This should probably be a series, there are so many adventures to being poor. My latest ones, this week, are extra special, not that they all aren't, but it's been a particularly wicked winter.
And winter in Vermont this year has been clinging on hard, with temperatures staying in the 30s and 40s all through April. Today we’re having a heat wave and it’s up to 52 in late afternoon. Yesterday it was spitting snow. In Dogpatch, we’ve been keeping the thermostat at - 52! (it’s funny how 52 outside seems warm but inside feels cold) – because my extra propane funds (from the state and a friend) ran out long ago.
Here’s what I found out this week – I can’t order more propane unless I order 100 gallons. A mere 50 gallons ($180, or all I could afford after paying for the new control board to replace the new glitchy control board that had a nervous breakdown after I ran out of propane twice because my propane company believes that while they may insist upon cash on delivery, they are not required to deliver upon delivery of cash (advance payment is really what they mean now by cash on delivery)) is beneath them. So I can just live without heat and hot water and cooking fuel until I save up enough pennies to equal $360. Except, maybe because it was Easter, they would, this one time only, deliver that paltry $180 worth, maybe in light of the fact that they soaked me the equivalent of $600 an hour for service calls on the glitchy control board they provided and installed.
And then, today my vet’s office manager told me I couldn’t give them post-dated checks for frivolous stuff like shots for the 14-year-old dogs and 11-year-old cat. I found this out after not bringing my ailing dog and cat in until it was time for their shots (because – you know, I can’t afford frivolous vet visits), and then, upon being told that, when I threw a fit about the cat’s scary bald patches on his stomach and the dog’s not eating and long-term diarrhea, being allowed to see the vet and guess what?!? My dog has cancer!!! But not to worry, because that I can write post-dated checks for since it's emergency treatment. I wonder if euthanasia is considered frivolous wellness, because if it is... Oh, well. It’s not like I can pay the mortgage this month anyway, because I could only afford the $180 worth of propane by not paying it, and I had to pay for the cat in full. So – I take my first step towards homelessness, and petlessness. Some day I may look back on this and think my life was pretty good right now. It’s all relative.
Here’s the punch line. I’ve been a good customer of the propane company for 23 years, and the vet for 18. These days, when you’re out, you’re out. There's a lesson here, not that it does me any good now.
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just phyllis for now
Margaret Feike
Galen Gregory
John A Bayerl
James M. Emmerling
Lunchlady 2
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Comments
"when you’re out, you’re out"
That's the distilled essence of poverty right there. The lower you are on the socio-economic ladder, the harder everything is, and of course, that's how those higher up the ladder like it. There is an aggressive form of contempt directed at those with little money which is reflected in all sorts of insults and embarassments and hoops one is forced to jump through. It's something more and more of us are going to be learning as this country slides toward second-rate-nation status.
(by Jimmie Cox)
"Once I lived the life of a millionaire,
Spent all my money, I just did not care.
Took all my friends out for a good time,
Bought bootleg whisky, champagne and wine.
Then I began to fall so low,
Lost all my good friends, I did not have nowhere to go.
I get my hands on a dollar again,
I'm gonna hang on to it till that eagle grins.
'Cause no, no, nobody knows you
When you're down and out.
In your pocket, not one penny,
And as for friends, you don't have any.
When you finally get back up on your feet again,
Everybody wants to be your old long-lost friend.
Said it's mighty strange, without a doubt,
Nobody knows you when you're down and out."
Vampires.
Damn, I am just feeling terrible for Mumbletypeg.
Poor seems to be the latest in thing. Why, oh why, can't I sit this fad out? Mumbletypeg, I am sorry, truly. Maybe we need to marshall our forces--you come spend winter at our house in Phoenix, we'll summer in Vermont. That's a joke, I think.
Any chance you can find a humane vet nearby? There's a husband/wife team in our community who care more about the animals than the money. Were I Catholic I'd nominate them for sainthood.
Those in danger of losing their homes because of not being able to pay the mortgage will, of necessity, need to consider renting out part of that home. Those who haven't a home will consider a part of a home better than being on the street and sleeping under a bridge. Those who say, "Oh I could never share my home" will soon be singing a new tune when the bankers are singing "pay up or you're out!"
Those who prepare for this now will do better than those who wait. People can no longer assume that "something will show up" when they find themselves out of work or "we'll get by, somehow" when the sheriff shows up with eviction papers. The American Dream is now a nightmare; face that and you may survive - ignore it at your peril.
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~hug~
Rated!
With great respect, I think that you are in error here. There IS a "lesson" here - a great one. It has always been the case that one could "do everything right" and still have "everything turn out wrong". Being "sorry" about "the whole situation" and "hoping that spring brings better things" is NOT a solution that is, in a failing economy, any more reliable than "hoping" that one wins a major lottery. It just does not get the pets the care they require and does not ensure a roof over one's head.
It cannot be said enough that anyone who finds them-self in this position is in dire straits indeed. Straits that may not be within the possibility of being resolved. It is so unfortunate that the system takes little responsibility for the harm it causes and citizens also tend to blame the ones who get burned by the system as being more at fault than they are victims of a broken system.
The "lesson" here is for those who think "it can't happen to me". It says, give some serious thought to what you'll need to do if/when it "happens to you". And do that thinking well in advance of it appearing likely or even possible. As far, far too many people are discovering, if you wait until the un-payable mortgage payment is past due, your options are severely limited. You cannot wait until you get hit by a failing economy. You MUST be prepared in advance.
If one is presently employed one can usually arrange a fairly small loan from the bank in order to put up a partition wall between the living room and the dining room and then install doors on each. One can clean up the basement and prepare to move down there to live while renting out one's bedroom and the two rooms created by that partition. Even at only $75 per week per room one can bring in $225 per week - a little more than $900 per month. Not a fortune to be sure but perhaps enough to cover most of the mortgage payments.
Living in the basement of you own home is not what you had in mind when you bought that home. But neither is losing that home to the bank and having no home at all. Of the two options which one is better?
One can join or start up a grocery co-op so as to get groceries - and pet food - at near wholesale prices. One can purchase a couple of infrared heating units that operate at a fraction of the cost of other forms of home heating. This is NOT theory. I have done every one of these things.
However if one persists in looking at the likelihood of it "happening to me" as an impossibility, then when one becomes another of the millions of folks who are already suffering in this recession/depression, one is caught short and cannot raise the funds that allow one to prepare to survive it. You can't go broke faster than when you insist on maintaining a middle class style of living on a poverty level income.
As with everything else in life, preparedness is the key to survival. Not "I'm so sorry it's happening to you" and not "hope" for things to "get better in the spring". Those things and $1.25 will get you a cup of coffee. Nothing more; and you won't even get that without the $1.25.
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Chicago Guy - roof leaks - omg. I had those this winter and they scare me so much I can't think about them. I'd rather face zombies than roof leaks.
Matt - you know, for a good cake (I like Battenburg) and an Uzi, I probably would. Except - I think I'd have to register as a Republican, so maybe not. The hair fascinates me but I don't like his ties. (Sob) I thought my vet was the humane vet.
skypixie - I need to digest your latest comment before I reply.
Margaret - thank you. Spring does bring the possibility of going outside to warm up! And chives.
Actually I wasn't singing my song to you. You are already a victim. I was trying to reach others who, while not yet also victims, ought to seriously think that it COULD INDEED "happen to them" and to caution them to be as prepared as possible to deal with it so as to avoid being as victimized as you appear to be.
On the other hand, while you seem to think that your "little piece of Dogpatch" would hold no interest for prospective roomies, you might be surprised how many people are looking for just that very thing - especially pensioners whose modest income doesn't go far in dealing with the expenses of "city living" and who have personal reasons to want out of the urban lifestyle.
Depending on the size and zoning of your property you may be able to rent camping spaces or even "rent-the-land-&-build-your-own-get-away-cottage" lots. None of this may be of any help to you whatsoever since once you are delinquent on a mortgage payment your options become so limited that there is little room to do any of those things that you might have been able to do at an earlier date. I dearly wish that I could offer a way our of your dilemma but I'd be lying through my teeth if I said that. Once you're fallen off the cliff it is too late to build the fence that would have prevented that fall.
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Rodney - I am chagrined that both trig and you have quoted a song I do not know, but should. I'm googling it forthwith.
Candace - when the apocalypse comes, if it doesn't take out my propane company, I'm going to do it myself. But first, I think I need to google "molotov cocktail."
Laurel - there are so many Walter White solutions to things I wish I could do!
The only good news I can tell you is that at 14 and 11 your pets are in low risk group for communicable diseases and, unless they are outside pets, or they are boarded frequently, they don't need their shots any longer (except for the ones that are required by law -- rabies, in most states).
Also, though vets don't TELL you this, the guidelines for vaccinations have changed. New recommendations are every three years for core vaccines and they've stopped recommending some vaccines altogether. https://secure.aahanet.org/eweb/dynamicpage.aspx?site=resources&webcode=CanineVaccineGuidelines
I've gone to three years for my pets under the age of 10 (core vaccines only), and only rabies for my senior pets. My 14-year-old Shepherd mix has cancer as well, tumors on his chest and chin. I've decided not to treat. He was abused as a pup and is terrified of strangers, but still spry and active and happy to spend most of his day following me around. He's OLD, especially for a large dog! What's to be gained from subjecting him to the stress of being manhandled by strangers and recovering in a clinic? I can't say if your dog is in the same position as mine -- I'm just saying you shouldn't feel guilty if your decision is not to treat the cancer. The decision not to treat isn't always about money. It's more about quality of life.
Your winter and spring sound like hell. I lived in Central New York for a while and couldn't afford the winters at all. Sure wish I could give you something besides well wishes and feeling your pain, but I cannot, just do not have it myself. I'm glad you have daffodils.