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Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.
Editor’s note: Think “homeless” and most minds turn to scenes of disheveled men and women living in makeshift tents along Foremaster Lane near downtown Las Vegas. Many of them have adopted homelessness as their lifestyle. But the Great Recession has created the new homeless, people with good work histories who are victims of unemployment and foreclosures. We won’t necessarily find them sleeping on a downtown sidewalk. We asked Rodger Jacobs to tell his story, in his own words. As I write this, taking a brief late night respite from packing books into boxes, I am just days away from an ...
For someone who can write in a very moving way, Rodger sure has made some poor choices. Overdrawing one's bank account is foolish, and going to a payday type lender is insane. The excuses why he can't get his California driver's licence renewed border on defeatist.
Having said that, lack of a job and sufficient money is a tragedy in America. It is a shame that Bush and Obama's stimulus money wasn't partly targetted to America's poor.
Rodger has described his financial plight and his depression about it very well. I sincerely hope his future gets brighter.
Why does Willie Nelson's "Living in the Promised Land" echo in my mind when I read such stories?
As I write this, in the background, NBC is about to bring us the latest on Paris Hilton. A sad commentary on just how far America is off the tracks.
While millions of Americans suffer, we can't get enough of Hilton, Gaga, Spears, et al.
In many parts of the world this man would be rich. He has been collecting tax free disablilty and most likely has been on medicare or medicaid for 8 years and claims to be sick.
Meanwhile, your intrepid reporter did not mention the man is smoking like a chimney. I wonder how much he spends on cigarettes or are they free too?
Does he have other expensive habits like booze?
I think there must be more to this story. In the video, he complains about a perpetual leaking sprinkler. Yet for the price of one his packs of cigarettes (he says he has COPD), the darn thing could be fixed. And is that Oxycodone on the coffee table. If he were so successful earlier in life, did he self-fund a retirement plan. Where did that money go. What were some of those left turns he says he made in life. I think the reporter has to dig a little deeper here. Maybe he really is a victim, but so many on the street got there by their own hand.
In response to the heartless comments already here and for the ones soon to be added .............
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
Heartless????
This guy has been on free Medicare and Free Drugs for 8 years. He pays nada. He gets tax free money on top of that. What does the girl friend contribute? Is she on disability too. How aobut food stamps?
If you are RSN is such a concerned person she should run down to this man and pay his rent.
Just because a person is disabled does NOT mean he is getting "free" anything. He had paid into the system and is benefitting from those payments. I find it disgusting that people are so heartless that they would say such cruel things. On the other hand, I agree with the comments about the girlfriend. I am 64 years old, not in the best health, but I work to supplement my retirement. She needs to get a job. As to the cigarettes, he may not be able to quit so easily--he may have an addictive personality. My mother was unable to do so (we found affirmation lists with "stop smoking" at the top of each and she tried everything to quit), and she died of emphysema. I think that perhaps if the girlfriend had a job, these things would not have happened. I believe there are agencies that will help get IDs.
This guy doesn't owe anybody anything (such as an explanation). It is what it is, and what it is is very sad. I hope things work out for him.
Chunky says:
He hates to see anyone lose their residence but it's hard for Chunky to sympathize when Mr. Jacobs is spending money on cigarettes instead of a haircut and resume.
Surely there must be something he could do as a job even if it's taking Internet based work from home, Craigslist odd jobs or buying / selling on eBay.
That's what Chunky thinks!
Come on. Bad choices were made all along that got you to this point.
Maybe he can get a job on JournoList.
This man appears to be living beyond his means, but does not mean he is lazy. I have a lot of questions that only this man and girlfriend can answer. I see this type of situation everyday at my place of employment. I know that people on disability can live on about $600 a month, if resourceful. This gentleman just needs some assistance. First, he should prioritize the CA or NV ID as first on his agenda this month. Is he going to stay in NV? (I know that a lack of a support system can be problematic. I would look to family, if possible. A greyhound bus ticket to Ca costs less than $100). If staying in NV and ID secured he should head to NV Welfare and Clark County Social Services for food stamps and a rent voucher (up to 6 months) if he is to stay in NV. There are plenty of weekly motels on Boulder Hwy that could meet his income parameters.
It would appear that most of Mr. Jacobs' income was freelance and/or contract, so there probably was not any withholding from his checks. My guess is that while he paid income taxes he did NOT pay social security, medicare etc. Most contract workers, consultants etc. don't have this withheld from their income.
I can't feel sorry for someone when they are spending money on cigarettes. If you aren't trying to make every penny count, I can't sympathize.
I hate to see this but also agree with many regarding the largely self induced nature of their plight. That's a pretty nice house, why when already struggling would you want to rent such a nice house for over 1k a month? Doesn't seem very practical. When the dryer broke the elec bill went up? Why? What does that mean? And couldn't the sprinklers have been turned off or at least the outlet valve to it? This isn't heartless to questions things, some things just don't add up here. Here is the heart part though: I hope they figure things out and things look up for them.
There are $600/month apartments in Las Vegas.
Oh please, raise my taxes to subsidize living in a house instead of an apartment, to subsidize cigarettes, and blah, blah,
A sad story that's likely to have a sadder ending.
But after watching the video,I offer the following:
First of all, QUIT SMOKING! Cigarettes cost at least 3.50 a pack. If you smoke 2 packs a day, thats about $60 a month.
What about food stamps? They government practically gives them away. That would be $200.00 a month for food.
Welfare? Certainly, Mr. Rodgers is smart enough to play the system better than most and might be able to get a welfare check.
Does his girlfriend work? Even a crummy part-time job would help.
Anyway, good luck to him and his girlfriend and hopefully, things will get better.
bridges are free. so's the library computer. American dumpsters are buffets. wash windshields at stoplights. Brush your teeth and smile at the people behind the glass.
well this does not make sense, Nevada disability is about 3-4 hundred less than california. So unless he goes back to california and not get the nevada Id he is going to loose, and some family member, rent my house .. what was he thinking?
We have programs here to help. housing assistance, food stamps, we have a bus systems he can call and they will pick him up. I wish you the best of luck, but something is not quite what it seems in this article.
I guess Mr. Jacobs' first "bad choice" was to move to Vegas to be with and help is dying mother.
Another "bad choice" was to trust a cousin and rent his house.
And maybe he should not have "choose" the body that is failing him.
There but for the grace of God go I .......
ivegotcha
Housing assistance, food stamps are hard to get if the person is a single American male...or female..
Been there, done that..
I was homeless and I had a good time..I never asked anyone for anything..except.."can I help you" or "do you need a hand"
I found plenty of people who needed a hand or a bit of help ..and I worked my way back in..
I had faith in God, hope in the future and charity in my heart..but I had to turn it around..I suddenly saw that I could only get help if I were the help..
But..no..this man does not qualify for most gov't entitlements
Just waiting for a Sun Reporter to do their typical post defending this guys nicotine habit. Let me see, the Dr. prescribed cigarettes as a way to treat his bi-polar disorder? I can just picture this guy in his twenties, typical liberal smoking pot as he writes about John Holmes, complaining about how the "Man" is keeping him down. "I'm gonna be a writer Man, I'm gonna write about how evil corporations are. I'm never gonna conform to society and get a job where I have to wear a suit man." What's going on now is called Economic Darwinism.
Mr. Rodgers was right, its a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
I made the first comment posted on this article early this morning.
Then I went to church, but thought about Rodger's situation some more.
Now, back at home, I have changed my mind about Rodger (church obviously did not make me kinder).
The sympathy I felt after reading this story the first time has drained away, and I have read it twice more since.
Now I am of the opinion that Rodger is the tenant from hell. He left the first apartment once the "promotional" rent ended. I suspect that he left in breach of his lease, as it is unlikely one can get the low teaser rent without signing to stay for the remainder of the lease term at the regular rent. I wonder if Rodger stiffed that first landlord and managed to stay a month or so without paying rent.
Now Rodger has made his own cousin take him to court to evict him, because he did not pay the rent for July and August.
Also, Rodger is not going to be "homeless". He is simply going to a cheaper apartment.
Canadians are known as real softies, but I have lost my compassion for Rodger. He shows no consideration for anyone but himself.
I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone who talks about all the medical problems they face and yet continues to smoke cigarettes. And I feel the same way about the poor me money woes when he is throwing money away on cigarettes.
He writes but apparently doesn't read. Don't sign anything until you read it. Even if it is more than 12 pages long.
And he should have taken care of that ID issue when he moved here.
This isn't just a matter of the economy taking a dive and him getting hit. This is a matter of living for the moment and not paying attention to detail and then falling into the hole he dug for himself.
Comment removed by moderator. Off-topic to this story.
Wow - so many comments. A few answers:
No place to send ID card to? PO box costs money, there's no help for this.
$600 apartments? Think deposits, utilities, furniture... all cost money he does't have.
Calif disability doesn't pay once SSD kicks in. County doesn't pay rent for someone with income. His disability is too high to get food stamps.
Medicare costs him $100/month, plus co-pays & deductibles. Pain meds are needed by arthr sufferers, don't judge until you try to function with pain that's 9 out of 10. He's on Medicare, not medicaid. He doesn't qualify for that. He paid into the system, and neither his healthcare nor his meds are free. And the only way he quaifies for Medicare & Disability is because he paid into the system - he wrote a documentary, does it matter about what? He's a journalist, for crap's sake!
People are so judgemental - but he's not living on your money, he's subsisting on his own income. He can smoke cigs if he wants - it's about all he has left.
Kicking him when he's down might make you feel better - but don't doubt that this could happen to you.
To Rodger and companion I don't know if this will help but a few weeks ago while searching the realtor.com site for housing in the las Vegas area I came across a older used mobile home on a lot in a park that the asking price was less that $2,000 with a lot rent of $300.00 that include garbage and sewer.
Try a search and if you find something then maybe a land sale agreement may work.
I will not demonize smoking because I smoked for a lot of years I was able to quit 12 years ago. I saved a great deal.
You seem to be well read and that's a good thing it may be possible that you can narrate some books for an audio book publisher.
It was honorable that you came to Nevada to care for your mother may God bless you in the near future.
I was homeless..
This is how I conquered homelessness..when I realized this:
"I came to the place where I believed there's no way to solve these problems, these issues ... unless I solved it through God, unless I solved it through being my highest self," (paraphrase Glenn Beck")
I washed my face and hands, I put on my tattered cloak and I showed up at the shelter..Not asking for a handout but asking.."What can I do to help?"
I stopped weeping and wailing and picked up the broom..
Christ was homeless..read the Bible..take up your Cross and follow the Lord..
I wonder how many of the "people" attacking the homeless in this forum have the slightest notion of what it's like to be homeless. I also wonder how many of them, as I type this, are at church, singing the praises of Jesus and demonstrating that they are hypocrites unfit to be considered members of the human race.
Sad yes, but whoever your neighbors are, they now know that you need some assistance. So neighbors, what say you? Time to step up if you haven't, and if you have been helping please keep it up.
Louise - he wrote the article. If he's a "real" writer he should understand you don't write without getting criticism.
No where here do you explain why he wastes money on cigarettes when he 1)can't afford them and 2)shouldn't smoke because of his health.
There are social services that provide a mail stop. Go find one.
Why spend EIGHT years here without getting an id?
This isn't a forum for Roger's pity party. Presumably he got paid for this article so he needs to suck it up and take the criticism with the paycheck. And maybe he'll learn something too.
I made a post then went to church came home with even less compassion to make accusations about assumptions. " Canadians are known as real softies "
WTF
RSN - when you went to church, did you forget to read the part about 'judge not'? At least the rest of us are giving our honest opinion. Roger wrote the article and put the facts out there. As readers here, we all have the right to make assumptions. Maybe someone else will read the criticisms and make some good decisions in their future so they don't end up in Roger's position.
And by the way, Roger gets almost $1000 a month for doing absolutely nothing. Money that the rest of us people with no compassion are working 40 hours a week to provide for him.
McDonalds is hiring. He can still make less then the 1000 a month working part time also.
I hate to tear someone down, but most people who commented are right- this couple seems to have given up and just stopped trying. They probably believed that someone, some government agency would knock on their door and come and save them. They did what they loved to do and this is where it got them. It wasn't a well thought out plan to be just be writers and not have a back up plan. It's always been hard for "starving artists", but writing tends to be a second job for most people, because it doesn't pay reliably.
His house is pretty nice, seems like they sit around all day doing nothing, he's got the internet hooked up, a house phone, a nice laptop and a printer. Granted he could take the bus to the library to accomplish three out of those four. Sell his laptop and printer to a pawn shop. There are plenty of apartments that would gladly take these two for less than what they are paying in rent in the house. They may not be the nicest, but it's a place to live. Get rid of the land line and get a prepaid cellphone. It wasn't the last choice that got him here, it was every wrong choice they both made that lead them where they are currently. Echoing what everyone else has said: His girlfriend seems in perfect health to get a job!
There is a manual on homelessness..written by a very famous homeless man..
It is the Bible..and it can be found at the public library..
Everyone wants help..but it has been said..If you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm...and if you search, you will find that you have two hands..one to help someone else..
Each of us gets to write our own manual on homelessness. It's called the tree of life.
We plant, nurture, trim and harvest every moment.
Grant us the serenity to accept.
Root deep, pounce on those precious rays and share.
I see it all the time. People on their last nickel...but a damn cigarette in their mouth. Stop smoking..
You aren't homeless yet...yet you already look it.
While I sympathize with his plight I just see too many self made problems to take issue with. He's made some bad decisions.
The whole ID thing should have been taken care of long ago. He was being lazy.
Now let's get to the job. 9 times out of 10 people who freelance just don't want a real job. 9-5. Nice way to go thru life, but it has pitfalls. No steady income. No benefits. If that's the way you want to go because you like your "time off", understand it can dry up real quick.
Tell your girlfriend to look for ANY job. Clean bathrooms.
This guy needs to clean up his act. You've done the freelance bit Roger. Time for a real job 9-5, 50 weeks a year. 2 weeks vacation. Waking up at 10am, smoking, doing a little writing, taking a nap, eating lunch and watching tv are over.
If he has been disabled for 8 years, he should have been trying to get on section 8 - it is difficult, but not impossible to do, and after 8 years he would have had it.
As far as the rent increasing, he stated it went from a promotional rate of $890 to $1200 - Which means it was $1200 a month with a break to get people in the door. With his income at under $1000, how could he think about moving there? There are cheaper arrangements, even if it is a studio apartment.
Moving into the house was stupid - if you move somewhere without reading the lease (12 pages isn't that long, especially if you are a professional writer) it would have been clear.
It is sad this guy is facing being homeless, but it sounds to me that this is a result of a string of really, really bad choices or inaction.
Fact Check:
The Bible was not written by one man.
The new testament was not written by Jesus.
Those that believe do not think of Jesus as a man.
vegasstudent I was mocking another post
I off to Mass now
My worst day at work, losing my cool, losing my deals, pissing everyone off etc is WAAAY better than any day homeless and jobless.
Any sense of connectedness is demolished. Island fever of a spiritual nature consumes the soul. identity falls to the voices in your head givin you sh*t for being dumb and ugly, worthless and scummy, dummy and crummy.
Take away a person's job and you get their dignity, their grizzly bear rug and their silver star.
RSN..Sorry...Guess I'm the one who needs to learn to read.
I don't even have to read through these comments to know what they say, in essence.
A few will be sympathetic to this poor man's plight; MANY will be of the hateful, spiteful, "I, Me, My" variety... even though the gist of the article is "WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES".
May God bless Roger & Lila.
They represent a sort of hidden MULTITUDE of your friends and neighbors, who are suffering mightily due in large part to events beyond their control.
Do you have ANY IDEA how quickly your life can spiral out of control? Where heretofore reliable support systems of friends, family, and social services would previously "give a hand up", you are just as likely nowadays to be given a SMACK DOWN.
Unless and until America can regain it's sense of common decency and REASONABLENESS, some sort of bond between human beings that transcends economic hardships, we will continue down a path of self-destruction.
Have a great day!
We need more tax cuts for the rich, that'll bring back the jobs! lol
Why is it that almost 99.9% per cent of homeless people you see ALWAYS have enough money for their damned cancer sticks (CIGARETTES). Give up your costly luxury habit and maybe you'll be able to afford a flop house somewhere downtown where you can bum ciggies off of the other down and out!
I've met people with the exact same "sob" stories before. Once you get to know them you can always trace back their problems to some type of addiction. Most likely they came here and started gambling. Most addicted gamblers hit up the payday loan places as mentioned in this story. I'm sure there is an addiction somewhere in the past and most likey still continuing. Poor people dont rent $1200/mo apartments even if the first couple months are at a promotional rate. On an up note....I'm glad to see he has the homeless look already going for him. He should fit right in at tent city.
GOOD LORD PEOPLE! Didn't you read this paragraph?: He said: "I have severe psoriasis and advanced (arthritis); I must use an electric wheelchair just to get from one room to another due to severe plaque psoriasis on my feet. I am also plagued by hypertension, gout, GERD, perennial allergies, the early stages of COPD and bipolar disorder. Lela is 52 years old and not in the best physical condition herself." THEY CANNOT GET JOBS. THEY CANNOT WORK. Telling them to 'get a job' is unrealistic. If you have a job or could get one, you are fortunate. Be thankful for your good fortune. Not everyone has your good fortune. They are unfortunate. Show some compassion and empathy. Thank the fates for your good fortune by going to a U.S. Bank branch and donating $20 to their account.
I don't mind working 40 hours/week, clipping coupons to buy my own groceries, being conservative with my purchases, keeping my utility bills low, and such ... it's all worth it if I can pay extra taxes for others to not get a job and buy cigarettes and other small luxuries. Oh wait, yes I do mind. I suppose that makes me a bad person.
quatorze, I am not putting $20 into anyone's bank account that spends more a day on luxuries than me. I do not spend $5.50 a day on cigarettes so why would I give someone else money that does so? I'd love to get a $5.50 drink at Starbucks every day but I don't.
quatorze...
Kudos.
You "get it"...
The vengeful, hateful, spiteful, "I, Me, Mine",
"Holier Than Thou" crowd will never "GET IT".
You see, they think they are special, because through some twist of fate, which they consider their "devine right", because they are "good people",they are "above" this sort of thing; that those like Roger are "lower" life forms than themselves...and DESERVE what they are "getting".
Hey, all you Glen Beck-brains out there, basking in the "Glory" of yesterday's self-crowning of the new King of The American God Squad;
WWJD???
RSN
Yes, I know the Nicene Creed. I was refering to this quote
Matthew 8:20
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air [have] nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay [his] head.
Mr. Sun, you should be ashamed of yourself for using these two tortured souls to sell advertising...godspeed to them both...
inalienable rights...life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.
I feel like a broken wagon wheel
when I can't jump a slow-moving train
Think I know how a coyote feels
howling just to ease the pain
This guy Roger is spread out pretty thin right now. If his heart could tell the tale of life its own self, it would be easy to understand.
Brutal, brief and full of potential, pain and addiction.
Part of the balance sheet of our culture of capture.
There are too many issues here that one could address so I will simply say I wish good things for all.
Gmag..let Roger live with you. That's what jesus would do. Best of luck to you. Damn..got to go, Glen Beck is on!
Gmag
In order to have a house, you must build a house. In order to have health, you must take care of your health. In order to have people who care about you in hard times or old age, you must have a family..
I was homeless.. I learned never to rely on the kindness of strangers..but to rely on my kindness toward strangers..
When you look closely at most poor people it is apparent that they decided to be poor - not with one pivotal decision - but with the cumulative effect of hundreds of small, short sighted, irresponsible decisions. Said decisions usually based on instant gratification and NEVER having to do anything you don't want to.
Don't worry Rodger I am sure the Greenspuns will step up.
As you are leaning against the lightpost reading "Georges Simenon Inspector Mairgret novel ,your escapist literature choice of the moment ",before I toot my horn there and drop u off a twenty,I will take the oppertunity to toot my horn here.Drop the escapeist fiction book.Pic up economics 101 and start reading that!Ya gotta figure out the simple ongoing things necessary to lead a somewhat rational life.There how long will that take ya?Otherwise,good luck,and to all the rest of ya who need it!
True, there are decisions and the consequence of those decisions. But there is also such a thing as a BREAK. And I know I got some good ones in my life and I'm grateful for them. The couple in this article haven't caught any. I'll bet most of the "get-a-job" commenters on this page have caught some in their lives. They should be grateful for them and show some sympathy and compassion for those who haven't.
buzzbomb
Yes..I was homeless and it was entirely my own fault..and then I read the Bible..
What would Jesus say?
"Clean up your act or go to hell."
I got the message..
I heard too many excuses from these people. They are full of it. I bet he's already set up well. Writers are liars and opportunists, and always have been. I don't believe a word he said.
I've caught some breaks...I worked very hard to capitalize on them...they were never squandered.
I've had some bad breaks...I never used them as an excuse not to do my best...bad breaks were a motivator to work harder and a lesson to plan for "rainy days" Some rich guy said; "the harder I work, the luckier I get"
1. Your health sucks, so quit smoking.
2. You're broke, so quit spending on cigarettes.
3. You're a writer, therefore a reader, so read a measly 12-page contract next time.
It's simply hard to feel compassion for people like this.
30 plus years of not having a real job. You did pretty good Roger. Freelancing is great. You can make your schedule, wake up late, take a 2 hour lunch....
It's over Roger. Get yourself into a 500-600 studio apartment (there are plenty out there)...
Find a real paying 9-5 job, with a boss, with responsibility of being on time, with responsibility for saving money..51 years old, you should have been saving long ago.
Stop smoking. My god you have health issues as it is.
As buzz bomb said, it is cumulative poor life decisions that have gotten him to this point.
The whole issue with the rental house is a joke. Forget about what you signed with the management company and work something out with your cousin. If your cousin wants to stiff you with the bills...take it up with him. He can pay you back for anything you fix...unless of course your cousin doesn't want to know anything. Sounds to me like your cousin is a jerk for sticking you with a house in disrepair. When you walked into the house you probably could have determined the place was a sh*thole..
Again..find regular work. If not here, somewhere else. No more "freelancing"...and get a haircut. Look presentable and make a resume.
Las Vegas is the last place you want to live with no money and detrimental vices. I would be curious to know how often they are in the casino?
quatorze;Sometimes u have to do something to create your own breaks.I gave him a simple suggestion that may help him tremendously and so did alot of others here in quite some detail.The time of sympathy is now over.It's time he took a few of the great suggestions here,mull them over and act.He has more than enough information just from commenters here to at least make it without being homeless.Sorry his reality is he will have to downsize his lifestyle a bit,but I think we are all going through that,it's time he decided to join the crowd,and start to make a better evaluation to surive his circumstances.Too many others are busy adjusting their needs accordingly to survive to just let this guy off the hook for his actions or inactions!
it's so easy to say get a job....i have worked in this town for twenty years ....13 yrs in one place & 7 @ another....i have watched the last 2 years of layoffs involving long term employees...people that have seniority ie job benefits etc laid off only to hire 2 temps to replace the employee & circumvent paying the new hires any type of benefits...this town has turned its back on its people...my son is 27 years old married a new father and a culinary union member....he has yet to find work since 2006 ... he needs the interpreter @ the union hall because we are white & don't speak spanish).... then u wonder why Americans are bitter towards immigration...especially when i go to work every day and half the people employed can't or won't speak english.. {i work at a major strip property}...nevada really doesn't give a sh$t about anything but gaming never has....its just not as unbelievable as some of the posters would like to believe....this guy's story is just one in every 50 - 100 people ... Boom Town is now Doom Town
to buzzbomb. same here. every setback i was dealt, i picked myself up and dusted myself off and got back in the ring. and eventually i'd catch a break and work it for all it was worth, as you said you did. but ask yourself this: what if that break hadn't come? what if you didn't catch the break? don't you see that there are people who just couldn't catch a break? whether by bad decisions or miscalculations on their part, or just plain misfortune? can't you imagine a setback that you COULDN'T overcome? don't you see that's what's happening here?
I find it funny when i see a homeless person who says they dont have money but they always have a pack of cigs.
I see the idiots from the RJ comment section have arrived here. Too bad...
For those that have made it to the comment section, you missed the front page and the article itself. Go back and read the front page.
Las Vegas has 20% unemployment. That means for every 5 people you see, At least one is unemployed.
McDonalds had a hiring fair in June, over 5,000 people showed up. For a few hundred jobs. Its not like your childhood, where they were begging for kids to work there.
Smoking? Tell me honestly, if you were about to lose your Lexus and your house, you wouldn't take up a vice like that??
And from a majority of the comments here, I can see why they have no friends. They seek friends who won't stab you in the back. And Vegas is filled with them. Just read the comment section here and see..
Vegasstudent - you raised some fair responses to my post.
but I don't care if he smokes, it's his money. that pack or carton of cigarettes won't help pay his rent.
he didn't plan for homelessness, didn't plan to remain in Vegas so didn't change his I.D. It doesn't change his status.
His life is a bowl of crap right now and he can't see his way out. It's his personal story, and it's sad.
Those people who think otherwise need to buy some compassion - you sound like you can well afford it.
This is a complex situation and I am in the midst of packing, but I will reply to a few of the points raised here in the comments. I offer these thoughts not as rebuttals or "excuses," but, rather, as further information to Rodger's piece.
The smoking has been a source of contention between Rodger and myself for some time. Fortunately, he has a couple buddies who send him "tobacco funds" so our budget does not include cigarette expenditures. Rodger also has a doctor who is working with him on this habit. As Rodger has been smoking since his teens, it's best left to the medical profession to help him quit. Our donation fund is not for cigarettes, it is for movers and a storage space for one month.
As for gambling, we never have and never will.
Regarding my health, I cannot stand or sit for more than an hour at a time, which is the main reason I enjoy freelance gigs from home. This could be fixed with some medical attention, but I haven't had health insurance for years. My last "office" job was through an agency that did not provide benefits. Freelance and contract jobs since that time have not provided health insurance, either.
As to housing, it is our intention to rent an extended stay room with a stove and fridge, where we can pay our rent weekly. We did pay our rent on the house in July, contrary to one comment above. As for August, in early July one of Rodger's freelance clients changed their payment method without notice, which put us behind in our utility payments and the dominoes began to fall. Unannounced payment method changes are well-known to freelancers.
Looking to the future, we both have freelance opportunities coming our way and are always looking for additional opportunities. As for Rodger, his chief role in life is to continue writing literary fiction. He has one novel in manuscript form which has been rejected by two publishers so far, but one of the publishers did ask for something new. It takes a publisher a year or two to say no to a manuscript, this is something literary writers have lived with since the invention of the novel. Rodger supplements his income with trade journalism; the book review column he writes does not pay money.
A last note, the Oxy medication Rodger takes is by prescription and was his doctor's idea, not Rodger's. It's true, he doesn't look that great in the mornings, but I love him anyway.
Thanks for reading my comments and thanks to those who offer your best wishes. We've faced hard scrapes before, but this one has overwhelmed us like no other.
May I recommend you can down to Catholic Charities. They do a wonderful job of helping people get back on their feet. The only thing they ask is that people be willing to help themselves. They provide beds, food, a mailing address, help finding work and even small apartments for those that need them. I witnessed the work that they did and homelessness can affect anyone from any income group. They actually complain that they have empty beds every night and that some people don't want the help. They will help you get on your feet, but you and your girlfriend will need to take that first step.
I wonder how many years did he have that defeatist attitude? It certainly must have contributed to many of the bad decisions. And frankly the resulting downfall is just a product of those bad decisions.
Wash and cut your hair. Stop smoking. Get a place you can afford, and no that is not a 200 dollar a week extended stay. Get a job. Do you have any idea how many ways there are to make money on the internet for a writer? Why were you not doing it months or years ago?
My God, take some responsibility for your life.
I just want to draw attention to the comments by Rodger's girlfriend, Lela, at the 12:39 timestamp
Good God, people, where is your compassion, let alone your reading comprehension skills? Get a job at McDonald's? First of all, if such an opportunity existed, when is the last time you saw a fast food clerk in an electric wheelchair or hobbling on a cane? What part of "disabled" do you not get? Social Security does not hand out benefits to just anyone; it takes one year to get into the system and you damn well have to prove that your medical condition prevents you from working at full-time capacity. Because of my disability payments I do not qualify for food stamps and many social services -- that fact is in the article.
Until last week, Lela has been working steadily on a contract job of mine for Orbison Records in Nashville; that job has now ended. My own ability to work is severely limited due to chronic pain -- that's why I have been prescribed oxycodone. I don't like being dependent on an opioid but it controls high levels of pain that very few here would be able to deal with. Psoriatic arthritis is extremely painful and can lead to joint deformity.
As far as cigarettes are concerned, it's my one and only vice. So what? I'll wager I can walk into any one of your homes and find a vice lurking in your kitchen cabinets, refrigerator, or liquor cabinet that is a detriment to your health and a needless expense: Twinkies, potato chips, candy, Seagram's Coolers, Lucky Charms cereal. Or am I to believe that all of the cruel detractors on here are fitness fanatics who eat a macrobiotic diet and eschew all man-made substances?
At the beginning of this piece I invited readers to walk a mile in my shoes; you did not have to accept my invitation but chose to throw stones instead. I would not give ten cents for your karma.
Tell his buddies to stop sending cigarette funding and send something you could really use (like, maybe money..gift card)
Again.. Freelancing is not working for you. Try regular 9-5 work. The decision to freelance means you don't get health insurance. It seems both of you have/had health issues for a long time. You need to get out of the freelancing, staying at home mindset.
As far as Rogers "chief role in life"....IT SHOULD NOT BE WRITING LITERARY FICTION and SHOULD BE SUPPORTING HIMSELF AND YOU with whatever means possible.
Your priorites are screwed up Lela. Forget about his "dream" to write right now...he and you need to find a way to make money. Start sending out resumes.
We've all had dreams of the perfect career, the happy career, doing what I love, etc...you need to change those priorities..you need a place to live.
Like I said. Rent a studio apartment. 900-1200 sounds like way too much for an apartment (2 bedroom I presume) Change your "needs". A 500-600 studio will do fine.
a "tobacco fund" from a friend? really? not helping you case IMHO.
Lela, you may not mean them as excuses but that's how it comes across. Buddies send tobacco money? Those aren't buddies. Refuse the money or spend it on food but don't enable the habit the is probably killing Rodger. This is coming from someone who is watching her father die from COPD. If you think Rodger has problems now, wait until he's dragging around an oxygen tank every where he goes.
Good luck with your writing but there are many, many jobs that don't require you be on your feet. You might think about them and do the freelancing on your off time - like I do.
You and Rodger have made many, many bad choices. Now is the time to turn your life around. Not with donations from others but from hard work and sacrifice on your part.
Lela says you have "freelance opportunities" coming your way. OK, so what happens when those opportunities come to fruition, you make some money, and then what? Do you take advantage of this windfall by starting, God forbid, a "bank account"? No, I have a feeling that you will fall back into the same old trap-I'm a freelance writer, come Hell or high water.
Well, fine. I was homeless once. Got a chance at a flunky job in construction, lowest paid guy on the job. Took it. Worked on it. Today, 45 years later, I'm retired. Not homeless. Life is smooth, despite its daily ups and downs.
Why? Because I knew that when that one lucky moment came along, if I didn't grab it by the horns, I would end up back at Square One. BTW-what saved me was that I had excellent writing skills, too. You have them, I assume. I would bet dimes to a dollar that if you were given a similar opportunity, you would blow it again..and again.
Funny, the day I got my big chance, I gave up smoking, so many years ago. You and girlfriend have had your chances, but you've blown it. Period. Sorry, end of story.
Problem is Rodger those vices that you talk about finding....are in other peoples HOMES. you are on your way to homelessness. They are not. Smoke all you want if you can afford it. Stopping something is one step at a time. You are only 51 and in poor health. Guess what, at 61 you'll be worse...same for 71.
Baby steps Rodger. One step at a time. Your health will not get better if you continue to smoke. You've got to start somewhere. Kick the disgusting habit. Then step 2..get your damn ID. It should have been done already. Don't justify why you don't have it...just do it. Step 3..local charities may offer help..
My point is you have got to start making small calculated steps to move forward. It isn't going to just happen
Walk a mile in my shoes Rodger! You may decide to take them off and put yours back on. Life is long and definitely not fair. Good luck to you and your girl. I donate to Catholic Charaties every paycheck and they will help you in these times. They are located on N.Las Vegas Blvd near Foremaster.
OMG Rodger no one should donate a dime to you. Yes, you might find a vice in my home. My home that I worked hard to buy. Sometimes working jobs I didn't like. Since I was 15 years old. And I contributed to my IRA so I'll have a retirement fund. I have pain too Rodger. Every single day it is harder and harder to get up and get ready for work. But I do it. And I read contracts before I sign them. And I don't waste 1200 a month on an apartment/house that I can't afford. You could have chosen a $500/month small place. And I don't beg for money and sympathy from others while I throw away good money on my own vices.
I hope the Sun cancels this series and writes about some hard working people who deserve our sympathy.
Rodger, listen to yourself. Read your own story. Play the video. There is not much giving the impression that you are really doing much other than feeling sorry for yourself and blaming others and circumstance.
We are all a product of our thoughts and actions. Like it or not, each and every one of us has that constraint. Yes, you got dealt some blows. Others have it easier and others have it worse. What makes a persons life what it is, is how they deal with what comes their way. You give the impression of a person that is "owed". Not a person that genuinely has tried.
Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. Time to think about your remaining years and how you will contribute to yourself, and Lela.
Ned Nougat, we have two bank accounts. Did you not read the article?
TomD, thanks for pointing out that I am on my "way to homelessness". I never would have realized that without your valuable input.
Wolf Pack, thanks for reading. Enjoy your Sunday.
I'm curious what makes people believe that freelance work is not a "hard working job"? One of the contributing factors to my illness was the stress on my body in 2001-02 of working seven days a week, 12 hours a day. Disability and the medical establishment agreed that the long hours were a serious contributing factor.
Furthermore, get those cigarettes out of life. Yes we all have vices, but clearly you can see that yours must go. Look at your health! My God.
I'm done with this story. Rodger your arrogance got you where you are and will keep you where you are. I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for you. And, Sun editors, I won't be reading anymore of Rodger's story. Tell us some stories about people who really want to help themselves.
Rodger is a bum. He fantasizes about becoming the next Tom Clancy, Stephen King, but in 30 or more years of writing, hasn't realized this will never happen. Time to get on with life man. I doubt you have all those medical problems. It's either that, or you need to man up and get over it. My economic situation hasn't been that great either, but I always said that if I was about to be homeless, I will take the last bit of money I have and move somewhere that is thriving economically. Why can't you do that? I went to Vegas last month, I could see it was a horrible place for jobs. Get on a plane or bus to Atlanta or Texas and FIND A JOB. Both are doing well, in my opinion.
"But for the grace of God, go I." That is my primary thought today in reading this article about this man's dilema. As financially secure as I am now, I can see how that could change if the US economy doesn't improve.
There are many things I suppose I could say about your situation, but I too, wonder WHY a mobile, apparently healty-enough-to-work young woman does not get a job to help out - especially one in this town, earning tips.
I am of the mindset that the Bible presents options - if you have faith. It also says: God takes care of Sparrows; so why wouldn't God take care of you? (Believing in that just might work.) But that is a personal issue. And maybe Roger and friend don't believe that, anyway.
Yet "Hope" is what gives us energy to do things in life. Hope allows us look for opportunity, to move forward, and FIND AN ANSWER. Hope is all we have when all else has failed. But it seems that Roger has GIVEN UP, and no longer has any Hope.
ROGER - if you are reading these posts, WHAT I WILL SAY NEXT IS AN OBSERVATON that I hope you will reflect on. It is NOT intended to critize you (that is not my place to do so):
While I understand your many problems that affect your state-of-mind, it seems that you have lost the will to TRY and survive, any longer. The FATALIST REMARKS you have made herein will not help you. Others who have been in similar or worse circumstance have told you - herein - how they climbed out of the abyss.
If don't try to have a POSITIVE ATTITUDE, you will drown in misery - which will NOT ENABLE YOU to find solutions to your problems. I'm sure it must be very tough, and your response might be: "if you had my troubles what would you do?"
Well, you wrote this article to SEEK HELP. But we must all help ourselves, too - to the best of our ability. You must continue to look for answers, for the next day you may find a solution. But you will find nothing if you give up. While you may receive some monetary help from readers, I hope you see it for WHAT IT IS: a hand REACHING OUT to you, to help you; That is compassion. That is what people do.
As to WHERE your help COMES FROM, that involves a personal point-of-view. I discussed a philosophical issue a few years ago relating to the existence of God. I told a friend: if you don't believe in God, and God DOES NOT EXIST - then it won't matter; but, if God really DOES EXIST, and you DON'T don't believe in Him - then you may have a problem.
Roger, I believe God wants you (or anyone) to ASK HIM for help, and to look for the answer that HE WILL PROVIDE. I suggest you stay positive, and look for something that will change your circumstances.
And just remember: God takes care of people THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE. Just as God takes care of Sparrows, too.
Vegasstudent;That would of been a nice ending,at least for the comments,but Rodger sounds too bitter at people that gave him common sense advice to immediatly get out of the hole and have an extra $500 bucks in his pocket to actually double his discressanary spending for things like what,cigs.See Roger,now your friends can stop contributing to your funds and use that money for something better,like their kids betterment.Wake up to that 1 fact Rodger and your life will be alot smoother.I will even wish you a nice day along with that.Agiain,good luck.I just gave u a$500 donation,you decied to spend it or not,and if so at your choosing.Let us all see what Rodger can do with this chunk.
Rodger has posted remarks at 12:41, 1:14 and 1:18 p.m. in which he responds to others' comments.
RODGER - please excuse my misspelling of your name in my prior post.
Samjung, as I pointed out in a previous comment, Disability and my doctors do not believe that my multiple illnesses are not real. Go look at Sam's slide show and Katie's video again. Notice all of those pill bottles in the bathroom cabinet? I am on 11 daily maintenance meds; it's amazing how few commenters here have actually abosrbed the visuals and the words I composed.
Fascinating.. I am Canadian and I do enjoy reading the commentary from Americans on the challenges facing Las Vegas - I do love your city (not for the strip but for the beauty of Red Rock Canyon, Mt. Charleston and Valley of Fire State Park to name a few places) ... we do however, have a different view up in the cold north.
For those of you doing well - smug in the knowledge that you have, at the very least, what you deserve, what is the obligation by successful Americans to those who just don't get it right in life...the bottom 10% as it were.... is it the view of the majority that you should let them rot??? We can't all be high fliers....
Comment removed by moderator. off-topic
Rodger, I don't blame you for being scared. I'm scared for you and for others who are in a similar situation. As someone else said above, there but by the grace of God go I.
Plenty of people have offered some sharp criticism that, on the surface, makes sense. It could seem as though Rodger has given up or is stuck and not doing the things that may help him (and Lela, of course) the most.
But what many of you don't realize is these folks are hardly used to being in such a state of crisis. The poorest people often are raised in the poorest of environments and they grow up receiving an education in how to maximize social services and navigate charities and other aid. I'm not saying this as a criticism, it's simply true. You people who grew up in a middle class household and got a degree then lived a relatively prosperous existence, would you know what to do and where to turn if something like this happened to you? Would you know how to prioritize? I'd say no. I know I wouldn't and I'm a pretty smart cookie with advanced degrees.
The fact is, there is an entire class of people who are, for the first time in their lives, experiencing what Rodger and Lela are going through. Our nation has a group of people entering the "system" for the first time, reaching out to food banks and charities for the first time. That process comes with a huge learning curve. I can and do imagine that it is frightening, depressing, soul-killing, especially when there are so many "better" people ready to throw stones.
Yes, I think Rodger is an idiot for smoking, both for the cost and health factors. And I hope he is able to quit (it's terribly addictive). But I feel for him and I wish them both the best of luck. I have no solutions to offer but I do know this is a time when we all need to come together and help our fellow man until things get better. Despite what the media has taught us in recent "Survivor" years, success is not about being the only ones on top. And if that ideal becomes what future generations aspire to, then we all are truly well and f#cked.
Rodger, go work out, give up the cigarettes, and get a better, stronger mental outlook, and you will get better in no time. You are way too defeatist. I don't buy your story at all. You need to give up the writing career. It's an addiction that isn't any better than alcoholism or gambling. STOP WRITING. You're 51 years old, no one wants to buy your work. I'll admit, things are rotten in this country for a lot of reasons, but you sound like you've given up and only see one route to making it in life. Move out of Vegas. You've lost everything already, what is the point? Go to Texas or Georgia and find a job, and thank me later. What other options do you have?
how sad. all you people who have spent your time and energy attacking rodger have found so many to justify your contempt: he smokes, he should have done things differently, he should get a job. you've chosen to blame a victim of MISFORTUNE. misfortune can strike anyone - and in many ways. i'm grateful it hasn't struck me. you should all be grateful it hasn't struck you.
The plan, Samjung, is to return to California, probably at the end of October, God willing. You say that no one wants to buy my work ... where do you get that idea? I write business-to-consumer health articles for Vitality Communications monthly and I am waiting on a check for my last article right now but they pay 30 days net after delivery. I work as often as I can but in the new economy my rate (and the rate of all other freelancers) has been cut in half and payment is always delayed. The reason I continue writing is because I am successful at it and have been for over 20 years. I have written two successful books that provide monthly residuals (one of those books, "Mr. Bukowksi's Wild Ride" was commissioned by City Lights Books in San Francisco in 2007). Telling me to abandon my career is just foolishness.
Cinderella Dream, go read up on opioids; it takes 12 days to become dependent upon them. I learned that on June 23 when I was hospitalized at Mountainview Hospital for opioid dpendence withdrawl when I ran out of my meds. And leave Lela out of this, she never takes any meds, not even aspirin. Your comment was cruel and adds nothing to the discussion.
What struck me the hardest about this story (and these comments) was the thought that it's NOT about Rodger at all; It's about Lela. The world is FILLED with men like Rodger. How many of them can say they have such an incredibly devoted, talented, and loving partner?
Rodger, you're homeless now...or soon will be! What's so foolish about what I'm saying? If your writing paid so well, you should be in a condo on or near the strip, living the high life, or at the very least, living comfortably in a house somewhere. I thought you didn't have any money at all? I thought you were going to be lying against the streetlamp, begging for a fiver or tenner? Are you lying, or are you in denial?
Bellrock1.Believe it or not I didnt have a dime at a few times in my life,but Ia'm well off now..I started out early in life being hit while on a motorcycle head on by a drunk driver who instantly crossed the double yellow line.I haved used my God given and modified abilities to think through each and every little problem every time it presents itself.Rodger seems to have at least an educated brain to do this if he so chooses.It's time he learn a few of the right things he needs to survive.My advice to him is my charity to him.Give a man a fish and he will eat,teach a man to fish and he may prosper!
Writers are gifted with hindsight and the reflective eye that sees and connects then to now and tomorrow.
Do NOT stop writing. It emboldens and empowers; writing enables vision and display of perspective that talkers never get.
Some know their lives by the journals they keep and the insights that reflection and verbalization bring to the tragedies, histories and comedies that connect them to these times.
Articulation begets insight and connection; give it up after you die, not before.
In the video, Lela says, "he wants to pay his bills". Yet his water bill doubled because he wouldn't fix a broken sprinkler. As I eluded to earlier, a piece of PVC and a can of cement cost less than a pack of smokes. Moreover, Roger says the freelance market turned south around 2001. Well, what was he doing between 2001 and the meltdown in late 2008. I just don't buy his story. Did he even try to change careers during that decade. Last week in a Texas city, I saw an elderly lady who was working in a Whataburger with a disfigured left arm and paralysis in her face. It was clear she had suffered a stroke. Though she couldn't fix the food, she was able to at least pass it out to those who were eating inside. Now this is someone I had to admire.
quatorze, if you paid attention to what people actually wrote you would realize they don't care that Rodger smokes. They rightly comment that he smokes and then complains about his poor health. And he complains he has no money and yet spends money on cigarettes. Plus he makes poor choices and then wants us all (the government) to pony up with more money. He neglects to get the proper ID when he moves here and then whines that he has no ID so he can't get social services. He had more than enough time to do that. Most likely he didn't get that ID because he saved money by not doing so. Maybe still had money coming from CA?
Others who have faced the same obstacles as poor Rodger and yet spend the money the government gives them more wisely. People here just point point just out that Rodger should do the same.
Notice that Rodger gets $900 a month from the government and now he says he also has residuals from work he has done. My mother lives on $1300 a month and doesn't whine about how hard she has is. She lives in a very small apartment and doesn't waste her money on cigarettes.
And then poor Rodger writes a sad sack article and gets defensive when people point out he needs to take care of himself and not blame everyone else for his problems.
And loyal_employee, yes Lela deserves better.
Rodger - man up and accept responsibility for your decisions instead of making excuses and blaming everything and everyone except for yourself. You are where you are today due to the cumulative effects of all of your poor decisions. Smoking, payday lenders, renting a house that is way beyond your means, etc
You'll now be an excessive burden on Medicare due to your own poor life choices. I'll be willing to bet anything that you've gotten way more out of the system than what you've put into it which means the hard working, responsible people are subsidizing your freeloading.
I don't understand if his dryer is broken, why would his electric bill double? Also, the sprinkler is broken and water bill also doubles. Can't he find someone to fix this?
I feel sorry for his situation. Maybe he can find a shelter to live in.
Perhaps some of those lashing out in the comments are doing it to protect themselves so that something like this doesn't happen to them. "If I blame his smoking, I'll be safe, because I don't smoke." "I'll blame his career choice." "I'll say that his health concerns aren't real." The unfortunate reality is that blaming a person for misfortune doesn't protect anyone. Can you count on all of your choices being the "right" ones?
Rodger and Lela, I wish you strength and good fortune. There but for the grace of God (or whomever) go any of us.
Samjung, you make a lot of assumptions about me; because I am disabled, Social Security puts a cap on what extra income I can earn in any given calendar month or year. My ultimate goal is to be able to once again earn enough money to support myself and keep my Medicare, seeing that my medications cost more than $1,000 a month and I am required to see a doctor every four weeks, and have my bloodwork done because one of the medications that I take for psoriasis, methotrexate, an oral form of chemotherapy, is hepatoxic and could cause fatal liver damage.
VanGuard, if you go to the third graph of the article you will note that I have changed careers multiple times in my life, more than many people. Reading retention is a good thing.
I should not have been shocked by the overwhelming negative comments regarding Rodger and what he is facing. Las Vegas is a microcosim of people, many non-educated past the 9th or 10th grade, who came here, made two or three times the salary of an average college graduate by hauling bags, parking cars, waiters, etc., in the prime of the valley's heyday. For instance: a CPA - yes a CPA I knew closed his office and became a full-time valet parking attendant taking home $90,000 a year - and that was in 1982! (during the Reagan recession) The many viewpoints expressed above are downright mean. They reflect the education levels of 4th grade graduates dispensing playground justice. Continue to write Rodger!! You may never publish a book, but you are following your dreams.
One possible helpful bit: The DMV will have your ID card sent to one of their local offices if you don't have an actual address. Speak to the office manager if the desk clerk refuses. You might try legal aid and see if they can get a judge to order the DMV to issue an ID card without a birth certificate. This DMV info is for Nevada only.
I will join the chorus and encourage you to stop smoking. It will be one of the hardest things you'll endure. The first three days are wicked bad. I honestly believe it is easier to kick the narcotics.
@Rodger
"As far as cigarettes are concerned, it's my one and only vice. So what? I'll wager I can walk into any one of your homes and find a vice lurking in your kitchen cabinets, refrigerator, or liquor cabinet that is a detriment to your health and a needless expense: Twinkies, potato chips, candy, Seagram's Coolers, Lucky Charms cereal."
The difference is that I can afford my vices, and you can't. Sure the economy is tough, and even my family has been hit hard. But when it comes to keeping the lights on and food on the table, you bet we cut out the eating out, the fancy foods, and whatever extras you would conveniently categorize as being a "vice" in order to bolster your defense in this debate. You may very well be in such pain that medications are needed, and I understand that. But you DON'T need the cigarettes. That is the only thing I fault you for. I only however fired off this back to you, and I felt that your comments (though quite understandably in light of things) were an attack on myself. But I'm not here to criticize.
Illness are certainly unforeseen, I can in fact easily see where medical bills and quickly wipe-out any savings you would have had for retirement, etc. Many people will never realize this until it is far too late. We can try and give this situation all the feel-good names and buzzwords we like. But we are not in a "Recession" anymore. We're entering into the 2nd Great Depression. As the aging population of Baby Boomers begin to sicken and eventually die, Rodger's story here will tragically no longer be unique.
I do give you accolades however for having the courage to share your story, whatever your reasons for doing such may be. While many are quick to attack the less fortunate, they are certainly not in the minority of our society. Most people would not dare to let anyone know of their misfortunes out of embarrassment and shame. While many neighbors have proudly moved into their homes in the light of day, a good number around here have left under the cover of night with the dawn bringing not warmth, but eviction notices.
Hindsight is always 20/20, so don't bother wasting time on what you could have done in the past, let alone let people harp on you. If nothing else, the best advise that I can give you is the same that I myself follow: learn from past mistakes, and leave Las Vegas. There is no future here for any of us. The same Sword hangs above my head too in the sense of who knows how long even my job will last...
Best of luck to you both.
@ Salvjus
My job takes me past Main St., Foremaster, and Owens on an almost daily basis, and I can tell you for a fact that the face of the homeless is certainly changing. Frighteningly enough, you've no idea how right you are.
The above comment was obviously written by a ten year-old with no proper schooling in History.
I watched the video and read your story. I think you have options one your going to have to downsize find a place for 500-700 a month (one bedroom apt). I think paying $1050 was a bad idea from the start. You could live in a monthly/weekly. If you live in a place like that most have no water bills many come with ac etc. Granted it's not that good (compard to what your used to) but hey instead of having a washer and dryer you will pay with quarters etc.. I do agree with you freelance work is very tough and not steady. However I'll echo what everybody has said the cigarattes have got to go. I think bad decisions defeatest attitude and a horrid economy contributed to your downfall. I know you said earlier to leave your gf out of it. But it does appear she could find work or is capable of working. Getting your Id has to be a major priority. Good luck.
"I should not have been shocked by the overwhelming negative comments regarding Rodger and what he is facing. Las Vegas is a microcosim of people, many non-educated past the 9th or 10th grade, who came here, made two or three times the salary of an average college graduate by hauling bags, parking cars, waiters, etc., in the prime of the valley's heyday."
JUST SO.
AND THEY VOTE!!!
A frightened person, in this case, is under extreme mental stress and crying out for help in various forms. When people are down and out why do many people present their ugliness through their apathetic attitude? This newspaper wouldn't exist, no movie scripts, books, or educational materials if there were no writers. A freelance writer is still a professional when he/she makes income from their professional works. They are true entrepreneurs. How many other Americans, especially living in Las Vegas now have lost their jobs, and struggling to get a new one, and even fight off bankruptcy? Do you judge all these individuals as undeserving of a quality life?
It seems most of the commenter's here are focused on finding fault with Mr. Jacobs such as his smoking cigarettes. I don't smoke and object to smoking. But when people find themselves in an unexpected crisis situation, do you expect them to make immediate self-controlled changes in their life. Have you ever tried to lose weight, stop drinking, or stop smoking? People need to be restored to a certain point in their life, or educated in order to control many of their actions. Did he buy his cigarettes before he got into this situation, were they given to him by a friend, or has he simply given up and they are his last little bit of comfort? If someone helps him now financially, does that mean he hasn't the intelligence or desire to use the money wisely now? We don't know. Do homeless shelters demand immediate changes of bad habits in all they assist?
This crisis is affect the working class more and more, those that are not deadbeats but hard working people needing workable solutions that can restore them to a reasonable life style they enjoy when able to make a fair income in exchange for a honest days work. Sometimes we need to be quite flexible in seeking a solution to our problems. There are places in Nevada where a person could live well on $900+ a month, and possibly earn a living online too. Rent for a nice one (1) bedroom apartment could be as low as $295 mo, and there could be other forms of support and benefits to help those in need, almost immediately.
I'll suggest Mr. Jacobs learn about this possible solution by my providing the editor with additional information separate from this posting. I'm developing a documentary on the homeless to be filmed in Las Vegas, and I see a major problem needing attention and solutions, not apathy. I am NOT attacking political offices or organizations. I am no Michael Moore. I don't plan to point any finger suggesting blame.
Money management 101. You can not have your outgo larger than your income. Why rent something over $1,000 a month if your only stable income is $926 a month. I can name over 200 developments in Vegas you get a clean apartment for $600 all on the 1st floor. In addition you sign up for a level of upkeep in a home, then the larger utility payments. I mean a $5 part from Ferguson plumbing and 20 minutes of digging would keep this fella from going from a doubling water bill, and threatening arbitration. Poor financial planning.
Then you bring in how the work has gone down hill for freelancers sense 2001. Not like he did not seem the writing on the wall. Had plenty of time to retrain, retool, pick up side jobs. If your skill is not needed, get a skill that is. Or end up homeless. Does not matter if you like it, or want to, sometimes you just do what you need to survive. Your skills are not paying the bills. Enough said.
This guy is better off than most of the unemployed. At least he gets a solid paycheck once a month for disability. He will pay his stupid tax for payday loans,and overdraft fees. Then hopefully live below his means. Go to elance.com and use your freelance skills to write college papers for students. Get $20 bucks per paper and takes 2 hours of work. Do 2 papers a day for half a days work. Get 40 bucks a day, 200 a week, and then 800 a month. IF you talk your g/f into working that would be 1600 a month plus the 926 you from the taxpayers. College just started up and you have plenty of people that will pay you $20 for the papers that take you 3 hours to research. In addition save a bit of money and move to a place that the cost of living is less. Like a bus trip to Saint George, UT. Get a 1 bedroom apartment for $350 (I just found it, it is available). Be able to write off your cell phone and communications (internet) as you use them for working.
So this is an outline of how to get some work utilizing your skill set in writing and lowering your cost of living.
I'll tell you what, Rodger. There is something missing here. It's humility on your part. Not once in this story or in your comments have I seen one iota of an acknowledgment from you of your own failures.
You don't accept that the path your are on was created by you, not anyone else or any other thing. Not the economy, not your landlord, not your health problems, nothing but you. You are a victim by choice. You call out to the public and are not man enough to admit that you messed up and need help. Just you are a victim and need help. Do you see the distinction? Do you see why there are so many people finding you distasteful?
I give to charity. I give to homeless. I have taken homeless off the street and put them in rooms. I believe in social safety nets, including the disability you receive. But I would not give people like you a cent.
Like others have noted, you are one lucky guy to have Lela stand by you. I'm sure the negativity and your self defeat are wearing on her. You need to man up.
I would suspect that the 12 page rental agreement must be from one of those absentee owners who 1 doesn't want to deal with there investment by 2 including a clause in there that maintenance has to be done by the tenant regardless of if it was a pre existing defect or not and 3 it's managed by a management agency so they insulate themselves from seeing that they are slumlords.
Rodger, what is more important to you? Capping your income to around $2,000 a month with Social Security, or ditching it so you can work for more money? I bet you turn down jobs just to come within your $1,000 supplemental income limit! This doesn't make sense, and paints you as some sort of a bum. You just want to sit around writing because you think that some day, you will make it big. Working a real job would take away from that. Something tells me you are making more than that $1,000 a month in supplemental. Are you getting paid under the table for other work? That's what I'm seeing. Maybe Social Security or the IRS should look investigate you. Something doesn't seem kosher. Look this guy up a month from now, and I bet he will be just fine.
Amen alreadybeenscammed.
What was this cousin like before he got u to this crummy deal?It was obvious from the get go that he wasn't looking out for u, for if he was,he would have asked u 1 question,how much is comming in?If he didn't u should have.Asking u for a big deposit dose't seem like he's big on handshakes for trust.While u were at mama's all that time,u shoulda been thinking just a little about what's next after she was to die.Even now u are making a bad decision to throw too much at housing by deciding to stay at an extended grief motel.Haven't just a few people shook your world just a little here to get u to WAKE UP!
Thank you, Maverickstc. Feel free to contact me; I never said in the article that we have been surviving solely on my disability payment -- now we are but not in the past; when we rented this house Lela had $400 per week in income from our Nashville client and I had supplemental income through Vitality Communications. What we did not foresee was that the client in Nashville would change the payment arrangement from weekly to per project, which happened in July and that's why we could not make our August rent. Please get rid of this ridiculous "you can't live in a house on $900 a month" mantra; you are mistating the facts in this situation.
And for those of you suggesting that I find another line of work, I invite you to go back and look at Katie's video again; do you see the state of my arthritic hands? The dry, peeling skin that has to be moisturized every half hour? I've said it before in previous comments and I'll say it again: What part of "disabled" do some of you people not understand? Go to the National Psoriasis Foundation website and educate yourself about the limiting nature of severe psoriasis before you start preaching down at me from your lofty high horse about what I should and should not do.
I think many of you are one missed paycheck away from my predicament and it scares you witless and so all you can do to mask your fear is hate. It's really quite sad, honestly it is.
Roger, you failed to answer a singular question. Why would anyone but a homeless deadbeat allow his water bill to double when a few "cigarette" bucks would fix a sprinkler leak that was adding to his financial ruin.
First, I think there are a lot of very valid comments here. But, second, the merits of this notwithstanding, it's just a dreadful story, mistakes or judgements in error notwithstanding, I feel sorry for this fellow.
Something tells me you are making more than that $1,000 a month in supplemental. Are you getting paid under the table for other work?
********
Yeah, then why am I in the predicament I'm in if I'm raking in so much excess dough? Please, Sam, you are now resorting to trolling with your comments.
People getting Social Security Disability do not have to pay for Medicare Part B.
This guy has been getting a free ride for years. I wonder what other little vices he has other than smoking? I am judgmental and proud of it.
Too bad both political parties have no jusgement when it ocmes to spending so much or our money that we borrow from China overseas instead of this country where it is desparately needed. How come the Liberals among us are not picketing against the endless wars we are fighting and the money we spend to defend Taiwan and South Korea who both have huge trade surpluses with us?
Rodger, you are getting at least $1000 more than many, many people who are scraping by. What the Sun ought to do is find someone to put you on a budget and show you how you can get by. That would make an interesting article.
I can't believe all of the negative uncaring comments that I am reading. For those of you that are old enough and mature enough to know of an old saying that 60% of Americans are only 3 to 4 paychecks away from being homeless is a VERY true statement, trust me on this. I can sympathize with thier situation ut can only send my prayers and best wishes to them at this time. In January of 2008 I was a terminal manager for one of the top 5 trucking companies in the U.S., in March of that year I was having increasingly declining memory loss, severe vertigo, as well as other cognitive issues including focal dystonia which now has advanced to the point that I can no longer even write my own name legibly and have had to go on Social security disabilty which equates to about 1/6 of what my salary was while working, fortunately I served my country in the armed forces so I do have medical through the veterans administration. My wife on the other hand has been a housewife for the majority of her life and now has disabilities of her own such as severe asthma which is why we moved to a more arid climate than we had in Texas, plus she has constant pain due to a sciatic nerve problem, but since she didn't pay enough into social security she doesn't qualify for disability nor medicaid (because they say my SSD is too high--oh really?)so we have no medical insurance for her. So for you people that think this can't happen to you,think again, it can happen and it can happen FAST as it did in my case. At one point yes I lived the so called "American dream", home ownership,multiple automobiles,boat, 401K (which lost over $80,000 on September 11,2001, remember that?,as well as another 45,000 or so in 2006 when the economy was beginning the downward spiral), well paying job, all seemed well until the disability, so for you haters that think it can't happen to you, I hope you are blessed with steady employment and good health all your life but there is other sides to view. Good luck to Rodger and Lela.
I'm the same age. Lost my full time job in 2008 due to the collapse in the building industry. I never took unemployment. Have managed to find enough part time (1099) contract work to pay the bills most of the time. $600 a month in medical insurance (with high deductible), mortgage on a small house, etc. We live frugally in order to make ends meet. Even when it was 111 the other day, we didn't turn on the A.C. because the money isn't there. We buy store brand food and watch for sales. We do a lot of walking to save on gas cost. It's not easy, but we're making it. We have sold belongings on ebay or elsewhere to help pay bills. It's hard to feel too much compassion for someone with a cigarette in their hand. If someone is sending cigarette money, spemd it on groceries or rent instead. It seems it's more important to keep your income below the threshold in order to keep getting assistance. I've survived without any assistance. When I took some money out of my 401k to pay bills, my reward was to pay the taxes (understood) plus a 10 percent penalty. Not even a tax break on that for "hardship". Try calling everyone you know and ask if they have any work. It's worked for me, not always fun work, but $50 here and $100 there helps. I'd sell the furniture, why waste $$ on storage. Used furniture and appliances can be replaced with used furniture and appliances later, why pay to store it? Oh, our trips to Las Vegas have also come to an end for the time being, used to go 3-5 times a year, It's a luxury we can do without until times are better, bills come first.
Gee seasing,funny that after all these years nobody mentions that till now.What have all these agencies and people been saying to him?Mabey we all need a little help!
Comment removed by moderator. A growing number of comments have so many facts wrong -- maybe the commenter didn't read the story -- that the remarks need to be killed in order to not perpetuate a misstatement or misunderstanding.
Barkersfield, we gave away all of our furniture yesterday through a Craigs List ad so we would not have to pay for a larger storage unit.
Samjung, you're simply full of it. Go to the National Psoriasis Foundation's website at psoriasis.org and educate yourself.
I do have sympathy for Rodger's situation, particularly given his health problems. However, Lela's statement along the lines that "yet somehow people expect us to pay bills regularly" (just quoting from what I can remember) seems to illustrate part of the problem. Yes, that is how the world works, and how it has worked for many years. It should not be a surprise that people expect bills to be paid regularly.
Yes, writing is a wonderful art that I support. But depending on freelancing when freelancing has been declining for nearly a decade doesn't appear the best decision. If disability became your only income, this house would be out of your means- but other people are able to survive and rent one-bedroom apartments on less.
What I mean to say with all this is not that Rodger is solely responsible for his problems. It is a sad situation. But it is not completely cut and dry in that he is the helpless victim who had no chance to prevent this, and I think this is why so many negative comments are appearing.
Rodger...a few bits of common sense advice
Corner of Flamingo and Boulder Highway. Apartments for rent. $149.. Includes utilities. Also phone. Sign is right there. Sounds like a good deal. Not a bad area. Furniture INCLUDED. Albertsons within walking distance.
Get a hair cut and clean yourself up. You look like you are 65 years old. $10 haircut will do for now.
You talk about waiting for payments..let me ask a simple question. When you were persuing this writing dream and making a living did you put away for retirement, savings, IRA's....anything for a rainy day? For someone who has been in the biz for 30 years you should have a better backbone of emergency money. At some point in your writing career you should have come to terms that living paycheck to paycheck with no savings, no retirement plan was going to cause you problems.
Get a damn ID?...there is no excuse for not having one.. $22 at LVDMV
I could ask more. Your medical situation is problematic, I would agree. That does not mean you can't do things to help yourself. As I've said, kick the cigs. They do nothing but hinder any "feel better" days.
There are numerous clinics and charitable agencies that will assist you in this country. If not in Las Vegas, go somewhere else
How was my comment wrong? I talked to a medical doctor! What's up with the censorship?
ronvegas is right, many people live a few paychecks from being homeless. And funnily many of them don't budget and don't save. They live in houses they can't afford, run up credit cards, drive fancy cars and eat out all the time. The grasshopper/ant story was written many, many years ago and is so true. Too many live as if they'll always have money. They live for the day. Then those grasshoppers want the ants who have saved, and saved and done without, to help them out. Well the ants are tired of carrying you guys. Next time you have a good income, do without and save for a rainy day. Rodger and his gf had money and they blew it. Rodger says it all himself. They never thought the money would stop. They never read the lease. He won't stop smoking. He neglected to get an id card. Basically they just never thought. Or planned. Lived for the day.
I don't wish anything bad for them and do hope they get their act together. But they won't get a donation for me. I will never give money to people who will just blow it. I give food to the food bank that Rodger and his gf can go get food from.
Those apartments are $149/week...
With your situation at hand...a helluva lot better than the $200/week you allocated for extended stays..
Why are comments on doing common sense suggestions always portrayed as being negative.I get glassey eyed looks when I ask for advice.I don't hear him asking for much advice,and i'm bout ready to quit giving it.Time to start thinking for yourself big boy.There's not a whole lot of people left able to save u.
And I have to add that the "tobacco fund" or whatever it is being called is ridiculous. If he were bumming a few cigarettes off his buddies, that might be understandable (though equally bad for his health). But friends are giving him money, and he complains that he doesn't know "what the hell" he's going to eat for dinner that night? I don't know, go to McDonald's instead of buying another pack of smokes?
I know addiction is a powerful thing, and I don't mean to deny that. But I've never seen a starving child choose a cigarette over food.
When I was in Vegas, I saw apartments for around $400-500 around Twain...
Rodger, smart move there, although I would have asked "something" for it for at least a little pocket money. I know so many people paying more in a year for storage units than the things that are stored are worth. I really do hope you guys find that job that pays enough to survive, and even allows you to splurge once in awhile and enjoy life. Best of luck to you guys, I really do wish you well.
seasing, it's true: they've made mistakes. but i've made mistakes, too. costly ones, at that. haven't you? follow the timeline: their disaster was not a long time in the making, it occurred starting in APRIL when they rented the house from his cousin and quickly got hit with repair and upkeep costs they hadn't anticipated. (some commenters seem to think they should've anticipated them based on the lease. however, be realistic. i've never heard of a lease where the tenant is responsible for the first $100 of any and all repairs. usually, the owner pays for repairs and maintenance. it might've taken me by surprise, too. think about it. ask yourself if you're sure this lease wouldn't have bitten you on the butt, too.) can't you have some compassion for them? it was his COUSIN. and he later found that his COUSIN couldn't or wouldn't stand between him and the property management company. and in the article he hardly blames his cousin. he hardly blames the property management company. he takes responsibility for failing to get his ID situation in hand. he didn't even ask the judge for some extra time, which is what i would've done. ("another few days your honor, given my health problems.") can't you see that you're stomping on a good person when he's down?
Las Vegas Sun should give him a job. I'm sure he will fit right in with their leftist views and distortion of facts.
How about living in a place that doesn't cost $1,200 per month? That would make too much sense though. It seems like he has been getting ripped off his whole life and now he wants society to bail him out to support his habits whatever they may be - drug, gambling, smoking, ???, etc.
gbigs,
I'm policing the comments and am deleting the most offensively rude ones, or ones that are off focus to Rodger's first-person essay.
If you want to discuss any of my decisions, call me at 259 2310.
As someone who's gone from 100k a year to homeless (the real deal on the streets and so on) and back to on his feet again I wish I could say I feel for you Rodger, but damn you sound like a man looking for a hand out and not a hand up. Why would you pay so much in rent? Why would you pay the mounting overdraft fees instead of just cashing the check for 1% at a local shop? Why would you consider moving into a weekly rental, by the way it's way more than $200 dollars a week. You'll pay taxes for the first month, a fee for the key, plus deposit it works out closer to 250ish a week and you'll never get out from under that. You've hit a bad patch, stop whining and get your ass in gear.
@quartoze, This story makes it obvious to me his problems are the results of his many, many poor decisions. And then he responds to other people's common sense suggestions with abrasive and defensive remarks. I'm not stomping him. He's let his decisions stomp him. Years of smoking have ruined his health. Years of not saving have put him in a bad financial position.
I've made mistakes to. At one point in my life I had 300 to my name. And a small child. I also went into debt. I got jobs that were not my dream jobs and I did without and I saved. I didn't get food stamps or welfare though I could have. I didn't blame the world, I figured out what I could do and I did it.
This didn't happen in one or even a few months. He had 8 years to get an id but did he? No. He could have read the lease but did he? No. He could quit smoking but does he? No. The world didn't put Rodger where he is, he did and now he blames everyone but himself.
I don't know if he's a good person or a bad person but I know I will give my sympathy and money to people who are not as self destructive as Rodger.
Bottom line he has options he'll just have to downsize from his current situation. Roger comments are just bags of excuses. Example, "they only giving us 7 days to leave". I have moved twice in my life in one day. It can easily be done. I obviously have a house full of stuff now but could get it all out in 3 days tops. I actually think he's way better off than many people. I know plenty of people who were turned down from SS disability.
Fr33loader,
Did you overlook the part regarding his disability? For someone that says he made 100K a year and was homeless without a disibilty, you are hardly one to give advice. As far as "get your ass in gear" you obviously haven't yet had a dibilitating illness.
Seasing,
If you can, please articulate the "many many poor decisions" made by Rodger. I can think of maybe two -- the cost of smoking and renting the home after his mother's death without knowing what he was getting himself into.
And he should have gotten a Nevada I.D. by now -- but it's been three years, not the eight that you said. (That's an example of how the facts of the story have been twisted and/or misstated through all these comments.)
He was blindsided by the recession. Whether he can change careers, given his disabilities, and find a job in this economy, is one of the challenges he faces.
Too much whining in this article. You've been here over 2 years and didn't get around to get a local ID, and now complain that you don't get more help from social services beyond too 1000 bucks you already get ? No metioning of the girlfriend working or getting social security, but I'm sure there are a lot of people worse off.
Carefree Seniors Apartments is a freaking country club, you'll easily find a place for a third of what you paid there.
" finding ourselves in debt to a merciless payday lender" You find yourselves in debt ? How did that happen ? Did somebody hold a gun to your head to borrow at 100%+ interest rates ?
Sounds like a string of bad decisions and a heavy dose of self pity.
Ronvegas,
You may be right. For me I had/have a congenital heart condition that came to bear in my mid twenties that helped, along with a feel sorry for myself attitude, to my downfall. I lived on the streets while I saved money from a minimum wage job for about 3 months. With the help of Catholic Charities I was able to eat almost everyday. In 2006 I hid my heart problem from the Army and joined, what I hoped would be my repayment to America for helping me out with food when I was down. I've been back from the 'Stan for a couple of months. I have many of the health problems Rodger is citing. I also am a Paramedic and know enough about medicine to read into his self prognosis, he's got a lot of very small problems and is gaming the system. He even says so "$926 and whatever supplemental income I can earn within the $1,000 monthly limit,". You make more than this your benefits are paired down to go to someone else who needs them more, so he doesn't want to work too hard and loose part of his government check. By the way there is no "beginning of COPD" it's like being pregnant either you are or you are not. He's probably got chronic bronchitis from the cigs and couldn't get the doctor to sign off on COPD which would have given him another boost in benies, to someone who's got some medical training it sounds like he's crying "woe is me". anyway just my opinion. God bless.
Poor Decisions: 1. Renting this house. 2. Smoking 3. Not getting an ID whether it's 3 years or 8 years that should of happened his first week-month here. 4. Not having planning for the future (no retirement) 5. Not changing careers eariler or at the very least working freelance on the side. He even mentioned it hasn't been the same since 01. So obviously the writing was on the wall. 6. Payday loans endless spiral of debt.
One time, I was working at a smoothie joint as a manager. The owner saw a guy begging for money on the corner of a main intersection, and told me to drive out there and offer him a job holding a sign and advertising. He started hemming, hawing and giving us a prepared excuse for why he couldn't do it. Yeah, because he was making more money with his little corner act! I'm seeing some similarities here, personally.
Please Tom...how about the 30 years with no retirement money, no savings (a couple $1000 in the bank really isn't savings) for a guy with a long career in the writing field. He is 51....not 21. He's had 30 years to get some kind of retirement/savings plan going. Sounds like no children to support during his "career" either. With his long history in the writing field, maybe the "writing was on the wall" that it wasn't a career that would give him ANY financial security. No health insurance either.
Let's stop the garbage talk that his predicament is based on 2 poor decisions. This is a man that has made many poor decisions thru out his life..#1 not providing for his future in some way, shape or form..
The no ID issue is pure laziness. The smoking (with health problems to boot) is selfish. Taking money from friends to keep the habit going is beyond ridiculous based on his current predicament.
1. 3 years to get an id. I got mine the first month after I moved here. Sorry I mistated it as 8 but 3 is just as bad. This guy doesn't plan well.
2. Spent too much money on rent instead of saving when he had money.
3. Smokes - waste of money. Also takes 'tobacco funds' from so called friends. Poor, poor judgement, I'd say.
4. Smokes - ruins his health. Should count as 1 more because he won't listen to the doctor who wants him to stop smoking but he does listen to the doctor who prescibes him addictive pain killers.
5. Rents a house without reading the lease.
6. Uses payday loans.
7. Seems to be determined not to earn so much money that it offsets his disability. How about just earning more than the disability will pay?
8. Lived as if the money wouldn't stop coming in even though he's chosen a career that is known for having ups and downs of income. Says himself the gf had 400 a week coming in and they were so surprised it stopped. During that time, they spent $1000 a month on rent. How about saving $400 and spending $600 on rent?
9. Even now, wants to throw money away on a weekly rental rather than borrow enough to get a tiny apartment that might cost less than that $800 he wants to toss away.
10.Apparently doesn't know how to budget or hadn't tried. When you are making money, you should be saving. Try to have 6 months of basic expenses in the bank. People say that is too hard but it can be done.
11. Writes an article about how tough his life is and has been defensive about any advice. I'm sure that isn't new to him, but is his style. How much other advice has he ignored over the years?
12. Says he can't get an ID because there is no place to mail it. Others have pointed out that is not true. For goodness sakes, the SUN could offer him a place to get mail if they wanted to. This guy doesn't think beyond the moment and isn't willing to do the research to get what he needs. That is not something that just happened to him. It is how he lives his life.
Hopefully he does get his life together and learns from this experience and the next recession won't surprise him.
FYI, the recession didn't surprise everyone. Lots of us planned ahead of it. We did without in the goodtimes so we could make it through the bad times.
Mr. Gorman;Just the way u phrase your clueless 2 reasons for his plight tells me u haven't even read all the comments here.They have already pointd out about 20 reasons.And they don' come down to those 2 at all.Totally clueless here.See ya!
I also am a Paramedic and know enough about medicine to read into his self prognosis, he's got a lot of very small problems and is gaming the system.
****
What self-prognosis? I have been under a doctor's care for eight years; my current physician is Dr. Afi Bruce at Summit Medical Group. I have to see my doctor every four weeks and I have blood work done every six weeks to look for liver damage from the methotrexate. As for the mild COPD, take that up with Dr. Seth Adjavou, the physician who made the diagnosis. I get no "boost in bennies" owing to the number of my ailments; you clearly know nothing about Medicare or Disability. My medical files for the last eight years take up two banker's boxes.
After watching the video again I'm incensed that Lela has the gall to suggest that since freelance work is sporadic, somehow their creditors should understand this. I guess by "understand" this she means let them slide on their bills until money does eventually flow in.
What planet is she living on?
The more I go thru this article the more I see how badly these two run their lives. The only sympathy I have is for his health issues...and even there he still smokes the damn cancer sticks against doctors advice. These two need a life coach.
Poor Decisions Part II. 8. Moving into/renting a home that was in disrepair. Who does that?
9. Not contacting Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada to determine if the lease was illegal.
10. Living in San Fran for more than one day -- Nancy Pelosi, need I say more?
11. Not finding some rich sugar momma that can support you or at least can pay 12 of the monthly expenses.
12. Reading a Georges Simenon Inspector Jules Maigret novel -- that's just crazy and a waste of time.
13. Not having any credit cards -- could of helped now while waiting on the next check and if you got approved for a $1,200 per month apartment you must have good credit; although, if you don't have any credit cards then you have no credit history..hmmm.
14. Reading and posting comments on this site when you should be finding a new place to live or be packing.
I was just getting my coat,that's the stark reality gbibs and Robert should well prepare for it.You got more than u can ever ask for right here,if u bother to look!
Yea I feel for the guy and know some worse off with no SSD. So what is it that you want Rodger? I know you're reading this, the article forgot to mention you've got internet. You need someone to pay for your housing and utilities, your food and probably medical care? Probably some extra spending money to boot? Then what?
I started to watch the video until I saw the TV and cigarettes in a place some would die for.
You need to start by helping yourself. You've read the cigarette comments. The cell phone and internet? And the cous de gras...Oxycodone? For crying out loud who's got you on that opiate, who's paying for it? I'll save you some trouble looking up some side effects: Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching;tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); confusion; difficulty urinating; fast or slow heartbeat; seizures; severe dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting; slowed or difficult breathing; tremor; vision changes, constipation; drowsiness; headache; nausea; sleeplessness; vomiting; weakness. Got any of those? Don't tell me about chronic pain, I've had it all my adult life. No wonder you don't see a bright future.
sincerely I hope the best for you
gbigs you are right on. after $1 trillion in "stimulus" money, another trillion in bailouts, major fed intervention and we are now in worse shape. The problem is there are more and more people like Rodger and the system can't handle it anymore. Baby boomers are retiring and collecting Social Security and MediCare. Add in a few more million of people like Rodger and the working class can't support this anymore.
The easiest problems to solve are somebody elses!
For the most part, we reap what we sow!
He takes in 1,000 a month!
A quad studio off Maryland Parkway is between 375-425 a month, utilities included.
Cricket cell phone w/Internet 50
monthly buss pass 60
toiletries, laundry etc 50
food 200
total. 735 - 785 a month
215 - 265 a month left in cash, plus any freebies he can get
it may not seem like much but you have a home, transportation, communication w/ internet and food. Not exactly living on the streets.
Mr. Gorman,
I am a frequent reader and poster both here and on the R-J website. I feel that with this article, you are going beyond the moderator boundaries in your deletion of comments. You also say that Rodger was "blindsided by the recession". That is your opinion, not fact.
You asked reader Seasing to articulate the "many poor decisions" Rodger made. I will assist Seasing.
1. Rodger says that for two years, he has been a book and literature columnist for Pop Matters, a popular online journal of cultural criticism. However, later on Rodger mentions that this columnist "job" does not pay any money. Rodger should have spent his time working for pay before taking on free work.
2. Rodger was living beyond his means. If Rodger knew that his guaranteed income was only $926 per month, he should have worked "backwards" from that number. That might mean renting a room, rather than an apartment or house. I have had roommates, and I have been a roomate, and the cost is only a few hundred dollars per month plus half the utilities.
3. Rodger should have carefully read the lease before moving into his cousin's apartment. It was only 12 pages long, and Rodger is obviously literate.
4. Rodger should not have paid for landscapers in order to avoid HOA fines. HOA fines would be assessed to the owner, not the tenant - it would have been his cousin's problem to handle, not his.
5. Rodger should not have used a payday lender. All payday lenders are merciless.
6. Rodger should not have allowed his ID to expire.
7. Rodger should not smoke cigarettes. Rodger or Lela said in one of their posts that Rodger has buddies who send him money for tobacco! Take that money and use it towards rent.
I am doing fine, because I live in a condo I purchased over a decade ago, and I did not get caught up in the housing bubble that excited so many people. Yes, I didn't live as nicely as them for many years - but many of them are now homeless and I still have my little condo. I have little sympathy for Rodger and Lela.
to gbigs: "the people on the edge fall off first." that's very well put. that's what happened here. a larger question is: how many of us are on the edge and don't realize it? i drive to work every day thinking: one car accident that puts me out of commission for a few months and everything i've worked for is gone.
to those commenters who talk about retirement savings: i've got retirement savings. one bad car accident, one layoff and you don't want to know how fast my 15-plus years of retirement savings would be gone. it would depress you too severely.
to seasing: there was a lot of truth on your list. but "rents a house without reading the lease" is a point i addressed. i fancy myself a pretty smart person, but i'm not sure i would've caught that $100 per repair clause, nor anticipated how much trouble it would've gotten me into. as for 7, "seems to be determined not to earn so much money that it offsets his disability." the guy describes his ailments; he's a health care catastrophe; he needs to stay on disability because he may soon be unable to work at all. at least disability provides him a safety net. as for not getting an i.d. in a timely manner, he was planning to return to california.
to tom gorman: i'll bet i know how frustrated you are. as you scroll through these comments, you see how many readers aren't absorbing the facts because they can't see through the fog of their prejudices.
so, Rodger makes $926 plus $1,000 in freelance per month (or nearly $24K per year). Of course, he doesn't go over the $1,000 in freelance money because that would effect his disability money. It seems that he could make a lot more if he wanted to. And now the Las Vegas Sun is calling him homeless and has set up a fund for him. Nice job in pulling a fast one of the Sun, Rodger.
Rodger is just like the people on unemployment that don't take a job because why work when you can just collect an unemployment check.
I hope these donations to Rodger are taxable and he has report this extra income. I'm sure Obama is working on a tax for it if it doesn't already exist.
My coat got hung up.vegasfun;The gov. should have taken $300 billion of that so called stimulus money and opened places to give 3 hots & a cot at least,in any vacant building the gov. owns that is deemed suitable.I could see this outcome comming a mile away,why can't the gov. with all their so called experts.?Take another $300 billion and open new state banks.Breakup the banks that are insolvent and quit propping them up by throwing our money down a black hole.$300 billion leveredged 10 to 1 would produce $3 trillion in new loans to people who need it.The big banks now are just borrowing from the fed at1/2 % and buying treasuries and getting near 3% for nothing.Why would they take a chance lending it out to us with this deal going?Time to have some macro ideas that are new,about time?
Quit smoking and find a cheaper rent or renounce your citizenship become a Mexican citizen and then you can come back as an illegal and qualify for free housing, food stamps and medical coverage and live off the fat of the land.
The Las Vegas Sun has not set up a fund for me and Lela -- U.S. Bank stepped to the plate for that.
Rodger is lucky there are people like quatorze in the world who give everyone the benefit of the doubt. In my opinion there are many more deserving people the Sun should be getting donations for. I won't be donating to Rodger. I do already volunteer and give money to Kiva. With a Kiva loan, you actually help someone who wants to work and they pay you back and you lend the money to someone else.
Always read everything you sign. Always. And if you can't, get a lawyer who will. Always. Otherwise you have only yourself to blame when it goes bad. I have sat there with the person who wants me to sign and had them explain every sentence to me. Do it. It is the smart thing to do. If it saves you from Rodger's mistake, you'll be happier for it.
Anyone else notice how Rodger is so quick to point out our errors and has yet once to say he is responsible for any of his issues?
I'm out of here now...good luck to you Rodger. You are lucky to have your girlfriend. I hope you learn something from this. I hope you don't waste the donations you get on cigarettes.
As for me, I won't be reading the follow up. I prefer to read about people with humility and positive attitudes who examine the mistakes they've made and want to change.
quatorze;I'am frustrated that u are more clueles than Tom is. Who isn't absorbing the facts when the facts are spelled out right there for ya.You didn't even have to scroll down.I think the fog is from the device you just pulled from your mouth!
Housing assitance: www.haccnv.org/
Housing shelters: http://www.hud.gov/local/nv/homeless/she...
He can get Medicaid assistance for his co-pays.
He has a lot of excuses.
He seems to have friends that are offering help.
He needs to focus on getting his ID card and then start signing up for assistance.
He should join a church or go to some community outreach program. He can find people to help there, too.
Rodger,
I didn't know you were actually posting on this site. How much of the money you recieve from donations, will you be sharing with people less fortunite than you? If I could show you how to live for 1000 a month would you do it?
My uncle use to be bum/homeless. He's a vet. He loves to drink and he is what he is. Now while being a bum, he had a real bad tooth infection. Went to hospital etc. They sent him to US Vets. They told him go through our program and well get you new teeth. He did most of the program, then he drank, got into argument and kicked off. He works now and makes 1k a month for the county. US Vets helped him, but he got out when he got his teeth and a job, that he actually earned because if his performance. He left us vets because he didn't want anyone telling him what to do.
Point: when I see a panhandler, I ask, "are you a vet?". They say ya with a smile thinking I'm gonna just hand over cash. I tell them, "go to US Vets, they give u a place to stay, food, chance at a job.".
They get mad at me and say no thanks. They would rather beg than do what they need to do.
You need to man up or be a slave to the goverent
Gawd,did I hear it right out of Rodgers' mouth"step up to the plate"?
Rodger should find Paris Hilton and ask for some assistance!
Anthonyjoevegas;
Exactly. Although a little off topic I'm a vet too and hate those guys who say "yeah I'm a vet". Being Army I'll make up a unit like "Oh were you part of the 6Division 1st Platoon like my dad?". When they say yes I laugh and walk away. Rodger's got himself a case of the "world's out to get me". He needs to go down to Sunrise Hospital, go up to the NeoNatal ICU and watch parents plead for the life of their dying babies. I've done some volunteer work with that, God it sucks. Maybe then Rodger will pick his FIFTY ONE (not even a kid) year old butt up off the couch and make it happen. Or he can call up the parents of my 24 year old friend who was blown up in the 'Stan and complain to them about how unfair life has treated him.
i don't smoke so i wasn't creating any fog. tom gorman said he was removing posts -- something i'm sure he didn't want to do -- because people were consistently misstating FACTS, and gorman didn't want to let the misstatements of FACT sit there and cloud the perception of this sad case.
seasing, rodger's not lucky there are people like me who give the benefit of the doubt, because that's all i can give. maybe you are more fortunate than i am materially and you can give more. you've stated several times that you're not going to, which is fine with me and is probably fine with rodger, too. all i was asking is: be compassionate. you repeatedly said rodger doesn't deserve your compassion because he's mismanaged his life. maybe he has. but i still say he deserves sympathy and compassion despite that or maybe even because of it. he didn't mismanage his life out of greed or hatred.
To the individual who criticized me for working gratis for Pop Matters, allow me to explain: I took the job to keep my name current and "out there". And guess what? I am one of hundreds of thousands of Americans, according to a recent U.S. Department of Labor study, who are unemployed, skilled professionals who are donating their services in lieu of a job that they cannot find just to keep their skills sharp and current -- nothing unusual about that.
Sgt. Rock, I do not qualify for Medicaid because my Disability is considered "excess income".
Vegasfun01 ... are you aware that $24,000 annually is considered the national poverty level?
Rodger, are you a family of four or more?
Poverty level for 1 person is about 10K. You make that and more.
Persons in family Poverty guideline
1 $10,830
2 14,570
3 18,310
4 22,050
5 25,790
6 29,530
7 33,270
8 37,010
Source: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.sh...
we all live so close to that line.
In spite of (so many!) heartless comments, I hope the ugliest commenters are never faced with these seemingly unthinkable fears and crises. after all, compassion is the Christian way, right? I remember it going something like "for whatever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto me. he's got a million of 'em like that. It's in the new testament--pick it up sometime. Be forewarned: it's not an investment manual. And Jesus was kind of a rebel socialist. I wonder what he'd say to all of you smug people, safe in your anonymity?
as for rodger, I hope someone reaches out to help as a result of this story.
Joe brown, ex-Vegas resident
Rodger:
Um remember when I said you're going for COPD because it gives you more benies and you said hold your horses.
"Sgt. Rock, I do not qualify for Medicaid because my Disability is considered "excess income"."
Woops, let that slip did you? If you could get an official diagnosis of COPD guess who qualifies for Mediciad.
"Vegasfun01 ... are you aware that $24,000 annually is considered the national poverty level?"
Strike two, the national poverty level for 2010 for a single adult is $10,830. You'd have to have a family of 5 to get to the 24k you're talking about. I know, I volunteer time with folks helping them fill out the paperwork. Here's your address for the stats.
https://www.cms.gov/MedicaidEligibility/...
fr33loader, your claims are dubious, to say the least. That's all I'll say about your "military service" and former $100k salary. I suspect many commenters here have made up or exaggerated their histories and hard luck stories in order to ensure they do a thorough job of kicking a man while he's down.
This sort of vitriol is usually reserved for stories about illegals (it's nice to know readers care about more than just that tired subject). If Rodger had brown skin, you'd all be telling him to "go home" and get his people to help him and leave American resources for Americans.
Yet here is this American man, in need of help from his people, and by the looks of these comments, his people would rather he find a dark alley and die quietly in it. I remember a time not too long ago when people had better manners that prevented them from making statements like these in front of others. If they thought such nasty, inhumane things, they had the decency to say it behind closed doors. Still, they helped their neighbors and people down on their luck because it was the right thing to do and they knew it. They left the preaching and lecturing to the preachers and teachers. Clearly, that American trait of helping those less fortunate is a dying trait. It's scary to think of what that means for the future of this society. No wonder we are in such a mess. If Americans hadn't been so concerned with themselves and their own pocketbooks for the past 8 years or so, we wouldn't be witnessing the collapse of our economy. And we wouldn't be reading stories like Rodger's.
I don't know Rodger and I'm usually not inclined to defend individuals. But you all have been too mean and nasty to him, I can't just read this stuff and stay out of it. Disabilities aside, he's chosen a hard road in life. Or maybe it has chosen him. I think that is how a real writer feels.
People don't respect artists, writers or musicians in this country. But they really don't respect writers (obviously, from these comments!) because everyone thinks they are quite capable of writing, thank you very much. They don't attach any value to it. Yet employers claim that the one skill they value most in the workplace is writing because few Americans can actually do it well. That is a head scratcher.
A society that gangs up on its weakest members is a cruel one that cannot survive. Perhaps it is the first clue of its impending demise. I guess the thinking is, "if we can get rid of the ones who need help, there will be more resources for us." What's so funny is that everyone will eventually need help in some way.
Airweare said it better than I can articulate: Humans need people to put words on paper in a meaningful and moving way. I respect and admire Rodger for being able to follow his passion even during dark, scary moments like this. And especially after enduring the abuse of faceless readers who, hopefully, aren't really this selfish in real life.
Rodger, dude, go to move.com and you can find cheap living. I'm betting you don't have internet or computer because you are broke but every library has free internet.
And give up the smokes...you'll feel better after a week or so. I know. I did it. It sucks and is hard but can be done.
Salvjus, seems like you are the one judging here. Others are pointing out how Rodger made mistakes and could change. Dude, I didn't see anyone telling him to leave but maybe asking him to look within. Maybe he could learn to handle his life better. Sometimes help is not just giving money but helping someone face their own responsibility.
@quatorze, isn't it the people who have mismanaged their lives the ones who are most in need of compassion? I'm not a religious person but I know some people who call themselves devout Christians and that is what they would say.
I am not saying Rodger has mismanaged his life, though. So much of life is about luck. I read these comments from people saying, essentially, "you've got to take charge of your life, like me! Then you'll have success!"
No, you've had luck. You haven't taken charge but that is the illusion that allows you to get up every day and get through your lives. If you are successful, have a college degree or know a trade and earn more than $50k a year, and own a home that you still live in, I can say with nearly 100 percent certainty that you've had people help you get to where you are. For some reason, you don't want to admit as much.
Humans need help through every stage of life. We are born completely helpless. The first 18 years of life, at a minimum, are years in which humans receive a great deal of assistance. That shouldn't and doesn't stop just because you become an adult.
We all just need varying degrees of help at one time or another. And if you never have to call on others, then you are the luckiest of us all and should share your good fortune with others. Save the "advice" though. You really aren't as wise as you think. It's truly luck.
have some compassion, people--especially you who call yourselves christians.
Every one of you could--and inevitably will--lose everything, without warning, no matter how self-righteously you live your life.
this man doesn't need your fatuous advice. he needs human kindness, decency, civility. hope they don't make you beg when it all falls apart for you...
Salvjus:
I like some of your points. Our society definitely kicks the downtrodden. As for my former salary I was a car wholesaler in Denver, Colorado, basically I sold used cars between dealers, not to the public. I got out when the energy drinks I was pounding to stay awake (no excuses just what happened) aggravated a heart problem I didn't know I had. For the stolen valor part, there are creeps like that out there. For me I was a 68W, Combat Medic, I served with the 221 CAV in Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan (the 221 Cav is Nevada Army National Guard) in '09-'10. What I saw over there just flat sucked. I gave a man my word he wouldn't die, I couldn't keep that promise and it made me want to be a better person. I try to volunteer now with some of the "soup kitchens" and help people fill out paperwork to get help they need. When I read Rodger's story it made me so mad because it reminded me of the guys who come in (keep in mind I'm volunteering I'm not getting paid a dime) and complain about how life sucks with alcohol on their breath and two good legs and two good arms. There are folks out there who really need your help and if you think I'm a punk then let that inspire you to not just type but get up and make a difference (maybe you already are). In my opinion, Rodger is one of the people on the take. That means good folks not getting money because Rodger knows how to game the system.
Hey Tom - let me add to the list of poor decisions - overdrafting his bank account multiple times, not spending $50 dollars on a handyman to fix the irrigation leak, renting a house that he can't afford......
@PartyLV, perhaps you should read through all of the comments before you make statements like yours. There have been plenty of people slinging mud and implying things about this couple that are just not true and not fair. They do it because they're anonymous and don't have to take responsibility for their words. Yet they scream at Rodger to take responsibility for his. Hmm.
A few commenters have offered nice, supportive statements. Too many have been beyond judgmental and just downright nasty.
He went thru life without what is considered the largest "expense" an individual can have...a child, or a couple of them. To raise, put thru college..etc.
Where did all the money go that you earned freelancing Rodger?..based on your prolific career you should have had more saved. Without the added cost of raising a child...how much have you actually earned in 20 years of writing?
You saw the writing on the wall 10 years ago. Plenty of time to switch careers. I worked for a guy who gave me his story. Just graduated college, loved to paint. Set up studio in his backyard barn. Hoped to make a career out of his love for painting. 2 years later with $50 in the bank, a child on the way...he went back to school, got a degree in architecture and retired at 50.
My point is that your 20 year career may have given you pleasure and a job you love...it just didn't give you what you now so desperately need. Financial security.
You should have taken a different path than "freelance"....like 9 to 5, with health insurance, a 401k and quite possibly some money in the bank.
Quit smoking. Every single picture I see you have a cigarette in your hand. This habit has eaten away your earnings over the years and has contributed to some of your health problems, which has cost you even more. Wishing you the best and never, ever, give up.
I posted this on my blog and sent it to my writing groups. I hope it does some good as your story touched my heart, Rodger.
An Act of Kindness for a Fellow Writer In today's (Sunday, Aug. 29) Las Vegas Sun, there is an article "The New Homeless: My Story by Roger Jacobs." I was so touched as I read Roger's account of his road to homelessness. He is fifty-one, lives in Las Vegas, is an award-winning writer, and is about to become homeless.
We, as a writing group, cannot possibly fix all of his problems. But, we, as a writing group, could help Roger Jacobs. I challenge each writer in our group to reach into the kindness of their soul for a fellow writer ~ to put the words of their pages into action.
There is a video report on Roger with more photos at lasvegassun.com that is certainly worth five-minutes of your time. Contributions are welcomed at a special account for Roger Jacobs at any U.S. Bank branch. I would like to suggest that besides your contribution and name, you leave a message to him as to what writer's group you represent.
Read the article, watch the video, search your heart ~ let's all support a fellow writer in his time of need. Let's show Roger and Las Vegas that our stories have wings and that our words are written with grace.
Kathie
Las Vegas Writer's Group
Henderson's Writer's Group
Las Vegas Romance Writers
@fr33loader, you expect me to give you the benefit of the doubt based on the words you've written. You want me to believe you about your military service and your volunteerism, based on nothing more than a few paragraphs. I've never met you and I'm sure if we were to sit and talk, I would walk away with a good idea of what sort of man you are.
Why can't you give Rodger the same benefit of the doubt, based on his words? You've yet to meet him and know him only through what he's written. And you just have a feeling that he's gaming the system so you're going to judge him and write him off based on that? And berate him in the comment section, too. Call him out, catch him in a lie? What purpose does that serve? And is that your place?
I served in the military during another war. I've seen horrors, too. I've learned to trust my gut instinct and it's saved my life a few times. It's made me an insightful person and a very good judge of character. Despite that, I would not dare pass judgment against another person's suffering without seeing it for myself.
But even though I don't know Rodger, I know his story. I've seen it firsthand and I believe it. He gets the benefit of the doubt from me. People can go on and on about what he's done wrong but at some point, someone has to say "okay, enough of that. Let's get you moving forward." And he is doing that.
I get what you're saying about able-bodied people who are hamstrung by their addictions. But those people are crippled, too. With the right support, they could very well heal themselves and make something out of life. They certainly don't benefit from your anger and neither do you. If you are volunteering to help people who make you angry, I wonder if you are doing them a disservice? Volunteering is supposed to be a selfless act. You're doing something for someone else. They don't want or need your scorn, they get plenty of that from the rest of society.
It seems as far as Rodger is concerned, you are trying too hard to catch him doing something wrong. And I wonder why. Do you honestly think you can do that in a comment section of a newspaper? And why should you? If you don't believe him, just move on to the next story. You've made your point, why beat it to death? Save your self-righteousness for a situation that you can actually impact.
TomD1228:
Yet another good comment. Like the Titanic sinking into the ocean no one remembers the set of stupid decisions that led to that last fateful hour. Rodger does a great job of painting the man at ropes end, he just forget to mention it is he who tied the noose. This is my last post, but I've got to say it again. EVERYDAY I volunteer I have to tell good folks who've hit a tough spot through no fault of their own that there's no more money because of the budget problems at the state level. For many it's a near death sentence as they are literally starving with true medical emergency conditions and most folks don't even offer a whimper or a "why me". They just say thanks for the help and walk out the door. Guys like Rodger are piling on the benies while good folks suffer.
A modest proposal:
since so many anonymous commenters have so much certainty and wisdom about how a life should be planned and lived, I think the sun's next step is to explore a few of their lives in print! I'm sure they are all without flaw or misstep or even a momentary bad choice. Withe the future so uncertain for us mortals, we could all learn so much from these experts!
You're welcome to the idea--for free!-- las Vegas sun editors. First commenters should be the first to volunteer to have their perfect, vice-free life histories documented for all to read and judge. Looking forward to this very helpful new series!
There are some horribly discompassionate people who don't understand homelessness and dispair. They certainly rush to judgement and are tearing him apart like a pack of dogs attacks the weakest member. It's a feeding frenzy.
Rodger is disabled and can only supplement his income with freelancing. He can't get a full-time job, nor is he able to go back in hisory and change his profession. He worked, paid into the Medicare/Social Security system and is drawing the benefits for which he's entitled. He is also entitled to work a minimal amount and continue to draw his income. If he were able to work full-time (which he's not, btw), he would lose his medicare and therefore his health would suffer.
He has a debilitating, progressive disease with no cure. Best practices are to treat the pain, and percocet is mild considering some of the medications that are out there. It's no one's business that he is taking medication to treat his condition, which can be compared to a diabetic taking insulin. He needs it in order to function - and you're not paying for it so what does it matter?
He doesn't qualify for Medicaid (welfare). Housing assistance is months, if not years, away - in a crappy, unsafe area of town without easily accessible transportation (and if he received housing, that would be subsidized by you & me - instead he's choosing to handle it on his own). He has done the best that could and those of you who look down on him are cruel beyond words.
It's no one's business that he smokes - but the cost of a pack won't give him a home. He shared his story and some people (like the non-medical paraprofessional) dare to judge him and his disease process. But you don't know what he's going through, and hopefully you never will. You'd curl up and die, and with your offensive attitudes no one would care about your story.
TomD, you assert that I went through life without the greatest expense an individual can have, that of a child. Where do you get that notion? I have a 17-year-old daughter. This is yet another example today of commenters assuming things about me of which they have no proof or insight. My divorce in 2000 practically wiped me out financially and resulted in me losing a lot of my savings and personal property, a fraction in the equation that is where I am today.
Amen, Louise. Well said.
People never seem to amaze me when it comes to judging someone else's life. O I know what it is, there lives must be so boring that they have nothing better to do then to Judge someone else or tell someone else how to live or what he can and can not do or what they think that person needs.At least I can say that what ever I do in life I go to sleep being selfless and humble.
Louise, thanks for putting it in perspective and Rodger, thank you for sharing your story.
I warned you that most comments would be cynical if not downright rude and offensive (that's the nature of many people when they are allowed to write anonymously), and that your story would be misstated or not accurately read and that you would be attacked, and still you wanted to share it as a cautionary tale. I applaud you for that.
Sorry advice is no longer valued anymore.When given it is instantly labeled judging someone elses life.Ia'm sorry that I put forth the effort to analyse Rodgers circunstances in a financial aspect, for this my expertise,and it appears I have given this way more time and effort than Rodger has done for himself.You go to sleep humble little selfless pumpkin.At least I put forth a good portion of the day trying to think up simple,practical solutions, probably to no avail.The others smug and off to bed,knowing alot of people will think they are the good guys,because they didn't really get into the fray,and did'nt have to really offer any solutions.Good night!
Louise,
Thank You perfectly said.
Roguerunner, please tell us all where you professionally practice your expertise on other people's "circunstances in a financial aspect."
Thank you, Tom and Louise. I knew what I was getting into with this article and it truly saddens me that many Southern Nevadans did not dissapoint with their hate-filled vitriol and their misrepresentation of facts that could easily be obtained by a careful reading of the text and viewing of Sam's excellent photo gallery and Katie's superb video.
But there are thousands more like me out there all across the U.S. and if this helps shed a light on the problem, then it was worth a few jabs and punches; people who work in the creative arts are just as "hard working" as anyone else and we have been hurt by this recession sorely and are not getting the media representation that unemployed auto dealers and insurance brokers are getting on CNN, MSNBC, et al.
Where did I say I professionally practice anything for other people? My educational experience is economics & finance.I thought this guy could use a little of my 30 years of experience.I use my knowledge to make my own investments and have done very well.I'll tell you what Judge Joe Brown.I came to this forum for only 1 reason .I want to have some of that hard earned knowledge rub off on some people that are insightful enough to grab onto itand recognise a mentor willing to share.
Iv'e been here 2 weeks,and no one has caught on.Sorry Rodger,I was willing to share the most precious thing I had to offer,and that was my gift of knowledge.I wasn't addressed by you once all day,good or bad.I was waiting all day.I really dont have all day.I won't be here much longer Rodger,soon to be gone with my own medical inflictions.U missed another grasp at luck Rodger,I have said what I think was needed to be said,have sensed the prevailing attitude and will be off to explore other more insightfully thinking prospects.As always,good luck,you will find the 1 to grasp onto.Good night again,and goodby!
I've posted some vitriol against $180K firefighters, illegals bankrupting Calif, the student loan industry and the declining value of a college degree, and school districts and teachers complaining about budget cuts. (BTW student loan debt could easily put you into Rodger's predicament) I won't criticize Rodger, because homelessness can happen to anybody. Most people are just a major illness and a few checks away from living under the freeway. Your insurance company probably won't pay $1000 a day for your cancer drugs. Rodger's account of the decline of jobs for writers reminds me of an article in the NY Times that described the rapid decline of jobs in photography:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/busine...
Hollyhella,
First, the surname is Jacobs. Second, yes, I did write screenplays for adult films and videos for the cable TV market in the 1990's when the market demanded story-driven content to remain consistent with the Miller vs. California standard handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court; for my efforts I received three Adult Video News awards, a ceremony which is held every January in ... Las Vegas.
In this long story that you've written, you never once mention you had a family and child to support....and a child that you are still obligated to financially support??
While divorce can be a financial hardship, it should not "wipe you out"...again these statements thrown out by you start to sound very Charlie Brown "woe is me"
You claim you were working very hard, 7 days a week...all the stress brought on by it. Telling me you work 60 hours a week and at this point in your life you are going to be homeless indicates one thing. You may have worked hard...but certainly not smart. Working 60 hours a week and making $25 isn't going to cut it in life Rodger. Loving the arts, culture is all well and fine. It doesn't put bread on the table. Where are the fruits of your labor? For someone who has worked hard in the same field for 20 years and is homeless doesn't add up.
This story hits home for me deeply because my own father is on medical disability, medicaid and Veteran's help with Hepatitus C and a whole host of other issues. My mom lost her job at the beginning of the recession and has struggled to find anything else. They are lost in depression, and because my dad's liver condition is terminal, (stage 4 and not responding to treatment) he's eating himself and smoking himself to death. My 6-foot, giant bear of a father now cries almost every time I talk to him cause he hurts so bad. He's addicted to pain pills. I am angry at him for not doing what he can to improve his health, and yet my heart also breaks for him and I'm scared every day that I will lose him to a stroke or a heart attack. I'm angry because I see his issues as self-caused, but then I also see how debilitating and depressing his health issues are. I wish they both would quit the smoking and better control the little income they do have, but I also know that when your income only covers your bills and not food or gas, the stress makes it near impossible to kick an addictive habit.
Bottom line. NONE< none of us know Rodger's pain. We don't know Lela's pain. Us non-smokers cannot understand how hard it is to quit. We don't know the full story of his divorce or how his savings got wiped out, or how his frankly heartless cousin caused him to walk into this mess. If any of you critics out there truly walked in his shoes, you might regret your hateful comments. You might feel scared and defeated too. Yes, they've made mistakes. Yes, my parents have made mistakes. At what point does someone get to stop getting beat to a pulp for their past sins and get a little mercy and grace so they can rebuild?
Also, unless you've lived at or below the poverty line, don't ever, ever judge someone struggling on the edge. Better yet, you go live on $926 for six months and try to freelance for that little bit extra.
Rodger, I pray that God will ease your pain and help you be able to do more. I pray you find publishers for your novels. I hope some more steady work/freelancing comes in for you and Lela. I hope you can kick the cigarette habit. May God bless you and keep you.
I do look depressed and haggard these days, don't I? Seeing myself in the photos and video has been sad for me, but this isn't the end of the road. I'll bounce back.
Much of the advice in the comments above contains truth. But I hope any writers out there who have time to wade through all of this take the overriding message with an appropriate degree of alarm: "Dump the girlfriend, stop writing."
It's going to get louder.
Right! Hard working people all their lives. I worked at the Social Security office taking claims for disability and retirement and used to get the same line "I've worked hard all my life." After a review of their income, rarely I found anyone with more than a few years of showable income. I guess you'll have to go back to California, or maybe even Mexico there's probably work there, most illegals are here!
Rodger you could work if you wanted to, and saving a lot of money each month would work if you quit buying cigarettes. It sounds like you're a hypochondriac and could easily reduce monthly expenses. Did you say a fund has been set up at a bank? OMG there are thousands of people out there much worse off than you and they deserve a fund much more than you. You simply need to get off your lazy a$$ and get to work. Oh I know poor baby, you're disabled!
I'd love to see his tax returns for the past 30 years. Love to know where all his earnings went. He claims to have worked very hard (7 days a week, etc.)...I still doubt he's made very much money "freelance writing". My assumption is Rodger enjoyed the "freelance" lifestyle very much (who wouldn't)...work from home, make your own hours, no boss over your shoulder, etc. It's very odd that he's had 30+ years of working history but can't put together 2 nickles...very odd. I'm reasoning that he needed to better prepare himself many, many years ago for where he is today.
There are millions of potential Rodgers' out there who are now 18 years old. One can only hope they see the "writing on the wall" as far as savings, IRA's, nesteggs and planning for the future goes. With a 50% high school dropout rate in Las Vegas...I'm not optimistic.
Roger needs some medical help. Dermatitis diseases can be very upsetting to the rest of the body and his allergies are probably more than seasonal. He wa screwed by the family member. He needs some legal aid but this social helper works mainly with divorces and green backers. He may, due to his medical condition, qualify for help from Catholic Charities, or Legal Aid may recant their whining and help him.
Any way he needs to clear up the medical problems which are his biggest worries.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others!
Unless you have arthritis you wouldn't understand.
And it's illegal for banks to take fees out of a disability check.
We've all made some poor choices in life and this man is no different, he is human. And all of us have habits...."Let he without sin cast the first stone"
There but for the grace of God go I. I am so sorry this is happening.
The lack of compassion in many of the comments is appalling. This is a public issue and evidence of the failure of a system that values corporations over citizens. Were the banks held up for moral scrutiny before they were given multibillion dollar handouts? They were forgiven, protected and reimbursed. While the banks are using tax dollars used to bail them out for bonuses, more and more people are losing their jobs and homes.
If only we treated our citizens as well as we treat our corporations.
This poor guy looks to be a mess for a 51 yr. old. But despite that,I would assume someone intelligent enough to make a living as a professional writer wouldnt be in this type of circumstance unless there are other factors in play.besides a physical disability.
He didnt mention his or hers education,College or more?
You would think with an education and successful background he could have tought writing at community college or adult school to carry them over the dry spells.
Hopefully,someone out there sees this and will offer them some menial ,non physical job ,answering phones,telemarketing or whatever to help them.
I wont judge them,just wish them well.
Thank You Mr. Greenspun and Sun Staff!
I don't have arthritis but I do have a permanent physical disability and significant medical problems that prevent me from working. The exact details of my illness are not relevant but I did work as an engineer for almost 30-years and my retirement was wiped out by the financial crisis, so I fully understand Roger's situation living month to month. With very limited monthly income, I moved to a 3rd world country where I pay $155 monthly rent and live very simple. Food costs me approximately $100-150 a month and a fulltime live-in caregiver helps me with almost everything. I budget very carefully and have few possessions, though I onced lived a wonderful life in USA with a beautiful house like Roger, but times change and we must all adapt. Roger needs to accept his situation, stop looking for undeserved charity (cause there are less fortunate out there than he or I), and get off the pity bandwagon. His $1000 monthly SSD is more than enough to live, though maybe not in the lifestyle he wishes.
Get the ID, Get a paypal account so the publishers have a quick way of paying you. Move into a $500 place or less which your current income can handle. Use that computer you have to solicit work as a writer. Join as many elance type websites you can. Directly approach website owners who you think could benefit from your skills. Offer a free piece of work to start. I bet there are hundreds of entertainment type websites and companies who need interesting well written content. If you did nothing else but wrote a newsletter for them. Charge them say $100 for 2 newsletters a month. How many clients could you get doing that?
Stop the bleeding, move away from old systems which are themselves dying, and move into the new reality. Your problem is you guys have hitched your wagon to a dying system. Be clear on this. All of us are getting slammed by interacting with this dying paradigm. The key I think is to minimize one's expose to it. Stop as much as is possible interacting with it.
The ship is sinking, time to get off. What have you got to lose? Cover the basics first with the tools available. Bury the old and move-on.
This is depressing. These comments are sickening.
What happened to America, land of boundless compassion, wisdom, feelings for the plight of one's fellow man? I cannot even begin to fathom whatever torturous path has led us to arrive at these utterly savage comments, where the desperate times on which a man has fallen aren't even acknowledged as fact, much less treated with any kind of sympathy.
How have we reached the point where it is automatically the victim's fault? Mr. Jacobs has spent his life as a hard-working, productive member of society. I assume he's paid his taxes regularly, and now he's on the receiving end of the same system that he spent his adult life paying into.
That's how it works. You support today's elderly and infirm so that tomorrow a younger generation will support you. As Boomers, your parents gave you absolutely everything, and asked only that you "pay it forward." Instead, the last three decades have been spent attempting to dismantle the social safety net that has allowed Americans to live without fear of poverty.
This is America. We take care of each other. We respect each other's right to worship in a manner of their choosing. To be supported in our hour of need. We believe that gainful employment is to be encouraged, but when honest attempts at seeking such employment fail, we will help you. Because we are America, and we care about each other.
What the hell is happening in this country?
For an intelligent man, Mr. Jacobs made some big mistakes, on using a pay day loan, I don't care how bad the situation gets, avoid using pay day loans, you will never get ahead and it will eat up what money you do have. Mr. Jacobs needs to make some life style changes. He makes $926, most homeless have nothing. How can I make my $926 work. Quit smoking, you will save at least $40 a week right there. Your story does have a few holes that don't explain the truth, what did you do for the first part of your adult life? Remember, not all is bleak, you do have medicare and $926, many people don't have half of that.
Guys, maybe you can find help the same place this couple did http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul...
ALso, some of you guys here seem to just want this to be love fest and you might consider that sometimes compassion is pointing out errors and helping a person grow. I've noticed many comments about how this couple could maybe look back and see where they have some hand in landing where they are and how then could maybe not do that in the future. Even the Sun editor seems to be all about how mean people are and not about the lessons that could be learned.
@TomD
"For someone who has worked hard in the same field for 20 years and is homeless doesn't add up."
Tom, what world are you living in? I think a large percentage of Americans are wondering exactly that about their own lives.
=====
Rodger's situation may not be the "poster child" of the current recession. At least he has some income. He may not be able to live like a king, but he's not actually facing homelessness. He is facing eviction. Which is a good thing, actually. It seems that will allow him to move into a cheaper place.
So he smokes, so what? I think it's possible others fault him for that, and imagined "mistakes," so they don't have to recognize how precarious their own situation is.
But let's look at Rodger's story as an opening to a broader discussion. What about the thousands of people who lost a job they sacrificed for and can't find any work? Do they have to pass a morality test in order for us to address their troubles? Or are they on their own while the gov't doles out billions in corporate welfare?
The fact is that the number of unemployed people far exceeds the number of available jobs. That is a problem.
The United States had a pretty nice run at the top of the ladder, much due to lack of competition, but times are changing. Unfortunately, most people are very change adverse.
I worry that the people who attack Rodger's situation are the same type of people who commit mass-shootings after they are fired, or take their wife and kids before pulling the trigger on themselves because they have never considered how easily it could happen to them.
Rodger and Lela, I apologize for the mean spirited People that have reponded to your article. We only have a 2/2 apartment in Spring Valley but you can stay with us this month (September} free. I figure you could save enough in that time to go back to California if that is what you wanted to do. We used to smoke and understand about your need to do so. You would have to smoke outside. Also, we are Black, retired (55-59) Federal Employees. Our home State is Illinois. We have been here for one year and it is not a very friendly or compassionate place.
If you need our help, please email us.
gmcampbell1221@yahoo.com
No matter how much money this couple gets (from donations) I seriously doubt they change their lifestyle. I don't think either will try to change careers or for that matter even think of looking for a job. I don't believe for a second that he worked hard during his life. The descent into this has been orchestrated for years.
I wish you both well and hope that you are able to find some peace of mind during this very difficult time.
Dear By gayle
Why do you stay here? Why do you not go back to Illinois which is an even more corrupt place than Nevada and even more of an Amnesty State for Criminal Illegal Aliens and their spawn. Illinois is even more broke than Nevada and far more advanced. What are you waiting for?? Get down to U-Haul pronto and saddle up.
Tom (editor) your attempted defense of this couple is admirable, as is thier willingness to share it..however... and you knew there would be one. The comments about cigarettes are spot on. I am betting both smoke. To the tune of at least $50 a week. so the excuses about the small fees to get ID's, birth certificates etc etc just dont fly. It doesn't make us mean or heartless to point that out. It SHOULD serve as a wakeup call to these two, that they need to pick themselves up, HONESTLY review thier situation and make changes. No one told them to NOT READ the lease they signed. They are adults, act like it and take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. The extended stay at $800 a month is just a dubious. there are tons of rental options in this town for far less. Sorry, empathy I have feel sorry for their poor and worse than poor choices, can't do it.
but I don't care if he smokes, it's his money. that pack or carton of cigarettes won't help pay his rent. NO, BUT IT WILL BE A START AND IT DOES PAY FOR BIRTH CERTIFICATES AND ID'S
he didn't plan for homelessness, didn't plan to remain in Vegas so didn't change his I.D. It doesn't change his status.TWO YEARS AGO, HE CAME. SORRY YOUR EXCUSE FOR THIS DOESN'T WORK
His life is a bowl of crap right now and he can't see his way out. It's his personal story, and it's sad. IT IS NOT SAD, IT IS A SHAME, BUT THERE IS HELP OUT THERE. HOW ABOUT THE PAPER PAY THEM A FEW BUCKS FOR THIS STORY???
Those people who think otherwise need to buy some compassion - you sound like you can well afford it. COMPASSION DOES NOT EQUAL ACCEPTANCE OF CONTINUED POOR CHOICES.
just had to borrow this from a previous poster and put it back up, I love it and a small bell is ringing somewhere...
Just waiting for a Sun Reporter to do their typical post defending this guys nicotine habit. Let me see, the Dr. prescribed cigarettes as a way to treat his bi-polar disorder? I can just picture this guy in his twenties, typical liberal smoking pot as he writes about John Holmes, complaining about how the "Man" is keeping him down. "I'm gonna be a writer Man, I'm gonna write about how evil corporations are. I'm never gonna conform to society and get a job where I have to wear a suit man." What's going on now is called Economic Darwinism.
Rodger and Lela,
I was very sorry to read about your troubles... this could happen to anyone as "life has no guarantees".
Since I'm job hunting myself... thought I'd mention that CSN is looking to hiring a part-time writing instructor... maybe you could share your love of writing and 20 years of experience with students/future writers. Just a suggestion. Best of luck, I will keep you in Lela in my prayers.
Excuse me...But didn't we all read that this Guy came to Las Vegas in 2007 from California under the guise of helping his terminally ill mother? Therefore, wasn't he suppose to register his car and get his Drivers License changed from CA to NV within 6 months from coming here? NO EXCUSES!!! He should have been and still should be penalized for maintaining a residence here all these years and NOT following the law as required.
In addition, I's a single Mother of 3 children and I've struggled to make it and so should he.
To "CherishYou" - We do not own a car. Rodger does not have a driver's license.
There was no "guise" about the mother, she's actually deceased now. Two years ago today now that you mention it.
why was this even published by the sun? this guy makes more money than many of the unemployed people that have no more UI benfits. 169 a week at a siegel suites includes all utilities and a few free meals.
a decent cellphone? what do you need a blackberry so you can order more smokes?
this guy is pathetic...for even writing about his windfalls.
go get food stamps...the both of ya. theres almost 300 a month. sell your car. stop your damn smoking.
if your life sucks that much, think of ways to change it
im not unsympathetic about this, but when you have money every month, and options to cut your budget and other things dont whine about it and fix it. you knew this day was coming and you should have went online and put all your stuff on craigslist for cash.
there are plenty of bottom feeding low hour low wage do nothing jobs such as a security guard part time sitting on a chair at a gate. im sure you can make under 1000 a month doing something lame like that.
id say go begging at an off ramp or street corner, but i dont think this guy would be able to fight the existing bum over his territory.
Roger and Lela, you might want to consider moving elsewhere. I know of mobile home parks in Overton (yes, that's in Clark County) that give away older mobile homes or sell them for very little. The space rent is around $300.00 per month plus electric. Water and trash is included in the space rent.
There is a super market with pharmacy and a medical clinic that excepts Medicare. The Senior Center also transports people to doctor appointments, shopping, etc. for a minimal fee. The big plus here is that it is a small town and people help each other.
Rodger, thank you for sharing your story. It's a brave thing to do. As Tom Gormon pointed out, people can be so vicious when masked by anonymity. Your story is frightening to readers precisely because it can and has happened to someone who is intelligent, educated, and hardworking; I think that's exactly why people have carelessly accused you of being, basically, the opposite. People see what they want to see. I applaud you and Lela for putting a face on the "new homeless," even if many of us are too blind to see it. I sincerely hope things improve for you.
Rodger, as a person on a low income myself, I rely on coupons to keep my grocery bill really low. There are a lot of incorrect myths about coupon usage (coupons are only for junk food, it takes too long to do, etc.), but I highly recommend reading up on it on the Internet.
coupons...are the available for cigarettes too?
Maybe the LVPD can go arrest more celebrities and work against the millions spent on the "Camp Vegas" Adult Summer Camp advertising campaign the Casinos and visit Las Vegas have been pushing creating more unemployment and more distress among the population. Visit the Police State in the sweltering heat and risk chemical poisoning at our pools. Somebody needs an image makeover and quick before unemployment sinks deeper.
Entire floors in the biggest casinos are vacant when will people wake up?
Sorry....excepts shoud be "accepts" I need to slow down while posting.
Compassion does not mean they can't be chastised for poor decisions. Compassion has its limits. This idea that people telling them where they have gone wrong in their decision making and lifestyle means they are being cruel is ridiculous. 5 out of 10 kids in this city are dropping out of school. Is chastising them for making a poor decision cruel? Heartless?
I think not. It should be a wakeup call.
They posted their life story...the people commenting did not. They opened themselves up to criticism. Yes, compassion too...but this decline into poverty and homelessness was NOT based on 2 bad decisions in the past year. Let's get past that ridiculousness.
What's wrong with many things is that assistance is always available for those that are in our country/state illegally, while citizens fall through the cracks.
How do I know that? I've worked for the Department of Social Services for years and know who scams the system and who gets turned down. I feel that help should be available to those that have paid their taxes for years, not the ones that just fleece the system.
At one point the story says they have "no assets to liquidate" but later mentions they do "not have the funds for movers or storage and all of our personal property", which suggests there was/is some potential for a garage sale. As for the homeless shelter, I agree that's not an appropriate place for Roger & Lela. Those places have very limited space and I don't think someone receiving almost $1000 a month from SSD should force someone else without such resources to sleep on the streets. It's time to start looking at how to live within $1000 a month and adapt like millions of other Americans have been forced to do. I'm permanently disabled, 100% wheelchair bound, and living with my caretaker on less than $500 a month (rent,food,elec,etc), so I know it can be done. Of course, there are some sacrifices and it starts with a readjustment of expectations and priorities. Start itemizing every expense and cut out unnecessary luxuries like a cellphone, fast-food, cancer sticks, impulse purchases, brand-name groceries and supplies. Rodger & Lela don't need financial donations as much as they need to learn to adapt to living within a budget.
One of the first things I would suggest to this man is to find a room for rent. One of my friends has a large room in a nice house with a pool for $350 a month. He lives there with his wife and son. This would leave enough money left over for many other things. I know people that refuse to leave their expensive apartment or share a place, and they are often in financial trouble it seems. Giving up smoking is a must in his case.
It's so easy to attack this couple, to denigrate them, to say "Bad things happened to you because you deserve them" than it is to say "there but for the grace of God, go I." Are you telling me every single person posting the "you should have done THIS" comments never made mistakes in their lives? Haven't had vices or habits that cost money that could have been spent on other, more necessary things? I don't judge them, because their situation is quite honestly maybe 2 or 3 paychecks away from a large number of people in this valley.
I don't think we should all fawn all over them and say "awww, poor you, here's $20." In fact, I'm pretty sure it was noted this was to be posted as a "cautionary tale" to others. Nor should the pendulum swing entirely the other direction, and see these individuals the subject of such chilling animosity and vitriol. I will take it as just that, a cautionary tale and be aware that some of my fellow Americans are mayhap less willing to see that bad things do happen to good people too. And yes, you can be a good person (or at least one worth a decent place to live that isn't a roach infested weekly hovel) and have made some decisions which in retrospect maybe weren't the best.
And I should add that the story mentioned the "cost of a notary" as a barrier. I am a notary public and would be happy to notarize a document at no cost.
A lot of negative comments on here. Someone asked what was the point of this essay, I think the point is how in this economy a few wrong moves and some strokes of bad luck (his health) and you could lose it all. I've been on the receiving end of what felt like bottomless debt by a few wrong moves and some bad luck. When one big thing hits it can topple everything you've worked for. What's that old saying"something about walking a mile in shoes"hmmm"
Not only would quitting smoking save him money, he'd probably get rid of his allergies, COPD and some of his other health problems.
I think our Journey of life is about progress, Nor perfection. It's not about doing one thing 100% better. It's a matter of doing 100 things 1% better each day.
Most day we measure our progress in inches, Not Miles. What matters most is showing up for your life whather you feel like it or not. "What two or three little things can I do today that'll move me forward?"
I don't judge about he smokes or not working. Everyone has bad habbit or lazyness or reason. So picking these their business doesn't change anything until "THEY" realized to change it. Matter is how much you can use your wisdom. How much you can face yourself without complain. Are you taking responsibility to your action you are making.Personally think "the Oxy medication" user should not think "It's ok to smoke",YES it's his life but use commonsense. Can't take cere yourself why other should? If you don't make effort, there is no change."LOVE"hurt sometime, same as telling"truth"hurts feelings. If my husband were Rodger, I stand up in front of him and strongly make him stop smoking. Because I LOVE my husband.
It's easy to complain but what comes out from it? Negativity does not help this economy or/and these situation. You'll be amazed at how much distance you can cover by the little things add up. The inches turn to Miles and we string together out efforts. "Why was this even published by the sun?" Maybe because to see the great example "not to be" or "learn from this experience"
It's not like "offensive" or "Diffensive", it's "responsible" to your life. We made decition so take responsibility, Choose life wisely not poorly. I know it IS tough to Keep positive but life IS tough. I know it is easy just "Complain" but complain erase energy and benefit to become positive.
We're wearing same shoes, but we keep walking don't stop. We know the difference between "how to walk and stop". Nobody's special at this era. My husband and myself are not special than any others, facing fainancial difficulty, health problems, raising children, BK + other Law problems, foreclosure, etc. But cannot GIVE UP it's our life and this life is one time only. We grow each day, we can move forward inch by inches.
We show and explaine our daily life challenge to children (12, 9 and 6)as an example "not to give up, never defeated" with no shame. Walk together, Grow together, Live together. We're telling our life has a lot of flavor. Even we had $20 in change till next paycheck. We enjoyed selling lemonade@park,open garage sale(we don't have any fancy fanitures like they have on the pictures)couldn't get new cloth but made $ for school stationaly and new shoes. They're happy about it and enjoyed every min. We deeply appreciate our children's action and sincere thoughts. Together we can do it.Important matter is "what can we do for future, how we face it, from this moment on...Do N.O.W. = No Opportunities Wasted!"
you people are disgusting. judgmental hypocrites. so you've never bought something you didn't need? or bought alcohol when it could have been spent your money on food? you've never been down on your luck or experienced a series of unfortunate events? you will never know this man's full story and will never be perfect yourself so stfu. i hope you find yourself poor or homeless someday so you know exactly how it feels.
you people are disgusting. judgmental hypocrites. so you've never bought something you didn't need? or bought alcohol when you *could have been spent your money on food? you've never been down on your luck or experienced a series of unfortunate events? you will never know this man's full story and will never be perfect yourself so stfu. i hope you find yourself poor or homeless someday so you know exactly how it feels.
so many bad decisions....first, the smoking really bothers me...how do you have money for cigerettes???also, your girlfriend does not have a job, why?? also, why would you move into a place that is needs work by an exterminator and landscaping, when you are just making ends meet, my biggest issue is why isn't your girlfriend working????? what I think is that because you are educated and think of yourself as an excellent writer, you will not take a job for minimum wage...I don't have any sympathy, I do not think you tried and now reality is hitting hard and once again you are looking for a handout, I think its pretty disgusting, I hated your last paragragh, just really pathetic. hey lela, GET A JOB.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
~Bertrand Russell
...
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
"Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'
"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"
(Matthew 25.35-40)
i can only wonder how you wise commenters would advise jesus, who made some questionable life-planning decisions himself.
anyway, can't seem to find may comments from jesus about judging others--or even about saving money or thinking your earthly plans are going to take care of you. instead he said stuff like "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." and "let him who is without sin cast the first stone." and "the good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. for out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." (read that one again, commenters.)
can't find anything where he explained where a troubled person made his mistakes, or even any advice on making or saving money. this quotable guy kept repeating: be kind to each other, and give it all away--everything you've got--to the needy.
the word for you people is "hubris." look it up.
He has MASSIVE health issues yet continues to engage a habit that will most likely bring on other health issues (emphysema, stroke, heart attack, lung cancer). This guy needs more health problems like Las Vegas needs another casino.
Where is the problem understanding this? His health problems brought on disability and has been a contributing factor to his current predicament. What is so difficult to understand? He doesn't even have the money to support his habit. Others are supplying him (which is just assinine) when they could probably help him in so many other ways.
This isn't a glass of wine at dinner. This isn't a little after dinner brandy. I think all would have no issue with this "vice"....although I fail to put having a glass of wine as a vice. Many doctors will recommend a glass of wine to their patients.
See it way too often...cigs age people like no other. Rodger is 51. He looks like he's 65. I'm waiting for part 2 of this soap opera.
Joe Brown, if you could hear my hands clapping, hubris, fantastic, nicely done. Sums up the comments here.
@sigtwenty There actually are coupons for cigarettes; I don't smoke but have seen and heard of them.
stephica, i was being sarcastic LOL
I came from Vegas,It is awful place to start losing it like this couple,anyplace is, but Vegas is especially bad. I wouldn't bitch at Rodger too much for the smokes, hes on Oxy for the pain; I have advanced MS [for which I take hydrocodone] which is for me extremely painful, I'm saving the Oxy for later, my Doc says I'm going to need it in a couple years; but its a fact that smoking helps me with the constant burning pain. Mind you, I do not really want to smoke, but it helps me cope, it keeps me calm.I quit drinking 25 years ago, so I use marlboros to cope. Im 57, and as yet have no COPD or anything like that. I do hope things work out for Rodger and Lela, I do agree that if they were illegals, they'd get a lot more help from the state. Last time I went back to the street I grew up on, it was at least 50% illegals.[Over by Western High]
Thank you, Bullmoose; stay on the hydro as long as you can because it is not as addictive as the oxy. According to the medical literature that I left Mountainview Hospital with in the wee hours of June 23, oxycodone addiction takes 12 days to set in -- and you're screwed after that; it was a risk I was willing to take to rid myself of chronic pain. Like yourself, smoking also helps me cope with pain and the stress of late, a point that literally hundreds of commenters here seem to not understand while they dig their hands into their bag of Frito's between repeated hateful postings.
What a heartless society in the City of Evil.
90% of the people commenting negatively on this story against Rodger and Lela are ignorant, the other half are fools.
Thank you so much for the support and suggestions many have given Rodger over the past few days.
For those who have recommended affordable apartments or other housing in Southern Nevada, please note (per my comment in the video) that we are satisfied with renting an extended stay room for the time being as that allows us the opportunity to pay our rent by the week. Until our finances are stable, this represents a kind of economic freedom for us that is not available with most housing situations.
If there are affordable local apartments which provide all utilities and accept rent on a weekly basis rather than monthly, we are happy to receive that information.
For those who have recommended to Rodger that his "girlfriend" get a "job," please be aware that at least half of my day is spent in a caretaker role. This entails daily laundry and vacuuming (remember, psoriasis sores flake and drop off the body), any household chore related to use of water, common tasks which require gripping or lifting, and general companionship during times of extreme pain or discomfort. Rodger also averages at least two trips to emergency rooms per year and there are other incidents which result in my losing sleep.
For those of you who are disabled or know someone who is, you understand that caretakers and housekeepers are a necessary expense. In addition, being at home full-time allows me to serve Rodger's needs as a writer should he need an editor, proofreader, transcriber, secretary, and/or general muse. This role not only saves Rodger the expense of hiring someone to do these things, it also keeps my own skills current so that I can take on freelance assignments from other writers, documentary filmmakers, and the like.
This lifestyle has developed gradually over the five years we have been together; it is not something we designed in advance, nor is it an easy road, but it is our road. I agree that Rodger should give up cigarettes, and he has a doctor to help him with that process; other than that, he is a writer who needs his woman at his side, and that isn't going to change.
If you consider that a "refusal to work" on my part, I can't help you any further.
damn, what a pile-on fest. give these people a break. quit smoking cigs? great advice people.
You know what people. I lived right next door to them before they moved out. I saw the front yard start to get run down and after speaking with Roger, I was obvious he was not going to be able to fix it. Knowing how brutal these HOA people for Avante are, I knew it was only a matter of time before their claws got stuck into them. So, I went over, trimmed the suckers from the base of the tree and took my garden hose over and started deep watering it to help it look better. Went in the backyard and started handwatering things for them there too. As far as the leak - get over yourselves people, that is not the tenants responsibility.
And, I saw the remenants of the spiders that were left behind, that is a true statement from them.
These 2 people are very kind and trying to survive people. I talked with both of them several times.
Now, question for some you. If you had to walk to the store in 115 degree weather because you were \ are down on your luck, would you? I saw them both doing that. By the time I saw them, they were almost there otherwise, I would have picked them up. That kind of heat is not for anyone to be walking in, I don't care who you are.
I am quite sickened by a lot of your comments towards these 2 human beings. These are real people, living real life (and not an easy one right now). How many times do you hear of other banks, etc opening up accounts for people who are in need? People who are in horrific car accidents, etc. Do you complain about them? Do you think they are trying to scam something? So what if US Bank chose to do that. That bank took bail out money just because it was offered to them. I had one of their employees tell me that.! Now, THAT you should be enraged about.
either way - IMHO if you have never had to roll nickels to get gas to go to work, or share a can of tuna fish with your pet cat, she got the juice on nuggets, and I got the fish. if you have never cried yourself to sleep from worry, depression, more worry, anxiety, not knowing what is going to happen to you from one day to the next. I suggest you get your head back in the sunshine folks.
Would you want to have people comment to you like some of you have done if you were in this prediciment? jeezoman~
These are HUMAN BEINGS, they are not disposable.
@Lela and Rodger, I caution you to rent an extended stay by the week. There are five weeks in some months and you'll pay $200 more those months. Also, by the month, after 30 days after you establish "residency" they can not lock you out the moment you miss your rent. If you rent by the week and then miss even for a minute they can lock you out and that will cause you more problems.
Look around since extended stays are NOT the same, most offer little if anything and are "stripped down". Extended Stays of America (Hotel) for example, are like efficiencies and for about the same price offer complete living setup including pots and pans, dishes, bed spreads and linen, maid service, paper goods, (but rent must be paid on time since they are hotels, not apartments)for the same price dumps in Vegas go for. Look around!!!!
Of course, with extended stays EVERYTHING is included in one price, phone, Cable TV, Internet service, Security, air conditioning and heat, lights, etc. etc.
Consider selling stuff you can afford to give up, long-term storage might cost more in the long run than replacement of items.
Your ideas are good, but you might be making a fatal mistake by not going MONTHLY instead of weekly.
Get a storage unit CLOSE to your apartment and bus lines.
You DO QUALIFY for USDA free food which you can go to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission on Bonanza and D Street to inquire. Also a number of churches provide food and clothing. And you DO QUALIFY for food at the area soup kitchens and shelters, including bread.
If you want click onto my name and "send me a message" for contact... better yet I'll contact you for more tips.
This is one vicious city. Most government agencies and non profits are corrupt. There is more humanity on the streets among the homeless than there is the greater society.
Good luck!
that is GREAT advice Cliff.....I hope they contact you
We are living in a very difficult time - I know people who have tried to find jobs in all kinds of places where you usually could find something - on most days NO ONE is hiring. That includes McDonalds. Ok Best to the folks who face very difficult circumstances.
there but for fortune
I have one question.
Fifty years ago, a one-year-old baby was in a basket on the side of a busy road.
Not a one of you could pass without stopping.
What happened in fifty years to make it ok to pass this little needy sack of surprises and hate on him and make fun of him and offer him chump shots and slimey, smarmy inhumanity?
Jolawanda, You two were the best neighbors we could hope to have; stop by this afternoon and bid us farewell. We will miss you.
it's really easy to comment on someone's life when you're sitting there with a steady job. he didn't ask for any of this to happen to him, and for any of you to insinuate that is simply atrocious. but even more atrocious and is that an eighteen year old can see that and none of you can.
my family has been struggling to make ends meet and at no fault of our own. we are nowhere near the same circumstances as this man, but things have gotten really scary. i watched my mother pull out the last of our savings just so myself and my three siblings could pay our school fees. we were afraid to ask her for anything, because we knew that that would be an extra burden. and i wish, more than anything, that i could help but every job application i've turned in has been turned away.
you all need to get off your high horse and put yourself in that situation. it's easy to say that it's foolish to overdraw a bank account until you simply don't have enough to pay the bills. each and every one of you could easily be in that situation. and if you were, would you want people to tell you that it was all your fault when you were trying to get by?
i hope the best for you, mr. jacobs and i really wish that there was some way that i could help. i wish that more people would stop judging and start helping. maybe then this world wouldn't be in the garbage state that it is.
I think some of the criticism of people who want to point out some of the mistakes Rodger and Lela have or are making is unfounded. Criticism doesn't mean anyone hates Rodger or is mean spirited. Just like this story http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38939858/ns/...
Do you think it is mean or evil to point out how the accident could have been avoided? AAnd doesn't it seem really obvious to you? That doesn't mean people don't feel bad for the woman who died. They are just trying to give some pointers to others who might try the same mistake.
Should all the comments to R&L be, 'oh we're so sad and here's some money for you' instead of 'hey, dude, you might want to make your future better by doing x, y or z'. Maybe some of the comments here will help some one else make smarter choices.
I noticed most of Rodgers comments are directed at the enablers.Havent heard much response to the practical problem solvers.I guess this is all to complicated and he is still mulling them over in his head.The crafty religous one liner people would do good to put forth a little encouragement to him to at least make him feel like he really doe's have it in him,that with encouragement,advice,and some bucks thrown his way,he will take from all this knowledge to do for himself now,what he was unable do before,then act.Lesson all learned.Now we can go feeling better for ourselves,and the others who now understand what to do to not end up like Rodger.But if u didn't listen,then we pretty much handed you a manual to get your act back in gear.I hope this is the actual end result of this story.This is all good,Rodger.There will be less Rodgers in that predicament!Read that book Rodger,not your mystery novel.There is no mystery here.Others may have heard wisdom in these posts.Print this Rodger,if u need a reminder of what u could only have done for yourself.Try to have some fun figureing it all out.Lifes a baby step journey,not a hop,skip & a jump to success.
It's very sad what he's going through, but what people have been saying still rings true. STOP SMOKING, Mr. Jacobs. That's money you could be paying your rent with, and eating with. You are a writer, but you aren't a reader, as you didn't read the rental agreement your cousin presented to you. Family can be the WORSE humans in the world to deal with. They can screw you blind, worse than a total stranger. I would disown that cousin. I would totally wash my hands of him. As long as you weren't doing drugs, or drinking excessively, why wouldn't he give you a break? You need to get with clark county social services for help. Ask what they can do for you. Since the economy is in such a rut, maybe they can't do a darn thing for you. It's worth a try to find out, though. I sure wish you the best of luck, sir. If you get $1000 a month from the government, and apartments downtown are about $600 a month, then that's surely an option. What about Lola? Where is her fair share?? Don't be a doormat, Mr. Jacobs. This is crunch time! Get her to put in her 50% of the rent, utilities, and groceries, and you are in grand shape! Keep footing the bill by yourself, and you are out of shape.
If worse comes to worse, go to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, on Bonanza and E. Street, or D. Street. One of those streets! They will probably allow you to stay there. They will feed you soup that has very little seasoning, and some other stuff, but it will fill the void! It's food! You won't starve. Just go to the rescue mission, or even to St. Vincent's downtown on Las Vegas Blvd. and Owens. I am sure they will allow you to stay there, and they will feed you there, too.
Your problems are simple to correct. You just got to ask for advice. Look at all these posts, Mr. Jacobs. Hundreds of them! Close to it, i bet! A lot of people are down on you, and want to criticize you. I am not here to do that. I am here to point you in the right direction.
Good luck, Mr. Jacobs, and Godspeed!
Lela said:
"People who work freelance jobs, contract jobs don't have regular incomes and yet the rest of the world seems to think we are going to pay things regulary"
These 2 need a real wake-up call to life.
That's how it works Lela. You think your landlord can just call the bank and say "My tenants freelance work dried up this month, she can't pay me so I can't pay the mortgage"...
Try running that one by the bank...and lets see how many are laughing on the other end of the line.
You need a real wakeup call. The freelance has dried up. It worked for a while. You guys could sleep in, have lunches together, take a nap, do a little writing and enjoy the rest of the day. It's over. I'm still of the opinion that most who freelance rarely do well enough to support themselves comfortably. They usually do it because they like the lifestyle. No suit to wear. No boss to deal with. No 9-5. Rodger and Lela's life didn't come crashing down in the past 2 months or the past 6 months. It's been crashing for a decade. He just didn't heed the warning signs.
Wow. I am so glad that I was raised to be a compassionate, loving, non-judgmental person. Granted, I am not a Christian, so maybe that has something to do with it?
I am sure Rodger knows he should quit smoking. However, he also suffers from bi-polar disorder, which makes quitting smoking more difficult than it is for most people. He also shouldn't use Wellbutrin to quit because he is more likely to suffer serious side effects like suicidal ideation. Additionally,smoking cessation aids like Nicorette are more expensive to buy than a pack of cigarettes! It is nice that so many were able to tough it out and quit smoking by sheer will, but most can't, and someone with BPD probably shouldn't without medical supervision.
However, Rodger, I don't know how you are going to be able to save any money for a more stable living situation if you are spending so much of your income on housing. Since you are on disability, can't you get the "1/3 or your income" housing? If you can't in Las Vegas, then come to Minnesota! Yeah, it's cold in the winter, but we have skywalks. And there are ads all the time for those places...just present your SSDI check and they set you up with a place to live. Not the lap of luxury, but certainly warm and safe and dry. We also have top notch medical care up here in the tundra.
I don't pray, so I am not going to lie and say I will pray for you, but I hope you get things worked out. I can promise to send you good vibes. :-)
Comment removed by moderator. off-topic.
"I'm still of the opinion that most who freelance rarely do well enough to support themselves comfortably."
TomD1228, I work in the advertising/design industry and know many friends and acquaintances who freelance or run their own shops out of their houses doing writing and design work. They all do very well for themselves. Enviously well.
So Lela's idea of a job is to caretake Roger. How pathetic get some self esteem. Roger can get around pretty good just by watching the video. Roger enjoys having you in your role and you enjoy basically being his mom. I bet if you left him he would try to find some other poor sap to feel sympathetic to him. Doesn't it get tiring hearing him say the "world is against us, it's not going to get better type of crap." You also say it's being gradually moving this way for 5 years. Well time to wake up and change your lifestyle (it's not working). It would probably do you some good if your weren't at Roger's side 24 hours a day. Guaranteed if you were gone during the day he could take care of himself. The negative energy just oozes from Roger. Look at his comments, he has made, not once has he even claimed he made mistakes to get where he is now. Come on you make it sound like he's writing 8-10 hours a day which we know he isn't.
I'm with Stephanie H I hope they realize how much shape"FAT"off of their life and get things worked out.
Rodger and Lela, I have so many questions i.e. all day at home but your place does not seem like clean.From where $200 coming out with no working? Downsize to 1 bed rm studio you don't need to pay $200 per week, you guys are only 2 of you why need space and storage?
However, I know it's none of my business and I don't need to be judge someone's life style.it's all about your"level of value"not mine.
We put comments here but Nothing's going to be change untill they realize it.
I just want to share this family's life story.
"please be aware that at least half of my day is spent in a caretaker role.~~~incidents which result in my losing sleep"
Wonder you think you are THE only one or special??? CANNOT get a job because of in a caretaker role?
Nobody's special(well I have to correct, Not everyone facing difficulty, maybe some of them are not facing hardship like we do) unless you think your situation IS special or different.
People who have full time job, but doesn't mean they don't do anything on top od it.My friends have HC disability father who can't move around by himself+heart problem, need full support(also averages at least two trips to emergency rooms "per month" not "per year" as Rodger's), basically your way of saying my friend is "in a caretaker role" but she has full time graveyard shift and part time job in day time also, 3Kids NEVER EVER missed 3 meal/day they bring own lunch to school. Husband who has 4 different (1 main commission type+3parttime)job, On top of that they manage daily life with 1 truck, YES lucky to have ONE truck which Rodger and Lela don't.(But think about it, they are managing and making effort for their life, between 6 different jobsite all over Valley, and Dr. app. kinder Pickup etc in 24hrs, mention to "jolanda", their kids walk/ride bike to school and help their parents shop in 115 or 117F with no complain!!!)
Their place is clean like model room. Not like Rodger and Lela's, kids (age between 13 to 5)learn from their parents how to maintain their yard and make their "place like home". They know how brutal these HOA were. But great thing is it became "SKILL" to them. Kids made $ for helping neighbors' yard this summer.
When they downsized from 6 bd rm 5 bth rm house to 2 bd rm 1 bth rm apartment, of course they were really down here and there at first cuz had to give up their "dream home" they worked so hard for it, but they are happy to manage and getting worked out their situation. They have only a couple(2)hour of sleeping but keep saying "It is what it is. It's time to rebuild foundation of our life" I have been there too, it's tough. But I CAN breath now.
I'm glad to have A friend who can encourage our life together.
Anyway, I hope you both making progress in their life. Only I can say is~~Journey of life is about progress...~~
@anger
I'm sure there are many with specialized training and skills that can do well freelancing. I would say they are the exception, not the rule. Rodgers freelancing has been in decline for 10 years. My perception is that Rodger is not a "company" man and has liked the "artistic" lifestyle that freelancing has given him. I find it hard to swallow that he's been a writer for the past 20 years and can't rub together 2 nickels. At some point (many years ago) Rodger saw freelancing was in a state of decline to the point where he was probably eating into savings to support the freelance lifestyle he was used and didn't want to give up. This guy didn't become penniless overnight. This was a slow, methodical descent into poverty and homelessness. His medical condition also played a part but is not the sole reason he is where he is.
Lela needs to cut the crap (copy editor to Rodger, proofreader...please!)...if he's that busy with his writing and work you 2 shouldn't be on your last nickel. Where is the payoff for all this time Rodger is spending writing??..I saw him walking. He doesn't look wheelchair bound. He can do laundry. You need to start looking for a regular job, regular hours, regular pay...maybe even benefits. If not here, then try North Dakota (unemployment 3%)
I'll say it again. These two have lived the bohemian lifestyle and it's now caught up to them.
Rodger & Lela I want to respond to Lela and "caregiver" role. I was once a caregiver myself. 24/7 365. Not an easy job. My extremely healthy 30yr. USMC father fell down a flight of stairs, causing massive brain damage. This was an unexpected turn of events in life, but one I felt the NEED to overcome. I showered, shaved, fed, dressed, and yes, wiped my father's behind. It was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do, and one of the most rewarding. Lela, I understand your need to care for Rodger, and I applaud you for it. I am sorry about your sleepless nights, for I KNOW that there are many!
I live in Clark County, have a wonderful husband who makes enough money to support us, and yes, I smoke.(Nasty, filthy, disgusting habit,I know this, but an addiction I seem not strong enough to overcome :( ) I am ashamed of the posts here that have vilified the two of you, but I find pride in the ones that are trying so desperately to help you, without it costing more than words. While I can understand that many of the posts may seem cruel and heartless, I believe that many people are trying to give you what they consider "sage advice". A lot of it is just that. Rodger, you have the gift of words and not all people do so please try and understand that many mean no disrespect to you in what they say.
I hope that someone has convinced you NOT to rent that weekly. I know that it seems the way to go but it may prove more costly in the end. I also know that the deposits and such for an apartment may seem over-whelming but, there is a way for those to be broken up over time. I paid deposits for my daughter and son-in-law who have both lost their normal jobs, thus needing to downsize their living situation. They count on us, their family, to help them. It is unfortunate that your family seems to have turned their backs on you, especially your cousin. My children have made a lot of changes in their lives, and this has taken them over a year to accomplish. I will say, with regret, that neither of them has quit smoking. Since I also have the habit, I understand that it helps with stress. I know I smoke more when stress strikes me, a vicious cycle.
I don't know exactly what I am trying to say in this post. Maybe just trying to let you know that not everyone in the Valley condemns you out of hand. I won't throw Bible quotes at you, I won't tell you to quit smoking, and I won't say "get a job". I will just tell you that I read your story, read a lot of these comments, and I hope that you know, some of us DO NOT JUDGE YOU. I did read about your disabilities so I understand Rodger, that you cannot work now. I also read the love from Lela, and having quit my job to care for my Dad, I understand her heart. With all of that said, I wish you the best of luck. I hope you continue to read, any book you can get your hands on! and I hope you also continue to write as you have a way with words..
Over and over and over again.We get it.I don't think Rodger wants to get it.He might have to do something about it for himself.Do you hear him piping up and asking questions on oh,about a hundred things he can do for himself?No.not 1.Lets all get over Rodger,and hope this all can help potential Rodgers.We failed Rodger long ago,because there was no Rodger there willing to face up to Rodger.He might even like our advice,but I suspect he will go along with anything,as long as you do it for him.Oh,I know ia'm the measnet meanie in the whole wide world for saying it too.Heard that for 2 days too.That was the others agenda,demonise the fisherman trying to teach someone to fish,while they sit on their thrones plucking grapes while spewing their critisism of us,trying to do something about Rodgers prediciment.Ya hipi-cryts ,critisise us and call putting forth a guiding hand that Rodger won't even acknowledge as some sort cruelity.,We dont have time to screw around anymore.More pressing issues ahead.Move along Rodger.Next!
Rodger, I am not in any way judging your situation or saying that you are not going through hard times, but I am saying there are other options out there, such as church programs that help people like you, I don't know where you stand on God and things like that, but believe me it couldn't hurt to try, maybe this is a sign from God telling you to seek help from him, he is a good God he will provide for you in hard times, and many people on here are judging you not even knowing your whole situation or background. There are many shelters that the church provides and even places you can rent for a low price through churches. I hope, no I pray that you will find grace and peace in your life. I am only 23 years old but feel that I needed to tell you this because no one on here suggesting anything about God, no man can do this by himself, it's going to take some supernatural intervention God bless you in your journey.
Amen, ccmuzick!
Rodger, I hope you and Lela can get through this time with your sanity intact; thanks for the info about the Oxy; you guys are brave to share your story with us; I am so happy to have escaped Vegas years ago. When my wife and I left on the Greyhound, it was on the last money I had from my last job, no car, no job, but, when we got where we went to, no Vegas. Vegas isn't an evil place, but it is a terrible place to go bust in. I personally felt like I could handle poverty easier some where else, good luck on getting back to the Bay Area.
Rodger, I forgot to mention I also suffer from psoriasis not as severely as you do but I understand the disease it doesn't ever go away and obviously it has affected you greatly, so many people are quick to judge and give thier opinions about something they don't fully understand, keep your head up it's just the dark before the morning, meaning when one door closes another one opens.
This is a very inspirational song that might shed some light and give you insight
Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there's a God who loves you,
where is He now?
Maybe, there are things you can't see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see
Chorus:
Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming
so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning
Christian lyrics - BEFORE THE MORNING LYRICS - JOSH WILSON
I truly feel bad. I understand the "verge of homeless" feeling. But like most have already pointed out he is repeatedly saying how sick he is and how he has COPD, then STOP SMOKING. That might improve not only your health but your finances also. I am not going to judge but certain things are just facts.
I hope he finds a way out of his unfortunate situation.
When emotions erupt about a subject like Rodger's story (or some political issue, etc.), one primary reason why so many people comment on it is because: "THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL!"
It appears that many people have experienced situations in life similar to Rodger's situation. I find that almost all comments are VALUABLE as being HELPFUL, OR JUST THOUGHT-PROVOKING.
@ ccmuzick -
Please note that, on Aug 29 at 1:42 p.m. I posted some comments which included thoughts as to how God might help Rodger. I hope they Rodger has read my comments - and yours -along with the many other comments who recommended going to see church's for help.
Many people have been compasionate - not only with their time and energy in writing these their ideas. I am sure they will help Rodger (if he takes action on them). Beside comments on getting housing, a job, food, etc. - of special note was the couple who actually OFFERED THEIR HOME AS A PLACE TO STAY FOR A MONTH - FREE; and another person who was sending $500. for them.
THESE WORDS AND ACTIONS suggest that THIS IS PROOF of what Americans have always been about. Compassion, and people who try to help each other in their time of need.
AS TO THE VALUE OF RODGER'S STORY - I think this his situation represents a microcosm - a comparative small window on the dilema that is being experienced by some 15 MILLION OTHER UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE "out there" who have have lost their jobs, their homes, perhaps even their ability to feed their children and survive another day. They also are in desperate need of help. I hope they are getting it.
SO MUCH HAS BEEN SAID, and so many GOOD thoughts presented from hundreds of posters (many from "user names" I have never seen before) - that I can only believe that we in America CAN SURVIVE this economic downturn - IF WE TRY TO HELP EACH OTHER. This help can be in any form: words, deeds, comfort, compassion, money - whatever; each doing something helpful, one step, one day at a time - and each in their own way according to their abiliy.
Such compassion - help for others is what our many different RELIGIONS (beliefs) tell us to do, and in a similar (non-religious focus), what HUMANITARIAN efforts (people who care) are all about.
SO I JUST WANT TO THANK the LV SUN for running this story. It has enlarged my thinking on this subject with insight and knowledge that I did not previously know or consider. I would believe that ALL the these comments have raised the visibility of such plight, so that people will have learned something about how they can better help others who are in need - be they family members, or strangers. And a greater understanding gained that we are all - just people - who are valuable to each other, and precious in the sight of God.
Thank you for writing your story, Rodger; and thank you -LV SUN.
I have complete sympathy, but our forced dependence on the government is exposed in the statement, "...my primary source of income is my monthly Social Security disability payment of $926 and whatever supplemental income I can earn within the $1,000 monthly limit..."
If you can earn more, why limit yourself because you want to keep your government check? It's not all your fault because the mindset to be unproductive comes from the climate of the government.
I wanted to respond to a few of the comments on here, without sarcasm or disrespect meant to any of the posters.
So many of you continue to tell Rodger to "quit smoking". How many of you are smokers or ex-smokers? It isn't like he can just say "no more cigs" and be done with it. It is a terrible addiction and one that is very hard to quit. Since he has bi-polar disorder, no way can he use the drugs Chantix or Wellbutrin as these CAN and DO have mental side affects. Cut the man some slack eh?
If you wonder why he stays beneath the $1000 limit of income, look at the numerous bottles of medication in the bathroom and livingroom. Not only would his disability check go down if he exceeded that income level, but so would his help to purchase those life preserving medications. Maybe some of you have never lived with chronic pain and that is why you belittle him for the pain medication? If he could no longer afford his medication, he would be unable to perform the extra work, and then would be starting over in the process of the Medicare world for covering the prescriptions. It becomes a vicious cycle of what to do, what to earn, etc. etc. If his Medicare coverage goes down, how does he pay for doctors? medicine? all the things he needs to make life tolerable? In this economy, it is probably hard to make enough to even come close to the $1000, but he would need 5X that to cover the benefits he would lose. Benefits he worked for, paid for, and fully deserves.
Due to the fact that Rodger put his story out there, you act like HE is the only one going through this kind of turmoil. I say NOT, he was just brave enough to endure the onslaught of hate by shining a light on what is a national problem.
I say to him, KUDOS for knowing what people would say and still writing the article to shine a light on this disturbing trend. Not a lot of us in this age group planned well for our future. We are a generation of hippies past. We never thought WE would grow old and sick, we are a generation of ME. I am thankful everyday that I DO have a plan for retirement and good health at 50 to continue to save for my "golden" years. Doesn't seem that Rodger had or will have that opportunity now. Regardless of what he has done in the past, I believe this story was a warning to others, not a pity party!
Rodger should be thanking everyone that is telliing him to quit smoking. Smoking kills 50% of the people that smoke. And of that amount, 50% die before middle age. So, if you think it is bad to tell people to stop smoking then you must think it is bad to tell people not to jump off a tall building. Smoking is like a drug and people on drugs are told all the time to stop. Just because smoking is legal doesn't mean that people should do it and certainly you can't blame people for trying to get people to stop. People who are telling Rodger to quit smoking care more about Rodger then those that don't.
@vegasfun01 I agree that it sounds as if YOU care about his health and the smoking habit. Most of the comments have been "quit smoking and save that money", so I don't believe it was for any type of "let me care about your health" reason that most people said anything at all. It seems that the $5.00 a pack, pack a day habit was making people angry based on $$$ not health. I wish Rodger would quit, because he has COPD and it is a terrible habit. I wish all smokers, including myself, would JUST QUIT!! I just want people to see that it isn't that easy and it should be for HEALTH reasons that they are bothered by his smoking. People like you, who state the health issues, and totally ignored the money.. that I can agree with.
Rodger,
You are an eloquent writer, and in a bad way. I hope that the folks that are blogging and spewing their "it's his own darned fault" rhetoric never end up behind in their rent or their bills.
I wish you all the best and hopefully someone will step up to help get you out of this town and somewhere where there are jobs and compassion. Two things sadly lacking in Vegas these days.
This thread is one of the longest I have ever seen on the LV Sun. Apparently Rodger has enough talent to accomplish this feat. If he can do this he has marketable skills no question.
After everything is said and done the bottom-line is one MUST take action or nothing happens but DECAY. That is how it works, it is simple physics really. Either way you make a decision. The answers exist, they are all over this thread but you have to put them into motion.
Thank you, bodieb.
Joselvnv -- First of all, I'm not on SSI, I'm on Social Security Disability; there's a significant difference. Who says I am receiving food stamps? It does not say that anywhere in the article. I do not qualify for food stamps or Section 8 housing because my SSD and supplemental income is considered "excessive". How did I qualify for Social Security with a California ID? Simple --- I have been on SSD since 2002. I moved to Las Vegas in November 2007. It's all in the article, my friend. What's the matter? Didn't you read it before you commented? No? Well, you're apparently not alone.
Alur, you are ASSUMING that I can earn more than $1,000 supplemental income monthly. Did I say anywhere in the article that I could indeed earn more than that but had to turn it down so as not to jeopardize my Disability? No, of course not. Why? Because it is not a statement of fact. Again, you're sitting on the same bar stool as Joselvnv above ... try carefully reading the article, line for line, before rendering a commentary.
Hmm.....Negativity does no one any good. People get where they are in life by choices that they make. Good and/or bad. We eat what we sow. I would like to know how much this man spends a month on cigarettes. Does his girlfriend smoke? Lets say he smokes 20 cigarettes a day - 1 pack - times $4.00 per pack - times 30 days in a month = $120 per month which equals $1,440 per year. If 2 packs of cigarettes are used per day that would be $240 per month up in smoke. I would ask him to get a hair cut at a barber shop = $15.00. I would ask him to shave - Bic razor = .30 cents. Renting a full size apartment or house? In his situation? Suicide. Someone earlier in these comments suggested the quad studio apartments off of Maryland Pkwy for around $350-$400 per month - so true!! Rent a room in a house. $400 per month - and they usually throw in utilities. There are THOUSANDS of rooms for rent in houses all over every city in this country!!
Jobs - I have never had any dificulty finding and/or keeping a job(s). There is a ton of work out there for someone who can find it and work hard. Anything. Here is the deal: Somepeople have made themselves unemployable - that's right unemployable. By decisions someone makes in their life - can remove them from being employed. Examples: Apply for most jobs and you will see this: any felonies? any DUI's? misdemeanors? drug use? drug testing, background check, credit check, consumer reports, peoples ability to take tests, etc., etc.
What people don't tell me means more than what people do tell me. By what people do speaks way louder than what they say. Everything in life is cause and effect. If somebody can't get this or that - and they tell you that - and you ask why - and they just hem and haw over it - they are just not telling you the truth.
As far as a phone for this couple? That is the least of their worries. They can get a free email address through yahoo, hotmail, or gmail - access the internet for free at the library. Dump your cell phone. Go to Wal-Mart - get a 1,000 minute calling card for like $10. Thats a penny a minute - and use a pay phone. Please don't tell me there are no pay phones - there are tons of them around.
Thats about all I got. Good luck.
I agree quit smoking, rent a room in a house. I did it, so can you.
Plenty of one bedroom rentals for under $800 a month, with utilities, cable and phone, on Boulder Highway. Move in for about $150, with no deposits or credit check.
Eat potatoes, rice, beans, a person can eat for under $100 a month. That leaves him money for two cartons of cigs with an occasional tall can.
Problem solved.
Sheesh at first glance I thought hey this lucky guy has a wide open forum to beg for money and he doesn't even have to stand out in the sun playing human frogger in a busy intersection. But then I realized that he should make sure he watches that video so he can see what a total lazy freeloading irresponsible so called adult that he certainly seems to be, at least in my view. Hell I'm a Teamster who's worked scattered days if I'm lucky for the past year, with no insurance due to the drop in Conventions putting like half of us out of work and losing our insurance. This guy gets his meds and his state aid because of Psoriasis? Hey dude go to CVS they have a whole row of creams for that and your jock itch. Umm I have a hangnail can I get full medical, dental and vision? Because it f-ing hurts. Yet I pay my 2k or so a month in rent and utilities and yes I have barely nothing for food but at least I'm not whining and expecting someone else to pay my way. Sure it sucks but I at least have personal pride in myself to find a way to work through a bad situation that I didn't have control over in the beginning. (Because I decided not to buy a house a week 7 years ago thinking I'd get rich because some putz in a bar said so). Anyhow I digress . .
This guy has made all the decisions of a college kid with no sense and a good supply of chronic to further erode his already diminished ability to act responsible. I'll admit that I don't know much about psoriasis other than it being a nasty skin funk, but all I see here is 2 lazy tweaker or stoner writers from Cali who enjoyed their free ride and are now getting a reality check, or lack of a check really.
The man seems competent as far as having some writing skills, but in the end he comes off as just another lazy man who has been getting a free ride undeservedly and now has to grow up.
Some people out there truly do deserve assistance. A lot of people in fact do, but this guy just makes people see the ones who don't seem to deserve it.
Then again I could be totally wrong and I'm perfectly fine with that since my rent is paid.
This couple fell through society's safety nets and all I hear are a bunch of self-empowered libertarian types (a view I'm normally sympathetic to) offering nothing to this guy.
I wonder what you would have told the Samaritan? "serves him right, shouldn't have been out this late, leave him be"; "if he signed on with a larger group this never would have happened, let him learn his lesson"; "what are you teaching him by picking up the pieces after his poor choices?"
Ughh. How ugly and uncharitable.
Please folks, put down Atlas Shrugged and realize just how vulnerable each one of us is and that one day we will lose *everything*.
Personally Rodger I hold no brief against anyone who smokes to assist through the terrible times.
How can I personally help you outside the forum?
This is really sad....Its reality that when you lose your job , you will evntually start to deteriote physically and mentally.This is a classic american life story which is happening to so many people....
Unfortunately, I work with folks with this couples same situation daily. Surprisingly, the comment made by "Vicarious" reflect my sentiments correctly.
The common denominators in situations like these are:
1. Chronic health problems
2. SMOKING, or any addiction
3. Pay day loans
4. A person involved who has convinced themselves they must take on the role as "caregiver" and they too are "disabled" in some manner preventing them from doing anything else as a result.
5. Mental illness
Mr. Jacobs is VERY fortunate to have the amount of SSD income he is receiving. There are countless cases of people who have been laid off & lost jobs who have NO income whatsoever that are getting by. There are countless others with severely debilitating diseases, more who don't have the luxury of being able to get up from a wheelchair at all who live on less than $600 a month. There are caregivers who work part-time or full-time and STILL care for their loved ones.
It's all in perspective, and while this story is sad, it's also a commentary on the lack of accountability our society promotes. I have not seen any comment from this couple regarding accepting responsibility for poor choices, nor taking advice or heed from the advice given by the 300+ posts giving constructive input.
Again, I see this and work with people in this predicament every day. The people who responsibly live within their means, do not spend extra funds on vices, and obtain income by working in whatever capacity they can do not end up in this situation. The people who end up like this couple have the common denominators I listed above.
Okay, so now that everyone seems to have unloaded on Rodger to the effect that he doesn't deserve any help b/c he smokes, etc.
What do the same people suggest is done to help out the thousands who don't smoke or have Rodger's perceived ills and find themselves facing a similar situation?
Or are those astute observers only capable of taking easy dogs on people down on their luck?
We're waiting. oh wise ones.
Lots of opinions here, some suggestions, some criticism, others just mean.
My take - he is describing his plight with so many obvious contradictions. He does not take any responsibility for his wrong choices, he spends most of the time whining about the cruelty of banks, businesses, courts and home owner's associations. He wants to stay in the house that is not up to his standards, riddled with spiders and roaches. He is "limited" to only $1,000 a month because of SSA rules, but has become indebted because this intellegent well-read man cannot manage a checking account.
He is in self-denial. He needs counseling but will not listen. Because his life is ruled by cigarettes. Other people lose everything because of gambling, liquor, drugs etc.
Time to lose the girlfriend and get a single room in a subsidized shelter.
You have no room to complain sir. May God open your eyes and change your heart.
Utterly amazing,AdoreInVegas litterally spells it all out clear as day what is going on here,by sifting through and identifying 300 posts of constructive input,adds in her employment expierience of dealing with this exact situation day in and day out,and what happens /Very next post Cognastics wants even more wisdom from the" astute observers" who he believes are only capable of taking on only easy dogs while still at this late stage of the argument believes that Rodger is only down on his luck.Man.You are all free to make fun on this post about me after I blow my brains out!
This is a fascinating combination of article and commentary. It is frightening throughout. Fear is in the headline and the text of the article, and yet almost completely absent from the commentary.
It is heartening to read the posts of people who empathize with Rodger and Lela, and who offer them encouragement, if nothing else. And it is discouraging to read the posts of those who think that assessing their "poor decisions" is in any way pertinent. Rodger had the courage to present himself as the representative of many, many other Las Vegans. He is ordinary man, as imperfect as each of us is, facing disruption, pain and difficulty.
Rodger, stop smoking and your health problems will clear up, then you can ditch the wheelchair and dance again.
Such astounding ignorance!
I wonder why some of these self-congratulating simpletons don't just invite Rodger and Lela over to their homes so they can see for themselves how life should be lived. Don't tease them with words, let them feast on the real deal. Once Rodger gets a taste of your exemplary success in life, he will surely want to emulate it!
Or is it easier and more satisfying to bring Rodger down. Explain his failure to thrive. Point the blame. Oh, if he were only more like me!
Because if Rodger's flaws can be specified and articulated, and they are different from yours, then -- you win! Because Rodger is being evicted and you aren't. You are good and he is bad. Simple, huh?
Guess what, you poor dumb saps: you're next.
I can just picture this guy in his twenties, typical liberal smoking pot as he writes about John Holmes, complaining about how the "Man" is keeping him down. "I'm gonna be a writer Man, I'm gonna write about how evil corporations are. I'm never gonna conform to society and get a job where I have to wear a suit man."
****
FYI, I have written over three dozen articles for corporate trade magazines from Johnson & Johnson to IBM; sorry but I do not conform to your ridiculous stereotype. And how is being a writer failing to "conform to society"? I defy you to provide a logical and cohesive response to my query, which I am damn certain you will fail to do.
Vicarious, get an education; psoriasis is not "a nasty skin funk", it is an autoimmune disorder caused by an overactive immune system that believes it is under attack -- it sends out an excess of white blood cells to combat the phantom virus and the white blood cells clog together in the arteries like autos in traffic on a busy highway;. every so often, just as a car goes off the road in a traffic jam, white blood cells burst out of the artery and explode on the surface of the skin, causing the dermatological disorder that most people associate with psoriasis. I am one of the rare few for whom the psoriasis invades the bones and causes crippling arthritis in the joints.
There is no cream or ointment at CVS for my condition but there are many RX biologic medications that I take, including methotrexate, which is an oral form of chemotherapy, a cancer-fighting agent.
I do not know which is more staggering: your ignorance and arrogance or your willigness to share it with the world -- under the cloak of anonymity, of course, because cowards like you will never use their actual names and stand accountable for their words and deeds.
Hang in there, Roger; personally I think Vegas is full of people with a lot of inner frustrations that like to vent on people that have gone a bit further up the academic ladder than themselves. You really did put a face on an entire segment of society, it has been interesting and somewhat disheartening at times reading all the comments. But you've stirred the pot, good for you!
Thank you, Bullmoose, I appreciate your support and, yes, it does appear that I have stirred up some interesting material for sociologists to examine for years to come.
There must be something that people can do for this fellow.
Let me also add my two cents to people who have yelled out "Get a job!" to someone who has medical problems such as Rodger's. I'm just going to talk about one health issue with which I have had some experience.
Back in the early 90s I was a full time PBX operator on the strip. I developed an awful looking skin problem on my hands due to undiagnosed diabetic complications. The back of my hands actually began to crack and bleed. I did everything I could to correct it in the ways I knew (lotion, hand washing). One day my supervisor called me in for a sit down. She informed me that nobody wanted to look at my hands and that they all were afraid of catching AIDS. REALLY!? AIDS? She strongly suggested that I wear gloves to work. I didn't even have a front of the house type job! I quit that place. I was mortified!
Well my hands are fine now.
THINK PEOPLE -- When you yell at someone to go get a job at a fast food joint who has peeling scuffed up arthritic hands -- how long do you think they would work there after you saw those hands place something for you to eat in front of you?
'get a job' ... it's a cliche. it's what people have learned to say to those less fortunate so they don't have to open their hearts -- or their wallets. in the opening scene of one of louis malle's early films, 'the thief of paris,' a rich man is walking with his two small children and they pass a beggar. 'get a job,' the rich man tells the beggar, then turns to his kids and says: 'good advice is more valuable than a handout.' at least he didn't spit it out with hatred, the way some of the people who posted in response to this article did.
What politicians have done to erase the Foundations of Hope and Charitable Hearts which even employers would Love to Embrace upon in tight financial times is painfully present on the Earths surface worldwide. The fees and fines for advances and prepayment for services with trusted contracts being struck down and invalidated by those who prefer the buildings and houses sit empty boarded, locked and barren with homelessness on High Alert, yet ignored. Some have forgotten it IS A SIN to treat humans this way, particularly when the violations in The Court System is PLAGUED with Deficits occurring and also what the IRS has overlooked as Salaries were voted to be higher than the Law written had previously allowed. Why was a Stimulus requested? Some prefer to fight in court as they choose to strike down any Law which would encarcerate them for their crimes, therefore Erased the Bonds which would Imprison the Elected and Appointed Judiciary with a Free ticket to Ride on Scrutiny with their personal accounts.
With regard to managing a bank account; some may be ignorant to Banking in Finance in recent years as other interfere with the Depository and at the whim of a pen amounts being deposited, even from SSA have been changed at others request to alter the amounts of Insurance withheld, rules changed for supporting ex-spouses and children or previous debts which some have chosen to alter the amount of monthly living from SSA without caring for ones Life NEEDS! Banking Fees and %'s, are a joke when thieves are changing the rules.
Deplorable: Fining by officials of those who wish to Feed the Homeless citing those feeding less than 25 are law-breakers, trying to write a NEW code and press more garbage through the unnecessary creeps who wish to carry citation books around and look like fools in the eyes of Humanitarians. If my family were having a picnic in the park, prepared an extra sandwich or piece of fruit, and shared this extra food with a stranger, it WOULD NOT BE A CRIME, yet the news reports people receiving citations for the same thing. What filthy people have overtaken the Enforcement of Health and Human Services? Shame on them!
The Days of People helping others looks bleak, dark and sad. As a writer, I am certain he is also finding a difficult time seeking creativity when it is needed and I hope he finds comfort within the Community.
I was so stunned by the tone of the writing, I copied it to notepad so I could make some notes to the author.
By the time I was done, I realized I had only deleted a couple hundred words. The entire "tell his own story" exercise began with ...
-----------------------------------------
"taking a brief late night respite ..."
"a Black Tuesday ..."
"the Sword of Damocles will ..."
"as the ancient Greek and Roman tale of Dionysius and Damocles urges ..."
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Give me a break. People pay you to write that drivel? Is this how people introduce themselves on the cocktail circuit in San Francisco?
Are you identifying yourself as "an educated person" who doesn't deserve this? Get over it. Many people in the gutter write better than you, many are better read, and almost all have a better understanding of economics.
Followed by ...
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I have been an award-winning feature documentary producer ('Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes' ...
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Well ... you did say you were from San Francisco.
You can't write, you obviously can't read contracts, you're a victim of banks (Hint: I haven't used a bank in 15 years, I use prepaid debit and cash. It's cheaper than using banks -- go figure! Of course, you do need to be solvent).
Apparently the recession has had a disparate impact on you and yours. How is that? Could it be that you were paid for poor writing in the boom years, first to be cut in the bust years, and too proud to try something else?
Your ID expired, you have no birth certificate, and you whine "how can I obtain an ID without an address for DMV to send the card to?"
Wow. What a train-wreck. Fifty-one years ...
Circle K, graveyard shift. They probably won't hire you unless you change your attitude -- but you might learn something; lessons learned about forty years too late.
Thank God you didn't mention anything about breeding.
A "tell his own story exercise" is called first-person narrative; you lost all credibility at that line. Further, what does my documentary work and my San Francisco birthright have in common? And have you read the scribblings of "people in the gutter" to offer a fair comparison or is that just hyperbole? I await an example of a "gutter" person's musings against my own so we might weigh the merits of one against another.
I look forward to your reply.
One more thing, SheetWise, go look at Katie Euphrat's video ... Circle K will not hire me with my hands cracked and bleeding and with skin flakes falling off.
Life is not perfect, we all make mistakes, and if we can help someone, we should do this without trying to be moralist.
You re an educated and eloquent man and deserves some help regardless the origin of your problems.
I m brazilian, and everyday I see here in Sao Paulo people on the streets who deserves to be in a better place - but they will never be if nobody helps them.
We all now understand your problem, some of the readers gave you some good advices, and now it s time to help you. You need money, not words.
I have an US bank account, so plz send me your bank account to allow me to help you a little.
vk10998@hotmail.com
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"A 'tell his own story exercise' is called first-person narrative; you lost all credibility at that line." -- Rodger
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"We asked Rodger Jacobs to tell his story, in his own words." -- Editors note, LVS
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"(H)ave you read the scribblings of 'people in the gutter' to offer a fair comparison or is that just hyperbole? I await an example of a 'gutter' person's musings against my own so we might weigh the merits of one against another."
-- Rodger
-----------------------------------
Here's a short list of authors who have been homeless and lived on the streets -
Richard LeMieux
George Orwell
Charles Sanders Peirce
Wes Browning
John Shirley
Lars Eighner
Dave Sloan
James Byron Huggins
Harry Edmund Martinson
Lee Stringer
Pat McDonough
Suze Orman
Sally Jessy Raphael
I've read the "scribblings" of many on that list. I've also hired many people who were homeless, and I can assure you that literacy and education were not their biggest problems.
Among your medical problems you mention "... the early stages of COPD," yet you're smoking in the picture that accompanies the article. What's wrong with that picture?
I sympathize with your medical problems -- but you're getting treatment and a disability payment. Your first job is to learn how to live on that disability income along with your partners earnings, BEFORE you earn any supplemental income. Signing a $1,200 per month lease on house was certainly not a move in that direction. You'll have to make changes, that's the challenge. There are a lot of options between where you are and being homeless, but you don't seem to be exploring any of them.
I just don't get it when you moved here why didn't you get a valid Nevada Id.
Why can't you get a motel room until you figure things out a 1200.00 rental was too much on a limited income.
900.00 isnt bad try a studio 1 BR apt with a 99.00 move in is the way to go-Try Downtown Henderson good rents.
Anything beats being homeless sorry I have no five spot to give anyone.
Rodger is full of life mistakes. He never came to terms with having a 9-5 job. He claims he was working freelance 7 days a week, 12 hour days...where did all the earnings go Rodger? Throw in his $1000/month disability and Medicare....where did all the money go Rodger? The fruits of your labor? Where did the earnings go to the point you can't rub two nickels together. No car. No car insurance. No house. No mortgage. What did you do with 30 years of income that has left you penniless. Were you working freelance 12 hours a day making $1/hour???
Rodger has made too many wrong turns..my assumption is they have been made over and over. For a professional, he's made a lot of stupid decisions (house, payday loans, no ID, never coming to terms with freelance work drying up)
Rodger loved the freelance lifestyle. That's it in a nutshell. He just never realized it put him on a path to poverty and homelessness. His mistake. For a 51 year old...(even basic savings (50 cents a day) would put 60k away for a rainy day) he should have some tangible net worth.
"And so, in your travels across the Las Vegas Valley, should you encounter a weary-looking man resting against a streetlight, one hand on a wooden cane, the other clutching a dog-eared paperback of a Georges Simenon Inspector Maigret novel -- my escapist lit choice of the moment -- you will be gazing into the face of one of the new homeless. Give a friendly toot of the horn as you drive by and consider stopping and dropping a fiver or a ten spot into a hand that is mangled and scabbed-over by psoriasis " don't worry, it's not contagious."
Sorry this just doesn't sit right with me at all -I've been homeless and fought to get out of the situation everyone these days has a story-Some are more tragic.
When did this turn into a forum to trash "The Life and Times of Rodger"?
I have done some math, TomD you think your accounting skills are so great? $60K on a mere 50 cents a day.. get out your calculator friend!
It would take at minimum 100 years at today's savings rates.
You all feel the need to tear into Rodger for "his" mistakes, smoking, lack of a "real job" in his life. Don't any of you read? A writer, whether you like Rodgers writing or not, has a real job. Not all readers enjoy the same type of writing. So maybe he hasn't been as popular as say, Stephen King, he has still done his job.
I find myself kind of liking Rodger and Lela, but, I don't want Rodger serving me at any fast food joint. Sorry Rodger, but, that is just the way I and probably everyone else feels about your painful disease. Ahhh ignorance is bliss!
I think that everyone, and I mean everyone, has taken this article in the wrong way. The editors of the Sun obviously were trying to put a picture on the face of the "new homeless" in the Valley. I do not think they intended for Rodger to be so vilified by his neighbors, or non-neighbors. The "new homeless" could be your neighbor who lost his job at a Casino, it could be your child or grandchildren. So many have taken the opportunity to kick Rodger when he is down. I am amazed that he has responded to ANY of the comments at all. He asked that you walk a mile in his shoes, not that you judge him. He merely stated, in his own unique way, the state he has found himself in. A costly divorce, numerous disabilities, and the tragic end to his regular way of life. Before this NON recession hit, for all you know, he was more than capable of paying his bills, meeting his obligations, and holding his head high. Now, when his is frightened by the many changes that MUST take place in his life, you berate him for the person he is? If magazines still paid the freelance writer what they paid a few years ago, none of you would have ever even heard of Rodger. Due to his choices, his lifestyle, his profession.. he was asked to write his story. He did that his way, and still, some of you feel you are better than him? Why? Because you work your job, no matter how meager it may be, and your employer has seen fit to continue to employ you. This COULD happen to any of us.. and has happened to many that you are not reading about! Your savings wiped out in a nasty divorce, your main source of supplemental income all but disappearing.. the loss of your health, aggravated by stress.. and the loss of your home as your financial situation degrades. Doesn't that make ANY of you stop and THINK before you hurl your nastiness Rodgers way?
Come on people, allow for Roger and Lela's having gone down the rabbit hole,not from any of their supposedly foolish behavior, but because life happens. Take my life, I had 30k in the bank, a good paying mining job, a 401k, I was 50 and on my way to a comfortable retirement eventually. Then the rug got pulled out from under me; I had some kind of seizure at work at the mine, was drugtested[negative] the sent for a battery of tests, including MRIs. I was not told what the tests showed and I was not allowed to work until a diagnosis was had, supposedly. Then suddenly the doctor in charge released me to return to work; ten days later I was fired, supposedly for a safety violation. There was no safety violation, 15 other miners were doing exactly the same thing, none were even cited. So suddenly I'm out of work with no prospect of unemployment and my union has rolled over on me so well that I will never again be a union member.Because the union wouldn't grieve the firing, I got zip; I was still not well, I finally found out that the MRI had shown MS lesions on my brain, but the neurolagist would not tell me the diagnosis, but he told the doctor that released me. The doctor's nurse has a sister that was, just coincidentally the HR person dealing with my case. I found this out later. But starting in Nov2003 and extending for two years, I was unemployable and without any income at all. When I found that I had severe MS my career as a miner was over, mine manifested with absence seizures[blackouts] so I put in for SSDI.It took two years, for the first 18 months I had to pay the COBRA, at 800/month, then we had no insurance at all, my wife still has nothing, now I'm on Medicare. My savings and my credit cards kept us afloat until the SSDI came in, in a few months we will have paid off the cards we ended up living on, after only five years. We did not go bankrupt, and we kept our house, the payments were low enough to keep it. What has happened to Rodger and Lela could happen to anyone, after all, it happened to me. And I was not a self employed writer like Rodger, I had a mining job with a union[I thought] and long-term disability. I will not name the mining co. or the union, but it really happened. So there, but for the grace of God, go I, is what we all should say. I'm sorry for being so long winded, but I thought it necessary to show how it could happen to anybody.
I've read many of the comments regarding Roger and Lela. Although I have never smoked, I absolutely hate it, I have seen through friends how hard it is to give up. I live in England by the way, and we have a homelessness problem to rival USA. Its easy to kick someone while they're down, no matter how they got there. My friend was abandoned last year by the "father" of their three children, and has been left destitute, lost her job, and now has three ungrateful, lazy and rude kids to care for. It would be easy to think unkind thoughts about her smoking, and the fact that she's on welfare, but here the system is such that if she gets a job, the vultures will pounce and her house that she has been paying for, and most of what she bought through hard work, will be taken from her. What I'm trying to say is, thank God its not me. And I feel sorry for people who go through such hardships, many times through no fault of their own. So Roger and Lela, I hope you get yourselves out of this and I wish you the best.
Hey RODGER You should go to the national psoriasis foundation's message board.There are thousands of people who know what you are going trough.It is: http://talkpsoriasis.org/ I am food4u on there also Good Luck to you
I will say this most soon to be homeless people don't get their story told via online.
Most readers had valid suggestions and just comments only to have a couple of nasty responses written by "Roger"
Everyone in this world is responsible for themselves and face up to it-We the Sun readers are having tough times ourselves-Will or would anyone write about our troubles-Not Likely.
Good Luck Roger hope you get the resources to solve your Housing /Employment woes.
"Healing"
Sadness is a medicine that keeps the body strong.
When tough times seem to find you-Embrace the experience deep within.
The days,weeks and months will get better.
Sunshine will beam upon your skin.
Warm wishes will inspire you.
This fight is yours-One you can definitely win.
Life has a true path of uncertainty.
A new journey to begin.
Love,Joy and Peace will fill your heart.
Let the healing begin
aries641
Food4You, Bethany from the National Psoriasis Foundaton called me last week; I will be doing a couple of projects with them in the near future. Are there discussions on the NPF's boards about our story?
Yes---I implore you to check it out.I have exactly what you have.P(psoriasis on the boards) and PSA (PS arthritis on the board).I posted a link to your story after reading about it last sunday.Here is a link which shows how we are all in this together and understand each other .... http://talkpsoriasis.org/showthread.php?... food4u
Where's part 2? You guys gave up after the hostile reaction? If anything, this story has been a gold mine!
Please at least allow me to try to explain. there has to be someone whom you trust who is mentally healthy. This someone can't be an active addict or an active alcoholic. this someone MUST BE SOME WHO HAS IT ALL TOGETHER. For me, it was all the people in the Programs, The Rooms, of you know what I mean?
AS a result of your previous lifestyle there had to have been some/many occasions where you used substances to feel 'better.'
I am not saying you are or were a narcotics 'addict' as I was. but, based on your story, I strongly suspect you have had substance abuse issues. If so, and the drugs/ alcohol simply 'stopped' for you. You were 'clean,' but not mentally healthy. I imagine that for someone who may had been more than a researcher into the world of porn, you may have been deeply involved in the industry and/or had contacts in the industry. Where it was porn, or the music world, or the acting world, somewhere once you became an adult, you didn't have the emotional tools to adjust to life on life's terms. I honestly believe that if you can understand that this inability is what is hampering your entire existance, then you can't change your circumstances. There isn't enough money in the world to support ANYONE who doesn't have these skills. Look, not all people are born with these coping skills.
I have 3 brothers and only one of them was born with this innate ability to make the right decisions, the first time and most times thereafter. There rest of us had to learn...All but one of us had learned; and I'm the only addict in recovery. None of the others who weren't gifted with this ability didn't choose to lead the life I chose.
I'm almost 50, now, Rodger and quite frankly, I have over 20 yrs of freelance writing experience and a few semesters teaching at the university level. AND EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I AM STILL UNEMPLOYABLE. How an this be, if I am not a substance abuser anymore? I no longer have the CURRENT writing experience to get myself hired in writing. I have applied for jobs in every aspect of my scholastic and work expertise and today, but the other applicants have more and better computer skills, are younger (no company wants to hire a 50 yr old employee, unless that job is in the restaurant or sales industry.
I don't want to fling hash or sell you a sweater. Are these jobs demeaning? No, I finally got a job at a bookstore this year, till the company got sold. I don't want these jobs. But I apply for any in the book, freeelance writing and or reporting business; no work for me. Is it the economy's fault? NO I can't blame anyone for the decisions I made that forced me to work for myself.
I am responsible for those decisions. You are, too. Probably till tonight, no one told you that you needed someone to hold your hand (figuratively) to teach you the coping skills that I had to learn to get sober and stay sober. You story has all the hallmarks of someone JUST. LIKE. ME. Please don't wait any longer. Find someone or a group that can show you how to cope; once you learn these coping skills, you won't need the cigs and you will be motivated and have the desire to change your life for the good.
With regards to your former lease, there is a warranty of habitablity that would prevent the $100 charge for repairs that were pre-exisiting. As you move into your new world, think of writing about your experiences as a news piece that may pay you for your new insight. Homeless people are no less human than the rest of us. I was homeless and now I am an attorney in Las Vegas. Remember that every dark cloud has a silver lining and go forth with the knowledge that you are a survivor.
As for the many other comments with negative tone, people in glass houses should not throw stones.
I posted a long response, but the site made me chop it up into many posts. I'm going to try this again:Part 1:
I just found the link to this story at a forum, today. when I first read Rodger's and Lela's story, I was incensed and wanted to scream about how 'they did this to themselves.' But, before committing my deep, dark opinions for all the world to see, I decided to read every single comment. In so many of the judgmental posters, I saw myself; cold, judgmental, accusing. In the posts from those who were compassionate, I saw THOSE POSTERS HAD SOMETHING I WANTED: compassion, and no need to judge. BUT, I have been through some things these kind sweet souls have not been through and that's why I was incensed and (not as much) Lela.
I'm now at the comment posted on 9/3 around 6pm, and while only one poster alluded to spiritual growth, I believe that is the way to get help for you, Rodger. Yes, dozens of people have quoted scripture to you and these same people have spoken at length that the criticizers would do well to be more charitable toward you and Lela. It is not to these good hearted (for the most part) Christains that I direct my comments. while my comments are for the world to see, Rodger and Lela, my comments are really just for you.
There is no purpose to be served by telling you that you brought this on yourselves. It will only serve to make you feel worse. But, I offer this: I was brought up with all of the world's opportunities to become anyone I could dream to become. I had anything anyone could want. I have 2 graduate degrees, one in law, the other in criminal justice. I made the decision to go the freelance write/adjunct professor route. There are lots of 'whys' I chose to live a life that could in no way bring me a steady income. The most important thing I did that led me down this path was the decision to get high as a young adult (between 12-16). And this decision destroyed anyone I could have been and anything that I wanted to do.
It took me a very long, forced stay in bootcamp rehab with constant supervision to realize that my life became what it was because I HAD BEEN IN CONTROL OF MY OWN DECISIONS. Well, Isn't that what all adults are? In control of their own decisions? Yes, BUT not all chronologically aged 'adults' have the ability to make good decisions. I was one of those who did not have this ability. years of learning that 'My way got me here" has taught me that I alone am responsible for the decisions that resulted in me being unemployable as a practicing attorney. They were MY DECISIONS that created my unemployability in law and in many other jobs.
What did I get out that? By really learning who I was/am I have learned to accept responsibility for my decisions, whether or not the outcome was positive or negative. Once I was able to take responsibility for MY OWN DECISIONS AND ACTIONS, I was able to make changes.
The picture you have painted in your story is of a man who was once semi-wealthy, had a great life and lived for the moment. but I wish you could see that when you mom became ill, that this illness was going to require you to live life on life's terms and you, by that time could no longer do that, if you were ever able to. Listen, Rodger, NOT EVERYONE HAS THE ABILITY, WITHOUT HELP FROM THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN DOWN THAT ROAD, live life on life's terms. When your circumstances became such that your inability to fit your personal demons/personal wants, personal relationships, etc., into life as it was becoming. You were unable to change to fit yourself into this 'new' life. I totally understand that. Throwing money At your present problem will not prepare you to make wise choices; the ONLY way this can be done is to ask for help, not just for money. But help so that you have the emotional tools needed to see this cold cruel life trough to what appears to be a bitter end.
It DOESN'T prepare you to continue to life on life's new and very scary terms. How do I know you don't have the emotional tools with which to deal with life on life's terms? Simple, really. At NO TIME have you ever admitted your decision making process was flawed. Why not? Because no one ever told you that before. Huh? what does this mean in your case?
Please at least allow me to try to explain. there has to be someone whom you trust who is mentally healthy. This someone can't be an active addict or an active alcoholic. this someone MUST BE SOME WHO HAS IT ALL TOGETHER. For me, it was all the people in the Programs, The Rooms, of you know what I mean?
AS a result of your previous lifestyle there had to have been some/many occasions where you used substances to feel 'better.' I am not saying you are or were a narcotics 'addict' as I was. but, based on your story, I strongly suspect you have had substance abuse issues. If so, and the drugs/ alcohol simply 'stopped' for you. You were 'clean,' but not mentally healthy. I imagine that for someone who may had been more than a researcher into the world of porn, you may have been deeply involved in the industry and/or had contacts in the industry. Where it was porn, or the music world, or the acting world, somewhere once you became an adult, you didn't have the emotional tools to adjust to life on life's terms. I honestly believe that if you can understand that this inability is what is hampering your entire existence, then you can't change your circumstances. There isn't enough money in the world to support ANYONE who doesn't have these skills. Look, not all people are born with these coping skills.
I have 3 brothers and only one of them was born with this innate ability to make the right decisions, the first time and most times thereafter. There rest of us had to learn...All but one of us had learned; and I'm the only addict in recovery. None of the others who weren't gifted with this ability didn't choose to lead the life I chose.
I'm almost 50, now, Rodger and quite frankly, I have over 20 yrs of freelance writing experience and a few semesters teaching at the university level. AND EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I AM STILL UNEMPLOYABLE. How an this be, if I am not a substance abuser anymore?
I'm almost 50, now, Rodger and quite frankly, I have over 20 yrs of freelance writing experience and a few semesters teaching at the university level. AND EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I AM STILL UNEMPLOYABLE. How an this be, if I am not a substance abuser anymore? I no longer have the CURRENT writing experience to get myself hired in writing. I have applied for jobs in every aspect of my scholastic and work expertise and today, but the other applicants have more and better computer skills, are younger (no company wants to hire a 50 yr old employee, unless that job is in the restaurant or sales industry.
I don't want to fling hash or sell you a sweater. Are these jobs demeaning? No, I finally got a job at a bookstore this year, till the company got sold. I don't want these jobs. But I apply for any in the book, freeelance writing and or reporting business; no work for me. Is it the economy's fault? NO. I can't blame anyone for the decisions I made that forced me to work for myself.
I am responsible for those decisions. You are, too. Probably till tonight, no one told you that you needed someone to hold your hand (figuratively) to teach you the coping skills that I had to learn to get sober and stay sober. You story has all the hallmarks of someone JUST. LIKE. ME. Please don't wait any longer. Find someone or a group that can show you how to cope; once you learn these coping skills, you won't need the cigs and you will be motivated and have the desire to change your life for the good.
Take a look at your past; did bad decisions lead to this mess you're in? I suspect so, but only you can pinpoint those decisions. People who have the ability to deal with life on life's terms ALMOST NEVER lead a life on the fringe. Being a freelancer is quite simply 'on the fringe'.They're in the mainstream swimming or struggling along with all of the others who 'got it.' Me? you? Others? I think we needed help. I think it's time you did this free thing for yourself. why do I say FREE because 12 step programs are free. you don't have to pay a doctor for this help. He doesn't have this gift of coping; only those who have walked in your shoes, and sought help can really help you to see how to change yourself and therefore your life.
Good luck in this Rodger and Lela, honestly the adult decision is yours and if you chose to, you can make a go of having a successful happy life. Success isn't, in this case, defined by scads of money. Successful in this case means able to support yourselves and to be free from the decisions that landed you in this situations. Of course, all of this is the mental part of your story. you will always need the government's help for meds, etc, but how you manage your life will shape how you manage your money.
How long will this story be run-Any part 2 updates on the way soon Roger's eviction hearing is tomorrow.
Sorry, Rodger, my unedited version got posted. I wrote the original version after having read almost every one of the comments; by then it was about 1:30am. In some spots it doesn't make the kind of sense I'd intended. Aside from the typos, you should be able to get what I am trying to share with you.
Are you inferring that their social status robs them of the privelege of outrage? Of having an opinion or a voice? What do you think about this article?
I think I spent ALOT of time trying to frame some very sane and very likely truths about your lifetime of decisions that led you to this jumping off point, yet you don't say a word. Denial ISN'T JUST RIVER IN EGYPT, Rodger, you're one big ball of denial. I pity you.
While I appreciate the time and energy you employed, One Day, there is nothing in the article that would lead you to any solid conclusions about my "lifetime of decisions" that placed me in my current predicament -- it seems that you project an awful lot without any foundation of proof to build your projections upon.
I'm sorry that I do not have the time to answer each and every comment on the first part of this story -- you may have noted that, as of this writing, there are 388 remarks, opinions, conjecture, judgments, and condemnation.
I submit to you that you would be an odd duck, indeed if, when you were a part of the lifestyle 'enjoyed' by the denizens of the adult film industry, if you did not participate in the behaviors of this subculture. Its quite unlikely that all of the info obtained by a researcher into the life and times of John Holmes didn't have inroads into the lifestyle of Mr. Holmes. Such a book/movie researcher would simply regurgitate information already in the public domain and as such, there would have been no demand and surely no award for such a documentary on his life.
If it sounds like a duck, quacks like a duck...its not a cat.
Before someone posts another post that Rodger is in denial, or not taking personal responsibility for his current situation, I just want to say I don't see it that way at all.
I think Rodger's situation is all too similar to millions of his countrymen (with the exception of the posters who have never had to worry about missing a meal because they have never made a bad decision in their life).
A lot of the attacks, and yes, they are attacks no matter how hard one attempts to conceal and cloak them as "advice", seem to be fabricated from thin air--the article just doesn't include mention of what many apparently assume. Still, that hasn't stopped many from attempting to lay blame at Rodger's feet. Indeed, some appear to relish the opportunity to take a poke or two. Likewise, the article doesn't attempt to shirk responsibility for his situation.
The baseless attacks on Rodger says more about those on the attack than it does about Rodger.
Or is it still a "free" country?
1dayatatime, if you weren't high when you went on your rant, maybe you should have been.
Rodger!!! What the hell happened to you? Its been over a week since I encountered your story, last I heard the judge said you were out, did you make it ok or are you fighting the judgement?
I have been an avid reader of the lv sun, and I spent over a week there very recently. Every once in a while, Las Vegas reminded me that I shouldn't stay there too long, in any capacity, as a gambler, as a vacationer, as a worker, or otherwise, man, that is one rough place, but as they say, 'its a great place to visit'.
Good luck Rodger and Lela. 1dayatatime, good luck to you too, I'd hate to have you preaching to me if I was in rehab.
Just remember that Jesus loves you :)
1dayatatime, "Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes" won the prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 1999 South by Southwest Film Festival, one of the most prestigious and recognized independent film festivals in the United States:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207195/awar...
We did not "regurgitate information" already in the public domain but spent 18 months interviewing on-camera dozens of individuals who knew Holmes or could speak of his relevance to the cultural zeitgeist then and now, from fellow performers of John's heyday to noted film historian Kenneth Turan and LAPD investigators Tom Lange and Phil DeSouza and Rolling Stone journalist Mike Sager.
For a 12-stepper you certainly are full of personal judgments against me and you know as well as I do that you're in violation of faith and policy.
I think you guys are being a little hard on Rodger and his girlfriend, I had a job cleaning toilets, the few jobs out there for that right now, have about 20 applicants for 1 job. Oh and you McDonalds lovers, I tried that too, one McDonalds manager told me he needed someone bi-lingual,meaning spanish,although I can only figure if I had to be bi-ligual, the spanish speaking people must not be.
I also smoke about a pack and a half a day, I pay $9.41 for two packs, and quite frankly when money is tight I smoke more and eat less, for alot of people smoking keeps hunger at bay.
Why can't we as a society treat others as we would like to be treated? What did our parents do to us, to have made us a generation with no empathy? "Judge not" "first man..no sin...throw first stone" .
I wonder where we as people are headed, and sometimes I AM FRIGHTENED....SRY Rodger had to steal your line :) . Hope everything turns around for you and your girlfriend and you can ignore the negative people and focus on the positive things in your life.
Uh I had to watch the video because I kept reading about this "nice house" looky here people just because something was built in the last 10 Years doen't mean its "nice". The house looked to be about 1200 SQFT, small even for two people, and the water sprinkler problem, ours raised our water bill to $900 for one month and it cost us $350 to have it fixed, once we found the problem and turning the water supply off wasn't an option as the grass would have died and HOA's don't like that , the fines can be about as much as the problem. I hope you judgemental people never have a problem bigger than what to eat for dinner tonight, because in life you have ups and downs, its your character that pulls you back up. Me and my husband have lived in a studio apt. in a very bad part of town and we have lived in a 4000 sqft house in a guard gated community with a private golf course, you have to take life as it comes, be thankful for what you have and not look down on others for what they don't.
For 20 years this man supposedly worked but didn't save a dime, he didn't invest in any type of retirement plan, didn't by a home, didn't buy health insurance, and didn't improve his marketable skills. He's now 51 but only worked for 20 years. Is he saying he didn't start working until he was 31? He is disabled but continues to smoke and at only 1 pack a day the habit costs about $150/month. He didn't live in Nevada so Nevada never received a thing from his so called productive years. Now he is here and whining to us about his existance. No sympathy from me, we have enough Bums in Nevada, we don't need to be importing them from California.
Anyone wondering how Roger is posting daily-Things maybe getting better for him after all.
How many posts are being deleted out of anger-90 percent.
Spoiler, I worked as a professional writer and as a producer of educational films for 22 years; before that I was a stage manager at a production lot in Hollywood and a bar manager in Yuba City and San Diego, California. I have been working since I was 17, which was the age that I left home.
Nevada has indeed received a lot from me and Lela; every time we pay a utility bill, use a telephone or internet, buy groceries, a meal in a fast food joint, and, yes, cigarettes, we are paying a state tax.
And please tell me where in the article you received the impression that I "didn't improve (my) marketable skills"? I often work as a trade journalist, mostly for the healthcare industry, which is a broadening of my skills. I also spent two years writing advertising copy for a catalog company in San Francisco (1998-99).
Long before I had Medicare I bought into a health insurance plan through my previous credit union; you have no basis in fact that I "didn't buy health insurance".
I wish you and all others would cease with the conjecture about my life and career; if you have a question, ask, but do not presuppose.
Wow! 400 comments and only one poster comes through with an offer of help. I'm not sure what that says about American society today, but it surely says some thing. What ever happened to deeds, not words.
Ain't that America?
you would be amazed how hard it is to get a job at mcdonald's these days.
america has to grow up and get the "tax rich people" liberals out of office so those rich people will start spending again and that will lead to job growth.
Rodger and Lela, I'd like to know how things are for you now, any updates? Hope things are improving. My thoughts are with you. Your situation can happen to anyone. Regards, Lilypod
No update will ever be given-Just banter most likely he staying at a Segal Suites location they are all over Las Vegas at 169-200 a week which includes internet access.
They have a saying "Our Suites Are Bigger"
Hope they close this article soon Roger is bitter.
I'm BiPolar and enjoy lifes challenges unlike some-PEACE OUT!
Lilypod, there will be another article coming which Rodger will be writing. For the present, we have rented a weekly hotel room with much of our belongings in storage nearby; Rodger has some new project offers which he is following up on.
Thank you to you and others who have shown concern as we survive this transition.
The second part of the series is currently scheduled to run Sunday, September 26.
"The second part of the series is currently scheduled to run Sunday, September 26."
Look forward, not back. Focus on options, not obstacles. Showcase your skills; show the depth of your thoughts. Stop quoting other authors and write something quotable. Tell us something we don't know, and leave us better off for knowing it. Your challenge is to make good use of a rare opportunity. You have clearly developed an audience, but I don't think you've moved anyone -- yet.
I wish you well -- both of you.
Rodger, God bless you for telling your story. Millions of people are living some version of what you and Lela are going through.
While I have not walked in your particular shoes, I do walk in comfortable flats, because I have rheumatoid arthritis. As you know, RA is very similar to your PA, and many of the medications are the same. I used to take Enbrel and Methotrexate. Used to. Before I was laid off 15 months ago.
I am barely scraping by on unemployment and the generosity of others. I have come so close to eviction several times. The unemployment is just enough to keep me above the level to qualify for public assistance, medicaid and free drugs from the pharmaceutical company programs.
My RA is flaring and I am a physical mess and in constant pain. I don't even want to know how much my joints have deteriorated without the medications. Yet, I continue to apply for every job that I can. I have a log of over 800 applications sent, and I am still out of work.
It is hard to listen to judgmental people who do not understand that people with RA or PA cannot go get a "menial" job that requires any physical activity or standing for long periods of time. I am not "above" any honest work that I am capable of doing.
I have applied for receptionst jobs, call center jobs, and other desk work that I am highly overqualified for. I would do it in a heartbeat, but they don't want smart, educated, experienced people doing those jobs.
I will pray for you and Lela, and for the cold souls of those who have cast judgment upon you here.
Thirtyish, I literally feel your pain because, as you correctly remark, RA and PA are remarkably similar; even after being on methotrexate for over two years, I still have severe joint deterioration, particularly in two digits on my left hand. I type with two fingers these days.
Thank you for sharing your story. I hope something breaks for you soon.
Rodger, I know this sounds far-fetched, but have you tried gold therapy? There's evidence that wearing gold rings will delay joint deterioration on the fingers they are worn. Google it. I wear all kinds of gold rings...just in case. ;^)
Thirtyish, unfortunately I have contact dermatitis to all metals, cannot wear rings, wristwatches, etc.
Here...buried in a pile of hundreds of blogs, I am going to reveal a secret.
The nicotine from cigarettes keeps the neurotransmitters "pumped" during inner mind multi-tracking.
Another secret: The "meanest" and most heartless people are the people with the greatest fear.
The cruel attacks on the victims of operating systems that are collapsing are a "fear & denial" response.
These "cruel shoes" people know that they have no more control over their lives than the people, who have already fallen.
Down in their intellectual basement is the realization that Something Wicked will soon be at their door.
...Because EVERYTHING and EVERYONE is connected.
Focusing on the purported weaknesses of others is a shallow ploy to hide their own flaws.
* * * * * * * * * *
The great 21st Century "Balancing of the Equation" is in motion.
Even my greatest insights & revelations are little more than "a fool's chatter in the wind."