Man Cat Monday and an update

I haven't had much opportunity to take pictures of the gang in the last several weeks. The other day, though, I just had to get one of TB snuggled up with Indigo (hoping to post it tomorrow for Cats on Tuesday) and while I was at it, I took pictures of everyone else in the room too. I really like this picture of Cubby. To me, he seems to be saying, "yes? May I help you?"

It's been really hectic here for a month now. Heidi's car wasn't repaired yet (we're hoping it will be done on Tuesday) and so I was getting her to and from the bus stop. That wasn't such a big deal but then came the ordeal with TB's toe. It became infected and didn't get well.

We're not sure exactly how it became infected. About six weeks ago, he was clipping his nails and that one bled, either because he cut too close or because of the infection. At any rate, we made an appointment for him to see the podiatrist. It gave me the heebie jeebies to look at it and I was sure it was infected. It was all swollen and discolored. The doctor told TB to soak his toe and to apply an antibiotic ointment. He was already on an oral antibiotic for a cat bite that became infected. See? It's never dull around here!

So things seemed okay for the next week. TB finished up the antibiotic from the cat bite and a few days later, he began to have pain radiating up his ankle. I looked at his leg and felt scared. The tip of his toe was black and it was very swollen. His foot was also swollen and red. There was a red line running up past his ankle toward his knee. His leg was hot to the touch. There was also a bit of a smell and that really scared me. I was scared he might have gangrene in his toe so off we went to the ER.

I was sure he was going to be admitted but he wasn't. The doctor ran blood tests and cultures and they gave TB a dose of antibiotics by IV. The doctor prescribed more augmentin and said TB should see the podiatrist or primary again in a few days. The podiatrist has some weird hours so we went to TB's primary care physician. There hadn't been a dramatic improvement in the toe so that doctor decided to add a prescription of cipro. We were to come back in 4 days to re-evaluate.

There was slight improvement when we went back but not enough to make the doctor satisfied so he sent TB for an MRI of his foot and ankle and also for bloodwork. When the MRI results came back the following day, all the doctors began calling but were in conflict with each other. The podiatrist thought TB should go to the ER again. The primary felt we should try another week of oral antibiotics but that going to the ER would not be "unreasonable". The primary thought it was possible TB would end up losing his toe. An orthopedic doctor was called in to consult and he agreed with the podiatrist.

Off we went to the ER again. This time the experience was awful. For whatever reason, the ER was crowded and the hospital was filled to capacity. While they tried to decide what to do with TB, the doctors warned him if he was admitted he'd spend the night on a stretcher in the ER. There was no way we wanted that!

After reviewing more blood work and cultures taken at this second ER, the doctors decided to give TB 3 doses of IV antibiotics and then have him report to a clinic almost 25 miles away every day for more IV antibiotics.

In the middle of all this, my niece was getting married in Baltimore. Originally I'd let her know that the whole family was coming. Now it was 2 days before the wedding and two of us would have to bail. Bill said he would drive TB for his antibiotics on Saturday and Sunday. Because of their rules, the clinic was really strict about what time TB could come so it wasn't like we could all go to MD after the Saturday dose and come back later Sunday for that dose.

So the girls and I went to MD and had a lovely time. It was a wonderful break from all the stress, getting to see my family. I'd forgotten my camera in NJ but got a disposable camera. I'm glad I did. I took pictures that are being developed now and will share them when I get them back.

All the extra driving has been causing a hardship because of the rising cost of gas. On top of all this, some of our prescriptions have become more expensive. They've jumped from $8 to $40 and all we get is some BS story from the insurance company. They claim the generic drug companies are playing games with supply and demand and causing steep price increases in some of the medications. It seems to be all the extended release meds. I had to change one of my prescriptions; TB has appealed on two of his.

TB is getting today's dose of IV antibiotics now. The doctor will see him again Wednesday to decide the next step. TB is actually on week 2. At the end of the first week, I saw a major improvement. His toe is no longer black at the tip and looks healthier. The doctor, though, wasn't impressed. She's concerned because the toe is still swollen and wants TB to see a podiatrist. Apparently podiatrists are also surgeons. Maybe this doctor that just saw TB thinks he might have to lose his toe too.

I pray that he doesn't but only time will tell.

Thirteen Ways to Happiness & Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb

I was going to write about this study I read about the other day. Children that grow up in homes with violence end up with the same types of brain responses as soldiers in a war environment. I remember my therapist told me about that and I sort of believed it but was also skeptical. How could I compare what happened to me to that of a soldier in combat? Well...there it was, all true. The thing is, I also didn't want to write about it. It depressed me.

I liked this article much better and it fit in nicely with the Thursday Thirteen theme. See, I waver between feeling up and positive to feeling depressed and negative. It's a battle to stay upbeat but I find if I can do it a couple of days in a row, I can get a momentum going and keep at least an even keel for a while.

The article talks about what happy people do differently to stay happy. There was a list of 12 things and then I added one:

Thirteen Ways to Happiness

1. "Express Gratitude". Even if the only thing you can say is you have a roof over your head and food in your belly, this helps. I think about the things I do have when times are rough--like now, with the spending Christmas season. Things could be a lot worse.

2. "Cultivate Optimism". This is something my therapist was trying out with me. It involves saying things like, things aren't going so well but they can get better.
Or they will get better.

3. "Avoid over-thinking and social comparison". In other words, instead of worrying about the Joneses' just focus on yourself. So I'll just not concern myself with all the lights and decorations everyone else seems to have.

4. "Practice acts of kindness." This is a good one. I've done lots of these and it really is true--it gets that feel-good serotonin flowing.

5. "Nurture social relationships." This is a little harder for me to practice except on the internet. I never did make any friendships here in NJ mostly because it just seems like I have to say good bye to people I've made close friends with in the two states I lived in before, MD and NY. I try to attend to my internet friendships though. I've found some of my closest friends online.

6. "Develop strategies for coping". Ah, well, this is a skill I learned as a child when there were all sorts of crisis and chaos going on around me. I would come up with a Plan A, B, C, D, and E. If one failed, I'd turn to another.

7. "Learn to forgive". That's come with age. It's not something I could do when I was younger and filled with righteous anger. Over the years, the anger's tempered and I've learned a lot about how people behave and think.

8. "Increase flow experiences". Well, that's something I need to work on. I can get into the flow when I'm writing but haven't been able to focus recently. If I developed a hobby I enjoyed I could get into the flow too.

9. "Savor life's joys". Ah, yes, like spending the day with Little T or watching a snowstorm from the safety of my home or the sun coming up over the ocean.

10. "Commit to your goals". This is another one I need to work on. I feel adrift because I don't really have any goals other than getting through each and every day.

11. "Practice Spirituality". We do that, praying several times a day.

12. "Take Care of Your Body." I could improve in this area. I could exercise more regularly and watch what I eat. I could make sure I get to doctors for regular check-ups and preventative tests like mammograms and stuff.

13. Keep your sense of humor. This my own addition. I think if I didn't have a sense of humor (albeit a dark one sometimes) I would have lost my mind already. When I laugh, I feel those feel-good endorphins flowing around.

Last night, I finished reading a book called Wishin and Hopin by Wally Lamb, one of my favorite authors. The book was funny and sweet, focusing on 10 year old Felix Funicello, his family, friends, and school teachers. I saw it marketed in the book club as a Christmas book. I wouldn't have called it that although Christmas is in it. So are Halloween and Thanksgiving. It's more a coming of age story and Felix reminded me of Ralphie, the kid from A Christmas Story. I also got a kick out of the book because it was like a walk down memory lane--the way people dressed and talked, the TV shows they watched, and how simple everything used to be. Families ate together instead of apart. It was a fast, entertaining read and I'm glad to add it to my Wally Lamb collection!

Thursday Thirteen and a bad day!

Thursday 13

I got this idea because I just finished Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King and just started his 11/22/63.

Thirteen Favorite Stephen King novels

Pretend all these titles are underlined. It's too much work for me today! ;)

1. The Stand
2. It
3. Salem's Lot
4. Dolores Claiborne
5. Hearts In Atlantis
6. Green Mile
7. The Shining
8. The Talisman
9. The Black House
10. Carrie
11. Needful Things
12. The Eyes of the Dragon
13. Bag of Bones

Getting back to Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King delivered four short stories of one type of horror or another. He always delivers, even though I think his writing has changed since he was hit by that van and nearly killed. I'm a devoted fan of his earlier books, which appear on the list above.

I wonder what kind of book King would write if he wrote about us.

This has just been one of those days.

It's raining so TB is in excrutiating pain.

He started to chew one of our bariatric supplements for omega three. These chews used to be soft and now they're hard like rocks. One of the caps on his teeth came out. I put my chew back because that's all I need. We don't have dental coverage and won't get any until January 1.

The last time this happened, over a year ago, TB glued the cap back in himself over and over. It worked for months and then he accidentally swallowed it and we couldn't afford a new cap. So now that tooth has been sitting there uncapped. This time we'll rob Peter to pay Paul to have the dentist glue it back in. Hopefully it will stay put permanently or at least until we can get the insurance.

I had an appointment to see the kidney specialist this morning. I'd scheduled it for soon after Kristin's class started and figured I'd be back in time for the last class to end 3 hours later. Okay, you guessed it. I waited an hour in the waiting room before being called back and then went through a lot of rigamarole only to have the doctor barely look at me, order up a bunch of tests and say repeatedly I should've been sent to an endocrinologist. I got out 15 minutes before Kristin's class ended and it's a half hour drive to the school. I was aggravated and frustrated and majorly stressed out.

The sound on our TV isn't working. We don't know why.

I forgot to take a chicken out for dinner last night so I took it out around six this morning. It's still frozen. I put it into a sink of cold water. Think it'll be thawed enough for me to cut it in an hour?

With the way today's been going, I doubt it. :P

Assistance

There have been a lot of commercials on TV directed at Medicare recipients. Our open enrollment is going on right now. This is the first time ever I can remember commercials from insurance companies as well as Medicare itself inviting people to call and get assistance figuring out which program is best for them. The insurance companies, of course, are pitching themselves. One that intrigued me is a company called Highmark, which claimed to have vision and dental coverage.

I looked all over for information about Highmark and looked through the Medicare book we were sent. There's nothing about Highmark so I called Medicare. The first thing I wanted to know was how they could claim to have vision and dental when my company claimed no one could offer it. Well, it turns out there are categories of insurance. It's all very confusing and you really do need someone helping you figure it all out.

I told the lady we needed dental and vision and she found two companies in our area that can give us that coverage. Highmark, unfortunately, is not in our area. Anyway, she is sending out all the information so we can decide whether we want to switch or not. It's going to depend on the premium, co-pays, and what doctors participate with the plans. I'm so hoping that one of these plans will fit our needs!

A very nice thing happened just now. TB was interested in participating in a craft show at his mother's senior development complex. He wanted to bring his projects over and get exposure and possibly some orders. Well, unfortunately, this was when his tooth needed to be taken care of and we just did not have the $25 fee for a table. The lady running the event just called because someone else had to bow out and instead of getting a refund, just said to keep the fee. The lady thought of TB and called to ask if he'd be interested in that table. Boy howdy! Now he is going to get busy making holiday items. The craft show is Nov. 12.

From checking around, I found out the college Kristin goes to has a health services office that treats all kinds of issues. There's a nurse practitioner there that can prescribe medications for illnesses and other issues. That would be a big help for Kristin, whose college health insurance policy covers up to $5,000. That can go real quick in some cases.

As for other forms of assistance, we don't qualify because our income is just over the limit. The programs (like heat assistance) are there for the very needy and it's a good thing they are. It's tough for us because we sure could use the help but don't qualify. So we try to find programs and places like Angel Food Ministries (which is now closed) or food pantries. There is such a demand and need for food pantries!

I have a feeling we'll have to turn the heat on this weekend. It's supposed to snow on Saturday! Snow before Halloween!

More Miscellaneous Stuff

This little town I live in has been around since the Revolutionary War. TB found a website once that told him this town has had its share of good times and bad. I think it hit a height in the 1920s if I remember correctly. It was almost like a resort town. The natural lake reflects trees, sky, and any buildings like a mirror. Wikipedia says the median income for a family is around $45,000. I can tell you, with the cost of things these days that income isn't so great.

When we moved here almost 10 years ago, it didn't seem so run down. It was a middle class town with a barber, beauty parlor, library, grocery store, a few clothes stores, a shoe store, an ice cream parlor, a couple of fast food joints and too many auto parts stores.

There are two shopping centers not far from each other. One is the place everyone goes and the other is an eyesore. The owner of the eyesore gets some kind of tax breaks or something on the losses from the place and so he has no interest in improving things. At one point everyone wanted the place condemned including the town government. Somehow it didn't happen. The derelict lot is still there, bleak and ugly as ever.

We have a homeless population that has grown over the years. Many of them live in the woods. There's a hotel in town that provides shelter for the lucky ones.

There's supposed to be a couple of drug nests in town. I know where these places are and don't go there. I've never seen drugs bought or dealt anywhere I've been.

There's nothing for young people to do around here except go to the library. The nearest movie theater is about 20 miles away; same with the nearest mall. Luckily, we do have doctors and a couple of dentists here. Otherwise, we'd have to travel about 20 miles to find one.

I was ranting about the lack of public transportation around here. You really need a car to get anywhere, including the grocery store. Not everyone (including us) is lucky enough to live in walking distance of places we need.

Like I said, it just seemed like a middle class town when we moved here. Now, though, it's gotten older, sadder and poorer...like us.

I thought about boycotting Walmart and grocery stores but I don't think I'd be able to. With all the money those places make, they could treat their employees better. Part-timers get no benefits and these places like to schedule their employees up to an hour below full time just so they don't have to give them benefits. Walmart's benefits for full time employees will be going up as much as 60%. People don't make that much in those places. They'd have to decide between eating or paying bills or the health insurance. The other thing they do is suddenly cut the hours of their employees and hire a whole bunch of new ones. Employees can't be sure from week to week how long they'll be working.

If there was a Boycott Walmart day or week, I'd do it. I don't think I'd do it on my own because it would hurt me and my family and I don't want that. I can save a lot of money on groceries getting things at Walmart. That savings goes into our account for emergencies and things we need. It's about $5 or so here and there but it adds up!

As for boycotting the grocery stores...they all engage in this practice with their employees. I can shop less at grocery stores but there are still some things they carry I can't get elsewhere.

I wonder if there's another effective way of letting the grocery stores know I'm not pleased with them?

TB's recovering from his tooth extraction and hernia operation. He's very sore and hasn't much appetite and is sleeping a lot, but I guess that's to be expected. He sees his surgeon tomorrow. He has another tooth that is on its way out and it would be nice to save it but I doubt we can afford the root canal. So it goes.

The state (lack thereof) of public transportation around here

We're not a well-to-do community by any means. Not everyone (gasp!) can afford a car. The trouble is, around here, there's little to no access to any alternate means of transportation.

When I first moved here almost 10 years ago, I was shocked to learn that there's absolutely no taxi service. I'd moved from Long Island where there seems to be hundreds of cabbies going anywhere you needed them to go. I asked why no cabs would come to our town and I got two answers. One was because there are some areas with high drug usage (yeah? I bet there's lots of places like that in New York too! What, New York cabbies are braver or something?) and the other was because this is a poor area. Ahem. Not a lot of money to be made here. It seems unreasonable and outrageous to me. My son and I have both been approached by people we barely know, asking for a ride here there or home because there was no other way to get there. We both gave rides to those elderly or frail women but come on! They deserve better than to have to beg rides!

Having a cab available sure would have been helpful for us today. TB was having his tooth pulled at 8 and Kristin needed to be in her class 40 minutes away by 9. That was okay but ... how would TB get home? The class would go until 11:30. Bill was available to bring TB home if it could be done by 9:45. Then Bill would have to go to work. Heidi was already at work. Luckily, TB's tooth pulled without complications and so Bill was able to bring him home. If it had gone the other way, TB would have had a long uncomfortable wait. Either that, or I would have had to go in and pull Kristin from her class. Meanwhile, if we had taxi service, then all TB need do is call a cab if his appointment ran late. Good thing it didn't!

And the buses! They run once every two hours if you're lucky and then you have to have transportation to the bus stop. If we had no car, first we'd have to walk a mile for the little bus that runs around town and take it to the grocery store where Kristin works, hoping the arrival time will more or less coincide with the big bus that runs up the main drag. The schedule usually doesn't match and so you end up having to wait somewhere for a couple of hours coming or going.

To save gas and wear and tear on her old car, Heidi drives to the bus stop and then catches the big bus to the grocery store where she works. If she works from 8 to 3, she has to catch the 7 a.m. bus (which is fine) but then there's no bus in the afternoon until almost 5.

Kristin is one of the few kids around who has no car (can't afford one and we can't afford to get one for her) and can't drive (can't afford the insurance and neither can we) so I take her to her ASL class at the campus located 20 or 25 miles from home. With the cost of gas, there's no way I'd drop her off and go home like I do when she has classes at the local campus.

I called the bus company which was a total waste of time. I called the township and wasted more of my time. That kind of response is just one of the reasons I am so mad and fed up.

TB's Tooth and Health Insurance

Today TB's got an appointment with the dentist he used to see before we lost our insurance. Except for the dental schools, of all the places we called, this dentist had the least expensive cost for extracting a tooth. TB prayed that the dentist would be compassionate and let us have a payment plan so that maybe he could save the tooth but I don't have a good feeling about it. Maybe we should have gone to the dental school instead, I don't know. Maybe it's better to go locally because of the cost of gas.

All this plus the fact that my kids are uninsured or under-insured reminded me of another cause I got involved with after Rich had heart failure and needed surgery in the 1990s. At that time, Bill Clinton was in office and his wife Hillary Clinton was working with a group of people to put together a comprehensive plan to help people with little or no insurance. It was an uphill battle.

I marched around on union picket lines in a couple of places. They were picketing not for wages but because management wanted to cut benefits. While on one of these lines, I happened to get interviewed by a radio reporter and told him our story. The next thing we knew, we were part of a story for U.S. News and World Report and we got interviewed for a segment of the David Brinkley Hour.

So here's my feeling about health insurance--in a country as wealthy as ours, there is no reason anyone working should be uninsured. If a person is disabled or very poor, they're covered by Medicaid. The working poor and lower middle class and others aren't always covered by insurance and don't make enough to afford insurance premiums. There should be a program for these people to get decent health insurance. Insurance is cheaper when people are grouped. So there should be a large pool of college students and of part-time employees. But they're stuck with expensive individual policies.

I supported Mrs. Clinton's plan. It failed.

I supported President Obama's plan, especially the public option. That would have gotten insurance for my kids. It failed. What passed is, in my opinion, not particularly helpful to anyone.

Why can't we get reform for health insurance? I think it's because we people have no power. I think to get anything positive done you need lobbyists and they cost money. Otherwise, the drug companies and insurance companies will just continue to heavily influence Congress.

I feel pretty jaded about trying to get changes to make life better for us. But I continue to try because I can't sit by and do nothing.

Later: Well...that was nice. It cost $60 of the money scraped together for the visit to pull the tooth for the dentist to look at an Xray he brought and decide not to do anything because the tooth is still infected. Their idea of "working with us" and "payment plan" involves getting a credit card. Ha! First of all, our credit is virtually destroyed and second of all we either might not get the amount we need OR the monthly payments might be too high for us.

TB is depressed and upset. He's been praying and praying for relief from the pain and to get his tooth fixed or extracted. I'm just mad. This is one of those days I think God is with the 1% or He's the CEO of Bank of America.

I've heard from other people so I know we're not alone suffering like this. I feel like the downtrodden people in the movie Network who got sick of it all and opened the windows to yell, "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." A futile thing to do, but it helps with the anger.

Stretching the dollar on a busy day

Saturday's become our major shopping day since the fall semester began. Kristin is taking a course at the community college campus about 40 minutes away. It so happens that Walmart and Shoprite are along that route so we drop her off first and then go on our merry way.

Gas prices have gone up at least a dollar a gallon since last year and that's really hurt us. We only have so much to budget for gas and can't really change the amount so we're getting a lot less and have to curtail our driving quite a bit. I am really ticked about the gas prices. Maybe that's another sign I would bring to Take Over Philly. The prices go up, come down, and then jump up again for no rhyme or reason other than (I suspect) corporate greed by the oil companies. I don't mean the jump you get around the holidays. I mean like what happened in recent weeks. The price of gas went down fifty cents, to around $3.13. Now it's jumped back up again. Why? Who knows!

I collect the grocery flyers and look through them carefully to see who's got the best price on what I need. Usually Shoprite has decent deals on meat (although prices have gone up) but not this week. No chicken or ribs or sausage or anything. However, at Acme (the store closest to us), they had a 4/$19.99 meat sale going on.

We usually skip Acme when we shop because they have the highest prices around. The 4/$19.99 special is okay though. The packages are supposed to be enough to feed a family of four. Before our surgeries, this wouldn't have worked for us. TB and I eat as if we were one person and so the meals do make it. We just don't have left overs. We're able to get ground beef, whole chickens, sausage and ground turkey.

So with the flyers I have, I make lists. I haven't been clipping manufacturer coupons because they really haven't helped me. Most of them are for products I don't use. When they are for something we us, I find the store or generic brand is cheaper. I do use store coupons though. As long as we make a $25 purchase, we can save money on things like deli cheese, produce, sometimes meat or shrimp, and dairy stuff.

Walmart's been a place to save money since they opened a refrigerated section. They are not a super Walmart because they don't have meat or produce but they have just about everything else. Their canned, bottled, and boxed foods tend to be less expensive than Shoprite. Another thing is, they match prices from other stores. I haven't taken advantage of that yet mainly because it would be a little confusing. I'd be bringing five flyers to show them that red cabbage is blah-blah at Stop & Shop, tuna is 10/$10 at Shoprite, bread is so much at Super Fresh and so on. But as prices for food goes up and our budget has no more wiggle room, I'll have to do that.

I'm sure a lot of people have to shop this way these days.

We had a busier day today because we needed to stop for TB's cat scan appointment. This is another test the doctor ordered to figure out why he had so much protein in his urine. Hopefully this will explain it.

Which bright lights decided this?

Way back when, I'd asked our Medicare Part D counselor about dental insurance since Medicare didn't cover it. He answered that getting dental insurance was way expensive and it would be cheaper just to pay out of pocket. Maybe he's was right then but we sure need the insurance now. I called Medicare to find out if they'd cover Ted's broken tooth since it's now an emergency and they said no.

I next called our secondary. Sometimes when the primary doesn't cover a service, the secondary will pick it up. That's when I discovered the dismaying news that the secondary is not allowed to. If it's not covered by Medicare, none of the secondaries can pick it up. I asked why and the representative could only tell me that's what the people in Washington decided.

Sure. These are the same people who enjoy full coverage of any type.

It makes no sense to exclude dental and vision from the elderly and the disabled. All of us need cavities filled or teeth pulled or root canaled or what have you. When a tooth goes bad and becomes infected, that infection can spread to the heart. That would lead to an emergency room visit and probably a hospital stay, maybe even death, and sure that's more costly than providing for routine visits so it never gets to that point. As for glasses, what's up with that? The older you are the more likely you are to need glasses. What are fixed income people supposed to do if there's no generous Lion's Club in the neighborhood? Drive around half blind? I guess so.

Hearing aids aren't covered either. As we get older, our hearing diminishes. TB is already pretty much deaf in both ears. Luckily he got hearing aids before he became totally disabled. I guess everyone else just has to take ASL classes. :P

If I ever get to the Take Over Philly protest, my signs would be about health insurance reform. I would like to see President Obama's original health bill passed but I think that will never happen unless there's a major rising. The Take Over movement has the right idea but they're not focused. Everyone's protesting different things and there's no real unity. People are just fed up with everything but I don't know that change can come of something that generic. :P

Everything is Going Up But My Income Blues

So there was a report out a couple of days ago that people's income has fallen even further since the recession "ended". It was no surprise to me and just pissed me off the rest of the hour. I guess I shouldn't watch the news with my coffee anymore. :P Well, what is the reason for that since we are in recovery? One is that there are more and more unemployed and underemployed people. Another is that hardly anyone is getting a raise anymore. Still another is that the price of everything is going up.

I noticed my grocery bill was getting higher although the stuff I was getting was basically the same. Lately I've been reading the receipts carefully to make sure I'm getting the sale prices. If it ain't on sale, I don't get it. Of course, with some things I have no choice, like eggs. For the five of us, I get 18 eggs and now they're $4.19! Sometimes I get a coupon for them and I use them whenever I do. Another is coffee. I used to be able to get coffee at Walmart for $5.99. Now it's closer to $10. That's for the larger size. I used to get hamburger meat for $.99 and whole chickens for $.69. Now they're $2.49 and $1.99 on sale respectively.

It's not just food. Our electric bill jumped up because they were allowed a rate increase. Our health insurance (the secondary to Medicare and prescription plan) both nearly doubled.

All of that has just about trashed our budget. It used to be that we had enough for the bills and expenses with a little left over to save or for unforeseen expenses. Now we have just enough to scrape by. We're supposed to have three to six months of income saved in case of an emergency; we don't even have a week's worth saved after the hits our savings took from the vet and the bankruptcy attorney.

So now we come to TB's tooth. We shared with our therapist about going to the dental schools in Newark or Philly and she came up with someone who might be able to help us who is closer. There is also a dentist that TB used to see. This afternoon I began calling around. The place the therapist suggested told me an extraction would cost between $160-$400. For one tooth.

The doctor TB used to see would charge between $100-$190 depending on how complicated the procedure is. For one tooth.

I think it wasn't so long ago you could get a tooth pulled for less than $100.

The dental schools might be free but this time around TB wants someone who has experience, not a student, to mess with his broken tooth.

Now I'm going to be checking into all the secondary health plans to see if any offer dental or vision. I think it's ridiculous that they don't. When you can't take care of your teeth and they go bad, it's dangerous. When you can't get glasses and have to drive on the road with ten year old prescriptions, it's bad.

It might be tiresome that all I do lately is rant and rave about depressing stuff like this but this is my life right now and I can't hide it anymore.

Rock on, Take Over Wall Street and Take Over Philadelphia and Take Over Wherever Movements!

Some days...

...I feel pretty bitter about the way things are going for TB and me. Some days I feel like God's not there or "has better things to do" than bother with the likes of me. Sometimes it feels like he's the CEO of Bank of America. Then there's other days when I do feel God's love or I use these little tricks to cheer myself up or help me cope. These would be things like, "It could be a lot worse", "a lot of people are having hard times too", "count your blessings", or I'll read my favorite poem by Langston Hughes, "Mother to Son."

Some people just seem to be loaded down with more burdens and bad luck, though, and that's us. My mother thinks a curse was set on my family because my dad said he was an atheist. I don't believe that although some days it sure does feel like there's a curse. It's one thing after another and it's relentless, these things that happen to us. As if all that wasn't bad enough, both TB and I lost our spouses. It just goes on and on.

The protest movement against government and big business has been spreading across the country. It really lit up some anger in me because of all the corruption and greed in big business. For them it's only about the bottom line and profit, and it doesn't matter when it hurts the little guy--like when government decided to give business a big break and allow them to outsource jobs starting over 10 years ago.

TB and I have worked hard since we were teenagers. We went above and beyond because we were of a generation that took pride in what we did and doing our best for the boss. We set aside money in annuities for our retirement so we wouldn't have to depend on social security--a program we contributed heavily to for 30 years or more. Both of us got injured on the job working as hard as we did. Let me tell you, you find out real quick that they appreciate the hard, injury causing above and beyond work only while you're doing it. When you can't, there's no appreciation or loyalty. You're thrown out like trash. In the last 4 years, the annuities dwindled away. So much for our retirement.

We see other people go to the dentist and eye doctor with seeming ease. We haven't been able to get our eyes checked since TB became disabled. We can't afford to get new glasses and we don't have insurance for glasses. The same thing is true with dental visits. Medicare doesn't cover it and neither does the secondary insurance we pay hundreds of dollars a month for. Dental insurance itself is prohibitively expensive. I wonder if eye glasses and dental care are excluded from Medicare because so many seniors do need these services?

It makes me mad to hear politicians call Medicare an "entitlement" or a "Ponzi scheme". I paid into that fund my whole working life. It doesn't seem right that TB and I wouldn't be able to get our teeth looked after when we've contributed so much.

And don't get me started on what the kids are going through. Under employed and uninsured, we need them to help us survive because with expenses going up and our income frozen, we don't have enough to make it on our own. The five of us are tied together, no one being able to manage independently. Argh.

Oh well. Today I am just telling myself again, lots of people are having a hard time right now. I got a letter from my mom yesterday. Much of it was guilt inducing or confused crap but she also forwarded this great poem:

It's Fine Today
by Doughlas Malloch (1877-1938)

Sure this world is full of trouble
I ain't said it ain't
Lord, I've had enough and double
Reason for complaint;
Rain and storm have come to fret me,
Skies are often gray,
Thorns and brambles have beset me
On the road--but say,
Ain't it fine today?

What's the use of always weepin,
Makin trouble last?
What's the use of always keepin;
Thinkin of the past?
Each must have tribulation--
Water with his wine;
Life, it ain't no celebration.
Trouble? I've had mine--
But today is fine!

It's today that I am livin,
Not a month ago.
Havin, losin, takin, givin,
As time wills it so.
Yesterday a cloud of sorrow,
Fell across the way.
It may rain again tomorrow;
It may rain--but say,
Ain't it fine today?

I have to say that today is a fine day.

If I Wasn't Disabled...

...I'd get myself a tent and sleeping bag and go join the Take Over Philadelphia protestors. I am fed up and disgusted with government and big business too. As it is, I don't think I could handle being out in the elements with everything I've got going on.

I am so mad about what happened to TB yesterday. I blogged that he had a cracked tooth that he'd kept to himself for about a year because he knew we didn't have the insurance or finances to fix it. He told me about it when his jaw began to hurt relentlessly. I called the clinic in town--the one that serves those on a fixed income and who have little or no insurance--and got an appointment. I told them he'd probably need his tooth pulled because it's broken. TB went to the regular doctor meantime and got a script for an antibiotic. Tooth infections can cause all kinds of problems for the heart.

So we go for the appointment yesterday and wait for an hour before he's finally called. They took an Xray of the broken tooth and then the doctor tells him sorry, he's got to go elsewhere for either an extraction or root canal. The doctor says the clinic has stopped doing extractions and root canals. I wish someone had bothered to tell me that when I called 2 weeks ago to make the appointment! I would have called one of the recommended dental schools right off the bat.

That's where we have to go ... to a dental school in Philly or in Newark.

That's why I would join the protestors if I could. TB and I haven't had a COLA in three years but our expenses for everything keeps going up. It gets harder and harder to manage and if there's an emergency, we're screwed. The people who are protesting are basically in the same boat. They're under-employed or unemployed. Maybe they have benefits but I bet many do not. They can't meet expenses.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest Americans continue to get tax breaks. The Republicans claim if we tax the wealthy and big business, it'll kill the jobs market. What a laugh and a half. These rich businessmen have been enjoying all these tax breaks and their wealth for years--since President Bush--and they haven't generated decent jobs for anyone! Instead, they take advantage of tax breaks to send what could be decent jobs overseas.

I don't think there's any middle class anymore. I think there is getting by, skirting the line of disaster, and poor.

I also think this protest is going to continue growing. People have really had it. I know I have!

Update

I've been absent for nearly a month, for many reasons. One has been a sort of "brain freeze" for writing. There's been a certain blahness and sameness to the day-in day-out stuff and the pains of financial struggles. I do want to get back into blogging more regularly though and thought to start out with an update.

Poor Cubby developed a horrendous infection in his tail. We're not sure how it happened but suspect that Munchkin may have scratched or bitten him. We didn't realize anything was wrong until the infection had progressed so far the vet thought Cubby might lose part of his tail! TB and I had him isolated in the office to keep him away from the rest of the gang. We were applying medication to his tail and giving him oral antibiotics. We had compresses on his tail to help the infection drain. We sat with him a lot to keep him company and so that he wouldn't knock off the compresses or worry his tail. Well, it all paid off because he's healed beautifully and didn't lose his expressive tail!

I was in a great deal of pain one day and ended up going to the emergency room with TB. It turns out I had a kidney infection. I had a cat scan of my kidneys and there might be an adenoma on the left side. I also seem to have a hiatal hernia which isn't really bothering me. Anyway, I'm seeing a kidney specialist about the adenoma later this month.

TB's in more pain than ever because he has this cracked tooth that has exposed the pulp. I persuaded him to go to the doctor for an antibiotic while he waited for a dental appointment. It's true he should have gone to the dentist when it first cracked but, he told me, it didn't hurt and we didn't have the money for the appointment. We don't have dental coverage. Now, though, it's become critical and so we called for the earliest appointment. It's today. Also today, TB's seeing the kidney specialist because he's got a lot of protein in his urine. It could be damage from the diabetes he'd had for so many years ... or maybe he's just taking in too much protein.

I was doing more chauffeuring than usual in the last 2 weeks due to broken down cars and what have you. No one can afford to get a car fixed, including TB and me. Luckily the car trouble Heidi had seemed to be related to a disconnected hose and was easily fixed.

I started working with my therapist on PTSD issues and my writing. I'm hoping this 12 week program helps. So far I'm not noticing a difference.

Here are the two memories that most interfere with my writing:

When I was a little kid--maybe 2nd grade--I wrote this story about a couple of kids, a talking black-eyed Susan and a magic flying carpet. Apparently my teacher submitted it to a local paper and they published it in their Sunday magazine. My teacher told me about it and I went home proudly and told my mom. She didn't believe me and got really angry with me, calling me a liar. No one would publish one of my stories in the paper! I felt confused and ashamed and scared. The next day, the teacher wanted to know what my family thought and I told her they didn't believe me. She gave me the magazine to show my mother. My mom apologized but it was sort of too late. I already doubted whether or not I could really write.

The other memory is from when I was about 12. I would hide my writings in my desk. I came home from school one day to find my mother holding my notebook in her hand, spitting fire and rage in her eyes. I'd been writing about a family with an "evil" stepmother and apparently my mom recognized herself. I didn't think I'd intended to write a story about my mother and actually remember very little about it except denying frantically that the stepmother was my mother. It didn't feel safe to write anymore and that's when most of the freeze started.

Sometimes I have strong bursts of inspiration and I have to write. I had one of these bursts ten years ago, when I wrote some fan fiction. Other times I've had some inspiration but it's but rare and far between. I know I can do it, though, because I took a creative writing class and, under the pressure of a deadline, I was able to produce.

The rest of the time, though, I'm just filled with doubts and self-recrimination.

Well, with this therapy, I'm supposed to read the memories over every day to lessen the impact. I also pick out different incidents, write down what happened, what I tell myself, and what I think as a result of all of it.

I thought about tracking my progress over the remaining weeks of therapy. I guess we'll see if I follow through with it!

Snowy Saturday

I remember the weather forecasters last fall said something to the effect that we would have a *cold* winter but not a snowy one. Huh? In two weeks we've had three events and another one predicted for next week. Granted, the amounts have been nothing like they were last year. That first storm (on December 26) dumped two feet on us. Yesterday's snow brought a couple of inches and today we're expecting another 4-6. I hope that's all because clearing the snow has become a big issue for us!

This morning TB and I took Buddy for a walk as the snow was getting underway. It sure is pretty when it's falling. We went back to where the woods are but didn't go in. We'd have to cross a log bridge to get anyway and that would have been a little risky for us because I'm sure the log would be slippery.

I took this picture of Cubby and Indigo in our bedroom window this morning before we left for our walk. I had the flash on but the picture came out really dark.

It was especially good for me to go on a walk because I've been struggling with depression again. I look at some of the things I need to do and feel overwhelmed. I think about writing something but then can't seem to find my focus. I think stress and worry are getting to me. When I don't get things done, I get mad at myself--the old all or nothing type of thinking I still struggle with. I think I need to exercise and find things to do that will distract me. The internet doesn't hold my attention anymore so it'll have to be something else. Meantime, I'll look for free things for TB and me to do to help keep me busy.

Update on navigating Bank of America Purgatory

Dealing with Bank of America (BOA) continues to be a Twilight Zone nightmare. The customer service people we talk to don't document all that we talk about unless they know they're being recorded. We never get the same person twice and can't ask for the person we've talked to because we've either been given a false name or that person is in a far-away call center (many times not even in this country!).

The latest fiasco happened after we first met with Consumer Credit Counseling (CCC). We had a follow-up phone conference between CCC, us and BOA. Nothing had happened and no one had escalated our issue from the first conference call. The issue (what happened to our paperwork?) had to be escalated again.

TB and I called about five days later. At first the representative (said his name was Mike) said that everything is "taking time" and when we didn't get off the phone right away, he checked further and found that we were declined again even before our follow-up call with the CCC rep. Why weren't we told then? Of course, Mike didn't know. He said our August 2009 payment to the old mortgage company hadn't been released to BOA yet--meanwhile, we've been getting different stories from different people about it.

He did say we could pay the same amount we'd pay if we were in the Making Homes Affordable program but--(Jaws theme music)--he couldn't send us written confirmation. He said for us not to call every week anymore. Gee, wonder why? He said we should call the first week of June to see if the MHA packet could be mailed to us. That would depend on our income.

Sigh.

We were supposed to see our CCC counselor on Friday but she wasn't there and rescheduled it to this Friday.

Today I made the idiotic move to call BOA to see what progress they'd made and spoke with Brenda in the Escalation Department. I called to check on the progress and also to verify the reduced payment would be okay. I just had this nasty feeling about it all! First she said there was no record of them reviewing our information or mailing a packet or anything remotely like helping us. Mike's notes about a reduced payment weren't there.

I was not surprised. I was surprised that I was pissed off and upset. I mean, what else did I expect from these people?

I wanted to know why Mike said it would be okay to pay as if we were on the MHA plan. She said she guessed it was because any payment would be credited to our account. I said uh uh, no way are we giving you anymore money to put us out on the street. I'll save it as moving money. She said okay, fine.

She also looked some more and said oh, I found the note now. They are working on sending you a packet. I expressed some doubt because they've been "working on sending a packet" since January. They keep declining us because they don't receive the packet that they've never sent. Three times.

She apologized. Isn't that nice? They always apologize. And say that they're really backlogged. And say that they "understand your frustration". And that this is happening to a lot of other people.

BOA was one of the banks bailed out by President Obama's program. They made huge profits last year. And they can't hire people to help with this so-called backlog?

The journey through Purgatory continues, although I did suggest that they come take the house and shove it up their a$$!

So that's how we left it.

I need "3 On Your Side"

Something like this is happening to us:

The number of homeowners in the Obama administration's flagship foreclosure prevention program is growing, but it's not all good news. As 3-On Your Side's Jim Donovan reports, many applicants sit for months in limbo, awaiting final answers from their banks.

Adrienne Ervin has lived in her Drexel Hill home with her son and daughter for nine years. She tells us that she was working non-stop and had a great job with great pay until things suddenly changed in 2009. That's when Adrienne was laid off from her job. Unable to pay her mortgage, she reached out to her lender, Bank of America, for help.

After several months, the bank agreed to modify Adrienne's loan. They lowered her interest rate, gave her a new payment, and also gave her 60 days before she was to begin making payments.

But then, without warning, Adrienne says, "They took it back and said they approved me for the wrong kind of mortgage."

So it was back to square one.

Adrienne says, "I sent my pay stubs about 20 times, I've sent my utility bills, my bank account statements, everything they asked for."

Then one day the Sheriff came by to tell her that foreclosure proceedings had started.

The rest of the article is here.

I feel like we're in the Twilight Zone with The Bank From Hell, Bank of America. I've been misled, put into the wrong mortgage program, run in circles, and been outright lied to since November. I don't believe a single word any of them say to me anymore, especially now that I've learned they give false names and false information to get you off the phone.

They say banks want to help. Don't believe it any more. I think this is just something they say and they're just as happy to foreclose on people. Why else would the situation be like this with so many run around in circles by the same bank. When we were dealing with the company before BOA (Taylor Bean Whittaker), everything was spit spot and on the ball. Unfortunately that company apparently got itself into trouble and sold all their accounts to BOA.

I think BOA would like to dump any of these customers, including us.

I contacted consumer reporter Jim Donovan, who has the "3 On Your Side" series. I mean, I left a message for him. He helped the lady in this article. Wouldn't that be awesome if he could help us?

Right now, I'm stressed and depressed. I feel pretty hopeless but I'm trying not to. I'm trying to see things could still work out.

I don't trust Bank of America

How can I continue to leave my money in the care of Bank of America (BOA) when I don't trust them? Answer: I can't! As soon as I can, I'm bailing out of this horrible bank.

I used to do my banking with Fleet and then they were absorbed by BOA. At first, we just had to put up with the inconveniences of marginal customer service. The wait time is ridiculous, both inside the bank and outside, through the drive through. The fees are punitive. Still, we'd developed a good rapport with a couple of the tellers and one of the customer service reps so we stuck it out.

Then ... our mortgage was sold to BOA. That began the irreversible slide to my total mistrust of BOA today. We applied for a mortgage restructure in November--we qualified for one of the many programs available to struggling home owners. After a nightmarish 90 minute long ordeal of trying to get through to someone who (a) spoke good English and (b) knew what they were talking about, we finally spoke to a person who said we'd fit into President Obama's newest initiative. Great!

We received all the necessary paperwork, filled it out and sent it by overnight. Luckily. I kept all the receipts. And then we waited. And waited. Finally, we got a letter that said our file had been closed because we hadn't returned any paperwork. I called and spent 2 hours on the phone. The first hour was spent getting through the "outsourced" personnel who are the ones who answer the calls first. I have no idea which country they're from and I suppose BOA doesn't care that the first contact their customers have are with people that cannot speak English well.

The second hour was spent trying to get a straight story from someone. In that hour I was told:

don't worry, the letter says we're still processing your paperwork (I had the letter; that's NOT what it said--it said the file was CLOSED)

you didn't provide your financial information (I did and had copies of what I'd provided)

you didn't return the packet to us in time (I did and had a copy of the overnight receipt from the post office)

Finally I got a supervisor that said the truth was, we'd been declined because we didn't meet the requirements of that program. We were still current with our mortgage, not 90 days behind. Further, they knew we didn't meet the criteria when we applied.

I talked with the person in charge of the HUD programs. There is another program we should have been plugged in to -- one for at-risk-of-defaulting homeowners. He said he could use the information we'd submitted and go for that program, no problem.

What could I do? I felt I had to trust him.

The other day, there was a message on my machine from BOA. The return number provided was the one from hell, the one where the representative speaks broken English. So I called and explained I need to speak to Mr. Smith (not his name). The representative, of course, couldn't just put my call in. He looks at my account and tells me there's nothing to indicate that we have a pending application for a restructure.

I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown right there and then. I hung up. I went online and sent an email to my bank asking for help. I contacted BOA Home Lending to tell them from now on, we'd communicate in writing only.

I have no trust in them.

Now, to make matters worse, I no longer trust the branch where we do our checking. We'd had several small savings accounts--one of them linked with our checking. We were dealing with heavy fees because we didn't maintain $300 in each account so it seemed better to close them. The one that was linked though ... I remember clearly that TB asked the customer rep if it was linked to our checking account, provided overdraft protection and was free from the monthly maintenance fee? The woman said yes and so TB said, okay, good, that's the one we want to keep.

The other day, the company we deal with for vitamins and supplements made a mistake and put a hold on our account for $200. They thought they were supposed to ship a supply of stuff but they weren't. While the money was on hold, other things "bounced". TB said it wasn't a problem because, for a $10 fee, the bank would just automatically move the money over from savings until the mistake was cleared up ... but they didn't.

I tried to deal with them first and was just put off. I'd already had such a bad experience the other day with Home Lending that I said I wanted out of BOA, wanted PNC and nothing more to do with BOA. So TB called them back yesterday and from what I heard, things didn't go well at all.

Apparently, they told TB that he'd *insisted* on removing the link between the checking and savings accounts and that's why there was no transfer, no overdraft protection. They also refused to credit back the overdraft charges, even after the vitamin company removed the hold. When they did that, there WAS plenty of money in the account for the other things so ... WTF? The person talking to TB suggested he try to recover the overdraft fees from the vitamin company. At that point, TB hung up and shut down.

This, after he'd done business with that damn bank for well over 10 years. This, from people we thought we knew and trusted.

It's no wonder that BOA came in as #7 on the list of America's least trusted banks. Not that they care...

The saga of the computer goes on/Paradise Alley

Now I'm using TB's computer, LOL. Bill offered to let me borrow his old desk top. He hasn't used it in years, not since he was at Rensselaer a couple of years ago. The problem was that something was wrong with it too--TB's not sure what. However, he was able to cannibilize enough parts from that computer and another old one in the shed (gotta love the fact that TB saves everything electronic!) to create something that would run.

Next problem, however, was that the computer didn't recognize all the parts. Right now TB is reinstalling Windows and drivers to that computer.

Meantime, I was using the family computer. It was running really slow as usual and then I began to get weird messages about the fire wall license expiring. TB had to come check it and then discovered a possible trojan. Something's going on that is running links to Google from 3 different IPs. So we had to shut that one down until TB can shift his attention there.

Go away, Murphy!!!!

I found another book I read in 2009 called Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker. I was about to leave it at a book crossing, unread because I have so many. Luckily for me, I snagged it back at the last minute and decided to read it. I say luckily because it's easily one of the best historical fictions I've ever read.

It takes place in 1862, in New York City. President Lincoln had implemented a draft because of the Civil War. However, wealthy men could buy an exemption by paying to send a poor man instead. It sparked a destructive riot that went on for three days.

The book follows three women and three men during the course of that riot. They all either live or know someone in Paradise Alley, which was a waterfront slum. The riot coincides with the arrival of one of the women's deranged lovers, Dangerous Johnny Dolan. He is one of the scariest characters I've read about.

Kevin Baker is amazing. He knows his history and provides a wealth of facts without being a bore. He knows his characters. They are all unique--different backgrounds, different thoughts and beliefs, different ways of speaking and reacting. I rarely read a book that is as totally engaging and engrossing as this one.

Leave it at a book crossing site? Sorry, no. Now I plan to keep it because I'm sure I'll always want to go back and reread it!

Suffering, voting and GRIP

So the Democrats lost Massachusetts? Well ... boo hoo. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means a Republican. I used to be a Democrat but now I would classify myself as a disenchanted and angry independent. That's why I voted for Chris Christie, a Republican, over Jon Corzine, a Democrat. I am angry and fed up with incumbent politicians, whatever their affiliations.

In New Jersey, we've had Democratic governors for years. Corzine won handily a few years back and I voted for him. I have been spectacularly unimpressed since. He's been arrogant and out of touch with the people of this state. We're suffering, man, and what does he do? Nothing! In fact, he does things to hurt us further, like take away the middle class property tax rebate. When he was running last fall, he didn't take us (the voters) seriously--he didn't really bother to campaign except to sling mud at his opponent, Christie.

I was in a mind to vote for the independent candidate...until I realized that if I did that, Corzine would win. The independent and Christie would split the vote--that's how Corzine would win. There was no way I wanted that...and thankfully, I think the other unhappy Democrats and even independents realized it too. So ... Christie won.

The same thing just happened in Massachusetts. When Senator Kennedy died, his seat was vacated and so there was a special election. The Democratic candidate apparently figured there was no doubt she'd get the seat. Kennedy'd had it for nearly 50 years and Massachusetts is heavily Democratic. Well, her arrogance cost her the election because she didn't get how angry the voters were. So ... good for them!

As for health care reform, ask me if I care that it might fail! I hope it does! It's a lousy, stinky bill now and my opinion is that everyone needs to walk away from it and start over.

As for what's happening to TB, my family and me, I was on the phone with that stupid mortgage company for two hours before I finally got someone to tell me that our restructure application was denied because ... get this ... we aren't 3 months behind in our payments! The assistance to homeowners that Pres. Obama got passed helps those with FHA loans only IF they are three months behind. Further, our bank KNEW we didn't qualify for those reasons when they tried to submit us for that program! I could hardly contain myself but ...

it's a good thing I managed to hold my temper. After speaking to 10 people (no exaggeration, I ticked them off on paper) I was finally put through to a man who deals with HUD and with homeowners at risk of default. He qualified me for the program over the phone and now they just have to "verify" information before I'll find out whether or not we're accepted in the program. How long will this process take? Who thinks at least 2 months? Ding ding ding, you're right! So we have to try and hang in another two months. We are holding by our finger nails. Oh well.

Oh and I just realized I forgot about GRIP. I heard about GRIP listening with TB to a radio talk show program on 101.5 hosted by Jim Gearhart. Yup he is a conservative and I'm not usually a fan of conservative talk shows. The thing is ... a lot of what he says makes sense to me and so I've begun to listen to him more often.

GRIP = Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians

That's what we voters need to do. It doesn't matter what party they belong to. If they're in office and they don't do a good job or represesent us the way we want them to, get them out!

Ok, today bites/Mancat Monday

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday today. After posting my status at twitter--looking for the rainbow in spite of all the bad stuff going on--you'd think I'd be, right? Well...

Not me, I've got a bad case of agita. My bank positively stinks! TB and I applied in November to have our mortgage restructured...and we qualify! We filled out all the necessary paperwork and sent it back.

My day wasn't too bad until just twenty minutes ago.

Today we got a federal express delivery from Bank of America. The letter said because we didn't send two months proof of income they'd dismissed the application and we'd have to start over again.

I nearly went through the roof. TB and I have both been on social security disability for the last two years! The only verification I could give them was our award letters plus letters stating how much we'd be getting each month in 2009/2010.

Are the people in this department of the bank stupid or are they just deliberately playing games with us?

I couldn't call today because, of course, the bank is closed due to the holiday. So I've been telling myself to calm down and save my worry and aggravation for tomorrow.

Deep breathing, Cass. Deep breathing. :P

What can I do to feel better? Hmmm...maybe a little cat blogging? Who's around?


Kosmo: I yam havin a betteh day dan you, Mommy Bean, but I yam a widdle aggervatapated too!
Me: Oh no, whassamatta?

Kosmo: Weell, nuttin now but befor Daddy Bean wuz lovin me too long!

I liks lovins but I wanna go when I wanna go!

Ah well, we all have our own agita to bear, eh?

Want more cat blogging?

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!

Me: Hey, Kosmo, whassup, buddy?

Want more cat blogging? Be sure to check out Blogging Cat Noos for all the latest in the cat blogosphere!