looks like I'm going back :-(

Montana, is there a boarding house or something you can stay at?

Maybe someone that lives close by would let you sleep on their couch for $50.00 a week. It's not like you'd be there that long, and you'd be working most of the time.

I'd let you stay and be happy for the money.

do you have cities near you listed in craigslist? maybe someone is looking for just such a deal.

Where I grew up, all these people from the city would want summer houses for a few months.
I knew/know people who would move in with their families, or even rent a small apt inland for a few months, and get enough money for renting their houses out, that they could practically pay their mortgages for the year.

I remember back in '94 I had a sudden urge to work in lobster plant and quickly began searching the town for the next available job. I walked and walked and walked, repeatedly asking strangers on the street, "Where might I find a job in this town at a lobster plant?"

Most of them would scream "We don't have any lobster plants in Topeka, you crazy old coot!!"

But I was determined and continued on my quest. Eventually I landed a job in the toy department at Wally's Emporium and was able to handle toy plastic lobsters during my lunch break. I envisioned the hustle and bustle of a real lobster factory; I could smell the intoxicating aroma of creatures from the sea lingering in the air; I could hear the steady drone of my coworkers voices as they went on about their trials and tribulations and their dreams and aspirations.

And for that brief, magical moment in time I was one of them. I was one of the lobster workers.

But that dream was shattered when Bobby (Wally's kid, I hated that guy) would see me playing with the lobsters and shout. "Put those lobsters back in the proper bin, Ratzenhofer, and clean up those marbles that kid spilled over by the cash register! And if I ever catch you playing with those lobsters again your ass is out of here! Am I understood!"

"Screw off. Bobby. I don't need this place any more. I have lived my dream and I am filled with an inner peace. Get yourself another toy stocker."

I finished saying that and tossed several of the toy lobsters right into his startled face.

Then I went home and had a few beers and when I slept that night I slept very soundly.

And lobsters danced in my dreams.

I mean, you could be living in Oklahoma!

I mean, you could be living in Oklahoma!