Good News, Bad News

Bad news first:

I got a call yesterday from the Massachusetts Dept. of Revenue and they told me my appeal to get back the $753 the DOR stole from my bank account last month had been turned down. According to state law or DOR policy, "hardship" only applies when you can furnish a court-ordered eviction notice. Bottom line, the only way I'd be able to get back that money (my rent money for June) is only after Mrs. JP and I are out on the street. Try getting a new place with just $753 in your pocket. And try getting a job after putting "'98 Ford Taurus" for an address on a job application.

Even though she was only a case worker, I nonetheless excoriated the DOR and their scorched earth policies that seem bound and determined to completely obliterate a parent's ability to earn money and pay their child support. Not only that, they honestly don't seem to give a shit that they're threatening to take down everyone around me. Because if I fail to pay my rent, my unemployed landlord won't be able to pay his mortgage.

If that happens, well, you know what happens next. The bank forecloses and everyone, meaning five households, lose their housing. Then when they put up foreclosure notices on the door and plywood sheeting over the windows, that's just going to crater the property values of every homeowner up and down my street.

All so they could go after one person for a few hundred dollars.

I told the DOR caseworker all this and more. I figured if I'm not going to get my money back, I might as well get my money's worth and let them have it with both barrels. These lawless, rapacious asswipes stole about $20,000 from me over an eight and a half year period of time after the mother of my sons died of cancer in 1995 yet never bothered to enter a new court order so legal garnishments could continue. That didn't happen until 2004.

I've filed a criminal complaint against the DOR through AG Martha Coakley's office. I am not letting this go and I will keep hounding these out of control cocksuckers to investigate why they systematically stole $20,000 from me for nearly nine years under a null and void court order.

Having said that, here's the good news:

Right before the DOR called me late yesterday morning, I went back to my old job and spoke to the guy running the place.

Just the day before, I'd run into a guy who works for himself in the building and he'd informed me of a major change in management several months ago. Without getting into specifics, the place is now under new, more efficient management and bills are getting paid and things are running as smoothly as the local economy will allow. Once I told the new manager who I was, he seemed to be very receptive to hire me. It's just about the only plant in the Bay State that doesn't go through Goddamned temp agencies.

Bottom line, it looks as if I'll be getting my old job back and the only question is when I'll start. It may be this Monday, it may not be until August 1st. Either way, we'll need help one more time making the rent since the DOR won't give me back the $753 they rifled from my checking account last June. Even if I start on Monday the 25th, I won't even get my first check until long after rent day, let alone have time to earn what I need to cover the rent. And I'd need at least 48 hours lead time to make a Paypal transfer to my bank account.

We also got hit with a $520 car repair bill last month (muffler & fuel pump) so that put us behind a giant 8 ball. Anything you can do in the way of helping us would be so appreciated. The new manager wouldn't hire me back with the intention of laying me off so this should be a permanent, fulltime gig and I shouldn't need to ask for help ever again.

Update: I just called my old job and the manager told me his bosses can't think about taking on anyone until after Labor Day, meaning we'll need a lot more help than I thought we would. I also had to just take Mrs. JP off my auto insurance when they tried to gouge me to the tune of $215 more a year for a compulsory policy on account of a "major accident" she had two and a half years ago.