u/BeneficialWriting402

I had an initial screening interview phone call with a company. They seem really nice and legit. But the pay is less than I thought. It was advertised as $60 an hour on Indeed, and they said $55 in the call. I was caught off guard and did not ask about the discrepancy on the spot. I did ask if it was negotiable, and it is not. It is 1099, no guaranteed hours. Also, only reimbursed for billable time. This is significantly less than I make in EI. Granted there would be no driving, no gas, but I still have to pay all my taxes, health insurance, retirement, everything. If it was $55 with benefits and non-billable time, it may look different. My gut is telling me this is a "no", but I'm just disappointed.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about this company? I have a first-round interview with them this week.

As I type this, the men are removing a huge silver leaf maple that was planted in my front yard before I even moved here. It is at least 50 years old and huge. It has provided me with shade and beauty, and offered much support for wildlife. As it has declined the last several years, it has offered food in the form of insects to many woodpeckers, and resurrection fern and mushrooms and lichens have made their home on it.

Sadly, it is at the point it has become a danger, and has dropped more than one gigantic limb that could have hurt or killed someone or damaged my home or vehicle. If it were out in a field somewhere, I would absolutely leave it to just stand on its own until it couldn't, but it is in my front yard too close to the street, my house, and my driveway. So, I am saying goodbye today. I am very, very sad. What's even worse, is that I learned it declined and died due to hypoxylon canker, which is also affecting my other silver leaf maple, so I will lose it eventually too. In researching this disease, it looks like it is a fungus that is always present on the tree, but doesn't hurt it until it is weakened by drought or other stressors. I live where we have had successive years of drought the last few years, like more and more places in the U.S. (and elsewhere? I'm not sure about other countries). So, I am literally losing all my beautiful, mature shade trees due to climate change. I am devastated. I figures you guys and ladies here would understand.