Your Friendly Neighborhood Bartender Needs a Hand

Hey everyone, it's your favorite neighborhood nerdy bartender.

This isn’t easy for me — I’ve never been one to ask for help — but sometimes life throws something at you that you just can’t climb out of alone.

On June 25, 2025, I was taking my sister to court. She suffers from seizures and can’t drive herself, so I stepped in to help. After dropping her off, I was trying to find a place to park when a sheriff pulled me over. The reason? My car’s license plate had a tag that expired five years ago.

The officer was respectful, but due to how long the tag had been expired, my vehicle was towed and impounded. I also received a citation for that, as well as for not having my insurance card present during the stop.

Normally, in a situation like this, the next steps would be simple — renew the registration, pay the impound fees, and get the car back.

But here’s where things get tricky: when I bought the car with my ex-spouse, we were living in Missouri but purchased the vehicle in Kansas. Because of that, the loan didn’t include the Missouri sales tax. That total — $2,208.95 — has been hanging over me ever since.

Over the past five years, I’ve tried multiple times to save up that amount, but unexpected expenses always wiped out my progress. I’ve also tried working with loan companies to use the car as collateral, but they won’t help unless the registration is current — which I can’t do until the tax is paid. It’s a frustrating cycle I haven’t been able to break.

Now that my car is impounded, I’ve been told that if I can show proof of ownership and current registration, I’ll be able to get it released. But without clearing that tax debt first, I’m stuck.

So I’m here, humbly asking for help — whether it’s a donation or just sharing this with others. Anything helps. I completely understand this situation could’ve been avoided, and I take full responsibility. I just need a hand up to finally resolve a mistake I made years ago.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I’ll continue to post updates as things move forward, and I’ll be fully transparent every step of the way. I appreciate each and every one of you more than I can say.