fUck....all this talk about debt is making me nervous. I've been on the jobhunt for like a month and I have 1 CC bill and a phone bill coming up within the next week....

Gail, it happens to the best of us. No matter how smart one can be about having a relationship with a bank. The bank will always always always fuck you. I just got a job that wanted me to get everything direct deposited into a bank account. I haven't dealt with banks in a few years and had to turn down the job. I will not work to have my money stolen by banks.

Sorry to hear about the impound lot fees but I will say that's not that bad for a few days in the lot.

nefelissima--

i've always wondered about this, your very underground tastes & peculiar mind mismatched with your very square career situation-- not as a judgment or condemnation but as the perception of an intrinsically contradictory situation that is bound to become untenable at some point-- and while the money is good i'm sure, there's the short-circuiting of the brain's wires when your "soul" is in one place and your ass on a chair elsewhere. i've been there and chose the path of dereliction and destitution-- it hasn't been too bad so far, once i learned i could live happily with only 2 pairs of pants, ha ha ha ha...

however, here's a non-extremist alternative for you-- i don't know if this would work, mind you, it's just an idea. do you have credit unions/cooperatives where you live? because while these institutions operate the same as banks, providing financial safety and liquidity to their customers, they have a very different set of values that might be more aligned with what you want/like. plus the public-good types working there might be more to your liking than the classic mediterranean yuppie type. i'm not saying it would not be without drawbacks-- there's shit everywhere one goes, thats life on earth-- but it might be more satisfying and rewarding to you is what i'm saying. there are other types of companies as well, funds that invest in socially responsible companies and the like... look around, look around, and if that doesn't yet exist where you live and you have some entrepreneurial instincts maybe you could start one....

anyway, just an idea-- i'm of the mind that nobody should have to live trapped in a horrorshow situation forever and that faustian bargains eventually come back to bite us in the ass. best wishes...

i felt the same way with my previous job, it went against everything i believe. and even tho it was financial suicide (well, so far), i feel much better since ive left.