May not be around for a while. [Extension approved]
kyoto kid
Posts: 41,854
...This has nothing to do with personal feelings or whatever, it has to do with my Net service quite possibly being suspended tomorrow.
I unfortunately have fallen behind in bill payments, thanks to a crippling deduction to mu SS benefits from the DoEd (Department of Education) which s claims I still owe on student loans after paying them off through payroll deduction for over 12 years (to the tune of something like 29,000$). As I am making less than half of what I did when working (any paying half of that just for rent) these deductions are making a much larger hit on my income and have made it very difficult to get by month to month. Hence I have fallen behind on both my power and Net accounts. I just sent a large sum to the power utility this month to pay down what I owed them so service wouldn't be turned off and planned to do the same at the beginning of next month to my Net provider. However even though the person I talked to said she'd take my case to management I feel doubtful they weill give me an extension until I get my next Benefit deposit.
The sad part is that I really like this service, as unlike the big telecom/cable companies, they have no "hidden fees", haven't increased my rate one penny since I started with them two years ago, are not into bait & switch schemes, are extremely quick to handle support requests, and best of all are local (so when I do have a support concern I am not speaking to someone on the other end of the country or halfway around the world), but someone who actually knows what's going on where I live). I know there are low cost services out there but these are often severely throttled, and some involve download limits which I would easily exceed in just a couple weeks' time (basically, you get what you pay for).
I should know whether I got the extension by 17:00 PDT (GMT -8). If not, it may be some time before I am back as I'll likely have to pay the entire balance first before being reinstated or allowed to start an account with another service and my only working wireless notebooks are XP.
not looking forward to having to slog through 4,000 - 5,000 emails either whenever I get back online.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Well, good luck... I hope everything works out... I’m not clear on what happened after (or a little before) that thing at the complaint thread, But I hope you are okay.
Good luck.
...thank you.
A few months ago the SSA sent me a letter that my benefits had expired because they never received an update form that I submitted back in January and told me I needed to start a new appeal ifI wanted my benefits to continue (which would have taken months, if not years). Went to my SS attorney's office and they resubmitted an electronic copy of the same form which they had on file and the matter was resolved the next month so at least I should be OK until December when my disability converts to regular SS Retirement.
As mentioned above, I'm still having my benefits hoovered by the DoEd. One would think after squeezing 29,000$ out of me, over 10,000$ of which was additional interest on top the interest I had previously been assessed (interest charged on previous interest, interesting, all voodoo to me), they would have been satisfied. Both this and the letter from the SSA were a double whammy which severely cut into my income making it difficult to keep up with bills, hence why I fell behind (particularly after the two falls I experienced that both times ended up with my going to the hospital which I had to recover from, the first sort of messing with my memory).
I hope you get your extension. It would be strange not to see you around here for a while. I know how it is when there's limited funds though since I rely on disability services myself. Hopefully you can get the situation with the DoE straitened out so you can get your full SS payments back too. If you do get cut off for a bit, I'll be keeping my eye open for your first post when you get back.
...thank you. Only about 2 hours to go and still no return call.
The DoEd has become like the proverbial unmovable object. They have forms for hardship cases but I was told by their rep it would take several months to process them during which they will continue taking the deductions. According to what I was, told the remaining balance isn't large at all (which is why I wondered why they even bothered as they're probably spending almost as much in administrative costs as they will be getting from me) and would likely be satisfied before approval of my "hardship" case. I was also told that if the case was approved they would not reimburse me what they've already deducted, so kind of pointless (sort of a "win-win" for them either way).
Heading out to get a cup of smocking hot cofvefe and think things over.
I should still be online until 00:00 PDT (08:00 GMT).
Can you work part time? Perhaps take a small job until you get back on your feet?
Hope things get settled in your favor quickly, KK.
A long time user who's name I should remember (it was Christian in real life but I can't remember his Daz username .. it will come to me right after I hit post, of course) was homeless and connected here via PCs at the public library. I don't know how he rendered, frankly. I think he had an old computer that was offline that he could render on and he had to use the library to post anything. Anyway he found ways to do what he wanted to do and was always a pleasant presence here. Sadly he passed away after an extended illness but even as he was terminal he was still trudging to the library to make his posts, not renders anymore but always some helpful suggestions, constructive critiques, or clever ideas. Not as often but he still managed somehow. To me Christian remains a great example of will and determination to pursue what he enjoyed in spite of what must have felt like life was throwing too much at him.
KK if you see this I sincerely hope you keep finding a way to pursue the things that give you joy in spite of what the world throws at you.
KK, I am very sorry to hear about your situation. I am also on disability and am in repayment on student loans. I applied for an Income Based Repayment plan and received it. Are you already on one of those plans?
Best of luck, Kyoto_Kid. I hope things get sorted out for you!
...been out of the job market too long since retiring.
Pretty much all the work experience/skills I have, I no longer can perform due to my arthritis which has worsened over the last few years. My typing speed is abysmal, as I can only use one finger on my right hand so I wouldn't even make the cut for a sit down office position.
...I have no issues with performing 3D work as I have a pretty nice set up (albeit somewhat old tech that I recently updated as much as I could). I just will have no connectivity until I can satisfy the balance so my account can be reactivated (which will take more than a month as I cannot pay it all off in one single lump).
Besides working in 3D, I am also a fairly busy activist fo a number of causes and usually get between 150 to 200 emails a day which. If I am offline for even a couple weeks, will be a monumental number to sift through (in the thousands), so it's not just uploading finished images to the forums here or purchasing/downloading new content and/or updates I am concerned about. Using another system (like the library) would require me to remember and enter passwords for each site I am involved with, each session, as I will not be able to save them (another foreboding task as I have both memory issues and am dyslexic). At home I have a password locker on my system which I wouldn't have access to elsewhere. The Library here also only has a 2 hour per day limit and it takes me at least twice that to go through and respond to all the emails and contacts I receive on a daily basis.
If they grant me an extension considering the circumstances, then great, however I have not heard back form them and it is already after normal business hours here, so until the morning, I have to expect the worst case scenario.
Dealing with Social Security is awful. I'm sorry you're going through this. Best of luck.
...no as my loans lapsed a while back and went into default (was unable to find a job that paid enough to repay them) The only option I was given was the one I mentioned above, which by the time they even get to it, will be moot (minimum of about three months during which they will continue taking out deductions which won't really help the current situation). This was a total blindside, as SS benefits were supposed to be immune to any form of garnishment. As I did not receive a for deduction of loan interest for the last tax cycle (2012 - 2013), that pretty much said everything was paid..
..thank you. I'll find out tomorrow morning one way or the other.
Good luck KK - sorry you're having to deal with all that :(
...for me it was the DoEd. The SSA were the ones who informed me it was for educational loan repayment when I called them (I first thought my Medicare Savings Plan had lapsed and it was for Medicare premiums, then wondered if my bank account hand't been hacked [also called the bank that day] as the Medicare premium is only 134$, not almost 150$) I never received any notice from the DoEd or the Treasury Dept about this until a week or so ago which is several months after the fact.
...thank you.
There are jobs with minimal typing these days. And when you do type you have excellent communication skills, and truthfully just in this thread you type about equivalent of what I do everyday. I mostly just talk to people on a headset, so I wouldn't sell yourself short, an employment agency or a senior center might have resources you can tap to find a position that might accomodate your limitations.
Good luck. Hope things work out.
...it takes me a long time* to enter a post, and were it not for spell checking (I also use Word for long posts), they would be riddled with typos and misspellings that would make a certain person I cannot name here look like a Rhodes scholar. On a good day these days my typing speed is something like 18 WPM (with minimal errors). It used to be up around 60.
I even tried working at a CS phone centre which is pretty "basic" but I was required to remember several long really cryptic passwords I had to generate myself which had to me changed every month and couldn't have as much as a scrap of paper at the station (hence no "cheat sheet"). I also had to show improvement in "metrics" (call turnaround times) which was part of why I washed out.
What I do with 3d art in Daz and Carrara is pretty much what I am best at these days (and still learning), unfortunately though everybody out there wants graphic artists who have multiple years of Photoshop CS and/or experience in one of the pro softwares, as well as a degree.
* I started this at about 23:20
Hi Krypto, truly sorry to read of your misfortune, hopefully all works to your advantage in the future. I most certainly can relate to your situation, years ago due to medical disability, I could no longer work, was in constent worry, stressed, etc... nearly lost my home to foreclosure, my power nearly turned off, SSRi disability declined, I ventured over to homeless shelter for meals. Truly challenging phase in my life. Seems as we move ahead, always something to set us back. Don't lose hope friend, always a rainbow after a storm.
Your city library may provide free computer internet service, as my city does. Many hospitals do as well. I just tap into hosptial internet service on my phone, super slow connection, but works Lol !!! Hope to see you back soon (hugs)
I'm so sorry, KK. I hope you're able to get it worked out and will be able to get back to doing what you enjoy. If we don't see you for a while, take care of yourself.
Hopefully you'll be able to be back soon.
So sorry to hear this and I hope everything gets worked out quickly.
...thank you all. Still here at 01:15 PDT (09:15 GMT).
@ AJ2112. As I mentioned the library here has very restricted hours (2 hr maximum) and I'd have to log in every session as I cannot save passwords.
I don't use the phone for the Net and don't bother with texting since it is almost impossible for me to use that tiny "virtual keyboard" on the screen with my stiff achy fingers. I have enough difficulty using a full size keyboard while sitting at a desk.
Hope to have some good news to post later today, need to get to sleep.
...test.
I'm sorry you are having all this trouble. Hope you get resolved soon (and not just DAZ 'soon')
Have tried using aa touch stylus with the small rubber tip? They are available Staples for under $10.
Hope you can get things sorted out soon, and that things turn out in your favor!
...well so far so good, 12:30 PDT and I'm still online for now. No email or return call form the ISP though to verify anything.
Checked emails again and received a reply that an extension was approved until next month when I get my next SS payment
Again thanks to all for the support, encouragement, and good vibes.
Woo hoo! Glad to hear you're still around!
That's great news! I'm really glad you were able to get the extension. :)