short-changed chump??

when preparing to go back to school, one needs to make MANY purchases. some more astronomical than others (language textbook- i'm talkin' about you) . in order to do that, one needs finances. when said person is totally dependant on the state for income--it bites.

today i got my unemployment check and for some reason it was only ONE WEEK'S worth of "pay". with no explanation as to why. did i not fill out my paper work properly? did it arrive too late? did i accidentally go "outside the box" when marking my required paper work and thereby lost half my needed money??? who do i report this to? can i report it? can i get that money? the list of questions goes on and on.

i feel like a chump, because i swore i filled everything out, double-checking for no errors because this IS my income. and it's not a whole lot. with rent coming up and an accidental overdue bill, plus textbooks and [probably should purchase a netbook] other expenses, one tiny fuck up can mean the difference between getting by or not.

i just hope that next time, it won't do this. i'll let my spousal unit double check- make sure i'm not losing it.