Dementia for 2

I know I have not blogged in months and I must admit I have just not been in to it for a while.
A lot has happened in my life and I think I am still trying to get the dizziness to stop. I will try to stay on point with this but please bear in mind it has been awhile!

My daughter "B" moved to Florida about 2 months ago. I miss her terribly and am afraid she made this move too soon and without enough preparation. But, she is young and I am sure she will be okay it is just going to take her a little longer than she anticipated.

We drove from Elvisland to Palm Coast with all of her stuff. I am not going to go into all the gory details because I am not sure I can do it without using some colorful adjectives. Suffice it to say I do not want to make a trip like that again anytime soon.

I managed to get separated from B and hubs just outside of  Tuskegee Al. Even though I know how bad the economy is, I was not prepared for what I saw there. Empty houses, abandoned buildings, overgrown lots, it was quite disheartening. I realized at that moment that our country is "closing up shop" one small town at a time.

I look around the small town that I live in and and I think that since we are so close to a large city, I just didn't really "see" what was going on. Large chains have bought up most of the mom and pop type stores here. Pawn shops and Title Loan offices are everywhere.

Housing is just horrible. Builders are just now starting back up and even then it is very slow. Rental property has loan shark pricing and that is for a borderline decent house in a borderline neighborhood. Apartments are worse.

I hate to see all these little towns just cease to exist. I don't think that the powers that be have even given it a second thought. the brass ring isn't found in a small town. But, if you are a farmer and you have to travel over 50 miles just to buy a loaf of bread, what's the point? We are losing the family farm to the bigger corporate farming companies and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

I hate to think that my hometown will one day cease to exist along with so many others. But, the last time I was home, the last breath was being drawn. I don't know the solution to this problem but I do know that soon the American small town will be spoken of like so many things.....in the past tense.

For those of you that are unaware, when you are self employed, filing taxes is beyond confusing! Hubs and I had a paper route of our own for a number of years. Between 3 presidents and umpteen changes in the tax laws, it is a wonder we don't owe more than we do.

When hubs lost his job last year, they did agree to a temporary reduction in our monthly payments. This was for a year only. Well, hubs was let go at his part time job this week. Almost exactly 12 months later. Now the IRS is wanting double what our temporary agreement was.

After calling them and trying to explain the situation for over an hour to no avail, we are trying to do our own compromise agreement with them. If you go through one of these shysters that you see advertised everywhere, the fee for them to do the same paperwork is based on what you owe. The more you owe, the higher the fee is. They want their money up front plus you still have to pay the amount agreed upon. I know this only because I talked with someone at the IRS after I called one of these sharks.

The IRS charges 150.00 regardless of the amount owed. If they deny your offer, the amount is put towards what you owe. In our case, that is a drop in the bucket.

While the instructions are relatively clear for the IRS, and there is a minimal amount of forms to be filled out, the information they require from you is MASSIVE.

Hopefully I will have all of this together this weekend and can send in our first offer by Monday.

For those of my followers that are praying folks, please pray that our offer is accepted and that we do not have to resubmit several times. They do allow you to pay the amount settled upon over a 24 month period which would be great for us.

I am really worried about this because they could take what little we have left. If they decide to garnish my wages over this, we will truly lose everything. They have kept our refunds and any "stimulus" checks that Bush authorized.

I hate to burden all of you with my woes but, I am truly at my wits end.

The company I work for bases the amount I pay for my health insurance on my annual salary. Since I work for a casino, and this has been a mob operation in the past, they automatically add my tips into my paycheck. Which means that as a dealer, I cannot fudge the numbers to benefit me on my taxes. I would not do this but, until recently, the cocktail waitresses, bartenders, and poker dealers were able to. So in essence, they were paying much less for the same insurance as I have.

I am not going to make this post about the health care program our government is trying to get all of us to buy into. I have not read enough of the bill to be able to give a thorough post and an intelligent argument to support my opinion.

The issue I have is this: since they base the amount I pay on how much I work, my insurance rate fluctuates. They cover less each year and I pay more. Now they have changed our prescription drug plan to a mail order drug company. So if I cannot get my medications in 3 month scrips, I have to pay more to get them filled locally. This amount is not applied to my out-or-pocket expenses or my deductible. There are several employees that are going to be paying over one thousand a month for their meds. Something is just wrong about this. The CEO of my company was the highest paid CEO in the gaming industry last year. He made over 90 MILLION dollars. They have cut our benefits, cut our lunches, and made most of the employees part-time so they no longer have any benefits.

I only have one medication that I have to take and this drug company doesn't cover it. My hubs takes 2 meds for chronic pain and since they are narcotics, they cannot legally ship them. He can't even get a 3 month supply for them because of federal government laws concerning the prescribing of narcotics.

So now instead of using my company's insurance, I am looking for private insurance that my hubs and I can afford that will cover our meds. My company offers insurance. I should not be having to make this decision. I am really distraught over this and I know many others are also. If this is the way the future is going to be, it is a dim future for all of us indeed.

I have 6 hours of class tomorrow. Well, technically, today. I woke up at 1:30 am and now I can't go back to sleep. I just know something is going to dreadfully wrong tomorrow. This is a web based training class for a part-time job I have just been hired for. It is only temporary (ends mid-June), but I am still apprehensive.

My husband usually is around for stuff like this because something ALWAYS goes wrong when I am doing this type of thing. But he will be working tomorrow and I will be here to figure all this out for myself. This is never good.

I have all of my instructions and he and I went over most of it last night. But, I was reading it again earlier, and there are some things I neglected to ask him. So, I will be going over that with him when he gets up.

I am really excited about this new venture. It will give me an opportunity to network and hopefully find employment outside of my current job. Plus, we really need the extra money right now. Most of us do.

I will also be throwing papers for my friend for 3 weeks straight during this. So I will be working 3 jobs. I have not that in a very long time. Since I can do the new one on my days off, and the paper route before I go to work, they will not conflict with each other, but I am going to be very, very tired! There are several good things about all of this, so I am trying to look on the bright side.
1. We will have some much needed extra income.
2. I will be able to pay some more on my unsecured debt.
3. I can give a day away at my full time job to a part time employee that really needs the day.
4. I can network and hopefully find different employment out of the entertainment industry.

There are some downsides to all of this that I am trying not to dwell on.
1. I won't be able to spend much time with my family.
2. I will be spending more time traveling. The upside is that I should not have to stay overnight anywhere.
3. My house will become somewhat neglected during this time. Everyone picks up after themselves somewhat, but, no one does the heavy cleaning except me.
4. I will be doing a lot of "crock pot" type cooking so we can all eat when we are home. This will mean not many family dinners for a while.

But, I will only be doing this for 12 weeks so I figure I can hang for that long.
Wish me luck!!

I don't normally do the New Year's Resolution thing. I have enough chaos in my life without trying to reach what is apparently some unattainable goal for myself.

But this year I am trying something new. I work full time and I also am a substitute newspaper carrier. Since this second job allows me to set my own rate, I do pretty good when the jobs are rolling in. Last week I got a call and this guy needs me the for 9 days over the next 2 weeks. This is about 550.00. Not to shabby for throwing papers. So I have decided this year that all the money I make throwing papers goes into paying off my debt instead of using it for other things. Right now my hubs has a job and it pays okay so we are not stressing like we were 1 month ago.

This guy told me he will probably need me every week for the next 2 months. At an average of 240.00 per week, that is about 1920.00 give or take. Since I have about 1500.00 in unsecured debt, I can pay that off and put the rest towards my asset debt ( car, house,etc). Now in theory this sounds pretty good. But, with my life and the way things happen, I am sure that a plethora of things will come up that will prevent me from keeping this goal no matter how noble it sounds.

I am however, still going to try. I will be able to pay off 2 credit cards and have about 120.00 left to apply towards the rest with the first 2 weeks pay from him. I am really excited about this and hope to achieve it. I keep reminding myself that God desires that I be a good steward with what He blesses me with and that will be what helps me to keep my resolve.

Before any of you start thinking about how easy a paper route in your area would be, let me tell some things I found out the hard way. I did have my own route for 5 years before I gave it up to just be a "sub".

1. You have to throw EVERY DAY. Christmas, New Year's Thanksgiving, your birthday, no matter the weather. Remember there is news everyday even if it did snow 3 inches last night after the ice storm.

2. There is a time limit. Here in my area, you have to pick up your papers no later than 4 am and have them on the ground no later than 6 am Mon-Fri-. Sat. is 6:30 and Sun. is 7:00 because these are bigger papers.

3. If you want a day off, you have to find someone to throw your route yourself. You will pay them more because they are doing you the favor by getting up in your place. When I had my own route it cost me 400.00 for 7 days and that was cheap.

4. In my area you are a sub-contractor. This means that you get a 1099 form at the end of the year. Since no taxes are withheld, this can be a real pain. In some area you have to collect your own fees. This is a bigger pain.

5. And last but not least, the pay varies from route to route. Here they base it on how long your route is and by how many papers you throw. So the bigger or longer the route, the more money you make.

If you are looking for a part time job, this is not a bad gig just know what you are getting into first. You can check in the classified section of your paper for listings of available zip codes for routes. They usually put a pretty big ad in there or just call your local paper and ask them.

Before I forget, a reliable car with current insurance is a must. Sunday papers are big and you have to fit them all in your car so keep that in mind.

Well, my work week is almost over. Monday is my Friday. I am so glad this week is over. It has been a very stressful time for all of us at work. The good news is it looks like I made the cut. I am very thankful to still have a job!

The bad news is about 70 dealers lost their jobs over the last 3 days. Horseshoe has been opened almost 14 years. Some of the ones that were laid off were day 1 employees. I know of at least 3 couples that were let go. One is pregnant.

The criteria the company used was honestly about as fair as they could be. They did offer some of the dealers a part time position. They also agreed to pay their benefits as though they were full time employees until the end of the year. It was really heartbreaking to see security guards escorting your fellow employees off property.

I really appreciate all the prayers and kind words from all of you. This has been a hard week and I am finally able to get some sleep so I am going to bed. 'night all.

They finally are done with the management layoffs at work. They let over 40 go. Hubby was one of them. As you know from a previous post, he did get a severance package. Now they are starting on employees in my position. They are saying they will be done in a week.

Since I deal all the games but 3, and have been employed there for 7 years, you would think I would be safe. But that is not necessarily true. When you look at how they decided on the mgmt. layoffs, it becomes clear that the guide they claimed to have used and who they kept are in conflict with each other. I have been looking for another job but there just are any out there.

If I make the cut, I will have to rebid for my shift and there are no guarantees that the shift I currently work will even exist. I am trying not to worry about this, but that is easier said than done.

They have already said that we will have to work hour twenty strings which means instead of getting a 20 minute break every hour, I will get one every hour and twenty. I know that this sounds like no big deal, but you try dealing craps on a Saturday night for an hour twenty straight and you will know how much this affects you. Your mind quits working properly after a while because you are constantly doing math in your head and you have to be fast or people get p.o.

Casinos also have what they call an "early out " list. You sign the list and when it slows down they start going down the list and sending people home early. This is a voluntary list. Now they are going to start what is called "forced E.O.s". Basically, when it slows down, if there are no people on the list, they start sending people home based on seniority. Since they are planning on laying off between 70-80 dealers, I am hoping this won't happen very often.

Tonight is the beginning of the layoffs, so we will see what happens. Here's hoping I make the cut!!

Bankrupt- From the 16th century Italian "banca rotta" meaning broken counter. The root in Latin means corrupt. Legend has it that when the money changer became insolvent, his counter was broken.

I watched another documentary tonight and wanted to share what I learned. My husband gets tired of me going on about the state of this country so you guys are my new audience. I hope you don't get tired of this. He has started calling me his little militant. lol So feel free to tell me to lay off I can take it.

The film was done in 2005 so a lot of the data is out of date, but you will get the general idea. We already know the consequences of the actions of the banks and congress.

Almost everyone I know is either filing for bankruptcy, going through bankruptcy, or thinking about bankruptcy. My husband and I had to file about 7 years ago. My son was really giving us a lot of trouble and because of this I was not working as much as I should have and we almost lost everything. We filed chapter 13 because I have very strong feelings about not paying debt, so it has been hard to bounce back. We are now in a position to have credit, but it is VERY limited on our part because we don't want to fall in to the same trap so many others we know are falling in to.

So here are the stats in no particular order

1. College students leave college with an average of $20,000.00 in credit card debt. We all have seen the news shows talking about how credit card companies prey on college students.
2. The American Revolution was largely driven by American planters that were heavily in debt to European banks. They realized that they could not prosper under the outrageous demands by these financial institutions. So part of the American Revolution was to free them from the enslavement of financial debt.
3. Barbie has a cash register designed for girls 3 years and up. It gives the exact sound of a credit card being accepted when you play with it. Malibu Barbie comes with her own gold MasterCard and Shopping Girl Barbie comes with credit cards and accessories include stores she can shop in. So at a very young age our children are being taught how to use credit cards by the toys they play with.
4. In credit card circles, a "deadbeat" is someone who pays their balance in full every month or pays more than minimum payment on time every month. They want you to be a "revolver" someone who only pays the minimum every month. Then they can lay on the interest of up to 30%!
5. It is believed that 10 banks dominate 92% of the banking industry. I think it is only 9 but I can't be sure. These banks got congress to deregulate the industry. This has lead to consolidation, higher prices and also has allowed them to set up shop in states with low taxes Delaware and South Dakota are the 2 biggest. This move also ended consumer protection against usury (new bankruptcy law).
6. Each credit bureau uses a different formula to determine your credit score. Since these formulas are secret, there is no way to determine how they get your score. FICO is a joke. It has been proven to be unreliable over and over again.
7. 2/3 of our economy is based on consumption. America is in debt to China for over 200 BILLION. This was as of 2005.
8. Consumers in 2005 were in debt to the tune of 7 TRILLION. This includes credit cards, car loans, and mortgages.
9. Fines and lawsuits against credit card companies for unethical practices including deceptive advertising and improper fees: Citibank 15.5 million, Chase 22.2 million, Bank One 40 million, and Providan 405 million.
10. In 2005, ten credit card companies spent over 2 billion on advertising and marketing.
11. The largest contributors to political campaigns are the financial institutions and large real estate developers. So to get elected, you have to make promises that support these 2 sectors.

Back to the college kids. The credit card companies know that once they get used to living on borrowed money they are likely to continue this pattern throughout their lives. Because of their debt, they are forced to make hard choices about their careers. Not only do they have student loans to pay off but a lot of them have credit card debt that is in the 5 figure range.

These students are taking drastic measures to pay off their debt. Some have robbed banks, committed suicide, and some women have sold their eggs. Others have filed for bankruptcy before they are even 23!

We talk to our kids more about sex and how to prevent the unwanted disease or pregnancy than we do about managing their money and just how important good credit is and how hard it is to maintain. I don't know if it is fear because of our own poor choices or just ignorance as to what it is to manage money and credit effectively. I can only speak for myself. I have stressed to both my kids how important it is not to buy into the hype these companies send out ad nausium. Thankfully, they both actually listened to this advice.

Our own indifference and ignorance as to how these companies act and think are the real danger to us. Steve Barnett a former credit card company executive talks about how we are deceived by these companies. American Express noticed that their cardholders were getting older. So to attract a younger generation they came up with the "blue" card. MasterCard's "priceless" commercials urge us to spend and we do. They take your eye off the credit card and get you to focus on the family or whatever that is priceless. Since we desire these things we are deceived into believing if we buy we will be that family. While you and I may not buy into this, a lot of people do.

The card itself also says something about who you are. Gold, platinum, titanium, American Express has a black card for their cardholders who charge 300,00.00 or more a year. The fancier and more elite the card, the more money is made off the card.

The credit card companies state that it is our responsibility as consumers to know the laws and limitations of their cards. I think they are right. We should be informed citizens. But they have deliberately mislead and manipulated the laws to the extent that unless you are a MIT graduate you can't figure it all out.

Tamara Draut an analyst, states we will not be able to budget or educate ourselves out of this mess because we are up against an economy that is stacked against us. Some of the reasons she listed for this are: stagnated or lower incomes for middle and lower class, rising cost of health care, college, etc., and public policy.

The credit card industry is the leading money maker in the banking industry. They make more money on the excessive fees they charge than on the things we buy. The new bankruptcy law was lobbied for and financed by banks and credit card companies as we know. What I didn't know was just how well funded this bill was. Rep Shirley Lee Jackson said this was probably the most well funded bill to ever go through congress. The banks spent 36 million, credit card companies 13 million, accounting firms 6.3 million, and business associations added 98.85 million. We never stood a chance. I know a lot of people that were in favor of this bill. Now that the housing market is falling and these same people are losing everything, I can't help but wonder how they are going to get through all this.

The bankruptcy bill that was signed in to law by Bush specifically rules out floods as a grounds for bankruptcy. This was before Katrina and all the flooding and hurricanes that have followed.

There are consumer groups in Washington fighting for us. The problem is they are the last on the list. Congressmen see them after lobbyists for banks, credit card companies, etc. By the time the panel of consumer groups is seen, most have already left congress. They have given their vote to the highest bidder with no concern for the people who supposedly put them in office in the first place.

We as a nation cannot continue to sustain these high levels of debt at these high levels of interest. The America I know will not be here for my kids or grand kids. It will be hocked at the local cash for title place at 300% interest compounded weekly.

I watch a lot of public tv. I particularly like Link TV. If you have satellite you should have this channel.

I recently watched a documentary titled, "America Running on Empty; The End of Suburbia".

It spoke about our ever growing dependence on oil and natural gas and what it is doing to our economy.

I am not a fanatic about the environment. I do recycle cans and I do have a compost bin. I try not to drive a lot. The town I live in does not recycle so I don't have the means to recycle a lot. I do donate magazines to schools and libraries and I do recycle newspapers and plastic bags. That's about it.

This particular documentary talked about how the suburbs came about and how we are suffering now and will suffer in the future because of our dependence on oil. So I wanted to share the highlights with y'all. So here are some "did you knows"

1. From the 1950's to the 1970's cities were literally gutted because of people moving to the suburbs. Because there was nothing in the burbs, we depended on our cars to get us everywhere from work to the grocer. This lead to the building of the expressway system which is a highly subsidized system.
2. Originally, there were light rail systems paid for by developers that ran to the suburbs. These were bought up and destroyed by: GM Firestone and Standard Oil. These 3 companies bought up the light rail systems and tore them out. Why? So they could build GM buses with Firestone tires that ran on Standard Oil. They were convicted on this.
3. In the 1930's we were discovering so much oil in Texas that is was cheaper than drinking water. At one time more than half the oil produced came from Texas and did for decades.
4. Everything we do or use is based on oil. From sports to food either it is transported by vehicles that use oil or it is made from oil.
5. In North America we consume 10 calories of hydrocarbon energy for every 1 calorie of food we eat. This does not include transportation and cooking.
6. Food prices will really skyrocket. We will no longer be able to grow food the way we do now. Because of all the pesticides we have put on our soil it has degraded to the point that it is almost like a sponge. Then we pour petroleum based chemicals on this soil to grow food. All fertilizers are made from natural gas and all pesticides are made from petroleum. That statement was a real eye opener for me.

I hear a lot of talk about "peak oil". Matthew Simmons stated that "if Saudi Arabia has peaked, the world has peaked". From what I could gather, the information available on peak oil is unreliable at best and a downright lie at worst. No one knows for sure when oil will peak. Most say we are at the peak now and some say 2010 is the peak. Either way, oil is running out. Simmons also stated that future growth is not possible because of the depletion of natural gas, electricity, and fossil fuels. I personally think we can grow but it will be slower because we have to wean ourselves off these resources and learn to use other renewable resources.

What I didn't realize was just how much we import from China. If we have to compete with them for oil, our economy will suffer in ways I don't think we have considered.

When I watch shows like this I get really angry. I remember the fuel shortage of the 70's. That was a really tough time in America. We had the opportunity then to do something to make a difference and we didn't. i feel deceived and insulted by those in charge that have let greed get in the way of common sense.

I am closing with a quote from the show. I can't remember the guy's name but what a poignant quote.

"Now we are stuck in a cul-de-sac with a cement SUV with an empty gas tank."

it seems as though everyone i know is being affected by lay offs. since i work in the gaming industry, it was just a matter of time before it happened to us.

my husband was informed on Friday that they will be doing away with 50 positions in his area. this isn't your regular lay off. they are making everyone in this position reapply and of those reapplications they are choosing 70. they are giving severance packages but when you are losing your job, the package is never as much as you think you are worth. he will be getting 8 weeks pay. he has been employed here for almost 14 years.

he told me yesterday that he felt like a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders. we have been talking for some time about this and what our options are, so we aren't totally distraught. he has been getting some feedback from others at different casinos. he is also looking at going into business with some guys that we know. that is something he is really looking at. hopefully, whatever he decides to do won't take too long. we aren't destitute but with only 1 income it may not take long if these lay offs continue. i am trying to get a medical coding job but since i have very little experience, it may take awhile.

fortunately, i do still have a dealing job, but who knows how long it will be before this trickles down to us? rumors are already spreading. that is the most interesting thing to me about this job. rumors spread like wildfire all the time. i have people from other casinos that ask me about a rumor they heard about our place. at times they seem to know more than we do. i think it is hilarious.

enough of the pity party already. whatever happens, happens. i have a lot to be thankful for and that is what i am concentrating on or else i will blow this whole thing way out of proportion.

i have met a lot of really interesting people in this job and some real jerks. so i do have a lot of stories i can amuse myself with.

i have met Whoopi Goldberg, Hank Williams Jr., Dick Cavett, that Van Dyke guy from Cheers, Joe Thismen, "Pac Man" Jones, Andre Aggassi, Federer, and numerous other athletes. too bad i am not a sports fan. i could probably remember their names.

i have also seen people lose VAST amounts of money on 1 roll of the dice and win vast amounts on 1 roll.

i used to think 500.00 was a lot of money. but now after handling so much in one night, 5000.00 isn't a lot. it's amazing what you get desensitized to. it used to shock and appall me at some of the things i have seen people do in public. now, not so much. i have seen people do things in public that should only be done in private and sometimes ALONE.

all in all i have had fun doing this but if it doesn't pan out i don't think i will miss it.