Most folks on social media already know about this appeal, but for those of you following me in a way that avoids Facebook, you may not know that I'm struggling.
Gofundme link to help with computer cost--including the full story.
Hi folks. I really really hate passing the hat before I have been reliable about getting content out, but if you know what my last few years have been like, you know that I'm struggling financially already, and a portable computer will help me with GETTING the content out.
On October 21 (this year) I had a lot on my plate and mind dealing with a partner who needed surgery the next day, and I went on a 10k run and neglected to stretch out when it was done. (Never neglect your stretching. Even if your whole world is in chaos.) At about 3:15 am the next morning (the 22nd) I jerked awake in agony having terrible leg cramps and in doing so, I knocked my laptop and phone off of my bedside table and down onto the floor. My leg was spasming, and I fell off the bed....and right onto both. I heard my phone crunch into my laptop, and I knew immediately I'd cracked the screen. What I didn't know was that I wouldn't even be able to really turn it on. All I can see is the crack pattern (you can even see where the phone was) in the screen.
I just paid a $1200 car maintenance bill for my Prius's 100k service and then turned around and got hit with a $4200 tax bill from 2023. (I'm a freelancer, so I always owe and it's always a lot.) My life savings was completely wiped out and I can't just go get a new computer, so I'm asking for a little help.
$1700 should cover the cost of a new little MacBook air with all its taxes. I have some additional flex goals if this fundraiser goes extraordinarily well, but I will update those here and in updates if we get closer to this initial amount.
NOTE- In the interest of full transparency and honesty, I want to let you all know that at this point, the laptop has been ordered. There were a couple of private donations (not through GFM) and my mom is giving me Christmas early. I called in favors I'd rather be able to say "actually, I'm alright--let's save it for a rainier day" but I'm at least going to be able to get back to work. So if you're having hard times, please hold on to your money.
What I'm adding as I go is the a DIFFERENT Gofundme for. (But since I'm doing this one, I think I better cool it for at least six months to a year.) If you've been following along, you know that the reason I usually just have money set aside for a new computer* but didn't this time is because of the last couple of years of medical bills.
[*I'm an artist. I don't spend a couple hundred on paints and canvasses every month, but I have my own expenses that show up every few years in a lump sum. Actually, buying a MacBook every four or five years is a lot less expensive than most people pay for art supplies it just requires I be smart about setting cash aside. I usually have a fund for it that I've been paying into, and I'm ready when it happens.]
I had colon cancer in 2021, and late that year they removed a tumor about the size of a softball and resected my large intestine. In fall of 2023 a complication from the cancer (but not a recurrence, thankfully) landed me in the hospital with blood vessels poking into my stomach.
For now my medical team and I are on top of everything. I get poked and scanned and double-end "-oscopied' on the regular, so that I'm probably going to know if there's anything wrong in there before anyone who never had an issue. I'm healthy, in remission, and I can even look at a CT scanner without having a panic attack. All good things.
But even with pretty good insurance, the medical costs were staggering. Breathtakingly so. Copays. Deductibles (I'm still paying off the second hospital stay in payments.) Labs (SO many labs--even at eight dollars a pop, which is not too bad, I was adding a hundred a month to my expenses for a while). Prescriptions. Driving all over the bay area to see specialists. And so so SO much lost work. It took me years to get through the mental and emotional parts.
I conservatively estimated it at about $25,000 for the two hospitalizations. But with the lost work, it's probably closer to $50k.
I'm not trying to make THIS a medical fundraiser, but the reason I couldn't just go buy a new laptop the same day I crunched my old one is that I had been setting aside for it since my LAST new computer is because I completely wiped out my savings on medical expenses. So if we pull in a little more than the cost of the laptop, I'm using it to replenish what was lost to cancer and liver disease, and to replace a writing fund that I had set aside for my novel.
So if you want to contribute now, that's awesome. But the laptop is covered and there will be a separate Gofundme in six months to a year that is JUST for the medical expenses.
Where the money goes
$1650 Replacement MacBook Air 13 inch. (With a couple of upgrades but not all of them) and ALL taxes and fees.
$107 Otter Box external case with all taxes and fees (so hopefully this doesn't happen again.
$2243 Attempting to recoup losses from medical costs that led to not having enough to just replace a broken computer in the first place. (I usually have the money standing by because a professional writer HAS to be prepared to buy a laptop at a moment's notice--just like a painter needs to budget for acrylics, brushes, and canvases.)
$1000 Gofundme payment processing fees and estimated tax burden.
