So, I've been driving J. to work, and bringing him back home again, since late July, I believe. He's been paying me $200 a week/$800/month.

Quite a lot of out-of-pocket expense just to get someone to drive you to work, especially when I know he only makes $45k.

Still, he took me by surprise today when I was driving him home and he announced that through AA, there's someone he met who happens to live in his town and happens to work in the same town he does and who has generously offered to drive him to and from work 2 days a week, for free.

J. said he's totally tapped out and has a lot of bills coming up. I totally get it. So I had to be gracious about the whole thing, and while it's not finalized yet, looks like my $200/week gig will soon become a $120/week gig, or $480/month instead of $800/month.

It was the only "steady" thing I had.

Let's just hope when one door closes, another door opens. Like a real job offer from the PR agency for a regular 2 day a week, eventually 3 day a week job. That would be real money.

I just learned that my unemployment benefits will run out at the end of the year. Hey, they lasted a LOT longer than I initially thought, mainly because I continue to freelance and then report the income to the state, who then suspends your unemployment check, or a portion thereof. I originally thought they'd run out in April of this year.

One small consolation is that starting in 2013, I will then be eligible for a whole new round of unemployment benefits based on that itty, bitty little p/t job with the publisher that lasted 7 months or so. Based on what I earned, which was little, I will be eligible to receive $52 gross each week.

The universe just keeps throwing monkey wrenches in my path. So far, I've been able to rise above. Hope that continues....

In other news, I have $65 in Amazon gift cards and I can't decide how to use them. I had wanted to upgrade from a cheapie and defective DVD player an old boyfriend had bought me 8 years ago that often rumbles as it plays and is rather fickle. But it's a toss-up whether to buy a Blu Ray or High Def DVD player, and neither is compatible with the other. Plus some don't come with the cable, and i started getting nervous whether I'd know how to hook it up.

As far as current work goes, here's what on my plate:
1. PR agency brochure on hold this week, but to be reviewed by all next week, with likely revisions by me.

2. I'm still editing The Author's second novel; she'll need to pay a 2nd installment soon.

3. Tomorrow after driving J. to work, i have to schlep down to town about 45 minutes away to meet with my real estate client to help him write a roughly 40 page application for a certification he really wants. This should be decent money, and I'm hoping this is the only in-person meeting I'll need to do.

4. Same company also just assigned me another project that's worth a few hundred.

So, thankfully, I have stuff to do. It's just the long-term I always have to worry about. Inevitably, things will slow down.

I like my lifestyle now very much (think: time and freedom) but future bills and how I'll pay them is a constant source of concern. And I wonder how long I can live this way.

Sigh.

I had the furnace cleaned and tuned up today, and it's ready for winter. $170 expense. Had to be done. He said it was very dirty and all out of whack. I skipped the tune-up last year. I guess I won't do that again. But once again, a technician has complimented me on my furnace. It's an expensive one, but one of the best (ThermoPride) and it has a lifetime guarantee on the heat exchanger, which is always the one part that, if it goes, basically means you'll be in the market for a whole new furnace.

I haven't watched a library movie in a long time. I think I'll try to get a Friday.