It snowed yesterday and today. It’s chilly but not too horrible and all I’ve really needed is a thick sweater to stay warm in our drafty apartment (it’s not that bad).
A RANT: LEAVING US TO DIE
So, the Stimulus Package passed, awesome. But I’m still not expecting anything, or any help financially from the government right away. They already nickel and dimed the country, the people who need the money the most right now, a one-time payment of $1,200 is nothing when looking at the average cost of living, especially for families making less than $30,000/year AND the minimum wage ($7.25/hour).
What it really feels like is a slap in the face. Not only did I lose my job because of the spread of COVID-19 but I’ve lost my health insurance. I keep thinking about the people with families that lost their health insurance, the older employees that couldn’t retire, everyone living paycheck to paycheck, some of which already didn’t have benefits. But those that had benefits through their employers that lost them when they lost their jobs, those that are in the age range with a higher chance of becoming terminally ill or worse dying from COVID-19, I don’t know what they’re going to do. I feel like for many of us, we’re being left to die, if we don’t lose our lives or people we care about we are going to lose everything else with the risk of eviction, collections, bankruptcy, and homelessness.
But I’m trying to stay positive, focused, and busy despite everything’s that’s going, despite the warning signs I have been seeing for the past two weeks that it’s not going to get better any time soon.
Writing, reading, but mainly searching for online jobs and applying to a minimum of one or two a day. And it’s hard. I’ve been applying regularly like this every single day since March 16th. I have to keep trying.
UNEMPLOYMENT
I have not been given a definitive date as to when I can expect my first unemployment check. And tomorrow I have to refile for the week. I’ve heard from friends, co-workers, and others who have had to use unemployment that their first check didn’t arrive until three or four weeks after the first time they filed.
And the monthly unemployment benefits that I was estimated to receive will barely be over $600/month. That doesn’t even cover my share of rent or utilities. I’m hope I’m just looking at it wrong, I hope it really will be more now that the Stimulus Bill passed. But I am still not expecting any help from the Government or the President since they’ve proven through their corporate bailouts who it is they really care about.
“quarantined” Original Art Work March 26, 2020 by Alina Happy Hansen
I used a reference photo I found on Instagram and then made it my own. I should’ve used watercolors or something brighter to color it (just used colored pencils and a highlighter). But I still like it.
MUSIC
Nine Inch Nails released their albums GHOSTS V-VI for FREE! I downloaded them and they are amazing. Totally gives the my life right now an official soundtrack. Love it!
Thank you for reading and being a part of my life during this strange time. Stay well and stay safe out there!
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I feel like I’ve been pretty productive for the last couple of days. I’ve applied to multiple technical writer jobs, sent story pitches to a freelance writing opportunity, and for the first time in a long time I’ve been making art.
Artwork in Progress by Alina Happy Hansen (March 25, 2020)
Me and my boyfriend have fallen into a pretty good routine which I think is helping us a lot right now. Our routine for quarantine doesn’t really differ from our usual routine that much.
My Quarantine Routine:
Wake-up around 9 a.m. Turn the electric kettle on and take our Boston Terrier out for a morning walk. When we get back I make my breakfast (french press coffee and oatmeal), check the news on my phone for a few minutes then either read or write.
After I’m done with breakfast I get dressed and start working. Right now that means checking my unemployment, searching for online jobs, and then applying to ones I find that I qualify for. After this, I log on to my online Poetry Workshop and get started on any reading/writing homework I have.
(I’m pretty bummed right now because I registered for Salt Lake Community College starting this Summer with the hopes of pursuing an Associate’s in Music Recording Technology. But now that I’m unemployed, I’ll have to drop the classes I already picked.)
Around noon I’ll take a break for about fifteen minutes, have a quick snack, and then get back at it. I search for more jobs on the DWS (unemployment site) then try to take a break at about five for dinner, make some food and relax for an hour.
After that, I try to do some art or read poetry but what I need to be doing is writing.
Today, it is chilly outside, and I took our dog for about an hour-long walk, keeping my distance from everyone and just trying to enjoy being outside our apartment for as long as possible. Our walk probably would’ve been longer but it was so cold we ended up heading home early. I took some great reference photos of trees on our walk that I hope I’ll be able to use for drawings this week.
For the rest of the day, I plan on writing some poetry, working on homework, and researching for about another hour or two for online jobs.
Last Monday, I applied online to a tutoring website, the next step I have to complete and finish is passing a mandatory test for English specific topics. These tests are so hard. The first two I took, one for College Essay Writing and the next for English Literature, I only got a 64%, when I need an 84% or higher to pass. Today, for the first time in days, I took another one of their tests, this time it was English Reading. I got a 74% on this test! The highest so far. I can retake the test two more times, each time with a 24 hour waiting period in between. If I don’t pass the next two tests for the English Reading section I cannot try again.
Until I find a job, I am offering POETRY FOR $. I write/create personalized handwritten poems for supporters. I send scanned pdfs of the poems via email to supporters and when this COVID-19 thing settles down a bit and people are comfortable, I will be mailing the originals to my supporters. So far I have completed 6 poem orders to date and cannot express my gratitude to these people for helping me out right now.
My Poem “Dance with You” written/created for an Anonymous Supporter
Also, I posted “LAID OFF: SUPPORT MY RESTAURANT FAMILY” a couple days ago, it is a featured page on my blog. This post has Venmo links for some of my co-workers that desperately need funds right now. This post also has key information about resources for other service industry employees that have been laid off or can’t go to work in Salt Lake City, and the rest of the U.S. Please check it out.
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The sun is out, the sky is blue, and the flowers are blooming. With everything going on, I keep forgetting that Spring is coming. I woke up, turned the electric kettle on and took our Boston Terrier, Nora, out for her morning walk. I can’t help thinking that maybe this quarantine thing might be a good time to acknowledge all the natural beauty around us. I’m sounding cheesy and yes, I am still riding the wave of gratitude I’ve been feeling since after the Utah Earthquake on Wednesday. But still, it’s really beautiful out there.
Over the past few days, I have felt extremely lucky and dearly loved by friends who have sent me some $ for POETRY. Every little bit counts and I am realizing that as an artist I can give back to my friends and family, my community and the world, in a very special way. I can create and reflect on this unusual time probably in ways some people can’t. If they find solace or can connect with what I create whether that’s art, poetry, fiction, or music, it brings me happiness to hope that I may be helping someone on a personal level.
My Handwritten Poem “Dance with You” written/created for an Anonymous Supporter 3/22/2020
PLANS FOR TODAY
I am going to try to figure out what is going on with my unemployment. I am having difficulties figuring out when my first check will arrive or if it even will. The DWS website looks simple but I am finding it to be complicated and somewhat lackluster.
Apply to writing jobs, or jobs that require a Bachelors of English. I made a promise to my family I would stay inside until this all blows over, they are worried about my health and don’t want me working in-person jobs right now. I am respecting their wishes and applying solely to online-only jobs in case this COVID-19/Quarantine thing lasts longer than we think.
As of March 20th, 2020, I was officially LAID OFF from my full-time job at Squatters Pub Brewery. No income and no health/dental insurance.
So many of my co-workers are in the same situation. Our only source of income was our one restaurant job and now we are all scrambling to file for unemployment and look for new jobs. Yesterday I posted LAID OFF: SUPPORT MY RESTAURANT FAMILY, this post includes venmo links to my co-workers that wanted to be listed and need money asap to pay rent/bills and buy food/supplies.
Some of my friends and fellow employees
As for me, I will continue to offer POETRY FOR $ and when I get a job that is dependable, permanent and hopefully full-time with benefits (would be a plus). I will be donating any money for POETRY that I make DIRECTLY to my co-workers that need it the most.
After I’m done with the essentials on my to-do list today, I will be working on homework for my Poetry Workshop, making art, and writing.
If you want to stay up to date with my going-ons, I am posting regularly to my Instagram story.
On April 19th, I equally divided the Tip Your Server Donation fund plus a $100 contribution from a friend, a total of $600 among me and four other co-workers. I contacted all of the co-workers listed in this post below as well as fellow co-workers from Wasatch that I used to work with. Four co-workers came forward and said they were in need of some help $. On Sunday, I disbursed the funds equally among us, $120 each. I am glad that I could help my co-workers and I am so grateful to the Tip Your Server Donation and my friend that contributed $100, Thank you.
UPDATE:
On 4/7/2020 I was notified by Squatters that our company was picked out of the Tip Your Server Lotto. I was one of the five tipped employees randomly chosen to receive $500 from this donation.
I have decided that after I receive this money, I will be dividing it up equally among me and my co-workers that need it the most. I want to say thank you to the Tip Your Server Donation, the Downtown Alliance Salt Lake City, Thank you to Ty Burrell and the Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. Thank you for your help, I deeply appreciate it, we deeply appreciate it!
The goal of this post is to provide VENMO links to my fellow employees of Squatters and Wasatch Pubs in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have been LAID OFF INDEFINITELY with no financial compensation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. For most of us, our only job(s) were as restaurant employees. Any amount you can spare to help us get through this hard time would be deeply appreciated as we file for unemployment and look for new jobs.
I am a full-time employee at Squatters Pub Brewery in Downtown Salt Lake. This job was the only source of income for me and countless fellow employees. After the restaurant ‘closure’ for dine-in service our corporate office communicated with us that we could come in and clean the restaurant for hourly pay. They were never clear as to how much that hourly was going to be and I have yet to hear what that hourly was for those that went in and worked when they could.
In the state of Utah, employers are not required to pay servers more than $2.15/hour. We do not get paid/sick leave and for many of us (before COVID-19) we couldn’t even request time off for vacations/emergencies.
On Friday, March 20th 2020, all employees (including management) for Squatters Pub Brewery and our sister company Wasatch Brew Pub wereLAID OFF INDEFINITELY, approximately 98% of all labor until the COVID-19 pandemic blows over and restaurants can open again. They decided to do this so we could file for unemployment. I was just notified by a fellow employee of Squatters (Server Chelsea: her info below) that her first unemployment check is not due to arrive for another 3 weeks.
HELP
We have rent/mortgages & bills to pay, we need groceries and supplies. More importantly, we need help and jobs asap.
Below are VENMO links to my fellow employees of Squatters and Wasatch. Any amount you can spare to help us get through this hard time would be deeply appreciated as we file for unemployment and look for new jobs.
LINKS, NAMES, and VENMO’s have been deleted as of 7/25/2020 for the safety of persons involved.
Other Resources to help Service Industry Employees in Utah right now:
All local SLC restaurants and bars must register their businesses with this donation then employees can be verified and money distributed after March 25th. So far this donation has raised approximately $141,000 for the estimated 15,000 restaurant employees in Salt Lake City.
Our company has registered with this donation.
If you want to help us and donate to other restaurant employees in SLC please donate to tipyourserver .
More resources to help Service Industry Employees in the U.S.
My name is Alina and I am a writer, artist, poet, and musician. I have been blogging and posting original content on alinahappyhansenwriter.com since March 2017. I am a graduate from The University of Utah with a Bachelor’s of Arts in English with a Minor in Writing and Rhetoric Studies. I have had half a dozen poems published in the last five years and have actively been reading my Poetry locally in Salt Lake City since my Utah Arts Festival Reading in June 2018.
I have been working in the Service Industry/Restaurants since 2016. From 2016 to 2018, I worked at Wasatch Brew Pub sister company to Squatters Pub Brewery. At Wasatch, I worked full-time as a Hostess, in charge of training new hires to host, restaurant policies and procedures, and most importantly providing the best customer service possible. In June 2018, I moved to Downtown Salt Lake City and started working as a full-time Hostess at Squatters Pub Brewery. I worked full-time at Squatters until March 20th, 2020 when I was LAID OFF INDEFINITELY with NO PAY due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic. As an employee of Squatters, I excelled at my job as a Hostess and later trained and worked other job duties including Expediter and Busser.
I miss my job and my friends at work and I just want to help in any way I can during these uncertain times.
If you would like to support me, I am handwriting Poems for $. For more info on this please go to SUPPORT ALINA: POEMS FOR $. So far I have already completed FOUR POETRY ORDERS FOR $ as of 3/22. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support both financially and emotionally during this time.
When I get a job I will continue to write POEMS FOR $ and I will be sending all the money I earn directly to my fellow employees of Squatters and Wasatch who need it the most.
Thank you for your time, your consideration, and your love.
Best of luck to you all, stay safe and stay well out there!
Want to become one of my Patrons? Go to my page here and join a tier. All patrons regardless of Tier have access to all of my patron-only content right now! Tiers start at $3/month! I will also send you via snailmail a handwritten personalized Poem + Thank you card for becoming a patron.
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Today is a good day. The sun is out, the sky is clear (for the most part) and it’s beginning to feel a little bit like Spring.
I am feeling good and working as hard and as fast as possible. I am drafting up a post that will be published tomorrow to Help Support My Restaurant Family during this time. Yesterday, all of us (including management) were laid off indefinitely with no financial compensation to help us survive.
I feel fortunate and am deeply grateful because I have already had four anonymous supporters donate money to me for poems (POETRY FOR $). These people are lifesavers for me and my boyfriend right now. Since I was the main moneymaker in our household (bringing in 2/3rds of the income) we are budgeting and making plans for the next one to three months depending on how long it takes for me to find online work.
I want to help my friends, my co-workers, as much as I can and I am planning on continuing my POETRY FOR $ after I get a job. All the money I make from Poetry after I get a job I will send directly to my co-workers that need it the most. So I am going as fast as I can to apply and find work.
My family doesn’t want to work in-person during this time and I am respecting their wishes. Since I was working in a restaurant where we have tons of people from the airport coming through they are already very concerned about my health. I am young and I am healthy and am not at very high risk when it comes to COVID-19 but they want me to stay home and be cautious at this time.
Right now, I have two poems and thank you cards to write to my supporters. Afterward, I am looking for more jobs, especially possible online tutoring jobs for English/Literature Studies, Reading, and Poetry.
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