I started my part time job back at the end of June. I TOLD Social Security about it since I’m receiving SSI benefits for being blind. Well the other day I got that infamous letter [...]]]>

Well OK…they didn’t break it but OH MY GOSH did they stress me enough to give me liquid booty!

I started my part time job back at the end of June. I TOLD Social Security about it since I’m receiving SSI benefits for being blind. Well the other day I got that infamous letter in the mail…

“You have an appointment.” WTF? I didn’t say I wanted an appointment.

Reading further…

“In reviewing your income…” Oh it can only go to hell from here right?

So I went to my appointment.

It was scheduled for me at 1:30 this afternoon. I got there at 1:15. My worker was over 10 minutes late getting to me. Had I been late they would have found an excuse to say I missed the appointment and stopped my check.

So I get in there and everythings fine. It was fine up until the point where he starts talking bout my income. I was informed to keep full benefits i can only make $85 a month from working. Also, I found out that they base their decisions on what I get each month from them on my GROSS income…before taxes.

So needless to say I got my benefits cut today. Basically in their opinion, if you get money from them you can only make $580 a month (in California.) They will cut your check to make it to where even with working that’s all you make. HOW is a person supposed to live on that? We’re not alowed food stamps out here because California adds $200 in cash aid to the SSI checks. We can’t get on housing because they never open the damn list. if I wasn’t renting a room from a family member I’d be on the street!

Needless to say again that this caused a lot of stress and tears for me. I am a person that doesn’t cry easily and I walked out of that office in tears! It was probably better though considering my next emotion was anger and though I outweighed that security guard, I don’t think that would have ended well.

So what do I do from here? I move on and forward. I’m continuing with school and working my job. I’m taking odd jobs on the side to make extra money and will be taking all the extra hours I can at work. If I ever have the opportunity to get close to full time I’m taking it.

You will certainly hear more from me on this topic. But in the meantime watch out here for some really cool reviews in the coming days.

So when a bit of it started to unfold [...]]]> I have had a realy hectic weekend. There has been big family drama and I’m just not equipped to handle such things. I hate drama! Seriously, I just cannot stand it. I don’t want to be a part of it and I don’t want it around me.

So when a bit of it started to unfold this weekend I retreated to my side of the house and got to organizing for the start of school tomorrow.

Long story short, one person is irritated with another because they feel as though the other is talking crap about them and not being “a grown up.” Other person is irritated with the one person because he acts as though he is “better than everyone else.” It’s been going on for years but things finally came to a head yesterday when one wasn’t invited to the other’s son’s baby shower. One wasn’t invited even though it was a “family gathering.”

As I said before I am just not equipped to handle this kind of nonsense. I shut down and close everything out. Why deal with BS when you don’t have to? It’s not like I can fix the situation. My days of “fixing” issues between people is LONG gone. I know it never works and always makes more drama than there was to begin with.

So here is my question for you

How do you handle family drama without causing more?

This was entertaining to say the least! Then [...]]]>

Today was a lazy Saturday with the family. I didn’t have to work today so I got a lot of stuff done around the house. Mom got home around noon and we headed to the farmers market in Buena Park for a couple hours.

This was entertaining to say the least! Then again, it usually is  entertaining or an adventure when i go out. I stopped at one booth that had different produce. I asked if they had any peaches. The man looks at me quizzically.

“I don’t see very well and was wondering if you had any peaches.” I said.

“You don’t see what?” The man asked

“No, I mean I have a vision problem.”

“Oh well OK they’re over here.” he then points to the other side of the table from where I’m standing.

“Can you help me pick the freshest ones, I’m not sure how to pick out a good fruit.” I informed him.

“Oh it’s easy to see which one is ripe.”

*FACEPALM*

So I decided to head to a different table. I guess his partner overheard the whole situation and told the guy what I was asking and why because he came up to me and apologized. I wasn’t offended. I thought it was funny actually. I got my peaches as well as some other fruits and veggies then went on my merry way.

It is so interesting to me to see how different people understand a visual impairment. Many people just don’t understand that it’s not “all or nothing” when it comes to being legally blind. You can have partial sight. Heck, some of those who are legally blind can even drive if they have enough vision to use the right corrective lenses.

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly except for the bit of a sunburn I came away with. I purchased some really good hummus with pita chips, some all natural pom juice, the above mentioned peaches and some strawberries.

I’ll be doing another post about shopping at the farmers market on a budget later.

Also if you ever have a question about blindness or how I do things with less sight please don’t hesitate to ask! Comments and email are always welcome.

Question – What are some of your random farmers market experiences.

This week has been a really hectic week. I have been running around with my mom helping her get things in order to purchase a car. Luckily the only reason we had [...]]]> There’s no shout out this week but keep your ears and eyes open to see what i have in store for the coming weeks!

This week has been a really hectic week. I have been running around with my mom helping her get things in order to purchase a car. Luckily the only reason we had to go to an actual car dealership was to test drive the cars she was looking at.

The salesboy (he had to be about 20.) made me laugh though. He sat there and admitted that he had gotten every ticket in the book. This was all while he was putting his seatbelt on halfway through the test drive! At that point I asked him who’s ticket it would be if we got pulled over during the test drive because he hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt. He didn’t know.  I told him he could have it so that he would have “every ticket in the book” plus an extra for good measure.

I also got my grades back on my Sociology class. I did manage to get a C. I am truly unamused by this. The little perfectionist in my head is kicking me screaming that she wants out. Then there’s the little slacker in there jumping for joy that i managed a C. It’s a constant fight between those 2. I plan to let ther perfectionist prevail next semester. She will! She has to!

Some of you may think “Well a C is passing, it’s a decent grade.” But really it isn’t. If I want to get into the school i want when I’m done with all of this city college level work I must start pulling B’s and A’s not C’s!

A night in with the girls last night and a Lughnasadh ritual tonight will complete my lovely week. Overall it was a pretty good one. Next week should be even better!