Friday, July 30, 2010

Stealing From Peter, To Pay Paul!

Hello again, sorry to have been away for so long. I have been struggling for awhile, and was unable to focus on my writing!

It has been a constant battle for me, month by month, day by day, to find the money to pay the rent, my Jeep payments & my bills & keep myself off the streets, like where many of my fellow Veterans are living. I have been out of work since
September, my back has totally gone & is in too much pain to continue working at
Coca-Cola.

I have been forced to cash in my Thrift Savings Plan Retirement that I had
through the Army. I have cashed in gold coins I had saved, my coin jars, my
savings for a house, that I know now I will never own, my stocks that I had from
employee stock plans at Coke. I have had to accept help from the VFW & a local
charity to make it through the last two months. I pick up nickle deposit cans & bottles when I see them, & grabbed them out of my landlord's trash cans & pick up coins I find on the ground to survive.

I have tried to work with my creditors, Chrysler Financial, which covers my
loan with my Jeep, will not work with me, in fact one supervisor I talked to there
told me "It is not their problem that I was injured in Iraq", great they take our tax dollars & get bailed out, but refuse to work with disabled, unemployed Veterans.

ATT Wireless is another company that refuses to work with Disabled Veterans, last November, I went down to the ATT Wireless store in the mall near me to pay up my
bill, with my credit card. Two days later they cancelled my account anyway, then charged me forthe time I was disconnected. Again I tried to work with them, they
refused to help me & kept charging me for time on a cel phone that I was not using,
so I told them to "pound sand". They kept calling & harassing me, so I told them to put me on "Do not Call List" after that for weeks I kept getting calls, & they hung up, I know it is them because the punk I talk to on there had an attitude with me!

Great to know that we have such great American Companies that support Disabled Veterans! There has been some Good companies that have worked with me. Capital One
Bank has really been great with waving late charges, & let me make payments by phone,
without charging me. (Chrysler Financial charges me $9.95 to do that). USAA my insurance company have been really great as well. Palm Beach Shores Resorts, which I have my timeshare(which I have been trying to sell) with, have worked with me & dropped late fees, & gave me time to get square with them.

I am not sure where I go from here, I am only a month or two from being homeless,
been unable to reach the Disabled American Veterans for help, never in the office,
tomorrow I have to go down to the Vet center to try & get help, with Social Services,
Social Security & getting my VA percentage up higher, so the fight goes on!

3 comments:

  1. Praying for you.

    http://youcanfacetodaybecausehelives.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. SgtMac; I think I know what you're going through. My Father went through the same pain for years after being lined up on a hospital ship weather deck with all the nurses where he was a Master Chief Corpsman. They were given goggles and told to put their hands over their eyes and face away from the blast to witness the Nov. 1, 1952 test of the first H-Bomb(Mike) off of Enewetak Atoll. My Father said he could still see the bones of his fingers. He spent years trying to get the medical recognition of the radiation exposure before dying of the affects in 1989, God rest his soul.
    My Prayers are with you and Honor Your Service.
    PabloMellow (Paul Thompson)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sgt Mac, Sorry I can't do anything but pray for you. I think God is mad at America. I am a homeless vet living in a camper. I lost everything in the past 2 years. I had my home paid for but could not pay the county taxes. The VA hospitals are saving my life. But all hope is gone with me. I feel for you Brother.

    ReplyDelete