Girl on the Brink: Surviving Desperate Times with Desperate Measures

Day 263 — The Sound of Music

I’m one of the original girl technogeeks. I bopped around the Internet back when it was just a small neighborhood, or more accurately a boy’s dormitory. So put an electronic toy in my hand, and I’m as swift on the uptake as my kids, and that’s saying a lot. When I save to my cell […]

Day 262 — If Job Seekers Could Tell All

Tonight, I’m watching the ABC reality dating show, The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love. This episode is especially special because it features all of The Bachelor‘s rejected bachelorettes and, of course, the bachelor, Jack Pavelka, a pilot with brawn-perfect chest and arms. Since the season started on January 5, Jake has been sending girls […]

Day 261 — Ann Starts to Save

I’m growing to believe that saving is a lot like dieting. It takes a while to be good and take off the extra pounds. But once you get on a roll, you begin to stick with the program, with an occasional fall. When you have so little money, it’s hard to start saving. That might […]

Day 260 — Getting Off Government Assistance

We get on to get off. I got off last week, government services, that is. I had been a recipient of unemployment, food stamps and Medicaid (remember, Medicare is for old people). When I got off the unemployment roll, the change in my income disqualified me for government assistance. Sure, I probably could have kept […]

Day 259 — Snow Thoughts

One side benefit of the whopping snowstorm: I get to spend extra time to ponder the whys of the world in between drying heaps of wet clothes my kids leave on the floor after playing outside in the snow. I also get to ponder the dos and don’ts of such things as potty behavior, especially […]

Day 258 — Snow Days for Ann

We got 30 inches this weekend! On a normal weekend, I usually get about 8. Before the big snowstorm hit Friday evening, I got to go home early from work. I enjoyed sipping a glass of wine and watching all the fluffy frosty flakes fall from the sky. The next morning, I felt like Alice […]

Day 257 — Snow Me

When confronted with a humongous snow storm, it forces me to cogitate. That’s because snow presents serious questions. The bigger the snowstorm, the more serious the questions. There are job-related questions: Will my office close? Will I get to leave early? Should I work like crazy and get as much work done as possible, or […]

Day 256 — Double Job Fun

For some girls, one guy is never enough. For Ann, one job is never enough. Yes, Ann is looking for extra work. While she’s thrilled to be taken off the unemployment roll, she’s got one little problem. Ann is making $20,000 less than in her last full-time job. That’s a significant drop in wages, given […]

Day 255 — Work Pleasures

Now that I got a full-time job, I can’t wait to get to work, even on the weekend. No matter! You make out of life with whatever it presents you. This weekend, good old Mother Nature presented me with snow. Not a lot but enough to sculpt visions of a better tomorrow and maybe evening […]