Netroots Nation in San Jose, CA 2013
This is very difficult for me, so I’ll get straight to the point: I’m in a situation no one wants to be in, but too many end up in for any number of reasons, the latest being the Covid-19 pandemic. I’d been struggling for some time, primarily because of health-related issues, but managing at least to cover the basics, but the health crisis and subsequent economic shutdown cut off my last source of income from translation. I actually retired a few years ago, but have too little to live on from my tiny pension, so I kept working for one client the last few years. That ended abruptly with the onset of the pandemic, and since then I’ve used up the little savings I still had, so as a last resort I’m turning to the DK community for support amounting to $ 850 to tide me over until the state funds I’m applying for kick in — but that will take a few weeks, at the very least. Some background info:
I’m not a very prolific DK member, because I’m mostly here to learn and stay up-to-date with US politics from across the pond. I’m a long-time American expat in the EU. Never much of a diarist, I have always liked keeping a low profile, but I belong to several groups and have been around for a long time: lurking since the 2004 primary wars until finally registering in 2008 when Obama became the Democratic Party’s nominee for President. I wanted to get more involved, and was quite an active participant for many years (though not so much recently), particularly in the context of my two favorite subjects: Native American Netroots and Germany’s energy policy, which attracted a lot of attention in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011. Back then I was in a position to help out now and then, like helping to fund heating for the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations several times, contributing to Community Quilts as well as to some other DK causes important to me. I’m writing all this to establish my identity and to let you know that I am a real person who is known to a number of Kossacks, mostly through groups but also in person through the Netroots Nation meeting I attended in 2013.
Netroots Nation in San Jose was the first and last NN I had the pleasure of going to. Unfortunately, I was sick as a dog through most of it, having contracted a really vicious bronchitis somewhere en route from Frankfurt, Germany to California. It was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. California is my home state, and very far away from Germany, where I have lived since 1985, but I’m grateful that I was able to meet at least a few of the DK friends I had previously only known from online exchanges. (If you want to have some names, I will provide them in private through Kosmail, but I don’t want to mention anyone publicly because I haven’t asked for permission to do so.) A meet-up with the SF group later was also planned, but that never happened because I was too ill and spent the rest of the trip in bed. It was such a waste! Actually, it was the second time I had gotten pretty sick in as many trips to the US — so I haven’t been back since. The long flight, exposure to lots of people and ubiquitous air-conditioning are not good for my health! Yeah, you guessed it...I’m a high-risk person for the C-virus.
My profession enabled me to maintain a modest, independent lifestyle, and self-sufficiency has always been important to me, but several things have set me back, primarily (physical and mental) health-related. If anyone wants details, feel free to Kosmail me, as I’m reluctant to discuss very personal matters in a public forum. It’s hard enough to ask for help without having to reveal even more private details.
As mentioned above, I’m applying and should be eligible for state support here, but the onerous bureaucracy is even more complicated by the social distancing, etc. so will take several weeks to come through. So, to cover my rent, overdue telephone/internet and utility bills this month, I need €750, which would be around $850 — $900, depending on the exchange rate. My Paypal acct is
info at translator-pro dot com.
I’m grateful for any amount you can send, but please do it only if you are truly able without any hardship! I hope I’ll be in a position to pay it forward again in a few months! Thank you all so much for reading.
PS: I believe Paypal charges a small fee for sending funds abroad, I’m sorry about that. I’ll be in and out to respond and let people know how things are going — it’s now 5:45 p.m. Central European Time.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Added Jun 12, 8:03 a.m. CET
PS: elenacarlena from the PWB peeps suggested I post some cat photos to generate more interest. They do such a good job with that already, though, that I’ll post something a bit different: pandas!!! Who can resist a random, adorable panda video?
