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Jaxom · Senior Member

Zero hour has come to pass here in my home. At 12am saturday morning my driver's license was offically suspended. I tried every which way possible to rectify the situation. I tried calling state agency after state agency, but with no luck what so ever.

For those of you whom don't already know. The reason why my driver's license was suspened is beause I haven't been able to pay child support. And why can't I pay childsupport. My city, my county, my state, hell..even my country won't help me get my mother to and from doctor's appointments, treatments and test for her cancer.

Tell me what employer is going to hire me, when I NEED 1-3 days off 3 weeks out of every month? In this market...NONE! Maybe I'm being overly logical in an illogical world, but long before it reached this point, shouldn't the state have stepped in and asked me why I wasn't paying my childsupport? And perhaps helped me in one way or other?

To add insult to injury, I actually found a statute covering my very situation. This statute points out that if I'm in arears, that due to financial hardship and/or medical purposes I REQUIRE my driver's license, that I could file for this special license.

With this information in hand I filed a motion in order to recieve this special license. Three weeks later...this past tuesday... was my court date. The judge wouldn't even listen to me. He just said that it wasn't within his jurisdiction to do so. Even though the information I attempted to show him came straight from my state's very own website! His ruling was that it was a Secretary of State issue. (The secretary of state being the ones that control driver's licenses). When I talked to the Secretary of state office, thier reply was, "We're only going by the circut judges ruling, only that judge or another circut court judge can over rule the previous ruling". The Secretary of State agent went on to state that he's really there to collect the re-instatement fee.

Yeah, that's right, once I do manage to scrape up enough cash to make the Department Human services (whom are rather inhumane in my experience), I have to pay an additional $70 the Secretary of State's office in order to have my driver's license back.

And I swear, the next person who says we all have equal rights and or representation under the law, I'm gonna smack them from here to eternity! My fiance filed for support in her county, I live in the next one over. My county's pro-bono lawyers won't go to the other county, and because I don't live in the other county, the other county's pro-bono lawyers won't represent me. The best I can manage is a free legal advice hot line, but I have to do all the leg work myself.

Funny thing is, when I was before the judge on Tuesday, the judge hands me a card back to the same place that helped me with the wording on the motion he claims he has no jurisdiction over!!!!

That's like if I was cold and wet being in the life boats, having a judge tell me to get back on the Titantic! OY!!!

So where does this leave me now. With no driver's licnese, my ablity to search for work has been severly restricted. I can only apply at places that I can walk to. We just don't have the budget for me to even take public transportation.

But the main issue now is this.. How the hell is my mother going to get to her doctor's visits? Luckily this round of chemo is in pill form, but she still needs bi-weekly blood tests. She needs prescriptions nearly weekly, and then there's the doctor's visits, addtional tests and all that jaz.

The state in it's idiotic wisdom has basically given my mother a death sentence, and she has commited no crime.

So, where does this leave me now. According to the "supervisor" that the agent I spoke to on Friday over at the Department of Human services, the minium payment he's willing to take is $900. And then there's another $70 I'd have to pay the Sectary of State's office in order to reinstate the license. The $900 will go to my ex, but the $70 is a total wash. Kinda hard to swallow when our food budget per month is $100!!!

So, I'm going to be taking a leave of sorts from here. I've been talking about doing an ebay/craigslist sale for some time. I've actually got well over 100 items stacked up already. And more to come. But I've got to concentrate on doing this sale now.

I had hoped to use some of this money to finish my 2300 project. Which I really don't see as a luxury, in as much I was going to use it for putting food on the table. I also need money for some major issues my truck is having. But now it's all gotta go to the state. The bulk of this money going towards truck parts in order to extend my ablity and area of job searching.

My final words for now. If you have any advice one what I should do, or perhaps know of an agency, lawyers, non-profit that can help me, please pm me. I'm desperate. And honestly, I'm becoming extremely depressed as well. I just keep a false "up" around my mother, that everything is going to be okay.

Since I cannot expect other to do for me, unless I do for myself first. Besides the ebay/craigslist of personal belongings to sell, I've finally came up with an idea for something that I can make very easily and sell at a good price. With spring and grilling season right around the corner, I think this will be a good.

I am NOT assosciated with this link, this is just an example of what I'll be making.

http://roastmyweenie.com/Roast_Your_Weenie/Home.html

I am fully aware this isn't the proper forum for promoting sales, any questions please pm me. Admins, if this isn't acceptble. Please advise and I will edit this out.

Jax

thepaladin · Senior Member

I won't go into my situation as you've got enough trouble now. Sufice it to say I've been frighting the same idiotic circular reasoning with courts and state/county/ federal agencies for years now to.

First...try your congressman...send Email AND snail-mail to local and Washington offices. Then see if you can get your church's help (if that is an appropriate suggestion) espically with your mother. it also might be possible to get some support from local news people, but the child support thing may be a problem with that as it's PC to attack the man.

Back during and for a while after the Carter admin I was out of work (except for part time and tempory jobs) for five years. I got way behind on my child support. Of course when I got back to work I wasn't able to simply "pay-up" it took years. I'm now disabled and the "child support" paid. BUT the state is still taking 10% off the top of my Social Security disability check as the state department of human services compiuted something like $40,000 penilities and interest, and being disabled doesn't mean that you don't don't keep paying...and they keep adding on to it each month so I bring it down very little. I'll never be out from under till I die (unless I live well beyond normal life expectency).

There's more my wife is paralyzed and bed fast, has been for over a year and I'm still tryibg to get her some help...it goes on and on.

The hardship liscence is something you should write your congressman about as it's statutory.

Good luck, God bless.

sniper · Silver Status Member

i wish both of you the best luck. as the point i made with my recession rant. our system helps the WRONG people!!

AirGunEric · Site Admin

As this is a state-by-state thing, how about some calls/letters to the Governor's office as well? Being shoved back-forth between agents (the court vs. the state) with no one willing to admit this issues falls under their area of responsibility, it's absurd- someone needs to be directed to 'pick up the ball'.

And, not that this might get on-air, but how about your local news media? "Courts are killing my Mom" seems a pretty catchy headline to me.

yourdaddyjoe · Supporting Member

If you don't squeek... ya won't get greased...

sniper · Silver Status Member

as i keep thinking about it. uh oh here i go again. we have a really f$%ked up system. kinda makes sense why people go postal......

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Can't say anything about this. I just don't have any words for this kind of sh!t. Neutral

How about we all donate some to help him out? I can ask my buddy to get some cash to a paypal account. It's not like I can sit around an do nothing.

sniper · Silver Status Member

isn't our system great broom?

AGH, 1700 members. if everyone gave $1.........

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

I feel bad for you Jaxom, especially because of your mom's illness. But what I will say is that as a dad you are responsible to support your children no matter what. There's always reasons why a person can't get a job, but you have to over come that. Work part time. Do odd jobs. Hussle. Do whatever it takes.

Looking for excuses and legal loopholes and condolences from strangers is ultimately not going to help feed and clothe your kids.

Jaxom · Senior Member

Thank you all for the kinds words. That means alot to me right now. The comment about giving donations especially hit home. None of you know me on personal level, and to think you're willing to go that far for a stranger... I don't know what to say.

Roger.

I feared someone would take my rant the wrong way. I am not whining about my situation. Nor am I stanind still doing nothing. I am not looking for a legal loop hole to get out of paying child support. Far from it! I'm looking for the law to be applied as it's stated in the statues of my state. By applying this law as it should be would actually help me extend my job hunting capablities.

I did and will again take any jobs that happen along. I am a doer, not a whiner. That's why I'm looking at multiple avenues to rectify this situation. The first and as mentioned by a few other's, is a letter writing campaign. The next step is to go through every drawer, box, and shelf in our home, seeking those items we can do without at this time. I can always replace things later under better finacial circumstantces. Next, as I mentioned in my first post is to develope small, inexpensive items I can make and then sell via ebay.

Time is of the essence. When my mother was diagnosted with her cancer, the stage that which it was found at, her life expectency past 5 years dropped to around 10-15%. Two years have gone by now, and the breast cancer has now made it's way into the lungs.

Right now, one of two things need to happen. Either I need a government agency with the ablity and the resources to take her two and from the hospital. This would make me much more desireable as a job canidate. My mother already understands that I need a good paying job before the inevitable happens. This way I can take over the mortgage, utilites and such without the potential loss of our home which she has bent over backwards for the last 30 years to keep us in.

If that is not possible then I need a state agency that can help pick up some of my living expences while I take care of my mother. While applying for just about every job I was even remotely qualified for, I was also applying to every state agency for any and all types of financial assistance. I am actually going through the process of applying for TANF (read: welfare) for food stamps and such. (they also help with job training and other things as well). I'm also registered with several state agencies in reguards to manufacturing and other types of jobs.

Unfortunilly now, unless one of those jobs is along a public transportation route and the work hours can accomidate both the public transportation as well as my mother's need to be in the hospital 1-3 days 3 weeks out of every month.

I did find a care taker program that my own city offers. And I'm gathering all the required documentation they require in order to recieve $250 a month for being a caretaker. It's not alot, but it's something.

Then, just reciently we got a call from our mortgage holder...citibank. President Obama declared that nobody's mortgage should be above 31% of your income. Because of our income level, or lack there of, our mortgage takes about 65% of our current income.

We're not one of the idiots that bought a home that we couldn't afford. When my mother refied the house back in 2003 we went from a 12.9% mortgage rate down to a 6.5%. And at that time our combined family income was around $5000 gross. With neither of us working..for all the reasons I've explained, we're living off her SSI of $1485 a month now. The mortgage alone is $800. As much as we'd like to sell and down size.. we can't. We now owe more then the building is worth. We tried to sell in the fall of 2007. Best offer we could get was $150k, on a house we owe $180k.

Anywho...I've got a few thousand boxes of stuff to sort through. Ah, that's something we could sell off! <G> My mother is a "crafty" person. She loves to knit things. She's got these hand knitted baby sets that she though she could sell at craft shows or on ebay. But so far we haven't had much luck. If anyone's interested in these. let me know! If anything else they're taking up space, and I'm tripping over the 20-30 sets she has already made.

Again, I would like to thank you all for the kinds comments and suggestions, even yours Roger! : Laughing

:

Jax

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

Jaxom, I wasn't in any way trying to judge you or talk down to you. I'm just trying to expose you to the idea of focusing on gettting what you want out of life and not focus on what is holding you back. Truth is, if they started a fund or something for you to help you and your family out, I'd pitch in.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

Maybe he can just pm people his mailing address or po box. I have no problem mailing the guy $20 or something. I have no reason not to trust him and with problems with his mothers health and not being able to support his children, it's be kind of hard not to donate what you can to someone who is in such need.

sniper · Silver Status Member

Jaxom · Senior Member

Minor update....

Made abit of progerss today. Not with my sales, but on another front. It seems that the same company that brought us the oxgygen machine also sells electric scooters. They also gave my mother the name of an agency that accepts medicare payments in order to get her to doctor's visits and the like.

So we've got the guy coming over tommaro to fit mom with for her chair. And then we've gotta call this agency and start filling out what information they'll require in order to transport her too and from the hospital.

This is a major deal for us! This would make me conciderably more marketable in a tight employment market.

Roger, Yeah I know what ya meant. That's why I added the : Laughing

: at the end. Trust me I cannot afford to dwell on the problems, I need solutions! Even if sometimes that requires a swift kick in the behind.

Now for a bit of advice. Last week was a bit of a physical challenge for me. My '88 S-10 p/u rust bucket is such horrible shape I had to weld the tail gate on. This means every time I had to load and unload my mother wheel chair last week, I had to lift it up and over the sides of the bed. Wednesday, when I took her to the hospital wasn't so bad. But on thursday we had several differnt agencies to visit. I had to load and unload her wheel chair half dozen times. Needless to say Friday morning I was sore as heck. By satuday morning I couldn't even stand up straight.

I must not have been thinking, when mom offered me some of her tylenol #3's with codine. I took 2 on satuday night, and then 4 more on sunday (2 at a time 12hrs apart). And basically spent all day sunday in bed with a heating pad on my lower back.

The pain has subsided, just a bit achie now... but now I realize this might be a BIG mistake should I suddenly have to take a drug test for a job. What do I do now???!!!

Gold... As I've been going through boxes and boxes of stuff, I've been finding odd bits of gold plated pins and such. This company that buys gold that's been advertising on tv, are they legit? I know my local pawn shop would probably offer me only a few dollars at most. Hardly worth the bus fare it would cost to go there.

Donations... Honestly guys I don't know what to say. This was the last thing I expected to happen. It certainly wasn't my intentions when I made my intial thead post. I just needed somewhere to blow off some steam. I promise that once I get back on my feet, that I will do the same for others. For those interested, I do have a paypal. If interested, pm me.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the kind words and the unexpected willingness to give donations to someone who is basically a faceless name on the internet. But if you all can bear with me just a bit more, I would very much appericate it.

I'm not quite sure how I want to word this.. But it comes down to this. Let's say for one moment, that I've sold all the personal items I've gathered together on ebay or via craigslist, combined with any small donations I recieve, that I do manage to get my driver's licence back. Then as I mentioned, my mother gets a scooter and that agency does take her to and from the hospital. This would be fantastic indeed!

But I'm worried then what to do, if as the economy keeps slipping that I cannot find a job. What then? A few months down the road my driver's license will end up being suspended again. : Mad

:

I would very much like to avoid going through this again. If I cannot find a job, I must do as Roger says and do "what ever it takes" and find a way to bring in some sort of income.

I had at one time tossed around the idea of starting a garage based welding and foundry buisness. Perhaps even doing some black smithe work as well. So if I can't find a job, I'll MAKE one. The only fly in the ointment right now is I'm lacking some nessary tools to do big jobs. The welder I have is more or less a hobby welder. I don't need a fancy hortizonal saw right now, but I don't even have a cut off saw. And for some stupid reason my chop/miter saw I used for doing 2x4's and trim cutting won't work and play well with the metal cuting blade I bought for it.

What I need then is some suggestions for lil nick nack type things like the gag hotdog roaster thing I gave an example of in the first post. Things that I can keep my material costs as low as possible so I can offer a very fair price in these hard times we're all experincing. I don't need to make mega bucks, just enough to pay my child support and prevent this situation from happening again. So right now that means I need to make around $90 a week in profits to keep up with support payments. Any more then that I can reinvest into the buisness for a chop saw, or a welder upgrade.

Anywho, this has taken me a while to write. Need to get back at things again tommaro. Would you all believe I found my "Land of the Giants" metal lunch box...OY! I can't wait to get that up on ebay!!! <EG> Now if could only find my digital camera!!!

God bless all and again many thanks from myself and my mother for the advice, kinds words and all.

Jax