I am learning empathy for the homeless

[Fat Elvis]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I appreciate the thoughts and advice. I am not surprised at the temporary turn the thread took. This is CP after all!

In answer to some of the questions:

1. The 401k is dead at this point. That resource has sadly been used up.

2. I have always thought I would work until I was 70 to maximize my Social Security benefits. I did give in to reality a couple days ago and applied. If nothing else, the benefit is weighted to the last 5 years of employment and it appears likely that I will be earning significantly less the next few years. So yes, I am legally retired I suppose.

3. Why Oregon and now? I have worked remote tech support for several years and if I were to get a similar position my location would not really matter. If I need to have an onsite job, I would prefer it to be in our dream location where we were planning to be anyway. We are both from here and this is a returning home finally. Yes, I jumped off a cliff and the fall has been scary. Now it looks like the ground is coming fast and it scares the piss out of me.

On a more positive note, it looks like I will have an interview at Fred Meyer (think regional Walmart) this afternoon. I will ensure there are no communication failures this time even if it means I have to go to the store every hour.

Hydrae-

Best of luck on your interview with Fred Meyer tomorrow; you've got this! I don't know if you have ever considered this, but state and local governments always seem to be hiring, and the thing about government jobs is that they tend to have pretty decent benefits. I'm at that age (close to your age) where I really consider health care costs and benefits packages. Sorry you are going through this now, and I don't wish that type of stress on anybody.

Fat E