Good evening ladies and gentlemen,
“We’re tonight’s… entertainment!”
Or, more specifically, tonight is “Le Night de Explanation”.
Yes, I have been absent, as is beyond apparent. This is the evening, however, where I will briefly explain why I disappear from time to time, and how things are currently holding up.
Please read if you want to know why Mitch is a sore loser at exercising her Pixar Planet punctuality!!
January 13, 2008 -
First and foremost, when I make a promise, I keep that promise unless I have an extremely significant reason for doing so, or if some form of roadblock barricades my promise.
Secondly, I am generally a person of strict punctuality. If I’m not on time then I officially proclaim myself to be the queen of all who suck, so you can expect me to not only keep my promises, but arrive several minutes before the due date/time, as well.
Now… to the point! For those who want the short version, I shall explain the situation in a brief and constricted fashion. Voila´:
We lost our house.
“Woah! Back up, Mitch!” you say?
Well, why didn’t you tell me you wanted the long version?! Here you are:
There was a chain of banks in the United States that went by the name of Washington Mutual (WaMu) – a very popular branch in the country and one of the top banks in the nation, I believe. Our house, among thousands of others, was the property of this institution; unfortunately, the already suffering economy in the U.S. reached an all time high this year, in particular, and Washington Mutual went bankrupt, as did several other banks. It was soon bought out (or, bailed out, rather) by the government, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase, a financial service firm, for approximately $1.9 billion dollars. From what I’ve heard from my mom (who did a considerable amount of research on the matter), that service firm is now experiencing difficulties itself.
The dilemma at hand has swept nation-wide, and we’re certainly not the only family who faced (or is facing) this depressing situation. Thousands of other families have lost their homes over the past year or so; the (eviction) officer who confronted us last month, in fact, informed us that they were foreclosing on approximately 12-14 homes a day, or something around those numbers, and I’m guessing that that is/was just in our county.
My mom, in particular, was literally working her butt off in an attempt to save that house that she’d lived in for well over twenty years (I’d lived there since I was two or three – about seventeen years). The silly fact of the matter is that Washington Mutual will profit nothing from evicting families from their premises, as no one is looking to purchase a house during this financial crisis, and the banks won’t make any money off of it. As my mom explained to me, the banks (or, at least, Washington Mutual) are sucking every penny from people who owe them late fees. Consequently, those who simply can’t keep up to date on bills and payments end up losing their homes…
I suppose that you can think of this situation as something of a repeat of “The Great Depression”, only not as critical. Nevertheless, the results of the dilemma are detrimental, and the pain is being felt throughout America. All the banks (heck, all that the government and people in general) care about is money, obviously, and they were ready and willing to kick people out of their homes even around the Christmas season, which they did. We barely got in contact with anyone from Washington Mutual, as they didn’t want to deal with the situation at hand and refuse to confront the families they’re shelling out for fear of feeling pity and sympathy on their part, as I understand it. To them, we were just another number.
Our lawyers were trying to assist us in the matter, as were several other people, including relatives. However, even then, we’ve recently discovered who our true friends and family members are. It’s quite surprising.
If you’d like to read more about Washington Mutual’s situation, here’s a link to a page on Wikipedia detailing their adventures in financial crisis:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WaMu
As it stands, my family and I (that’s five people overall, plus one rat that we recently acquired) now reside in a three-bedroom apartment that’s actually right down the road from our house. Until now, I didn’t even know that the place that we currently live in were apartment complexes! You’d think I’d know a thing or two after having lived in one area for almost twenty years. Heh.
Believe it or not, we’ve actually been faring very well, and I do mean pretty well. Despite the traumatic experience that we’ve gone through, all of us have quickly grown accustomed to the new living spaces; there are some pros to the situation. In addition, our old neighbors have been freakin’ generous. They’ve given us food, presents, everything. We didn’t ask for that at all! It’s incredible…
I fully blame God for the good fortune that we’ve encountered – these last couple of months would have been utter torture if we hadn’t had Him to guide us in the right direction and make the path of life clear for us. Example? On the day we went in to purchase a two-bedroom apartment (all of the three-bedroom ones were either taken or wouldn’t be available until later), someone called the apartment office so as they could cancel their “order” on a three-bedroom apartment. Consequently, we were able to claim the bedroom. I mean, heck! What are the chances of that?!
In any case, we’re doing well. We have other plans of how life is going to go for all of us in the (possibly) near future, but I won’t say anything about that until later. I’m also terribly sorry for not informing you guys of this situation earlier, but, as it was, I didn’t want anyone to worry, especially since we didn’t know what the heck was going to happen to us at the time. Now, of course, we’re doing fine; my dad has a steady job, my mom is doing fine, both of my sisters are going to school (and one of them plays video games constantly on her new PlayStation 2 console), and I’ve got a couple of healthy jobs and am ready to attend an art university very soon (within the next few years, if at all possible). (I’m going to the Vancouver Film School in Canada, if anyone is interested. Here’s le website: www.vfs.com.)
Oh, and, by the way, the reason why I wasn’t able to come on Pixar Planet after we moved from our house to an apartment is because our internet was down for a few weeks, due to the fact that we had to change servers. We weren’t able to set up the internet until recently, hence the hiatus, otherwise I would have been on here at least once a week as was promised.
There ya’ have it! 
On a lighter note, I’ve found that my drawing skills have improved; at least, I feel as if they’ve improved. Needless to say, I’m not complaining in the least.
And no, I didn’t attain that position at Pixar that I was going for. No worries, though! I’m still just geeking out that I got a real e-mail from them. It’s just an automated letter, but still! I kept it in my e-mail archives. (snigger)
Position:
To explain: “Now go up, and look around!” - Gusteau
I will be blunt. I was not kidding when I stated that Ratatouille is, quite literally, a documentary of my life. Everything that happened to Remy in the film has happened, is happening, and will probably happen to me in some form or another. To some, this may seem rather unusual, if not ludicrous, but, personally, I find it to be remarkable. I am truly convinced that this film is not a coincidence. What it is, to me, is beautiful; utterly… beautiful. I’m not being cocky in any way; I’m simply astounded…
Right now, I am, like Remy, “in the depths of the sewer”. I’ve lost my home and, in a metaphoric sense, some of my friends, but God and my family continue to support me through it all.
– Mitch
It’s all cool now now that you’re back. Glad to see you again and, I wouldn’t really worry about it if I was you. It’s apparent that many here likes you, and some of them might just be around the neighborhood and be available to aid you in any manner. Of course, not suggesting an advantage taking scheme, just reminding you that you have friends that are ready to help you. 
I’ll pray for you.
