Do You Have The Courage To Ask For Help?

Emergency! Lensmaster CrypticFragments Needs Support! 

Hi, I was referred here by someone on twitter who knows my situation...

I will explain.
I moved back to Flagstaff, AZ on December 10 because I was under the impression that I was getting rehired by my former employees at Grand Canyon (Xanterra).
Well, about a week after getting here I found out I had been passed over for 3 posits. partially because they had imposed a hiring freeze and are not taking applications again til February or March. I have applied at 2 dozen places in Flagstaff ( a fairly small town) all of which gave the same response: "ask again in spring"
I had enough money to pay my rent through Jan. 10th but after that I do not know how I will keep a roof over my head. I am living in a single monthly rate room at the youth hostel.
I have $45 in my PayPal acct to cover food.

this is difficult because I see it clearly says "do not ask for money" . I am not specifically asking for money but if there is anyway you know of that you can help, pls contact me directly.

I can help w/simple graphic design, article writing, possibly French language tutoring...gardening or cat questions
geography & travel info

CrypticFragments' update from the next day:

for all, a wee update:
thanks to some very kind souls & Xmas cheer, plus my last check from prev. job on its way, I am now only about $40 from paying next month's rent!
WoOt!
Also I got an emergency box from the food bank today & applied for food stamps which apparently I qualify for & should start receiving sometime in January providing I can get them a few more facts/documents by Jan. 2nd which should not be a problem

thanks to everyone who responded
I'' let you know when the last needed amt comes in!

Lensmaster boredofeducation Makes An Offer... 

I feel kind of silly since other people's requests are far more serious than mine buuuut. Here it goes.

I'm kind of at a crossroads in my life. I read all of web 2.0 books and am very excited by the communication revolution under way... But I don't know where I might fit in. I want to lead (or facilitate) one or more "tribes" but I'm having a hard time focusing and being passionate about any one project.

What I need is some direction. (The irony is that I'm not very good at taking direction. Just ask my boss...)

I was raised Mormon and have a strong sense of service. I guess I'm looking for a cause to serve. (I'm currently estranged from my church... It's a long story.)

I can set up pages at ning, squidoo, or really anywhere. I'm also reasonably good at building a community. I guess I'm looking for a community to build.

I also tutor math or physics if you happen to live in Fullerton CA.

Lensmaster AJ2008 Asks For Help... 

OK - (takes a deep breath) for 9 months now I have been stewing about what I could do to make some money to get us out of the debt we are in due to the failure of our family business. My brother and I started the business two and a half years ago as a way to get him a fulltime job following a very low period in his own life and as a way that I could earn a small income working part-time. I had another job as well.

However, being in property renovations when the housing market crashes is not a good place to be, when the value of your assets (2 houses awaiting sale) is reduced by 30% over just a few weeks. The bank need repaying early next year and re-mortgaging looks to be our only option.

As for getting a job, I had to give up a well paid one and I have to work from home due to illness that affects my mobility and I cant drive, so I manage a website part time and am looking for other work. Things are very, very tight and I must admit this has been a horrendous year for us.

Ideas for an e-book I could write, that people would be willing to pay just a few dollars for, would be gratefully appreciated......

Lensmaster Oneskms Offers Help... 

I'm with spooks thinking, personal things are the ones I don't like sharing but don't mind coming in here for eg and asking about a 'squidoo' problem but even with that I like to try and suss it out first. As for the concept I think it is a great idea for services like the ones you mention chef, car maintenance and alike. I am an apprentice trained electrician although I am not up to date at present with the required qualifications for testing because I now, and for the past 8 years, have done what they call underground cable jointing which there would be no call for (at least I think not) within this concept. As for electrics I could possibly advise but again with the geographical locations of squidoo'ers the regs and wiring formats will vary country to country. My other hobbies don't really add up to anything resembling some kind of service.

As for other ideas I would throw in that I'm not bad at general DIY and I live in Nottinghamshire in the UK, and other ones could maybe include gardening, decorating, window cleaning, maybe a lens to promote local charity events where as a group it would be possible to 'get the word out'.

Lensmaster Spirituality Contributes... 

I'm probably one of the people mixing then and than up... Please tell me where I do...

I tutor too: math, chemistry and science in general. Due to my being a registered teacher of those subjects. But do any of your kids live in Leiden, the Netherlands?

Lensmaster ArtSiren Speaks... 

Great idea Chef! Like others here, I try to find solutions by myself - or else stew in a big pot of 'worry-sauce' until I get the courage to ask somebody for help! Trivial things are easy but more personal ones not so.

I doubt there's much call for 21 years experience in organic chemistry!! In all fairness, I'd probably tutor for a price with that. But my chemistry training made me very pedantic, so spelling and proofreading lenses is something I'd happily do - don't know what I'd ask for in return; probably help with more traffic generation etc.

The biggest mistake I see all over the BBs (not just SquidU) and on lenses is the problem of 'there/their/they're'. Also, for some odd reason, I've noticed 'then' and 'than' being used incorrectly. And of course they are real words, so spell-checkers don't pick up on them!

Lensmaster Margo Arrowsmith Asks... 

1. AJ, my heart is with you. Thanks for opening up and making it ok. That is the first step.

2. What I need is a group or person to help me get going promoting what I have. I have some great stuff telling me how to do it, but need the support and kick in the butt to do it. Someone either to help me figure it out, to give me kicks in the butt.

3. What I would really like is a small group or even a partner who wants to learn the same things so we can figure it out together!

Lensmaster Spook Pipes In... 

My problem is that I lost my job over a year ago and this doesn't sit well with me and have found nothing since despite applying all the time. I'm consistently turned down as being too qualified for what I'm applying for despite the fact that I'm quite willing to do the work. Then of course there are my personal circumstances which count heavily against me here but which I was always able to overcome in the past but not now. The hardest thing for me is that as a man I feel that I am letting my family down although my wife keeps telling that I have just fallen through all the cracks in the system.

As to help being a farmer in this line of work, I can't. However, throughout my life for some strange reason I have always been able to motivate people. Despite being down at the moment, perhaps I could try that again. People always seem to be able to confide in me.