Updates

So, finally got hold of a real live person this morning. Not someone at the local ESC office – they’ve never bothered to return any of my calls. This week, I’ve been calling a benefits hotline. Couldn’t get through at all yesterday, but managed it this morning. After sitting on hold for 20 minutes (literally), an actual person answered. I almost hung up, I was so surprised (flashbacks of trying to register for classes at State and accidentally hanging up on the system because I was so used to a busy signal, my brain didn’t process the system pick-up fast enough to stop my finger on the disconnect button).

I do qualify for the Extended Benefits program, and I’m to keep submitting the weekly claim as usual (after all the unanswered and unreturned phone calls, it took the guy lass than a minute to reset my claim to receive EB money). The downside is that the state can choose to discontinue to the EB program at any time, without warning – basically, they decide the unemployment rate has gone low enough and they turn off the benefits – because the rest of us will magically find jobs, right? The program that brought the benefits out to 99 weeks is currently on hold. If I’d run out of regular benefits before May 22, I’d qualify for whats left of the original extension, but I was just a few weeks too late for that. Congress may vote to extend those dates, but who knows if or when that might happen. At this point, I’ll continue getting money unless the state chooses to cancel. Let’s hope they don’t cancel, or that Congress approves the date extension first. Because, after all, even the pups and kitties need a roof and kibble.

Still working with the student loan folks to try and get a forbearance approved. Finally got someone at the mortgage company to tell me I can apply for a loan modification. Of course, I have to have an income to be approved, so we’ll see what happens with that…

Speaking of the pups and their kibble…I just finished cutting up an 8 year old turkey so I could get the silly thing in the crock pot. I’m going to have to do two sessions, as it is just a bit too large. The pups will be able to enjoy it for at least a few days. Turkeys come with odd things inside. I never knew that packets of gravy and soup were natural parts of the bird… As an experiment, I gave the pups raw chicken legs a few days ago (don’t worry, raw chicken bones don’t have the shattering problem that cooked bones do). I figured Reyna would love the idea of raw chicken, and that Mr. Picky Duncan would boycott the meal. Boy, was I wrong. Duncan was all over those chicken legs, while Reyna tried to figure out how to eat the rest of her meal without actually touching the leg. I have to admit to being surprised.

A bit of good news – Onyx should be going to his new home this coming weekend. The family met him this past Saturday and fell in love. I think everyone here will be very happy when Onyx is gone. Poor Duncan’s had a lot of trouble this time around – a lot of jealousy and general annoyance. I’ll be happy to only have my well-behaved pups in the house. Onyx has yet to figure out that coming when I call is a good thing, but running away from me is really, really not.

Oh, and in answer to the question - I assume my A/C still works, its just not on because I can't afford the huge jump in the power bill.