Valentino update

[noblemacaw]

Finally after a LOT of work which involved a lot of research and headache of having to edit the registry I am MALWARE FREE!!

However my malware problem was/is the least of my problems of late. My Ex is getting really close to chucking it all in and walking. I would become homeless if the house goes into foreclosure. At this time the loan is in default but the bank is looking at the loan modification packet that was sent in last week. The bank may or may not approve it so right now things are pretty bad around here.

If the bank pushes for foreclosure the earliest I could be homeless is June 24. Friday I took Julianna, my Ragdoll cat, to my friends home as they offered to adopt her. They really like her and their 18 year old cat passed away a couple of months ago. I stayed the weekend to get a reprise from all the stress here at home and Julianna settled in quickly. She will have a much more stress free life and will be very well taken care of. Mercedes the Scottish Terrier will go to a local Scottish Rescue this weekend. Now all we have left is Valentino and Julio.

If I lose my home I will have to place Valentino as well. This will devastate me but I MUST do what is right by him. He does not ever deserve to live with someone that cannot take care of him. I can't bring myself to subject him to my homelessness and a life of no security and bouncing around homes. I could probably foster him though my best friend who adopted my cat but he deserves a life of stability and at that point I will not be able to afford to take care of him.

I am trying to keep the faith that everything will turn out but I know I can no longer just sit by and wait for things to happen. The programs I am trying to get into for help with employment and other veterans programs out there are moving too slowly. Our unemployment centers are called the Workforce centers and each county has one. I am utilizing these centers to hopefully network myself into a secure job. I am also investing my time in a series of classes called Boot Camp and for 4 days 9am to 4pm this will cover how the job market goes in this technical era. I can't seem to break though what is needed to find a job and actually get hired. I am either clueless how things are now done and I want the input of how my resume looks. I know I will need to probably rewrite it so it will better fit in and be more acceptable.

I hope I can catch a break or that a breakthrough is experienced with all that is going on of late. It is bad enough I have to place my cat and dog into other homes I really don't want to have to place Valentino as well.

Here are some recent pictures of my lovely Valentino. Enjoy

 

[goalerjones]

What kind of work do you/ have you done?

 

[noblemacaw]

Information Technology. I have done everything from building computers to administrating/building networks. I have worked on enterprise system (worldwide network for the company). I have done phone support, field service, onsite service, network administration. I was in this field for over 20 years. Now the big thing is Network security. This is HUGE but I only had one class in it for my Computer Forensics degree. When I took that class they were up to 128 key encryption I would not be surprised if they are up to 1024 key encryption by now. I would need more training in that and do not have any money to even THINK of going in that direction.

My weakest point is writing code. I have never been able to get that fineness for writing code. I don't like it, I am terrible at it (best grade I ever got in it was a C) and I don't have the temperament for it at all. (pretty much really hate writing code) I think I could force myself to get into it but I would not be able to write code for 8 hours a day, five days a week. (shudders)

 

[goalerjones]

Have you tried a company called SAIC? They use people like yourself.

 

[MikeyTN]

I hope you do catch a break, it would be heart breaking for you having to rehome valentino!!!! Have you thought about moving to a different area to look for work if the home situation goes for the worse??

 

[TessieB]

I truly hope you get to keep your handsome bird.

 

[crimson]

nice to see you back on here Rebecca!!!...I was going to e-mail you over the weekend, but my cold has turned for the worse, so I really didn't do much.
let me first say Valentino is SUPER GORGEOUS!!! you have done an amazing job with him, you can tell in the photos he thinks yours pretty special.

I wish I were closer to you, I would offer you our large basement until you find proper living conditions....stay as long as you wish....of course Valentino would be the icing on the cake, haha

you are in an excellent line of work, surely there must be something out there for you.
I will keep you in my prayers that your life will become less hectic and you will find work.
Beth

 

[Macawlover12]

Dont give up! you might find just what you need when you least expect to. Just put out as many applications as you can, even in places you have no desire to work. It would only be temp. When I lost my job I did garbage pickup until I could find something better. It was horrible but it kept me floating until I could get another job.
I am sorry you have to go through this and I wish you the best!

 

[MarciaLove]

oh I am so sorry to hear about that hope everything works out!! I would take Valentino for you if you were near GA and he could stay for as long as he needed til you could take him back if ever I hope you can work it all out though!

 

[noblemacaw]

I really appreciate everybody's well wishes. I really need them and also appreciate the prayers. Sometimes I feel it will take a miracle for me to pull off being able to afford to pay the mortgage and bills myself. My Ex believes that down the line when everything is settled that I will eventually lose the house anyway so why keep paying the mortgage. Well not only would it affect my credit but would severely screw up the Ex's credit also. I guess that does not matter but only moving on and getting away from me.

I will say that I have not been sitting around watching things fall apart. I have been working very hard with different programs for my situation. I am a Navy vet so I am utilizing government help for veterans in my situation. You would not believe some of the horrible fate our veterans are experiencing. After my situation is resolved and I am on my feet again (I am to remain positive and not think of failing) I strongly feel that I would volunteer my time in some sort of service and fund raise for veteran programs. After the dust clears for me I want to be involved with helping other veterans.

I find it interesting that when I am at our VA and around other vets I am the least anxiety ridden. I have developed some social anxiety and experience problems having to "put myself out there". This of course can hinder me in what I now have to do with convincing people to hire me. I will have to dig deep down and find the old Rebecca who use to be able to talk anyone into doing anything. I use to not have social anxiety and be able to socialize and talk to anyone. I need to be that person again so I can succeed with getting back into the workforce. I had to place my cat and dog so I do NOT want to lose Valentino too. He is way to important to me and he is basically all I have left. I have to do what I need to do so I do NOT become homeless and lose my beloved Valentino.

Beth, you are so sweet to offer me your basement. I totally understand how hard it is to offer a person to live in your space. I hope to be in a position to help another person most likely a Vet my soon to be spare bedroom. If need be I am willing to break down my office and make that the third bedroom and if I have to rent that out also so I can keep my home. When I read your offer I actually thought about if it would help me succeed better if I tried a go in Canada. To totally start over in a different country is very intimidating though. I don't even know if your area of Canada has a need for IT people. These thoughts prove to me how desperate I am to succeed and rebuild my life successfully.

 

[MikeyTN]

Rebecca,

Please check out this website--->Hire Veterans - Jobs for Veterans - Job Board Hiring U.S. Military Veterans Employment Careers: Home

 

[KeroRocks]

Where are you from?

 

[noblemacaw]

I'm in Minnesota the place of eternal Winter. Yuck

 

[treckel]

Are you interested in selling/rehoming your beautiful bird?

 

[noblemacaw]

At this time I am trying very hard to keep Valentino. I would prefer to keep him than have to give him up. IF I become homeless then I will have to do what is right by Valentino and figure something out.

There are two parrothelp organizations. Which one are you? The one in the west suburbs or the one located north of St. Paul.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

Oh my gosh, Rebecca... I'm so sorry that how're going through this on top of everything you've been through, recently. You and Valentino belong with each other.

My prayers are with you. Please keep us posted.

 

[BirdyMomma]

Your situation sounds incredibly stressful.

Are you only considering jobs in your chosen field? I have been un employed several times in my life, and I can honestly say it helps (me) to take ANY decent paying job, even if its not in my preferred area, until you find what you're really looking for.

Valentino is absolutely breathtaking. PLEASE, NEVER give him up. You shared your story with me, and I know how much you love him, and he obviously adores you.

This difficult time in your life is temporary. With hard work, and perseverance, you can get through this. Please don't give in to the feelings of desperation and helplessnes that times like these conjure in all of us. You will be OK. It will be hard, but not forever.

Please be strong, and please keep Valentino with you.

 

[noblemacaw]

For now I need to go back into IT because I have extensive experience in it. To switch to another career now during this time crunch I just can't do. I need to get back into the workforce as quickly as possible but I do have so many things against me.

I am 50 years old.

I have not been in the workforce for 4 years and am 4 years behind in technology knowledge. I do not have the time or money to retrain or take some kind of refresher. I need someone to take a chance on me and will have to catch up while on the job. I am not new to having to train/learn with my pants on fire. I have done this many times over the years. That experience made me an excellent trainer/teacher.

I am overweight. Although I lost almost 40 pounds I am still 40 pounds overweight. I now have NO nice interview clothes that fit. My two interview outfits are now two sizes too big. WHEN I get a interview I will address the clothing problem then because I don't know when that will come about and I don't know how much more weight I will lose before that happens. Most of the cloths I own are now too large for me. I have totes of clothing before I became ill and gained the weight but I am "between" sizes and they are still too small right now. If things keep going as they are I could probably fit into them by summer. Who knew that stress is a good weight loss tool.

I now suffer from social anxiety and stress when thrown into a situation where I don't know anyone. Although I have learned tools to help with it I still experience it. For example I was in the grocery store trying to get and buy my food. I chose to go during a time when it was not busy but I still had a trigger that stressed me out so much my blood pressure and pulse were out of control. My anxiety was so bad by the time I got home I had to take medicine for it. When I think I am doing better I experience an anxiety attack and feel like it is a setback for me. Going on a job interview will be extreamly stressful for me but I will have to force myself to get though it. I cannot risk failing this because of my anxiety.

I am afraid my asthma will get out of control again. That my health will hinder me getting and keeping a job. Spring is my worst time and traditionally when I get really bad. For the past two Spring I almost died.

I have until July to find and a job and keep it. If I don't have a job by July my Ex is walking and will leave me without any money or help.

No wonder I break out in hives and have allergic reactions out of the blue. My stress levels are so high there are days I cannot function.

 

[BeakFace]

I'm sorry but what is with your X? Does he have a job? Do you have family? I feel so bad for you. Just reading your call for help makes me feel helpless. I'm sure we could all pull together and buy you something nice to wear so you look good in an interview. Your appearance is so importent. Hey guys what can we do? Any suggestions? Giving up your love ones is so hard. What's with your X, he doesn't love the animals? It just seems you could help each other until you could get on your feet and then he could walk out. Don't give up and I hope things will change.

 

[Betrisher]

Rebecca, I'm sending prayers from Australia that you see a light at the end of the tunnel very soon! I hope you can manage to hang on to Valentino - I'm sure he'd be quite willing to put up with a few weeks of less-than-perfect living conditions if it means staying together with his Mum! In the meanwhile, try not to allow the future to ruin your present! You really don't know what might be around the corner and there's absolutely no reason to think everything must automatically be bad. I understand about social anxiety - I've suffered from it myself and really, really get how crippling it is when it's in full flood! Might it be possible to land a stopgap kind of job (phone canvassing, envelope stuffing, debt collection) that you could do from home? Do you have any other skills that could earn you money? (eg. I can sew and have earned the odd dollar from doing mending and alterations). Could you tutor schoolkids? Dog-sit or exercise dogs? All you need is enough to keep your head above water while you achieve calmness and begin to make a plan. Please, please don't let yourself despair - the sun will rise again and you can't stop it!