UH-OH, TIER 4 ELIGIBILITY ENDS IN CA

PLEASE NOTE : This was back in 2013.
I am unsure if there are any lack of California EDD funds after 2013.

"While the EDD will no longer be able to file NEW Tier 4 extensions that start
August 11, 2013 or after, already existing claims can still be paid. Anyone starting a
Tier 4 extension prior to August 11th and who continues to remain otherwise eligible
will be allowed to collect the remainder of their Tier 4 benefits."

Here's the full notice from CA EDD > http://www.edd.ca.gov/About_Edd/pdf/nwsrel13-46.pdf

So, first, yes TIER and EXTENSION are the same thing. Why the EDD doesn't use the same language across the board is beyond me. Just another perk to confuse you further. Yay.

Now if you are on your first or second extension you definitely WILL NOT be getting a 4th extension. Your benefits will end after your Third Tier/Extension.

If you're already on your Fourth Tier/Extension  then everything remains the same. Relax. Breathe. You are NOT affected by the change.

But what it does mean is, if your Tier/Extension 3 ends AFTER August 11th, 2013 - then you are done! You have exhausted your unemployment benefits. Finito. Exito. Elvis has left the building. You got no income.

NOTE: You can tell when your Tier/Extension 3 ends by looking at the top portion of your last claim form. There you will find the dollar amount left on your current extension. Divide this amount by your weekly unemployment benefit amount and that will tell you how many weeks you have left before you have to move back in with your parents.

If, like me, (thank you Jesus) your third extension ended just a few days before August 11th, you're golden and the EDD automatically filed your Tier/Extension 4 and you will receive all of the Tier 4 benefits they awarded you.

Heavy sigh. If you're still looking for a job - keep your head up. At the same time, if you're Tier 3 or 4- or heck even at the end of Tier 2, I'd start making new long-term living arrangements if you're currently paying rent. Remember most places require 30 days notice. And moving boxes, moving men, tape, trucks or caddys, gas etc in total can cost hundreds. PLAN as far ahead as you can so you don't have your back up against the wall your last 3 weeks of unemployment and find you're scrambling to find money to move. You don't wanna throw your hands up and end up putting expenses on a credit card, or worse - borrowing. Borrowing money sucks for your self-esteem. Avoid it w/ some planning if at all possible!

As an aside, have you ever calculated the interest on a purchase made with your credit card? You might shrug at putting a "necessary" $100 on a credit card, but do you understand that in a few months, what you've done is put is put $175 or more on your card? Always, ALWAYS pay more than your minimum due. Always.

One day when you're bored, take out a pen and paper and your credit cards (or loans) and calculate the interest you're paying. I can only guarantee you that it will make you utterly loathe to charge anything in future.  :-)  (which is good for us crazy Americans).

How To: Unlock Verizon CDMA iPhone 4S for Straight Talk

UPDATE:
OK so after I had to do the below hack several times, it failed - for good. It would not revert back to StraightTalk. It just said Verizon no matter how many times I repeated the hack below over the course of a couple weeks and any other method I could find on the internet. I stopped short of re-purchasing a gevey chip or a new staight talk chip.
Gave up - went to the no contract, $60 a month Verizon plan.
BOO HOO.
:-(

If you want to give it a try, you may have better luck, continue on...

______________________________________________________________________
THE HACK

Here's what you can do if you wanna keep your phone but get the (currently in 2013) $45 unlimited everything (the $30 plan won't work with this method) of AT&T and Walmart's Straight Talk plan. Walmart and AT&T teamed up for that. Kinda cool.

You can spend days googling this to understand what it is exactly that you're doing and since you have free time you might wanna do that. Its kinda interesting really, but not necessary.


TO BUY:
1. The little tool to open your sim card slot on the side of your iphone - around $1.50 on Amazon UPDATE: Embarrassed to realize you can just use a paperclip. 
2. The Straight Talk kit you can get online or at any Walmart - First months $45 fee and the AT&T micro sim card. Total $65
3. The gevey ultra sim card. You can go to gevey.com but I got mine at Amazon for half the price, about $17


GETTER DONE!:
Here is a lovely How-To (with pictures!). If you have NO idea what you're doing, pictures are brilliant:
http://www.gevey.com/unlock-verizon-cdma-iphone-4s/


GETTER DONE (AGAIN!):
This is what I did to get mine to work when it once again went back to Verizon. The above worked the first time but I had to do it a multitude of times the next. And yes, for some unknown reason my phone reverted back to Verizon 3 times. Utterly annoying. Heavy sigh.


Reboot with unlock chip in (the gevey white chip)
Select verizon when the screen asks for your carrier
Immediately (maybe 3-5 seconds or so) take out and replace w/ gevey + straight talk chip combo
Click accept when the screen pops up to tell you your phone has been unlocked
Reboot phone > its gonna say Verizon
Dial 1-888-634-9474 once connected, end call
The go to SETTINGS > airplane mode on - wait a few seconds - then switch airplane mode off again
It should now read HOME (which is the straight talk network name)
Good Job!


Set APN: Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network

FIELD	SETTINGS
NAME	straight talk
APN	att.mvno
MMSC	http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS PROXY	WIRELESS.CINGULAR.COM:80

If you don't have the Cellular Data Tab:
1) Cydia > Manage > Storage > Sources
2) Add source iHacks Repo:  http://ihacksrepo.com
3) Then add TetherMe APN Editing
It should now appear in your Settings. (I didn't need to reboot).