Couch number 33!!!!!

Because right now you have hope? The phone call has the potential to take that away?

Mue-will you have to wait for an answer anyway?

Lola, what time is T?

That's exactly it....and the fear of messing up my case.

Good question! Now that you mention it, I probably won't get an answer right away. They'll probably have to process it, review it and then get back to me in writing. ACK.

T is right now. Hoping for goodnews heading your way MUE.

Had a preliminary conversation with the appeals examiner which determined that following through had a great chance of doing more harm than good. Long story short, my request to appeal has been withdrawn. Apparently working part time screwed me over in the process.

I'm bawling my eyes out right now....

I've always felt that material needs were more urgent than spiritual ones.

Feed, me, clothe me, then save my soul.

MUE - sorry to hear.

I don't drive no rig. I got no use for that book-larning.

Pets are surrogate children. It's perfectly normal to become attached to them and grieve their deaths.

If you don't miss them when they're gone, what's the point of having them?

I doubt it. You got a better plan?

Wow. Just got a call back from the appeals examiner saying that there was some kind of memo that may affect the decision, so he went ahead with the appeal.

Now I have a whole new issue to worry about....

If they decide to grant my appeal, I will be reinstated back to the old rate (which would be great, although the unemployment timeframe would end sooner).

If they decide to deny my appeal, I may actually end up having my part time income counted for a new claim which would reduce my benefits even further - and would require me to owe them money back. THAT would be devastating.

And now I wait.....

That's the spirit!

But you only work one day how could that be accounted for so much of it...

MUE - good luck with it. Have you looked into getting an attorney? Here at the law school I teach at, we have a clinic with law students who take on cases such as yours in front of hearing officers.

Basically, it means that they will base my unemployment figure on a time period when I was only working that one day a week rather than working full time at my old job.

Apparently, if I earned more than $7,300 in part time income over the year that I'm unemployed, they can use this amount to start a whole new claim instead of extending the original claim.

So....for example....

During the first year of unemployment, I was able to get the max benefit of @ $600/week for a year.

If I earned over $7,300 in part time income during that year (which mostly gets deducted from the unemployment amount anyway), they can recalculate the max benefit amount to reflect the new base rate.

If I earn $250/day at this new job (but only work one day a week), the max benefit would be recalculated to $166/week.

At the moment, they included my severance package from my old company as part of my income during that base year along with the part time income. If they decide to not count the severance as earned income, then I would not only have my max benefit reduced to $166/week, I would also owe them the difference from the last 12 weeks (just over $2,000).

Ugh. I hope it works out to your advantage. Hugs.

that sucks mue

Thanks, my friends. I am not in a good place right now. Basically that $166 will be $0 because it gets deducted from my one-day earnings....I can't pay my mortgage on either of those numbers no matter how you slice it.

I hope they see how unreasonable it is for them to do this to a professional who worked a full time job making a decent income, well beyond the capped amount, for a 20 years without ever being on unemployment.

But then again, we're talking about the government here.

Looks like this part time job is screwing me in more ways than one....

Deep breaths. DEEEEEP breaths. I'm going to apply for some jobs now.

Mue-I hope something comes your way soon! I'm sorry. I feel your anxiety about this. hugs

MUE that is terrible, I hate that the government treats people like they want a handout, you have paid your dues . Then to punish you for attempting to work seems unfair. I hope something pans out for you.

Dear H, see when you were just sleeping the last 4 hours? Well, another job opportunity was posted on Craigslist. And this one even offers medical benefits and a 401K. Not many tow truck jobs around that offer medical benefits. Go for it, H...its a real job..not this commission based crap you been doing since June that was barely getting us by.

Okay, Jersey, I don't care WHAT your T says. It is time to. KICK. THIS. MAN'S. A S S. Print out the ad and then STAND THERE and do this: until he sends his application or resume.

Tell H the "job fairy" called ( while he was napping ) and wanted to say he's a little behind in his work load, so If H could help out the fairy by do a little leg work on his own, craigslist is a good place to start.