PASS!

SamIam · 08-17-2012, 11:42 AM

Yesterday morning at 4 AM I walked down to the post office to mail off my application for the PASS program. One thing about living in a small town is that I can wander around by myself at all hours without fear. The streets were completely deserted with only the occasional streetlamp to show the way. Even Highway 160 which doubles as Main Street was devoid of travelers. The words to that song from Cats, "Memory" came to my mind:

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin...

For the past three days I had been trying to finish that paperwork, staying up until dawn, falling into bed for a few hours sleep and then waking up to continue my marathon. The form was a lucky 13 pages long, and when I finished it, I read the directions. Whoops! 3 more pages to go. I grimly sat back down at the computer and soldiered on, finishing up those last three pages and writing a cover letter as my final embellishment.

PASS stands for Plan to Achieve Self Support. It's a program to help people on SSI/SSDI get off disability. Since it's a federal program, it's as complicated as hell and the paperwork is enough to make strong men feel faint. The short explanation is that it's a fund matching savings program that the participent can use to pay for college or vocational school, starting up their own business, or pay for a job coach, etc. Your PASS plan has to be for something that you have a good chance of accomplishing, and the paperwork is the government's way of ensuring that you are a viable candidate for a PASS. If for some reason you don't succeed, you have to pay back the money the government has invested in you to that point, so your plan better be pretty damn good to avoid defaulting.

My plan is to become a campground host, working for one of the private outfits that the national parks are commissioning to take over visitor services. It's not a complicated job - much simpler than working at the Bates was. You collect the envelopes with the fees in them; make a little tour first thing in the morning matching license plates and envelopes to make sure everyone has paid; enforce rules like pets must be on a leash, no noise after 10 PM, no feeding your poodle to a cougar, etc. You also have to keep the campground tidy and clean the restrooms which is the ickiest part of the job. The other stuff is a piece of cake.

The pay is around $10.00/hr plus free hook-ups for your RV. In effect, you have free housing, and a reasonable supplement to any other income like social security (assuming there still is social security). In the summer you can go work up in some place like Montana and in the winter you can go bask under the saguaros in Arizona. It's also a great way of providing a needed service while maintaining your dignity as a self supporting adult. With all due modesty, I can't think of a better person for the job than me - the camping and back country fool.

The catch to this is that campground hosts have to have their own RV. As it now stands, I'll never be able to afford an RV in a million years, but a PASS would allow me to make that dream a reality. I figure I need to come up with $700.00/month which the government would then match, allowing me to put $1400/month into a special savings account. By my calculations within 2 years - 3 at the max - I'd have enough to buy a second hand camping trailor that could serve as my year round home, along with a used V8, 4wd to haul it. I'd be set for the rest of my life.

I feel like I just came through the finals week from hell back at college, but if they approve my plan it will have been well worth the effort. Now all I have to do is find some simple minded little job that I can do and which will pay at least $500.00 to $800.00 a month. Stupid recession! Stupid little middle of nowhere town! But I'm determined to make this work. I'll find a job somehow. And I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that I'll be approved to at least give it a shot.

limey · 08-17-2012, 11:57 AM

Wishing you all the very best, Sam!

Sent by thought transference

DanaC · 08-17-2012, 12:05 PM

Good luck hon

infinite monkey · 08-17-2012, 12:23 PM

I think that sounds WONDERFUL, Sam. Best of luck to you!

orthodoc · 08-17-2012, 01:02 PM

Best of luck! I hope you get it.

Lamplighter · 08-17-2012, 04:43 PM

I believe your affection/affliction for back woods living is genuine,
and if you can find a way to do it year round, it would be great for you.

I hope things go right for you.
But you do first have to promise us pics, pics, and more pics...

DanaC · 08-17-2012, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

I believe your affection/affliction for back woods living is genuine,
and if you can find a way to do it year round, it would be great for you.

I hope things go right for you.
But you do first have to promise us naked pics, naked pics, and more naked pics...

Lamplighter, for shame!

Lamplighter · 08-17-2012, 06:07 PM

Aliantha · 08-17-2012, 06:08 PM

Good luck with it all Sam. Right now, living in a caravan (trailer) with no one but myself for company unless I step outside sounds like heaven. lol

Big Sarge · 08-17-2012, 06:15 PM

Sam it is a great life!! At one point in my life, I was a Park Ranger and it was some of the most peaceful/enjoyable times of my life. Used campers are pretty cheap and an older F-250 makes a great truck pull it. Have you thought about one of the used FEMA trailers? They have been selling them pretty cheap ($3 - 5,000) and many of them were never used. They just sat in storage areas for years

monster · 08-17-2012, 06:23 PM

Good Luck, Sam. I love the plan and believe it will work.

DanaC · 08-17-2012, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Sarge

Sam it is a great life!! At one point in my life, I was a Park Ranger and it was some of the most peaceful/enjoyable times of my life. Used campers are pretty cheap and an older F-250 makes a great truck pull it. Have you thought about one of the used FEMA trailers? They have been selling them pretty cheap ($3 - 5,000) and many of them were never used. They just sat in storage areas for years

Oh I can soooo see you as a park ranger!

Lola Bunny · 08-17-2012, 06:54 PM

Good luck, Sam. You deserve it.

Trilby · 08-17-2012, 07:13 PM

that sounds perfect! best of luck!

Pico and ME · 08-18-2012, 12:32 AM

Good for you Sam! Good luck with this...

08-17-2012, 11:42 AM	#1
SamIam Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Not here Posts: 2,655	PASS! Yesterday morning at 4 AM I walked down to the post office to mail off my application for the PASS program. One thing about living in a small town is that I can wander around by myself at all hours without fear. The streets were completely deserted with only the occasional streetlamp to show the way. Even Highway 160 which doubles as Main Street was devoid of travelers. The words to that song from Cats, "Memory" came to my mind: Daylight I must wait for the sunrise I must think of a new life And I mustn't give in When the dawn comes Tonight will be a memory too And a new day will begin... For the past three days I had been trying to finish that paperwork, staying up until dawn, falling into bed for a few hours sleep and then waking up to continue my marathon. The form was a lucky 13 pages long, and when I finished it, I read the directions. Whoops! 3 more pages to go. I grimly sat back down at the computer and soldiered on, finishing up those last three pages and writing a cover letter as my final embellishment. PASS stands for Plan to Achieve Self Support. It's a program to help people on SSI/SSDI get off disability. Since it's a federal program, it's as complicated as hell and the paperwork is enough to make strong men feel faint. The short explanation is that it's a fund matching savings program that the participent can use to pay for college or vocational school, starting up their own business, or pay for a job coach, etc. Your PASS plan has to be for something that you have a good chance of accomplishing, and the paperwork is the government's way of ensuring that you are a viable candidate for a PASS. If for some reason you don't succeed, you have to pay back the money the government has invested in you to that point, so your plan better be pretty damn good to avoid defaulting. My plan is to become a campground host, working for one of the private outfits that the national parks are commissioning to take over visitor services. It's not a complicated job - much simpler than working at the Bates was. You collect the envelopes with the fees in them; make a little tour first thing in the morning matching license plates and envelopes to make sure everyone has paid; enforce rules like pets must be on a leash, no noise after 10 PM, no feeding your poodle to a cougar, etc. You also have to keep the campground tidy and clean the restrooms which is the ickiest part of the job. The other stuff is a piece of cake. The pay is around $10.00/hr plus free hook-ups for your RV. In effect, you have free housing, and a reasonable supplement to any other income like social security (assuming there still is social security). In the summer you can go work up in some place like Montana and in the winter you can go bask under the saguaros in Arizona. It's also a great way of providing a needed service while maintaining your dignity as a self supporting adult. With all due modesty, I can't think of a better person for the job than me - the camping and back country fool. The catch to this is that campground hosts have to have their own RV. As it now stands, I'll never be able to afford an RV in a million years, but a PASS would allow me to make that dream a reality. I figure I need to come up with $700.00/month which the government would then match, allowing me to put $1400/month into a special savings account. By my calculations within 2 years - 3 at the max - I'd have enough to buy a second hand camping trailor that could serve as my year round home, along with a used V8, 4wd to haul it. I'd be set for the rest of my life. I feel like I just came through the finals week from hell back at college, but if they approve my plan it will have been well worth the effort. Now all I have to do is find some simple minded little job that I can do and which will pay at least $500.00 to $800.00 a month. Stupid recession! Stupid little middle of nowhere town! But I'm determined to make this work. I'll find a job somehow. And I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that I'll be approved to at least give it a shot. Last edited by SamIam; 08-17-2012 at 11:51 AM.

08-17-2012, 11:57 AM	#2
limey Encroaching on your decrees Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An island within the south-west coast of Scotland Posts: 7,016	Wishing you all the very best, Sam! Sent by thought transference __________________ Living it up on the edge ... of civilisation, within the southwest coast of

08-17-2012, 01:02 PM	#5
orthodoc Not Suspicious, Merely Canadian Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 3,774	Best of luck! I hope you get it. __________________ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Ghandi

08-17-2012, 06:08 PM	#9
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	Good luck with it all Sam. Right now, living in a caravan (trailer) with no one but myself for company unless I step outside sounds like heaven. lol __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

08-17-2012, 06:15 PM	#10
Big Sarge Werepandas - lurking in your shadows Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: In the Deep South Posts: 3,408	Sam it is a great life!! At one point in my life, I was a Park Ranger and it was some of the most peaceful/enjoyable times of my life. Used campers are pretty cheap and an older F-250 makes a great truck pull it. Have you thought about one of the used FEMA trailers? They have been selling them pretty cheap ($3 - 5,000) and many of them were never used. They just sat in storage areas for years __________________ Give a man a match, & he'll be warm for 20 seconds. But toss that man a white phosphorus grenade and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

08-17-2012, 12:23 PM	#4
infinite monkey Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 13,002	I think that sounds WONDERFUL, Sam. Best of luck to you!

08-17-2012, 04:43 PM	#6
Lamplighter Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bottom lands of the Missoula floods Posts: 6,402	I believe your affection/affliction for back woods living is genuine, and if you can find a way to do it year round, it would be great for you. I hope things go right for you. But you do first have to promise us pics, pics, and more pics...

08-17-2012, 06:07 PM	#8
Lamplighter Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bottom lands of the Missoula floods Posts: 6,402

08-17-2012, 06:23 PM	#11
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Good Luck, Sam. I love the plan and believe it will work. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

08-17-2012, 06:54 PM	#13
Lola Bunny Junior Master Dwellar Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 2,728	Good luck, Sam. You deserve it.

08-17-2012, 07:13 PM	#14
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	that sounds perfect! best of luck! __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

08-18-2012, 12:32 AM	#15
Pico and ME Are you knock-kneed? Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Middle Hoosierland Posts: 3,549	Good for you Sam! Good luck with this... __________________ Jesse LaGreca in 2012 “Seven Deadly Sins: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Science without humanity, Knowledge without character, Politics without principle, Commerce without morality, Worship without sacrifice.” – Mahatma Gandhi

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