In august of last year, I was at the lowest point I'd been at for a long time. I was unemployed, penniless, unable to claim any form of benefits from the US government, and terrified for my future. I was a wreck. I was crying long before I put up the call asking for your help, and having to put myself in that position to ask for financial support from strangers for nothing, actually begging for money, was horrible. I was ashamed.

You guys picked me up again. You came to my rescue, amassing enough money to keep me afloat for a couple more months. Even JjAR helped out, giving me his share of the money we'd made from the first book. I was gobsmacked. I was touched. I was still ashamed, but I felt supported. I felt like I wasn't alone anymore.

And after you all came to my rescue, I met Helen.

There's no way I can talk about Helen without turning into every song Celine Dion has ever recorded, so I'll summarise: She's smart, beautiful, funny, and I am utterly in love with her. She's in love with me, too. Funny how these things work out.

She was going to a university here in LA, but financial circumstances forced her to move back to her parents' place all the way over in Columbus, Ohio. We're separated by hundreds of miles and three timezones. She left in February, and the distance is killing us.

I've been living in my parents' spare room here in LA, and it looks like I'll be able to move out some time in the near future. The sooner I can get out of her and into my own apartment, the sooner Helen. Can come back. Fortunately I'm working again, but I'm not earning anywhere near as much as I used to be. While I can afford to rent a place, saving up for the first month's rent and the security deposit is going to be an absolute bugger. It's going to take a while.

With that in mind, I'm just going to leave this here:

You don't have to donate anything. You never do. Jump Leads has been free for nearly three years and that is never going to change. But if you're able to help me get closer to my goal of $2000, well, that shaves off a little bit of time Helen and I spend apart from each other.

If everybody who visited the site today chipped in two dollars, I could be moving into an apartment in two weeks. Helen could be back in LA in three.

In other news, I have declared this Friday to be #SciFriday - use it to tell friends and family about Jump Leads! Link to your favourite story, or to the primer for new readers! Tweet about us, blog about us, post your favourite page on your Tumblr or LiveJournal. You like Jump Leads - time to tell the world why.

And finally: JjAR and I were tapped to produce a guest strip for pop culture commentary webcomic Hijinks Ensue, one of my personal favourites out there in the world of webbed comics right now. Hopefully you'll like the results.