What a day.

This morning at work I had someone yell at me for 35 minutes because I tried to help them.  Later I held a woman's hand for an hour while she battled against the voices in her head that were telling her to kill herself.  While I deal with unhappy family members and psychotic patients on a regular basis, today was a special kind of challenge.

I still feel somewhat on edge about the whole thing, but when I finally got to sit down and relax, I was heartened that I see so much in the way of visual support throughout my Facebook feed. 

For those who don't know yet, this symbol represents marriage equality, and the reason it's such a big deal right now is that the Supreme Court is deciding whether families like mine will be legitimate in the eyes of the California (by repealing Prop 8) and the Federal Government (by repealing DOMA).  These two historic marriage equality cases are being heard today and tomorrow, and though they will not actually reach a ruling until summer, but this is big. 

While the Wife and I are legally married where we live, we are not a legitimate family in the eyes of the Federal Government.  We think twice about going on vacation and have had to hire a lawyer to ensure that we have visitation rights in the hospital for each other or Mozart. We also have drawn up papers to ensure that the Wife will get custody of Mozart should I die.  We have a supportive family, and I wouldn't foresee any problems in this area, but better safe than sorry.  There are some areas, though, that we cannot fix by going to a lawyer. The organization I work for does not acknowledge my family, and while I can get benefits for Mozart, I cannot do so for my wife. We could not benefit from veterans benefits that I should have been able to use that would have helped us tremendously in buying and refinancing our house.  If either of us died before the other, the survivor could not collect Social Security that any heterosexelly-married widow would receive. 

I could go on and on and on about the 1138 federal marriage rights that the Wife and I don't have in the eyes of our government even thought we are legally married in our state.  Here is a link to a list of just 35 of those rights.  It's something to ponder if you haven't already. 

Staying positive in the money sink.

I guess that title isn't very positive.  I'd like to just stay positive with the bumps, but right now it feels like this house is just one big money sink.  Every year we debate about which repairs we may or may not be able to make.  Every year we go with the one(s) that are most pressing.  This year that was, clearly, the roof.  It should have been the roof, the water heater, and insulation, but hey, we got one of them done.  Along with another bill that needs to be paid each month.  And a new-to-me car, which we sorely needed, but also - another bill.  Yesterday we got the oil bill.  Before I tell you how much the bill was, I want you to know that we keep our house at 57 degrees.  That is, 57 degrees when we are home and awake.  55 degrees when we are asleep.  And 50 degrees when we go to work or will be away for more than a couple hours.  We wear a lot of sweaters around here.  We have the 3rd floor, the guest room, and the dressing room (can you say brrr?) closed off so that no heat needlessly escapes into unoccupied areas.  We try to keep active when we are home so the chill doesn't set in.  We keep blankets and extra sweaters on hand when we have guests. So with all of that, you'd think we'd be saving bucket-loads of money on our heating bill, right?

$907.81  That's right, for one month of heat - if you can call it that, cuz right now, and I sit here my nose is cold...

So you've heard about the recent cuts to the phone, etc, but with those oil prices and our paper-thin walls...  I am looking into part-time work.  Scoring tests, data analysis, other things that I can do from home or have a very flexible schedule/availability.  One application out already.  I'm hopeful.

What I want to know is how on earth are other people making it?  We may have a money-sink for a house, but lots of people do.  And we are both gainfully employed.  Securely in the middle class, but in months like this (it's gonna be a long one, I can tell), it sure doesn't feel like it.

I'll try a make a more uplifting post tomorrow or later on.

Day One

We are now on Measured Service for our phone.  No more calls from the house line.  No more caller ID.  No more voicemail.  No more unlisted number. 

And so far the world has not collapsed!!  AND, apparently, it didn't effect the internet! I watched a short clip on Hulu to test it out, but it worked just fine, so I'm seeing that as an awesome sign!  The real test will be Saturday when we Skype with Nana and Grandad. 

That's all for now folks.  I'm exhausted after and early morning wake-up call by Mozart (really, before 5am is a bit much) followed by much shoveling of snow.  Will now go partake in mindless Facebooking and Hulu-watching.

Snip, snip, says the budget.

So, I called and cancelled my monthly order for Young Living (effective immediately).  And I went to the Y and cancelled our  membership (effective February 1st).  I also cancelled our package for the landline phone service, but kept a measured service - pay per call, no long distance, but can receive calls, no voicemail, caller ID, etc - and what may be a slower internet (effective on Wednesday).  Add that to the recent cuts we made to our cell phone bill and we are now saving about $170/mo, which will certainly give us a little more breathing room!  After a couple months at this, we'll see whether we need to pull the plug completely on the landline and internet.  Really hoping we can make this work.

In other news, have I mentioned that Mozart's favorite body part is the elbow?  Well, it is.  He likes very much to kiss elbows, while saying "Tiss, bebbo".  So flippin' cute.  Tonight I went shopping in the cellar* and came back with the makings for mac'n'cheese with hot dogs and dilly beans.  He was fascinated that the pasta was called elbow pasta (how could I not point that out?!).  So tonight for dinner, in Mozart world, we had "Bebbos", "Dot Dogs", and "Bean Beans".  All of which he enjoyed immensely, especially with the copious amounts of ketchup a.k.a. "Sitsup".  Just love this kid.

The big jump...

Tonight we went to the Verizon store to see about options for a hotspot rather than landline + DSL.  We almost got upgrades (with two-year contract) and a Smart Phone for me (with a hotspot built in), but then realized the Wife is still under contract for her hotspot she uses at the market for another year and a half.  So we didn't do it.

Now, tomorrow, I need to call Verizon and take the jump into the deep end.  Just cut off the landline and internet.  We will use her hotspot, with much curtailed internet usage, and hope for the best (I have no idea if Skype will work, and if it doesn't, it would be a huge loss for Mozart and the Grandparents). I will set the landline to be cut off for, probably, the 21st.  That should give us enough time to get our photos on Shutterfly, get a good long queue in Netflix, clean up our email accounts, and switch our contact number on all the utilities.  And maybe watch an episode of Bones or Castle or the like...

I am not looking forward to this jump.  I feel much like I am being pushed.  But we have to in order to cut back on expenses.  I guess that's the economy these days.  I was talking with other friends, in similar financial situations, and while we are all gainfully employed, the money just doesn't go as far as it used to.  What used to be a comfortable middle class is still middle class, and still comfortable for the most part, but also very thoughtful about where each penny goes.  I am very grateful to be in the middle class, and not truly struggling, but there are sacrifices to be made.

P.S. the pie crust was a big fail, so no recipe to be posted.

P.P.S. my mom ( Nana) does make an excellent crust that is mixed and pressed right into the pan. I'm looking for one that can be rolled out... I think I'll stick to Mom's for now.

Comcast, Verizon and other Evil Empires

I don't talk about work here, and I'm not going to start now except to say that I had to interact with these no good, very bad, evil, awful entities today.  Why is it so hard for Comcast to give a simple list of various cable packages with corresponding prices?  I work with people who are on a *very* limited budget.  And when someone has less than $60/month flex money they cannot afford a cable plan that is $79.99/month that raises to $99.99 after six months and $107 after a year.  They tell me that is the absolute smallest package they have that consists of anything over the very basic local channels.  Now, I *know* that there are numerous other, much smaller, packages because I have other clients who have them.  I just don't know which ones have what channels.  That was the first conversation.  And the second.  In the third conversation the guy says that he's got a package, that yes, has the channel my client wants, plus a whole gamut of other channels, and it will be $39.99/month.  Sounds good, right?  Yeah, well, I'm smarter than that, so I ask, is this a standing price, or a promotion?  Just as I thought.  A promotional "deal" that expires in six months and then the price goes up to $65.99.    And when I say that, if he remembers, the budget is limited and, no we can't be keeping track of when the prices will go through the roof, he says that is all there is to offer and because they are the only cable provider for the area, we'll just have to figure out a way to take their offer.  Thanks.  I'll take that into consideration. Click.

I was able to get a list, finally, from a coworker who has an in with Comcast.  There is, in fact, the basic package - just the local channels - for $8.56.  The next level up is expanded with about 15 more channels for $22.19.  And then, yes, there is a package, with the requested channel, and a fair amount of other channels, for $39.99. Flat out.  No tricks.

And then I had to call Verizon.  And again.  The empire rules all.  Prices rise for this package or that package.  Extra charges.  The less expensive plan is no longer available.  Only two available phones that do not require ultra-expensive plan.  I will give it to them that, as far as I can tell, they are not trying to bamboozle me into something without the necessary information that's needed to make a decision.

By the end of the day I had a wicked headache.  I went to buy a lottery ticket.  It's 90 million tonight.  If I win I will make my own cable and wireless companies.  Both will have affordable plans that are clear cut and have options for everyone without having to sign away their firstborn child's soul to the devil.  So wish me luck on that.  We'll all be better off.