay my head down and hit snooze on my alarm 5 times too many but I'm up, get some pastries and coffee from the convenience store and head on over to the library. I've got OSHA 10 to grind out.

Now when I took the job from dispatch they said that the contractor would contact me, and then around 4 pm Thursday I confirmed that one last time. My friend, also union JW, got into my head that I had it backwards. Cleared that up.

So today I'm awake, phone in hand from 7:30 am ready for a call. I get to the library 9:00am, no call. I think maybe I'll just try the contact number again, new day, proper working time, let's see. No ring, straight to voicemail, inbox is full. Goodbye, click.

Cool. Maybe I'll call dispatch instead, stay ahead of this. Ring, ring, ring, voicemail, inbox is full. Goodbye, click.

Cool. Go inside the library, set up laptop, get to lessons, try again at 10. Same thing. Then 11. Same thing. Then noon is lunch hour so I try again after 1. Same thing. 2. Same thing. Now it's 3, smashing out OSHA, I'm seven hours down and the library is open till 6 but the hall closes at 5.

I decide to cut it there. There is a problem here, no call from the contractor, no response from the hall. I did at one point call the front desk, I think at 10, and was advised to continue calling dispatch. That clearly wasn't working.

So off to the hall I go, get there just before 4 pm. I let them know what's happening. No call from contractor, no response from dispatch. Please help.

I do get answers, the contractor was calling the wrong number, adding a 5 where there was a 7? Idk. So they verify the phone number, correct the problem and tell me they'll call me shortly. Perfect, I'll stay here in my car and wait it out.

4:45 pm​, nothing. Silence. Concern.

Back inside I go. "Could you call the number I provided on my work slip as it's written, I'd like to confirm it's correct." She types in the number, my cell phone immediately rings in hand.

Cool. What the fuck is happening here? Get told the contractor had just tried again while I was there and it didn't go through. 😐

Oh man, what a day. Tomorrow is Saturday, hall won't be open, but I'll be available so just before I leave I tell the front desk lady, they can call me tomorrow if they want, I will be available. And out the door I go.

By the time I sat down and buckled my belt my phone rings. Hello? It's dispatch, verifying my phone number works because even after we supposedly corrected the wrong number, they still can't get through to me.

I don't know what to say, I tell the guy, "well clearly my phone works and so does the number I provided. Something goofy is going on." He agrees.

So now if nothing happens again tomorrow I'll have to wait until Monday to get back on track. Thankfully there is a library open tomorrow, I'll finish my OSHA 10. But I'm not so sure what is gonna come from this job call.

I would try something different but the benefits of housing, café food, and transportation is such a good deal for a homeless traveler like myself. I really want this to work.

I type this from car, sitting at the same rest stop. I've got food in my belly, lots of water, and a Nintendo 3ds with a full charge. I might grab another brew but the casino is filled with cigarett smoke from the patrons, not my thing.

Just gotta keep my head and push through. It helps that these kinds of odd scenarios follow me everywhere. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've had similar crack slipping events happen. When I mention I had a feeling something bad would happen, that was intuition from experience, an lo and behold.

Kinda funny, makes for a silly story. But at the moment I'm a bit frustrated. I think I will take that beer. At least I've informed the right people, I'm working on the right things, and I have a safe place for the night.

Here's to better luck tomorrow. 🤞

Well I pulled the trigger this week, I left my home state and travel 2 states away, drove 10 hours in a single day. I went from Oregon to Nevada. This is my first time doing something like this and I'm trying to stay numb to all the anxiety from it all.

I managed to snag a hotel for two nights but there are a bunch of tournaments happening here in the city of Reno this month so everything is overpriced or booked out. So tonight I'm sleeping in my car's backseat at a rest stop. I'm pretty ignorant to my options here so this is the simplest and cheapest option, though far from the most ideal. I'll manage and it'll make for a compelling story later, I think. Still sucks.

I did manage to sign the book at the local here and took an open job that was offered by dispatch. Not too many on the OOW list, website says 7 on book 1 and 28 on book 2. Some of the guys were spouting that it wasn't up to date so there could be more. Since dispatch offered it to me I'm going to assume that nobody else wanted it or there are many spots available that it didn't matter that a book 2 newcomer took it. I'd really rather not step on toes, ya know.

I still need to be contacted by the contractor and go through drug screening. I'm also trying to rush out a refresh of OSHA 10. I pumped out 1/3 of it today after 3 hours. I'll have all day tomorrow to smash out the rest. They put a 7 hour timer per day that resets at noon. So I have 4 more hours before that to do as much as I can and then the rest after noon and before the library closes. I might have more time if the drug screen takes awhile but the sooner the better. I do have an OSHA 10 but it's not current from the last 5 years. Appearantly that's a thing despite it also being a lifelong cert. Pffft.

The job is 6-10s, full room and board, cafeteria, and bus service to the job. On top of the wages I'll be getting another $30 a day. I feel like this is good start, almost too good to be true, but also maybe worse than I'm imagining. Since I'm essentially homeless right now, and due to personal circumstances I'm also essentially broke, I felt compelled to take it. It felt like that perfect scenario that falls into your lap. How does one say no to that. I literally perked up when he read the details. Because...

I've had to borrow some money from family to get here. They're so supporting and helpful I'd already be a sunken ship if not for them. I haven't been to work for over a year and a half. I fell hard into depression and was just about over the edge, it is really scary to realize how close I was to not existing. I nearly did it. But for fucks sake I can't do that to the ones that want me around, that's more cruel than anything I can fathom doing.

So awhile ago I sought help, got myself admitted to a mental hospital for two weeks and centered myself. It worked mostly because i wanted it to. But I'm still sensitive, if I was there once already it could happen again. I have to stay strong and that's hard work. Exhausting to be truthful.

But still that dark hole I got stuck in I burned through so many opportunities for growth. I missed my resign and got bumped to the end of the list at home. I burned through all my saving hiding away from the world. I nearly got evicted, fell behind on bills, faded from someone to nothing. I'm crawling back up and I'm on the lip of the hole, either I slip back in or I climb out, but my grip is tight, I'm at my edge at this junction in my life. I'm holding on tight, it's up to the dirt on whether it will break or hold. All I can do is pull and hope it doesn't crumble.

So here I am, hundreds of miles from home, sleeping in my car, about to take a job that might be out of my range. I'm nervous and alone trying not to let it burn away at me. It might work out, but I can't help but think something is gonna screw it all up. I just gotta take this one day at a time and not get discouraged at the what ifs.

I think it'll work out. Mostly because I'm trying to work it out. I'm hoping it'll work out. Because I need a break to get back into the flow of things.

I've got my code book. I've got my tool back pack. ST boots, long sleeves, plenty of clothes. I just need to eat, sleep and work for a while. I'll rake in the money, pay back my debts, pocket the rest. Don't let stupid shit break me. Stay strong. Focus!

I was thinking of trading my car in for a travel camper. Make this my thing for awhile. Drag up here and there. Oregon is cooked right now. I was 1040 something on book 1. Poor bastards, my home is suffering and I don't like that.

So here I am. It's a lot. Life is hard. I miss my cat.

Let's just do what I can do tomorrow. Ignore the anxiety and do what I can. I don't think I'm gonna sleep well at all tonight. But if I don't sleep well then I'll be up early to hit the library to finish my OSHA 10. Something from nothing. A silver lining sparkling in the microwave. Pop pop pop.

I'll be okay, right? Yeah. 😁 Just keep holding on.