The picture above perfectly illustrates my thought of 2009. The first word that comes to mind when I think of 2009 is "Pointless." Yes pointless. I have to say that 2009 felt like the most pointless year of my life (so far). Yes, some good things happened this year. I went back to school and started work on my Masters. That's a good thing. But most of the year felt like I was spinning my wheels and going nowhere. I'm still stuck working part time, no benefits to speak of. I'm still living month to month, and hand to mouth. I think what took the wind out of my sails was dealing with a seemingly endless parade of crises.

Starting early in the year my Aunt and I had to deal with our plumbing going bad, having it cost an arm and a leg. Then our other pipes died and had to be replaced. The house I was left by my father when he died was sold at a terrible loss. The money I thought I was going to make and be able to pay my debts and school with never materialized. I'm still in debt, just less so. But not really. The JoeMobile died after struggling for a year. I did fix up the old Subaru, and after a couple of glitches it seems to be running fine now. But that cost me a pretty penny too. This is all money I don't have, mind you. Every crisis only serves to put me deeper in debt.

Now I could sit here and tell you that "surviving" these crises has made me a stronger person. But, that wouldn't be true at all. I'm weaker all the debt I'm carrying. Yes, emotionally I think I can take this stuff, but financially it has taken its toll on me. Since the middle of the year I have found myself with headaches all the time. My dentist told me it was probably related to me grinding my teeth due to stress. You got that right. Also, if another crisis hits I know I won't be financially able to survive it. Working a couple of part-time jobs is not what a man of my age should be doing.