A Little Whine

The last week or so has had its own fun brand of stress. My unemployment money runs out this week, and according to the ESC website, I may or may not qualify for an extension that may or may not still exist. And I might need to submit a new claim, or I might need to just keep submitting weekly certifications. I love the ESC website. Really, I do. So, I’ve been trying very hard to get a real live person on the phone so I can get an answer about whether I qualify and what I need to do. Apparently, no live people actually work at the ESC. Their voicemail works quite well, though. I did finally get an operator one day and asked her to transfer me to a person who could set an appointment. Voicemail. Based on the complete lack of returned calls, my guess is that the folks there don’t answer their phones and just delete all messages at the end of the day. I realize they’re busy, but how long does it take to return a call?

Found out the other day that a contractor for the City of Charlotte managed to lose a bunch of data DVDs. Why do I care? Well, according to the City, my name and social security number were on the DVDs. Along with thousands of others. Because what I really need these days is for someone to use my info to open a bunch of accounts. Oh, wait – I can’t open any accounts these days, due to my employment (or lack thereof) status, so a thief probably couldn’t, either. Still. Just one more thing.

The folks at the kennel offered to bump me to full time if I can’t get an extension. Of course, full time to them is 30 hours or so, and no benefits. Even 40 hours at their pay rate wouldn’t cover the basic bills, and my savings account is dwindling pretty rapidly. Those mortgage people are so demanding... I hope my aunt and uncle are leaving soon, because at the rate I’m going, I’ll be moving into Ganna’s basement apartment before we know it. On the upside of that, Ganna and I could pool our limited resources and maybe afford A/C.

Poor Duncan isn’t handling the heat particularly well. It seems to be making him grumpy. Of course, his wonky rear end and the crazy puppy probably aren’t helping his mood, either. I did get a couple of fans, so things aren’t as totally miserable as they could be. Reyna has decided that the Best Spot Ever is directly in front of the box fan. Can’t say that I blame her, as I try to stay in front of it as much as possible, too. The last few days have been rough, especially with the nasty humidity. I’m trying to get everyone out for walks before 7am, but this morning convinced me we need to get out even earlier. By the time we came in from our 2.5 miles in the woods, I was completely soaked. I couldn’t have been any wetter if I’d taken a shower. One nice thing about the heat – it has really toned down Reyna’s crazies. I think even the voices in her head are too hot to do much of anything.