[hercules-390] YAFE: Yet Another Fish Emergency!

['\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

((SIGH!))

I hate to do this again so soon (I wish we could survive on our own without asking for handouts) but unfortunately I must.

It's June 7th and we still haven't paid rent yet. We told them we'd pay them on Friday 9th, when Laura gets paid again, but looking at our bank balance it's looks like we're not going to have enough.

The reason why is, believe it or not, Laura is not a salaried employee (she's hourly) and doesn't get paid if she doesn't work, and she lost 2 week pay in April when she went into the hospital for a week (and another week at home recovering) for acute diverticulitis(*).

To make matters worse, she went into the hospital AGAIN(*) for the same dang thing this past weekend, so her next paycheck isn't going to be much either (and sales of my SoftDevLabs software has unfortunately been very light to non-existent this past couple of months).

Based on my back-of-the-envelope calculations it looks like we're going to need at least $500-$1500 (OR MORE!) to get us through the next few months, which really sucks.

We still have not found an affordable apartment anywhere nearby (Laura's been looking but she's quite particular about commute distance since she has to take a bus to work and back each day since we don't have a car) and there's simply nothing within our price range in the area we live.

Are there any kind souls out there that can help us out? Please?

We'd really appreciate any type of help you can provide, no matter how little. Every little bit adds up.

I've been working on some Hercules changes and am very close to releasing a new snapshot as well as a slightly newer version of my CTCI-WIN software (with Windows 10 and some new Hercules assist support), but haven't gotten it completely ready yet. Hopefully I'll have that done in the next few days or so.

A PayPal donations link is on my SoftDevLabs "News" web page (which I haven't updated yet but WILL after I send this email) at:

http://www.softdevlabs.com/news.html


ANYTHING any of you can do would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks.

(and sorry about all this)

:`(
--
"Fish" (David B. Trout)
Software Development Laboratories
http://www.softdevlabs.com
mail: ***@softdevlabs.com

(*) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverticulitis

(**) She just got out yesterday (Tuesday) with a tube attached to a drainage bag sticking out of her abdomen. The doctor says she's going to eventually need surgery in about a month (once she's had a chance to fully recover from this most recent incident) to cut out and remove the section of her large intestine that's causing the problem, which will lay her up for God knows how many weeks for which she isn't going to get paid for either.

She's got insurance (I don't, but she does) but with the deductable and cost for prescriptions (antibiotics, etc) it's still money out of our own pocket which we obviously cannot afford.

Life REALLY SUCKS when you're poor.

[Mike Schwab [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Lapascopic removal is about 2-3 weeks, conventional surgery is 6 weeks
without lifting.

On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 12:55 PM, ''Fish' (David B. Trout)'

Post by '\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]
((SIGH!))
I hate to do this again so soon (I wish we could survive on our own without asking for handouts) but unfortunately I must.
It's June 7th and we still haven't paid rent yet. We told them we'd pay them on Friday 9th, when Laura gets paid again, but looking at our bank balance it's looks like we're not going to have enough.
The reason why is, believe it or not, Laura is not a salaried employee (she's hourly) and doesn't get paid if she doesn't work, and she lost 2 week pay in April when she went into the hospital for a week (and another week at home recovering) for acute diverticulitis(*).
To make matters worse, she went into the hospital AGAIN(*) for the same dang thing this past weekend, so her next paycheck isn't going to be much either (and sales of my SoftDevLabs software has unfortunately been very light to non-existent this past couple of months).
Based on my back-of-the-envelope calculations it looks like we're going to need at least $500-$1500 (OR MORE!) to get us through the next few months, which really sucks.
We still have not found an affordable apartment anywhere nearby (Laura's been looking but she's quite particular about commute distance since she has to take a bus to work and back each day since we don't have a car) and there's simply nothing within our price range in the area we live.
Are there any kind souls out there that can help us out? Please?
We'd really appreciate any type of help you can provide, no matter how little. Every little bit adds up.
I've been working on some Hercules changes and am very close to releasing a new snapshot as well as a slightly newer version of my CTCI-WIN software (with Windows 10 and some new Hercules assist support), but haven't gotten it completely ready yet. Hopefully I'll have that done in the next few days or so.
http://www.softdevlabs.com/news.html
ANYTHING any of you can do would be MUCH appreciated.
Thanks.
(and sorry about all this)
:`(
--
"Fish" (David B. Trout)
Software Development Laboratories
http://www.softdevlabs.com
(*) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverticulitis
(**) She just got out yesterday (Tuesday) with a tube attached to a drainage bag sticking out of her abdomen. The doctor says she's going to eventually need surgery in about a month (once she's had a chance to fully recover from this most recent incident) to cut out and remove the section of her large intestine that's causing the problem, which will lay her up for God knows how many weeks for which she isn't going to get paid for either.
She's got insurance (I don't, but she does) but with the deductable and cost for prescriptions (antibiotics, etc) it's still money out of our own pocket which we obviously cannot afford.
Life REALLY SUCKS when you're poor.
------------------------------------
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hercules-390
http://www.hercules-390.org
------------------------------------
Yahoo Groups Links

[Alex Valdez [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

That's a bit harsh but it has more than a grain of truth in it. I would say though that the operative word is 'tinkering' - frittering your time away experimenting and mucking about with a new toy is the productivity killer. Lots of people make a good living on open systems.

['\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

[...]

Post by '\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]
A PayPal donations link is on my SoftDevLabs "News" web page
(which I haven't updated yet but WILL after I send this email)
http://www.softdevlabs.com/news.html
ANYTHING any of you can do would be MUCH appreciated.
Thanks.

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated. Rent has been paid with a little bit left over which we'll definitely need in a couple of months when Laura eventually has her surgery.

I apologize to the group for using "this group as a begging forum." I understand some of you may not care much what happens to me and my wife. I get it. I do.

But I care.

And thankfully so do others. (Or at least some of them do.)

Please understand I only resort to begging as a very LAST resort. I only do it because I MUST in order for us to survive.

Lest some of you think I'm making this stuff up, I've just uploaded to this group's Files area a file called "Fish's Finances":

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hercules-390/files/Fish-Fiinances.zip

It should provide to anyone interested the evidence to prove my continued claim of indigence. I'm sure we may be better off than some (there are undoubtedly others who are worse off), but we are certainly not as well off as most.

As far as moving goes, yes I agree: moving between countries is likely much easier than moving within the same country ...

... When you have the money to move that is (which we don't).

Besides that, there's the logistics of moving itself. In order to move you need to have either a car (which we don't) or the money to rent a truck (which we don't and even if we did neither of us has a driver's license(*)) or to pay movers to move you. And even before that you need to have a place to move TO (which again, we don't).

It's so easy for someone who has money to say "Just move!". So easy. But for those of us without money it's not that easy.

Trust me. I would not beg if I didn't have to.

It's both humiliating and degrading and as we've seen seems to bother some people.

I'm very sorry.

:`(

[Joe Monk [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Fish,

A quick search on dice.com turned up this opportunity:

https://www.dice.com/jobs/detail/WA-Lead-IT-Field-System-Engineer-Comtek-Group-Redmond-WA-98052/70000133/015559?icid=sr6-1p&q=mainframe&l=bellevue,%20wa

With the requirement for 5 years in the IBM mainframe arena, seems like
something you could do...

Joe

On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 7:52 AM, ''Fish' (David B. Trout)'

[...]

Post by '\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]
A PayPal donations link is on my SoftDevLabs "News" web page
(which I haven't updated yet but WILL after I send this email)
http://www.softdevlabs.com/news.html
ANYTHING any of you can do would be MUCH appreciated.
Thanks.

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated. Rent has been paid with a little
bit left over which we'll definitely need in a couple of months when Laura
eventually has her surgery.
I apologize to the group for using "this group as a begging forum." I
understand some of you may not care much what happens to me and my wife. I
get it. I do.
But I care.
And thankfully so do others. (Or at least some of them do.)
Please understand I only resort to begging as a very LAST resort. I only
do it because I MUST in order for us to survive.
Lest some of you think I'm making this stuff up, I've just uploaded to
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hercules-390/files/Fish-Fiinances.zip
It should provide to anyone interested the evidence to prove my continued
claim of indigence. I'm sure we may be better off than some (there are
undoubtedly others who are worse off), but we are certainly not as well off
as most.
As far as moving goes, yes I agree: moving between countries is likely
much easier than moving within the same country ...
... When you have the money to move that is (which we don't).
Besides that, there's the logistics of moving itself. In order to move you
need to have either a car (which we don't) or the money to rent a truck
(which we don't and even if we did neither of us has a driver's license(*))
or to pay movers to move you. And even before that you need to have a place
to move TO (which again, we don't).
It's so easy for someone who has money to say "Just move!". So easy. But
for those of us without money it's not that easy.
Trust me. I would not beg if I didn't have to.
It's both humiliating and degrading and as we've seen seems to bother some people.
I'm very sorry.
:`(
--
"Fish" (David B. Trout)
Software Development Laboratories
http://www.softdevlabs.com

['\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

[...]

Post by '\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]
(which we don't and even if we did neither of us
has a driver's> license(*)) ...

(*) We sold the last car we owned to the repair shop 25+ years ago when it broke down and we didn't have the money to repair it, and have been using public transportation (bus and taxi(**)) ever since. Besides, given the expense a car entails, I doubt we could even *afford* a car even if one were given to us for free. The cost of license, registration, insurance and of course gasoline (petrol to non-Americans) would prohibit it.

(**) We only use a taxi when we absolutely must since they're so expensive (such as when we go grocery shopping and have several heavy bags of groceries to carry which is difficult to do when you have bad knees and walk with a cane.

Yeah, my life really sucks. :(

And having unsympathetic individuals publicly bash you over it doesn't help any either.

:`(

['\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

[...]

(such as when we go grocery shopping ...

Or have to go to the hospital and back because your wife is in extreme pain and puking her guts out.

['\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

[...]

Post by '\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]
Lest some of you think I'm making this stuff up, I've just uploaded to
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hercules-390/files/Fish-
Fiinances.zip

Re-uploaded with misspelling corrected (and previous file deleted):

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hercules-390/files/Fish-Finances.zip

[[e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Hi,

Some time ago I've acquired your software package and I'm just impressed by your overall mental capabilities and I'm very sorry for your having financial troubles.
I'm ready to upgrade the FISH software package installed on my laptop for a special price for 1.000 USD. Just send me the payment instruction.

Warm Regards

G. Balint

['\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

[...]

Post by '\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]
As far as moving goes, yes I agree: moving between countries
is likely much easier than moving within the same country ...

^^^^^^
^^^^^^

s/b: "more difficult"

"As far as moving goes, yes I agree: moving between
countries is likely much more difficult than moving
within the same country ..."

Everything else still stands.

Thanks again to all of my supporters. I can now return to working on Hercules again without worry about where my next nickel is going to come from. (which is a HUGE relief!)

And again I apologize to those who find my whining for money to be annoying. I began selling my software (instead of giving it away for free which I'd much rather do) to eliminate the need to whine/beg for money (or at least reduce its frequency), but, well ... shit happens.