Hello we meet again.
Oh my oh my.
What a week this has been.
Its almost difficult to figure out where to begin.
We will start with some happy news and let the story spiral out of control as the week has and maybe end with some high hopes as well as deep thoughts.
I had mentioned in my last post that we were awaiting news from Brian's job on if they were going to make him permenate or not.
WELL, ITS OFFICIAL!!!!!
We got the news that Brian passed his UA and signed his hire on papers just days after my last blog but i felt it was too soon to update so i waited to share the great news.
As of January 29th our 3 year wedding anniversary, Brian is an Employee of Dave's Killer bread. No more temp agency, no more faxing time sheets and a nice raise. I am so proud of him. This job is a great new beginning for him. It offers him stability and chance of advancement.
His boss is telling him he will be able to get certified for USDA Baking, Fork Lift operation, and many other things. He received a Certificate for his hire on as well as an Official Dave Killer Bread T-shirt to take home.
Brian also received a $2 an hour raise which is amazing and beyond rewarding for all his hard work.
He received a pair of steel toed work boots and a uniform with his name on the sleeve from the company too. All his buddies at work were joking that he should have Jersey printed on his uniform instead of Brian considering that is what they all call him there anyway.
In more 3 months we will have Health insurance (something neither of can remember having in a very long time), He will also be given another raise when the health insurance kicks in too. The amount of that has not been set in stone but we are hoping for something good. Then in 6 months he is entitled to a 401K. These are all great things that i was raised being told were important later on in life.
Brian and i both felt these things were not obtainable but life is proving us wrong.
I couldn't be more proud of Brian and his accomplishments so far upon leaving NJ and walking away from the past. He is definitely proving to be an amazing man and trying his hardest to take care of us.
To celebrate Brian's hire on we headed to the ATM took out $20 went and picked up Tiffany and off we went to APEX my favorite Beer Garden. Brain had never been, yet had heard so much about it and their amazing Ghost Chili Beer that Tiffany and I love so much. It was a night of 2 tasty beers each and lots of laughs amongst good people.
And as always Great Bathroom art and reading.
Just after this amazing news and fun night the skies grew dark and life spit a tornado of havoc our way.
May i tell you there is nothing like waking to an email on your phone stating your Bank Account has been drained to one dollar. Brian and i found it better and easier to just withdraw the cash from an ATM, rather than swiping are cards all around town. So this email from the bank was quite a surprise that sent up a million red flags. I jumped out of bed and to the computer to see what was going on. It stated there was a hold/debt for all but $1 that was in our joint account. I called the bank and they couldn't give me too much information till the transaction actually cleared in 24 to 78 hours. Talk about torture, not knowing where your money just disappeared into thin air.
My mind was thrown into a frenzy and i could feel my blood pressure rising and the questions wouldn't stop running thru my mind. I decided to stay home and take care of some stuff around the house to pass the time. I placed $10 in the account so i would get another notification when the transaction processed.
Around 2 am i got an email i had been waiting for. I went online and to my surprise it was a check for all but $1 in my account. The check was written out from a Temp agency in New Brunswick NJ made out to a man in Carteret NJ. Neither mine nor Brian's names were anywhere on this check. I closely examined the check every number every mark i could see. The image of the check wasn't the best but from what i could see it looked like my routing number and i think my account number. The last number of the Account was hard to make out. It looked like a 1 but could have been a 4. I waited up till 7am east coast time to call the check fraud dept at the bank. I asked a million questions all of which i come to find out the bank is not allowed to answer honestly for security purposes.
I asked if by some chance there could have been a mistake with the account number and they took from the wrong account and they said there was no chance in hell. They told me it was a fake check with my account number. The fraud dept told me i may want to notify the police here in Portland and they were putting a freeze on my account and everything in it. I quickly moved what i could from direct deposit that went thru that morning into my account.
I can not even begin to explain how stressed out i am at the moment.
I was mentally drained.
The officer showed up at my place and was quite impressed with the amount of evidence i had ready for him. Thank god for that printer i got for Christmas.
The officer took everything and gave me a case number and told me he would look into everything for me.
For the first time in two days i actually felt safe and a feeling that there would soon be justice came over me.
I figured maybe if i drowned my stress in some good music it would make me feel better and it sure did.
I woke The next morning in a good mood it was the day before Mine and Brian's 3 year wedding anniversary, and Brian's day off. So why not celebrate a day early.
Its crazy to think 3 years ago i emptied out my storage unit, made my ex come get his junk, picked Brian up at the airport and drove east to The Graceland wedding chapel in Vegas and on a whim of following my gut feeling married Brian without telling any of my family.
The picture below was taken by Arabia who was adventurous enough to get in the car with us and sign her amazing name on our marriage certificate as our witness to make our marriage legal.
Look how young we look.
Sorry i got lost in a memory lets come back to present day.
Considering we were broke due to the bank account being froze and the rest of the money we had was for rent, we had to figure out something fun to do to celebrate on a budget. Just then the mail came thru the slot in the door and the door bell rang. It was a small package from mom.
I opened it to find some amazing smelling candles, two cute belated Christmas presents from my aunt and my cousin in Germany, as well as a happy anniversary card from mom and Stan. And a little Anniversary cheer inside. I decided for safe keeping maybe i should put some of that cheer into the bank for what i thought would be safe keeping. This time i deposited it into my personal bank account via ATM. From there
Brian and i decided to head down town to wander on foot just to enjoy the day and maybe grab a bite to eat while we were at it. We explored the Doc Marten store for some free pinball plays on their pinball machine,
then off to Powell's book store, as well as many other interesting places just laughing and window shopping and enjoying the night out together. We stopped at the Noodle Company and shared a large dinner to keep within our budget.
After dinner we headed back to our side of town and decided to count out some quarters to cash in for Brian to get a big cheese burger
We do make a cute couple.
The next day was our official anniversary and he had to work, so while he was at work i decided to clean the apartment and make sure there was soup and grilled cheese awaiting him when he got home from work. I also left him this very cute card i picked up a few weeks earlier.
The card was so perfect i couldn't pass it up.
We stayed up laughing and just forgetting about life's worries.
We went to bed with huge smiles on our faces. My cheeks hurting from laughing all night.
But this happiness was soon to be stolen by the bank again the next morning.
I was woke by another email notice of account balance low and for a second thought it was referring to our joint account again. For some reason i decided to take a look at the email again and noticed this time my solo account was wiped clean. I am not having any luck. I jumped out of bed back to the computer and back on the phone with the bank. I was losing all my faith in Bank Of America. two accounts in one week what are the chances. Well I'm sure you will find that out later on in the story.
Brian stumbled out of bed in complete disbelief that we were dealing with this again and this time for the rest of our rent money that we thought was safe.
After calling the fraud department again i was informed it was an electronic debit for more money than we had in our account and they couldn't give us more info for 24-78 hours. Fun the waiting game AGAIN.
From the moment i hung up the phone Brian and i started retracing our steps to figure out where we swiped both cards and we could only come up with the Bank ATM. So i called the bank directly and was connected with a woman named Mariahrds and we could only come up with the Bank ATM. So i called the bank directly and was connected with a woman named Mariah with the voice of an angel. She promised me we would get to the bottom of all of this. She got the fraud department to release the name of the company trying to deplete my bank account. Turns out it was The Wonderful (sense the sarcasm) State of California. She provided me with a number to call to get to the bottom of this. The investigating over the phone began at noon with mariah on 3 way. Turns out the state of California and the state of New Jersey do not communicate too well nor too often with each other. After being on hold for near an hour i got to speak to a Human. According to the voice on the other end of the phone even tho 3 years ago i moved to NJ, Changed my address,Changed my license, Registration, and title from California to NJ, They insisted i still was a California state resident.
The garnishment of my bank account was a way for California to collect The past 3 years of registration fees they claimed i owed them for car registration. My question is if i didn't live in California what gives them the right to charge me money? After an hour and a half on the phone explaining i changed my address and notified them i left their state and had legally registered my vehicle in the state i resided in they told me i didn't really owe them that money.
(NOTE TO ANYONE WHO HAS MOVED FROM CALIFORNIA TO NJ OR VICE VERSA: MAKE SURE THE STATE YOU LEFT KNOWS AND PROPERLY NOTES IT ON YOUR ACCOUNT TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING TO YOU).
Once they told me i didn't owe the money they took, they informed me that it would be 4 to 6 weeks till they could refund me my money. Oh Hell No. I need that money now. Still with the lady from the bank on the phone, she asked if she could fax the bank a paper stating i didn't owe the money and they denied her request. Then the woman at the state of California notified me i had 3 unpaid parking tickets she would have to take out of my bank account. I know i paid them. One was by money order and the other two were by Electronic debt from my Bank account. The woman told me i would have to prove it. Great.
Let the digging thru every piece of paper i own begin.
Brian nearly freaked when i did this to the house. While I was digging thru piles of papers the lady at the bank was searching my account for proof of payment.
She discovered that i had made two payments to the Los Angeles Parking Ticket Division for the exact amount of two out of the three tickets from my account just like i said.
But because i paid the one by money order and i recently had a shreding party of all documets money order reciepts and bills over 3 years old she couldn't help me there.
I continued digging and no luck on finding the payment stub for the third.
So by good faith i had to repay the state of California $144. I'm not too happy about this but if it gets it out of my life i will make good on it.
It was now 4 o clock and the nice lady at the bank was still on the phone with me and had the Patience of a saint. She informed me to head over to the bank and she would allow me to clear out my personal account but had to wait for the money out of Brian's.
OH FUN.......
Now how am i going to pay the remainder of my rent if i cant have all our money from the bank.
Upon arriving home there was a knock at the door.
It was Danielle and Shawn to smother me in Hugs and save the day.
They truly are my Hero's. and words cant express how grateful i am right now.
I have truly been blessed with amazing friends even tho this made me go against my #1 rule of not asking for help.
This helped put my mind at ease a little more. The only thing that could make this day any better would be a bath bomb from lush to soak away my stress. Why does lush not deliver free bath bombs to stressed out people.
After they left i had a few intense conversations with my mother.
My stress level is at an all time high right now.
My mind was going crazy.
Just then i got a text from Tiffany telling me i needed to get out of the house and NO was not an option.
and there was a few dollars in gas money to stop being a hermit and to stop wallowing in my sorrows.
I decided to head over since we did have plans to go to Erica's to celebrate her birthday with vegan cake.
I've never had vegan cake.
I headed over to get Tiffany and then off to Erica's we went. Erica lives in this cute little apartment and has the cutest kitten ever. We enjoyed some very tasty yet filling Vegan Cake.
Then we played a game called APPLES TO APPLES.
I had never heard of the game before but it got me laughing and made me smile and laugh like never before.
Erica Told me she had a belated Christmas gift for me.
This was the perfect gift to receive at the moment.
It was a Lush gift set and the Tin it came in was a metal bank.
It was a little tin house with the numbers 29 1/2 on the door i made the joke that i finally found a bank that wouldn't screw me over and no one could hack nor deplete my funds by error and it was cute and smelled good. It had great perks like bath bombs for those stress full days and was owned by the 29 1/2 % instead of the so called 1%. Thank you.
This is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Just then the police officer handling my case called to let me know he didn't forget about me.
He told me due to his hours he gives me permission to do some investigating of my own in regards to the fake check and Brian's account. He told me to call the temp agency the check was from and see if they were real and if they had a client by the name on the check.
I'm down for that cause i want answers and to close this case and to get justice.
After my call with the officer we decided it was getting late and i should get home.
I dropped Tiffany off and went home and filled the tub and dropped a bath bomb in and all my stress melted away.
Oh did i mention This all happened on Our two Year anniversary of renewing our vows in NJ and having our friend and family wedding?
Yup two years ago this happened
The next morning i woke early and made a bunch of calls to start the investigation. I got in touch with the temp agency and discovered they were a real company. They did indeed have a client by the name on the check but swore they had not written a check to that person on that date.
I informed them then we have a problem and since i was over state lines this was had to do the foot work and come down there in person. I emailed the check over to the head of accounting and she said that was their check format. She looked at the account number and said their account ended in a 1 and that the last number was a 1 not a 4. Just as i suspected but the bank swore there was no chance in hell.
I notified them that this check was cashed at a chase and who ever cashed it needs to be rep remanded for guessing on the last number of the account. She told me i may want to call the Chase Bank in Perth Amboy NJ and speak to the manager there. I did exactly that. After explaining the story all over again the woman at Chase told me the check had been folded up and it was hard to read the last number on the check so they guessed. WHO IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY GUESSES????? Isn't that a BIG NO NO?
They said that the person who's account it was deposited in was under investigation by my bank and the funds had been pulled. Well at least my bank is doing something I guess.
After getting off the phone with Chase in NJ i called my angel over at my bank here in Portland and told her what happened. She said she would notify the Fraud department and that it was sad that i got to the bottom of this before they did. And this brings me back to why do these people have jobs and i don't?
Well i guess the case is closed. It was some idiot at a Chase bank in NJ who thought guessing was OK that reined hell on my life as well as the state of California thinking i owe them something for nothing. I swear after all that i need something really amazing to happen next week.
For now i need to do as this card below says.
Now that most of the chaos has passed with the bank for the most part.
Its time to get down to business.
I NEED A JOB.
Ive been applying to alot of places but i either get no response or i hear I'm over qualified or in other cases i end up being sent to Temp agencies that either have warehouse positions that you must be fork lift certified or they have in bound and out bound call centers. I am OK with any of those. Then i am told that my typing test results are too low for the employer to hire me on. They have to be kidding me.
With tax season upon us i figured maybe i could start cold calling Stock and Transfer companies to see if they are hiring for their mail room. I talked to a few people and sent my resume then i never hear back. I then try to call them a few days later and get transferred to their voice mail.
Hum maybe they aren't hiring just yet for proxy season.
I remember being a little girl and receiving Rolling stone magazine in the mail. I always told myself one day i would go to NYC and apply to work in their mail room and work my way up to some amazing position with them. Well instead when i was 18 i took a trip to NYC to Rolling Stone magazine and applied to be a photographer for portfolio drop off day. I will never forget the disappointment i felt the day i went to pick up my portfolio and found a card in there stating Thank you for sharing your resume with us but at this time we do not have a position open. It sort of broke my heart and discouraged me for a while. In turn i ended up doing great things with my photography skills and ended up published in many other magazines.
All while bar tending to make ends meet.
I decided i needed a more steady pay check something with a weekly guarantee. Maybe some hopes of health benefits one day maybe even a 401K. So from there i obtained a job at a paint ball facility as the manager. a year into working there and still bar tending i went home for Christmas and fell in love with Brian. Upon returning to NJ i ended up a manager of a skate shop basically running the whole store. I was notified two years into running the store that they were down sizing and the owner was going to give it a go at running the place by him self. Like a miracle and with perfect timing a friend told me about a position opening up at a Stock and Transfer company in the mail room. I applied and got the job. I really really enjoyed what i was doing there. It was alot of working with my hands stuffing envelopes constantly with something to do. I even learned to use a few machines. and the women i worked with Beverly and Lucy were beyond amazing. I enjoyed the job so much and had such high hopes of getting hired on permente. The end of proxy season came to a close and they tried to pull strings to keep me but didn't have the budget. I had high hopes of a spot opening and me getting to work in the mail room with my favorite ladies again. And maybe one day advancing to the printing press and learning to use those big machines.
My fathers father worked in a printing press and was beyond ecstatic when i started to study off set print in high school and arts. In college i studied Marketing Arts and Design. He was a great man and i could imagine following in his foot steps if maybe one day someone opened their doors and gave me a chance again.
Since leaving NJ for better opportunities a position in the mail room in NJ did open but i am sorry but i am not coming back to NJ.
I decided maybe to begin looking into printing press companies to see if they have a mail room with open positions. I ran a few google searches and compiled a list of places i would love to work from what i discovered on their websites. Upon calling most they didn't have an in house mail room or were laying people off and didn't have room for new hires. Then i found one very kind soul who told me he didn't have an in house mail room but he would gladly try to point me in the right direction with a list of companies to look into.
I copied the list into my book and thanked him. Before hanging up he told me one last company name and told me i may want to try calling them first cause he had a feeling that they were looking for help and were the best in town.
Upon hanging up with him i googled the company and found alot of stuff on their website that impressed me and made me want to know more to the point i realized i would be honored if this company gave me chance.
What did i have to lose? So i called and introduced myself and explained that i just moved here and had previously worked in a mail room and i am currently looking for employment. The woman responded with "Did an angel send you?"
I'm not sure if that guy was an angel but if he was i hope he helps me get this position with your company.
The lady told me to come in and bring my resume and letter of recommendation to talk to HR.
I went down the next day with everything i needed to obtain a position with them and a I DESERVE THIS JOB ATTITUDE!
Upon leaving the building the woman gave me business card with a name on it and informed me if by chance i do not hear back from someone by Monday then to give a call.
Since i left there my phone has been ringing with job interviews left and right. I had one for an out bound call center one for an inbound call center, Then another for a banquet server, all while i cant get this mail room position off my mind. I am almost willing to take less pay then i want just to get my foot in the door at this company to prove i am worth so much more and that they are missing out by not having me on their team.
For now i am going to focus on happy things and wish for the best.
Lets talk about Things that make me happy.
#1 Seeing Vapor Trails in the sky make me happy.
They remind me of my grandpa. My dads father. He always pointed them out to me as a child and would always ask me if i remembered what they were when i got older. He used to work on planes in the military back in the day. Every time i see a vapor trail they remind me that he is watching over me.
I did not take the picture below but it has a photo credit on it of the person who did but it was the most amazing image i could find of vapor trails in the sky.
I had to post a second picture this one i actually took on my drive home.
#2 Memories of my Grandma. My fathers mother who passed away when i was younger.
She was the best. She spoiled me in Love. I can still feel her love. She was magical and such a strong and admired woman.
I keep being told by everyone lately that i have an angel watching over me.
I once went to a Psychic and he told me there is a woman who i am related to that loved me dearly and i am alot like, that passed a while ago that watches over me. and i have no doubt about it that it is her.
and yes that is me as a baby with my grandma.
#3 thing that makes me happy is setting up my Photo lighting gear that has been put away for 3 years only to discover that it still works.
And unexpected friends in my neighbor hood stopping by to play with my lighting gear is sort of awesome too.
Tiffany and i had fun. I taught her a few new camera tricks that are more fun to create with the camera as apposed to with photo shop. Below are a few of the double and triple exposures we did
NOTE NO PHOTO SHOP WAS USED ON THE FOLLOWING PICTURES TO CREATE THE DOUBLE IMAGES.
Its all camera tricks
Its all camera tricks
A Knife Fight With Her Evil Twin.
Gun Fight with a Ghost
there are many more but I'll save them for another day.
#4 Thing that makes me happy COMFORT FOOD From NJ Found at a grocery store here in Portland.
Now if your From NJ you know what Pork Roll or Taylor Ham is.
If you have ever visited me in NJ and weren't from there I have probably made you eat it.
Its sort of like Canadian Bacon but so not.
Words can not
explain how amazing Pork Roll is.
If you know any thing about pork roll then you also know It is usually only found in NJ.
If you go 5 minutes over the bridge into Staten island or NYC you can NOT order a Pork Roll Egg and Cheese sandwich cause it for some reason is only a Jersey Thing.
Well some how some way I found somewhere to buy it in PORTLAND.
I was wandering around a supermarket over by the deli meat and i looked down and golden rays of amazing shot out of the sides of this product like in a cartoon.
I'm sorry but i had to buy it.
Comfort food to end a week of stress.
It doesn't get better than that.
When i showed up at the house with pork roll Brian almost lost it.
He told me that this breakfast officially made me the best wife ever.
I'm ready for the next chapter of my life to begin. I'm ready to Join the working world again.
I'm ready to begin a Career ,to work hard, and contribute to my house hold and our future.
We finally have a starter savings account again. I can finally pay my bills again with a checking account and i sat down and set up a bill pay schedule as well as budgeted our life down to the very penny.
The budget i worked out is off Just Brian's pay check it would be really nice to finally have two incomes again.
And this is where i end this post. Thank you for reading and for following our story.
Here is to High Hopes, Positive Vibes, And lots of Prayers for exciting good news for my next post.
Till then
TO BE CONTINUED...............................
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