So I applied for unemployment.  I may be 40 hours short to qualify, but won't find out until sometime during the next month. 

I also think that I may be rejected because I couldn't tell them all that they needed to know.  They asked on my online application (they refuse to take applicantions in person now), if there were any weeks where I a) didn't work  and b) made less than $225.  This shouldn't be a big issue.  People usually remember being laid off, and how long they didn't work for.  The problem with me is, I'm a temp.  I've spent the last 4 years in temporary positions that sometime lasted one day, and others a few months. I've worked for 3 different companies, for temporary positions.  It was hard enough for me to accumulate the required 700 hours in 52 weeks... in 2 months, without claiming, I would have lost 200 hours towards an eventual claim... so really I have no other choice but to claim now, when I might be 40-50 hours short. I simply can't wait to find another week's work, because that can easily take 2 months, and has before.   As a temp you can expect to work anywhere from 0 - 6 days a week.  You never know when, where, or for how much.  Wage, shifts, and positions are constantly changing.

Also, I just found out, that if I have less than 900 hours, they want all the records for the past 2 years instead of just 1, including all the weeks in which I didn't work, or made less than $225.  There was a 5 month span where I only worked the odd shift here and there.  So my pay varied from $0 to $300 a week, and it varied quite a bit.  I have absolutely no way of constructing an accurate time frame of my last 2 years of employment, and that alone may disqualify me for badly needed benefits, that I paid for. 

I have come to the conclusion, after many false hopes of being hired onto one of these temporary assignments, that I need training.  I don't have enough work to plan a week a head of time, let alone save up enough for education of any sort.  The basic welding course I want to take is only offered through unemployment... my other options cost more than I make in any given week.  For me to prioritize this training in a way that it can be obtained without government assistance, I would have to quit smoking everything, get behind on my bills, and change my eating habbits from one meal a day, to one snack or canned food item a day.  See the only extra thing I do with my money is buy weed.  I don't go out, I don't shop, I have a very basic cell phone plan as my home phone... and I use the internet more as a tool for finding work, than an EBW machine. Believe it or not, I spend much much more time writing cover letters and searching job posts than I do reading and writing blogs.

I also don't want to make my boyfriend suffer.  It's not his fault that I dropped out of high school, after being accepted into college.  He takes pride in being able to support us both, even though he doesn't make a lot of money.  He has very few indulgences in life, and I would hate to take that little bit away from him.

I don't know what to do.  Hell, it would help even if the government only paid me back the amount of money I've already paid in to this point.  I pay this money out of every pay check to insure that there will still be options if I lose my job at no fault of my own.  It's happened, and now I need help.  I want to become a better tax payer, and they won't let me.

I don't want to make a mistake again.  I don't want to fuck shit up like I did when I dropped out, and had to struggle keeping a job and staying in school at the same time. I remember my teacher complaining about my attendance, and told me that no job is more important than schooling.  That may not be true... but eating and not being homeless were on the line.

I have a really bad feeling that shit is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.  I can see myself getting better benefits as a homeless person, than someone who's trying hard and still getting no where. Hopefully I don't have to get to that point before things start looking up.

It's a wonder how other people do it sometimes.  I was just talking about teen mothers, and how it's pretty easy for them not to take responsibility.  I'm responsible.  I pay my bills on time, I don't have any debt at all, and am a very hard working person who turns the other cheek in the hopes of finding that oportunity to prove myself. All i need is a fucking welding course that I can't afford by myself!!!!!