I have lived at Lee Terrace for 2 years. It is a low income, elderly highrise in Charleston, WV. I have noticed that many of the people who were here when I first moved in have died - even a few that I thought were just milking the system.
I know there are people who fake being disabled but for the most part the people who are here are not able to work and would be dead if it weren't for Social Security. Heck! They are dying even with Social Security.
I know because I am part of them
1. Social Security Back Pay - when I applied for Social Security they gave me a huge back pay check once it was approved. I would have been perfectly happy just getting my monthly stipend of $714.00. (what my check was when it first started) The logic is that they owe you money from the date of your application but I quit being homeless when that check started. Now the approval process is so locked up by lawyers and government red tape that it usually takes years to get approved (which makes a bigger check for the lawyers by the way). By the time most people get approved they get thousands and thousands of dollars in one lump sum payment.
You don't have to have a lawyer to get Social Security. I did not have one. Everytime I was denied I just went back to the office and applied again. Afterall I was not doing anything but sleeping and watching tv all day anyway. A lawyer is not required for the process.
2. The government sponsored cellphone programs (i.e. safelink) I have one of these phones and I treasure it. I helped around 30 people get their phone. Most of them sold them for around 5 dollars when they got them. Now someone else has a government sponsored cellphone with 68 free minutes a month for a one time $5 fee to a goof ball who just wanted a little drug money.
3. The computer program which supplies computers to my building. The computers are used basically by just a couple of people and although Buzz (supervisor) will help you there are no lessons to help people learn to use the computer or internet. There is a library that is around 5 blocks away that serves the same purpose. Another waste of government money multiplied by my building and 1000's of others across the country.
Instead of running to the computer at every opportunity, I have been walking or doing some other form of low impact exercize to try to get into shape. I haven't lost any weight but I haven't gained any either.
I am starting to improve my diet again. I had to resort to lots of starchy potatoes and bread and salty food because I missed a few weeks work in late December and early January. (that is the food that is cheap to eat) I am back on track again. The good news is I didn't gain any weight, I just maintained what I had lost already.
Hopefully by March, I will have good news to report on the weight loss front. I will continue to walk as weather permits. I hope to start working more but I have to make sure I can work enough to pay the additional medical costs and rent that will come when I start working more. As near as I can figure I will have an additional $250.00 in expenses before I will ever see a penny of working more.
That is fine by me I just have to make sure that I can work an additional 20 hours a week to pay for the stuff and I am not able to do that at the current time.
I am working on it though.
These are my great great grandparents on my dad's mother's side of the family. Her name was Lola Collins Salyers and his name was (oops! I forgot his first name) grandpa Salyers. I'll look it up and get back to you.
Link: The Lucid Dreaming Test
just something I do from time to time
Current mood:
This song is sung to the tune of "Branded" (the old tv show)
Stranded,
Stranded on the toilet bowl!
Stranded,
And you can't reach the roll!
To prove your a man,
You must wipe with your hand,
and smellll!
Stranded,
Stranded on the toilet bowl!
Her name was Chuckles. She was a miniaturized red husky and she was the bestest and smartest dog I ever had. (and I have had a lot of them) She was beautiful with red fur and tan trim and husky eyes that burned like fire instead of shiney blue. Everywhere we went people offered to buy her on the spot. I wouldn't have sold her for a million dollars.
Bobby found her in a brown paper bag in an alley when she was about 5 weeks old. I fell in love with her at first sight and I tried to find the owner but I couldn't. After spending a fortune at the vet's because she was sick, I moved when we brought her back home because we weren't allowed to have pets. After we had her for about 3 months Bobby walked out of a gas station one day and said, "I think I have found Chuckles real owner."
I was devastated but I mustered up all my courage and walked into Super America with the dog. As soon as the cashier saw her she said, "Yep, she's mine." Apparently somebody had stolen her out of her front yard and dropped her off where Bobby found her. Fortunately I went to school with Lemmie(the cashier) and when she saw how much I loved her and heard what good care we had taken of her she let me keep her. Bobby and I left and promised her a pup if we ever bred her.
One day I decided to bathe her in the creek behind my in-law's house. I walked out into about 18 inches of water and Chuckles was following me. I turned around to see her floating away under water. Fortunately I was able to catch her. I went ahead and gave her a bath. She was paddling the whole time andeverytime I let her go she would sink like a rock. I had never seen anything like it - a dog that actually could not swim.
We went swimming in a swimming hole a few months after this and I took her out with me. I knew by this time not to let loose of her. Bobby stood about 5 feet from me and called to Chuckles and she was paddling desperately to get to him so I kind of gave her a push to help her go and again she sank like a rock. When I reached under water to pull her up she was about waist deep under water and the water was about chest deep on me. I never tried to let her swim again.
We always took her out in the water with us and she liked it, but we carried her the whole time after that. If we didn't carry her and tried to leave her on the bank she would nearly drown herself trying to get to us, so that 's the way it had to be.
