I never thought I'd need it...but here I am

Last year, two people who found me on LinkedIn asked me to start GoFundMe projects for them...one an evangelist from Pakistan, the other an auto mechanic from Gambia.

But here I am...a retired factory worker-turned-screenwriter from the United States. And seven days ago, I launched my own GoFundMe effort.

If you're getting ready to toss your monitor, laptop, or cell phone across the room, wait...here's what happened:

The company I spent 1-26-2004 through 10-5-2022 with is an employee-owned business that offers its employees what's called an Employee Stock Option Program. In the program, company workers receive shares in the business...and that means they can eventually take a payout, start an IRA, etc. Well, the last time company officials made a stock declaration was October 2024. A month later, I called the financial group that works with my previous place of work to seek a payout in response to the stock declaration, and the payout arrived in my bank account on 1-2-2025. Did everything right...I set aside 5% of my monthly income (stock money plus Social Security payments) to put in my savings account for emergencies. I didn't try to splurge...in the meantime, I waited to hear from the factory and the financial group to see if a stock declaration would take place in 2025.

When I came to realize no declaration would happen in 2025, I went looking for at least a part-time job where the money would supplement my Social Security income. Three months later, I'm still looking.

I applied for a job with a company I worked for from 1980 to 1986...an inventory firm.

First day back on the job was supposed to be 1-2-2026...except I received an email from a company manager. The email stated that a computer glitch fouled up the information four other applicants and I put online (info about taxation, Direct Deposit, citizenship, other goodies)...and that the company wanted us to fill out the info all over again. After I put my information back in, I haven't heard back from that manager. Phone calls and emails have proven fruitless.

America's biggest furniture store (it's here in Omaha) turned me down, too. And I haven't yet heard back from a used book store or from a thrift store.

I'm not giving up the search...and I'm not giving up on a screenwriting-TV writing career. (Even reached out to a local firm, Fallen Giant Films.)

Just want to get back on my feet and make sure I can get ALL my bills paid.

Right now, I receive $1,399.30 a month from Social Security...and pay $785.00 for rent each month.

Presently, each month, I'm paying $165.35 for Medicare Senior Supplement, $121.34 for car insurance, $78.66 for utilities, $55.63 for cell phone use, $49.99 for Internet use, $42.92 for dental insurance, $28.62 for landline phone use, and $15.17 for renters insurance. Those eight other bills come due before I even see my SS money (and that dough comes on the third Wednesday of every month).

I've found a cheaper rate for car insurance...but I can't act until I see any new money. And I've cut back on groceries...now spending $365.00 monthly, and that's $87.00 less per month than what I'd been shelling out.

If you're able to donate to my own GoFundMe effort, just go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-jims-journey-to-financial-stability.

Here's wishing you and yours all the VERY BEST for 2026...and beyond.

It just isn't there...for some of us

The holiday spirit, that is.

You know about the last six weeks of every calendar year...the so-called holiday season.

The season to be jolly.

If you're jolly right now, that's fine. If you don't feel any jollity at the moment, that's all right. And if you're someplace in the middle, it's okay.

I grew up in an alcoholic household...a house of constant faultfinding, constant shaming, and constant belittling. (Hint: I turned 18 years old on 11-11-1973.) Mom was the alcoholic...and she, more often than not, battled her sisters (my maternal aunts). And that wasn't when Mom battled my maternal grandmother.

The battles were tiresome to hear (let alone watch)...and I wanted to hide instead of getting involved. Just wanted the fighting to end, once and for all.

One such confrontation happened in December 1974...and it was between Mom and one of my maternal aunts. It eventually got to the point where Mom demanded I take sides: "As the man of the house..."

I just wanted to be alone.

Memories of these feuds, plus taking a look at how the accent this time of year is on the corporate side of things (after all, QuickBooks said that holiday spending accounts for about 47% of American small businesses' annual revenue...and the National Retail Foundation predicts Americans will spend an unprecedented $1 trillion here in the 2025 cycle), have caused me to feel that this time of year isn't so wonderful.

Instead, to me, it's the most critical/crucial/pressure-filled time of the year.

And I didn't even mention the antics that have taken place in Washington, DC ever since 1-20-2025...or the pressure I feel I'm on ever since two people asked me to launch GoFundMe projects in these two people's names.

I know...them's fightin' words (especially to Edward Pola's and George Wyle's survivors). And writing this post might end up stepping on way too many toes.

All my life, I've been asked- told- to exhibit feelings that aren't real to me (especially during the last six weeks of each year).

I JUST WANT TO BE REAL WITH MY FEELINGS.

Well, it's time for me to get off this soapbox...time for me to hear from you. And here's hoping you're in a safe place to express your REAL feelings...all year long.

Something I've never done before

Until two days ago, that is.

I'm also on LinkedIn...been a member for over a decade. And a couple of days ago, two of my fellow LinkedIn members asked me to...set up a GoFundMe page for each of them.

First, an evangelist named Sahil Nazir asked me to log onto https://gofundme.com so that he can finance his Christian ministry in Gulberg Town, Pakistan.

Sahil cares for 15 orphans; they also attend a Christian school. In addition, he has a street ministry where Sahil and another pastor go into poor communities to distribute food and Bibles. He'd like to take on more orphans...except money's extremely tight. Sahil's looking for money so that he can provide the orphans with food, water, clothing, and other basic necessities.

This on top of flooding currently taking place in Pakistan.

Mamadou Bah asked me to put together a GoFundMe page, too, so he can establish his own auto repair business in Brikama Nema, Gambia.

He's been spending the last ten years trying to get this firm off the ground in a highly-impoverished country.

Mamadou told me he needs wrenches, sockets, and lifts...as well as diagnostic software and hardware, a spare parts inventory, six months worth of rent, and money for both electricity and water.

https://gofund.me/b12481c0 is where to go to donate to Sahil's ministries. (Right now, the donation total stands at $31 USD.)

If you'd like to help Mamadou out, https://gofund.me/27796ddd is the spot.