Arrrgh! Major Anxiety!

[BigDon]

My brother and I, both in two different industries, have both been laid off! (Deep breaths, world is spinning) And my landlady is as merciful as Darth Vader. This complicates my life immeasurably. Might have to give up the cool things like TV, phone and internet access. Do you know how hard it is to find employment when you have epilepsy? (Read no driver's liscense!) This means I'm going to have to try to find work with the junkies, illegals and ex-cons. No outfit with a good insurance company will hire me. Claim I'm a law suit risk or I'll skew the medical insurance rates. You wouldn't believe the amount of recently "recovered" alcoholics have seizures at work, hurt themselves and win in court! Makes my position untenable.

[Swift]

That "stinks" BigDon - good luck with the search.

[jseefcoot]

I had a similar problem once. I had to resort to lying on my application to get a job. When the home office audited records many years later and found out, they fired me, even though the manager didn't want to. He actually told them he wouldn't, but they threatened him with his job too. Meanwhile my old job went to a chronically late, strung-out druggie with no motivation, marketable skills, or work ethic. Ahhhhhh, progress.

Good luck, Don. . . . . praying for ya man.

[Peter Wilson]

Meanwhile my old job went to a chronically late, strung-out druggie with no motivation, marketable skills, or work ethic...
But he passed the drug-test, so he's not an insurance risk :)

[Fazor]

Sorry to hear it man. Dunno about cali but the Job market here in central Ohio isn't so hot right now.

My last job was a decent temporary fix: I was a security guard for about a year. No one respects you, but I'm use to that anyway :) The pay here wasn't bad but it's extreemely regional. (for instance i talked to a guy in miami area that did the same job but made about $5/hr less than me, and cost of livings much higher there). But the job's easy and you get lots of time to study and read :-p That was a big plus. But most security companies seem fairly open to people with disabilities. Of course you'll still get to work with those winner druggies and alcoholics but on the plus side you don't have to try very hard and you end up still looking like you're a star employee. lol.

Anyway good luck.

[Gillianren]

I just want to clarify one thing for my own understanding, here. Is it that most jobs require a driver's license specifically or is it that your state doesn't have state ID cards? (Wait. You're in California, right? I'm pretty sure they have ID cards, but since I had a military ID by the age of 13--my dad was a 20-year man--I don't really know.)

One of the things I like about Washington is that the insurance companies are legally required to insure people with pre-existing conditions. I don't remember what the rules are back there. (Because we had military insurance through my dad from before I was born, so my conditions definitely weren't "pre-existing.")

[sarongsong]

Eligible for State Unemployment Insurance claim, City/County General Assistance and/or Federal Social Security disability? Major paperwork involved, but something to get started on, perhaps. Never had a car in SF; at least they've got a fairly decent public transportation system. Hang in there!

[Gillianren]

Eligible for State Unemployment Insurance claim, City/County General Assistance and/or Federal Social Security disability? Major paperwork involved, but something to get started on, perhaps.

Not just paperwork, either. I applied two years ago, and I still haven't had my hearing. (I was rejected; I appealed; I was rejected; I demanded a hearing. That's how the process usually works. But if you stick to it, there's something like an 80% final approval rate.)

[Doodler]

Maryland's unemployment insurance was pretty quick to approve, but they stay on your back to keep you going for interviews. Not that I blame them, not at all, I actually approve of such a system.

[Jigsaw]

Move to the Land O' Lincoln, Don--our unemployment rate is the lowest in 6 years, 4.4%, and bosses are walking around in the streets begging the unwashed masses to come work for them.

You interested in Walgreens Management? 'Cause you can write your own ticket here in Decatur, if you're pretty good with math and can handle 45 hours a week and dealing with customer service issues (translated means, "chasing shoplifters out into the parking lot and explaining to irate smokers why we still don't have any Pall Mall unfiltered in stock.")

And epilepsy is no biggie. One of our checkout ladies has muscular dystrophy, is in a wheelchair, it's not a problem. Like I said, it's a sellers' market here lately for halfway intelligent, English-speaking labor with references. If you can arrange a ride to work, you're in like Flynn.

And after you've got a thousand hours in, you can enroll in Walgreens profit-sharing.