Tag: coffee

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Coffee & Contemplation: Returning to Work

As the whole pandemic situation calms down in the United States, many places have reopened their services. I recently went back to work but with limited hours. I’m thankful to return to work but I fear I won’t be able to make enough money to support myself. This is nothing compared to the millions of people who are unemployed due to Covid-19. But I still worry because I could only get part-time work and many of my other gigs were in events and entertainment. To my knowledge, events and gatherings are still canceled.

So, with this return to work, I have also cut back to only my essential expenses. I have rent, the electric bill, the phone bill, groceries, and a reduced student loan payment. That’s all. Some good things about returning to work include getting cash tips to use for the laundromat, getting out of the house now and then, and walking to work gets me my daily exercise. But with part-time work, it’s only enough to cover my expenses with not much left over. At least I have a job when so many don’t. 

I do continue applying for jobs hoping to get something full-time. Full-time work would allow me to live easy. The downside is I would not have as much free time for writing. I’m about two-thirds complete writing the first draft of a novel and I have two more novel ideas in line. I also have a short story collection and a couple poetry collections in the works. And then there are the posts for this blog. If I could afford it, I would write full-time. That, however, doesn’t pay the bills. Once I finish my first novel and edit it to something I like, I’ll submit to literary agents and try for a publishing deal. Fingers crossed.

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Coffee & Contemplation: Mother’s Day

This Mother’s Day, I want to give everyone something to contemplate when you all celebrate your mothers. Not everyone observes Mother’s Day. Other’s feel pain when they see everyone out and about with their mom. Some may take mom out to dinner or lunch. Or they’ll take mom shopping. Keep in mind some mothers are no longer with their families. Some have passed away and this is a difficult time for the families. Other people may have never had good relationships with their mothers. They don’t celebrate because they never felt they had a mother.

Some mothers are selfish and narcissistic. They take from their children instead of giving them love. I do not intend to push out negativity. I want everyone to understand that Mother’s Day is negative for some people. I only ask they everyone bare this in mind when running around with mom. Some never grew up with a mom. Some had a bad mother. Some were fortunate enough to have a loving mother. There’s another thing I hope people will recognize. Cat moms and dog moms and any woman who takes care of a pet, should get some praise on the day of mothers.

So, celebrate all the moms in your life. Even the unconventional ones. And show respect to those who wish not to observe the festivities. And make sure those furry friends get a card for their mom. They may need help. Most cats and dogs I’ve met don’t have jobs or money. Freeloaders. 

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Coffee & Contemplation: Unemployment

With everything going on in the United States right now, many people are learning about unemployment. They’re learning about it because most of them never needed it before. Some benefits have been added due to the pandemic, but there are still some things people don’t about unemployment in general. For example, it is a service one must pay into in order to receive the benefits. That means self-employed folks who don’t put money away for unemployment will not receive unemployment benefits. That’s under normal circumstances. Supposedly, things have been put in place to help self-employed folks who’ve lost work due to Covid-19.

When one applies for unemployment, the service looks at how much you paid into that service during the previous year. I applied for unemployment this year. They reviewed what I paid in 2019 to determine how much I’ll receive. A small percentage of money is taken from every paycheck. The more money one makes, the more money is put away. The employer also matches the amount from each paycheck. Someone making minimum wage will receive less than someone making an annual salary in unemployment benefits. The most I can get is $800 per month. That does not include the $600 extra that everyone is supposed to receive due to Covid-19.

Now, I understand that they give a certain amount each week so one’s unemployment can last up to six months or even a year. That makes sense. But it feels unfair that, under normal circumstances, I would get less than minimum wage to cover all my expenses for a month. I only have rent and utilities to pay if you include a phone bill in utilities. $800 is not enough to cover those couple of things as well as food for the month. And here’s my other question. What happened to all the money I paid into unemployment for the last 12 years? Isn’t that still my money? Why can’t I use that during unemployment? These are only a few things I sit and think about while I enjoy my morning coffee.