Hey all. A glorious Wednesday to you.

Okay, it's not glorious, but let's make the best of it.

Category 2 Hurricane #Erick continues to rapidly intensify.

It could make landfall as a major hurricane Thursday in western #Oaxaca or eastern #Guerrero, #Mexico. Destructive winds, dangerous storm surge, and life-threatening flooding are expected.

Live location here: https://zoom.earth/storms/erick-2025/

Maybe it’s a stupid idea and a colossal waste of time, but I figure why the hell not throw it out there and pollute the Fediverse with my babblings just a little more.

I’m starting to get quite nervous about the precarious state of my partner and I; terrified in fact.

As we continue our gradual descent into the apocalypse, with more and more people slipping into that same precarious state, I fear that mutual aid resources will become increasingly scarce.

At the same time, I worry that the community will become inured to those same aid requests as they occur with increasing frequency.

Without mutual aid, my partner and I would be officially homeless.

Fighting mental illness, neurodivergence, and in my partner’s case severe, untreated PTSD as well, it feels like we can never get ahead. We’re always struggling to avoid sliding off the deck of the floundering Titanic.

Neither of us are currently stable and in control of our emotional regulation enough to work more than pithy, minimum-wage jobs. My partner isn’t able to work at all right now, and I struggle daily to resist the urge to run away from my retail misery, screaming hysterically.

Like most things in life, these issues are exacerbated by our current financial distress. Emotional regulation is much more challenging when we’re hungry, or worrying nearly every single night if we’ll be able to pay the motel room rent in the morning or if we need to scramble to gather up all our belongings here and try to cram them into an already-overflowing storage unit, and so on.

Yes, I realize we have it better than literally billions of other people. But I still need to try.

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to prevent us from ending up on the streets.

I know enough to realize I need a plan.

But planning is hard when you’re constantly focused on basic necessities. My job exhausts me emotionally and physically, and poor eating habits contribute to my struggle to maintain sanity.

We have options - starting a podcast, writing a blog, using online training resources to expand my non-existent skillset, starting a home business, and beginning the grueling public assistance application process; but I’ve never been very good at any of this even when I’m not already on the precipice of a rapidly disintegrating cliff.

So I need the community’s help. Here’s what I propose:

Become my ongoing “sponsor”, or “patron”.

Help me stabilize our finances so that I don’t have to keep constantly begging for mutual aid, reducing the deluge of requests on the Fediverse by a tiny, infinitesimal sliver, and reducing the drain on community resources by an equally miniscule amount.

I will work on getting us properly set up with Liberapay, but in the meantime I would like to focus our efforts on the following money transfer providers in order of most ideal to least: Venmo, then Cashapp, then Paypal, and finally our GoFundme fundraiser. The two main reasons for the order of priority is the first three don’t typically charge a transfer fee (although they may charge a fee for donations sent directly from a credit card) and the funds become immediately available.

There’s no way (to my knowledge) of implementing recurring fund transfers through those big three; so what I’m thinking might be the most simple option is, if you’re willing AND able to contribute - whether one-time or (ideally) recurring, please send me a DM.

I’ll add you to my “Sponsors” list, and I’ll send you a reminder DM to request a donation.. Sort of like the paperboy periodically visiting to collect a personal check as payment for the subscription (google it, kids). I’ll attach a poll to allow a hassle-free response.

The text of the DM would read something like as follows:

“Hello! According to my records, you expressed a willingness to sponsor my little family (My partner, our border collie, and me). If you’re still willing and able to donate [previously acknowledged amount] / [previously acknowledged date or frequency], we would greatly appreciate it.

If you’re still interested in participating, please acknowledge via the poll below:

Yes I want to continue participation / I’ll be donating on or before [date]
Yes I want to continue participation / No, I’m unable to donate at this time, please remind me on [next date/frequency]
Yes I want to continue participation / No currently unable to donate, I will reach out to you when I anticipate being able, no reminders necessary
No, I no longer wish to participate. Please unsubscribe.”

I don’t want to continue being a leech on the community. I don’t want to take away resources from others. I want to be self-sufficient.. But right now I think we still need help getting there.

I’ll probably delete this later when I realize just how dumb it sounds, but in the meantime.. Screw it. Send toot.

Fascinating world of ancient #glass: A magnificent #Roman striped mosaic bowl, made of preformed rods and canes fused on or in mold. Timeless beauty!

Dating late 1st BC–early 1st AD, found in Cuora, Cavarzere, Italy
Photo: Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Adria

#archaeology #romanarchaeology