Dealing With Government Agencies

At 34 years old, I figure I've paid taxes for the last 18 years. I've invested alot of money into the government from which I've yet to see any return. Not that I've ever grumbled about my tax dollars, I think like most people, I just wrote them off as gone, hopefully to a worthy cause. Just another American citizen, paying into the system.

We have health insurance, but adding that maternity rider to it was prohibitively expensive, and didn't really cover much of the prenatal & delivery. Since we just assumed we were destined to be a single-child family, we decided not to add that extra expense to our family budget. So, now that we're pregnant, we needed to explore Medicaid to be able to afford prenatal care.

Oh, the joys of dealing with government workers. Am I just being hormonal and oversensitive, or are they all just the most sour people on the planet? Is everyone who comes to them for assistance dehumanized? How can they stand their jobs, since they truly seem to believe that they are FAR better than the rest of the unwashed masses?

I was talked to as if I have an IQ far below national average. I was belittled, even though I was following the directions I was given at the Health Department (another place to be treated like crap, IMHO), I was ignored. I was almost reduced to tears. And, essentially, I'm paying their salaries to treat me like this. How frustrating!

It's so hard for me to admit I need public assistance. This is a place I never thought I'd be. But I'm here, and I deserve to be treated like a human being, with respect and courtesy. Ad maybe, just maybe, a little sensitivity.

What do you think? Have you ever had the pleasure of going to the unemployment office, or the social security department? Have you noticed a distince lack of customer service chops? Is there anything we can do about this?

Great Food for All - Is It Worth It?

Great Food for All. Sounds hopeful, right? I thought so, too. An anonymous tipster commented on my Angel Food post, saying I should give this a try. Hey, I'm game for anything that'll save me some $$$...

We brought our first box home Saturday. Breaded chicken patties, pounds of fish, ham (both steaks and lunchmeat), beef chili, baked beans, onion rings, "angry" creamed corn, and even a "slightly imperfect" cherry pie. I unloaded the box with a big smile on my face. The food looks to be a much higher quality than AFM, Yay!

So far, Andrew's eaten the cherry pie and declared it "scrumptious". While I'm not wild about processed breaded chicken, these patties actually look appetizing. The fish is seasoned, but not breaded (score!). The items that can be frozen in flattened Ziploc-type bags are frozen that way, making it much easier to fit into the freezer (convenient). The only head-scratcher, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with 2 lbs of creamed corn, but surely we'll work something out.

I love that GFFA offers different types of food bundles. For example, next month they offer a breakfast box, a kid's box, a grill box, a dessert box, and even a Lent box! Much more of a selection than AFM. However, they don't offer any fresh foods. No produce, no shelf stable milk, no eggs. Which is a good thing, the foods GFFA offers in lieu of AFM's fresh food makes GFFA a better buy (both GFFA and AFM are $30 for budget box).

The only inconvenience with GFFA is that I have to drive about 30 miles into western Dayton to pay/pick up the food. But many times that's not such a problem, we can always combine that stop with a trip to the Middle Eastern store or Sam's Club. I'm also sad that GFFA is only offered in Ohio/western PA/Michigan/Ky/Mo, I can't wait for it to become national.

Oh, and GFFA accepts credit cards. Not that we charge food, but for those that do, it's more convenient than AFM's cash/check policy.

So I'm loving Great Food for All. This is what I wished Angel Food would be! This will be a huge help in keeping our food budget in check. Thanks to my anonymous friend for recommending GFFA!

Wildlife at the Dayton Mall

Never, never, never, never will we go there again.

Especially to their bathrooms.

We passed the family bathroom on the way to the Ladies Room. And there, smack in the center of the door, stood one of the biggest cockroaches I've ever seen.

No lie.

So I went to the management office and told a security guard, and she didn't even have the grace to sound surprised.

Gah!

Where Does the Money Go?

I'm almost done reading "Where Does the Money Go? Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis" by Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson. This book is a real wake-up call. Written in (early) 2008, it's full of relevant information concerning government spending and taxes. Well worth the read.

One of the book's focuses is the Social Security program, and the bleak future we can expect from it. When Social Security was installed back in the 30's, the average life expectancy was 62. Today it's 77. The baby boomers (the generation, born in the 50's, that's heading into retirement right now) are the biggest generation since the program started. And, since Social Security is pay-as-you-go, we're heading into some deep waters. Couple that with the fact that the Social Security pot is full of nothing but government IOU's (treasury bills), we can expect some tax reform and/or some benefits reform in the next few years.

But even better news is Medicare, which is paying out more than it's taking in TODAY, and the projections for the next 40 years are very scary. People are living longer, sure, but they're also living sicker. Healthcare costs are up, even for Uncle Sam.

The National Debt is another hot-button we really need to watch, especially in light of the last few weeks. Right now China owns a bunch of treasury bills, they're a country that's not exactly in our friendship circle, and they just watched the Wall Street debacle. If they decide to start pushing their money elsewhere, what we've seen the last few days will be mere hiccup. None of our presidents-to-be are discussing the national debt and how they plan to approach it, they're too busy yammering about healthcare and the economy (both important, but so is the money we owe).

Just some high(low)lights from the book. If you have a minute, pick it up at the library. Thankfully it's not a boring read, it's written by people from Public Agenda Online, so the language is very user-friendly. Not like you need anything else to worry about right now, but knowledge is power.

Cannie Shapiro Made Me Cry!

For the record, I'm not an overly emotional person. Though known to cry ay the occasional movie, books generally leave me unfazed. I enjoy them, but when I'm done with one I put it down and move on to the next one. Until this week.

I read Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner a few years ago. It's a great book, about plus-sized Cannie Shapiro and her larger-than-life life. She meets the man of her dreams, gets spurned, gets pregnant by him, hobnobs with a bunch of movie stars, comes home to Philly to meet the man of her dreams and have her baby. In this book, I cried out when I read the circumstances surrounding her delivery of her daughter, Joy. This book haunted me, and left me shaking.

Fast forward a few years. I just got done reading Certain Girls, which is the story of Cannie and Joy thirteen years later. Joy's going through the struggles that involve a coming-of-age girl, with the added bonus of the hearing aides she's so self-conscious about. When she discovers Cannie wrote a novel based loosely on her past, Joy decides she's going to finally learn the truth about her history for herself. Things finally fall together so that a happy ending looms....

And then the crushing blow. I won't give it away, in case you decide to pick up this book for yourself, but I couldn't contain my hurt and outrage, then sadness, when I finished this book. I thought Cannie was finaly going to get the happily-ever-after she's surely earned by now, but the author had other ideas.

For the record, I've read everything Weiner has put out (that I know of - since one of Cannie's jobs has been as a ghostwriter, I have to wonder if Weiner hasn't been dabbling in that arena, too). I love her writing. In Her Shoes was a good book (and a not-so-good movie), Goodnight Nobody was a spicy little thriller, and Little Earthquakes was a sweet, touching read that I truly enjoyed. The Guy Not Taken, well, I'm not too fond of the short story, and many of these stories seemed incomplete, which further drives me nuts.

Jay-Dub, I just wanted to say how much I love your work. And I hope there's another Cannie book in you. One where she will arise victorious, her prince will come, and she'll head off into the sunset, happily ever after. Please. Because the ending of Certain Girls is making me lose sleep!!!!

Does This Sam's Club Membership Make Me Look Bulky?

A recent post in Quest for Four Pillars discussed the bulk-buying experience, if it's economically sound, and the ins-and-outs of storing large amounts of consumables. This got me thinking about our Sam's Club membership and if it's really worth the money we pay for it every month.

As a small business, last year our Sam's Club membership cost us $35, probably the same it costs anyone else - the big perk with a small business membership is extended hours. And from a business perspective, we probably recoup about half of that amount just in buying thermal credit card paper there (it's ridiculously expensive at Staples!). But other than the tiny paper rolls, there's no business-related purchases made. I guess we just get the benefit of having the business absorb our membership fees.

If you've spent any time on this blog, you know I love to be frugal. It's a necessity for us, as we're not in the financial position to be otherwise. And it's also become a hobby, hopefully one that will last throughout our lives and be passed on to our son. So Sam's can be a little tricky for us, since we thrift shop for clothes, have no need/extra cash for new electronics/jewelry/furniture/etc, and we don't gernerally buy name brand consumables.

So what I try to concentrate on when we do make our bi-annual restocking trip to Sam's is staples. A 25 lb. sack of flour, a 12 lb. sack of rice, frozen fish fillets, giant rolls of plastic wrap, and the like. We also gravitate towards the clearance rack in the back of the store, sometimes they have great deals there - but these will mostly be used for gifting. I love to look through the book section, if only to jot down ideas of books to reserve at the library. And usually we allow for an impulse buy in the produce section, this seems to keep Andrew behaviorally on-track and doesn't leave him reeling from sugar shock on the 12-mile ride home.

And, on that train of thought, I'd like to stop and backtrack a moment. Just down the street from Sam's is our family's favorite restaurant, the Golden Corral. One thing I absolutely refuse to do is to walk in to Sam's Club hungry (unless it's Sample Saturday, when we encourage growly tummies - can you say "free lunch"?). So, if Yasar's along for the ride, we're stopping to eat first. I'm convinced the $25 we'll spend at a restaurant will be money saved on impulse shopping later.

In the past we've purchased electronics at Sam's, two different printer/scanner/fax's and a few paper shredders come to mind. I'm not impressed with their electronics. You're basically forced to buy one of two or three models, and you're probably not versed on the pros & cons of those models. Out of those four purchases listed above, only one worked as expected. We've learned an expensive lesson, and generally purchase off the internet now. We may not save money, but at least we get to look at others' reviews of the products before we hand over our hard-earned cash.

And that's my last point about Sam's. We bring cash. Period. Sam's can be a money-sucking void if you go in there without parameters. One of ours is that we have a limited amount to spend. And Sam's helps this effort, in a way, since they only take Mastercard and Discover, and debit cards. Since we only carry Visa, and our check card isn't worth the plastic it's made of, we don't really run into too many unplanned purchases.

So is Sam's worth it? In our family, definitely. When you weigh it out, it's one place where Yasar doesn't mind shopping, there's usually lots to look at, the food quality is great, and savings can be generous with a little forethought. I wish we had a Costco to compare it to, but they haven't reached our area yet. It's okay, the moral of this story is sometimes less options are better.

Unless you're talking electronics.

Angel Food Ministries Update

Okay, I left a voicemail for the AFM contact at Safe Harbor this afternoon, and just received a call back.

Angelia is going to be contacting AFM concerning the produce quality of this last delivery, and would be calling back when she had a response.

I also requested to keep the produce box on next month's order, so long as I could inspect it at pickup. That was agreeable. So all's well.

Looking forward to next month's delivery!

Angel Food Ministries - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Well, we went to pick up our Angel Food Ministries budget box and produce box today. Here's the lowdown...

The Good:

The food looks to be of good quality. Hawaiian Punch, Banquet crockpot dinner, lots of frozen meat. No broken eggs. A carton of shelf-stable milk, which is always a nice thing to keep around. Frozen broccoli and a peas-n-carrots mix. Blueberry muffin mix, even though it's the $0.50 version sold at Save A Lot. All around, I'm pleased with the selection and quality of the budget box.

The Bad:

Unfortunately, much of this food is the type that I wouldn't buy at the grocery store. It came with corn tortillas, canned spaghetti sauce, and something dubiously called "chicken fritters" (think fried clam strips, only it's chicken in there instead of clams...hmmmm, reserving judgement until I can taste them). So I'm left with the dilemma of deciding if it's cost-effective to try (and possibly fail with) new recipes. Hey, I'm up for the challenge. Chicken fritters on top of salad? Sounds like a plan....

The Ugly:

I'm really disappointed in the produce box. Of the 4 oranges received, 2 were in an advanced state of moulder. Ditto with 3 of the 6 ears of corn. And there was a putrifying carrot in the sack of carrots. Also, there's a tiny watermelon that looks suspectly too green to enjoy, and the same with the pineapple. My guess is that, once all the waste was tallied, I probably only broke even on the cost of AFM versus Meijer.

Conclusion:

While this service has it's flaws, I'd certainly purchase AFM again, and have already signed up for next month's delivery. However, I'm probably going to call the local AFM site and request the money returned for next month's produce pack.

Oh, and BTW, I was interviewed by the local news affiliate outside the pickup. I'm sure they were digging me dressed in my scrubs (I'd gone there straight from the nursing home) and driving my pizza-logo festooned car. Thet'll make for a terrific public interest story! Ack!

Do I Heart Dyson? A Review of the Dyson DC07 Animal Vacuum Cleaner

It all started last summer. My husband's heart was stolen by this lonely, charming, fluffy, oh-so-furry bundle of kitty-happiness that snuck into our store and made himself right at home. As hard as it was to part from him, Tiger had to spend a few weeks at the animal shelter to give his rightful owners a fair shot at redemption….and also to give us a little room to plan.

After a week of avidly watching Petfinder to make sure Tiger (they dubbed him “Stewie”, isn’t that the stupidest name?!?) was still cooling his heels, it became obvious that he would be making a place in our home, and I needed to make some accommodations. I am horribly allergic to almost every known allergen on the planet…but most especially to cats. So, after refilling my prescription, I started doing some research on different Hepa Vacuums – with my intended target being the Dyson. The reviews online and in Consumer Reports are mixed for the Dyson Company. Many people seemed put-off by the high price tag, which was absolute gobblety-gook. At $550, it is a major purchase for most. But any other “reputable” vacuum cleaner plays in the same ballpark. And I desperately needed some help with the up-and-coming cat hair & dander disaster. So I bit the bullet and traded in my Kohl’s cash for a Dyson DC07.

What I adore about my Dyson:

• I really dig the look. It’s very “now”, funky-jazzy-purple and bristling with attachments. My husband was so thrilled with the look and gadgetry that he couldn’t wait to take it for a spin (my husband….vacuuming? That alone was worth the $550!)
• The clear canister offers you a deep sense of accomplishment. There’s something so darn satisfying, seeing that container fill with all the detritus from your carpets.
• Ohhh, baby, the suction. No lie, we built this home 2 ½ years ago. I’ve been sweeping with my Kenmore canister since then. After the Dyson’s maiden voyage, you could have stuffed a decent-sized throw pillow with the carpet fibers in the canister. My husband commented that, after a few rounds with Dyson, we may not have to pay to install hardwood floors.
• The unbelievable amount of reach you get with the hose/wand thingy. It goes all the way from ground floor to the top of the stairs – and you’re not dragging the whole vacuum behind you.
• My kid pushed it down a flight of stairs, and it still works!
  

What I’d change about it:

• I’m not fond of the hose/wand thingy. I know, I know, it’s what others (and myself, see above) raved about, but I feel like you almost have to have been hooked on Transformers as a child to truly “get” this.
• I agree with the naysayers on the excessive number of attachments. There are three of them that do not connect to the vacuum itself, along with a spray and a powder-substance, all of which I have to store in the pantry. Is there a way to reduce the number of attachments, or to make them contained on the vacuum itself?
• This isn’t a very friendly machine when it comes to flat surfaces. Vacuuming the kitchen linoleum isn’t as easy as the Kenmore canister, 1) because the wand is awkward and 2) because the bare floor attachment doesn’t pick up debris well.

All in all, I’m hooked on my vacuum. Vacuuming the house has gone from a ho-hum chore to an anticipated event! Even my 4-year old can’t wait to empty the canister for me, and is even trying his hand at pushing it around. Despite some minor complaints, I still think they should make a national holiday, complete with hot dogs and fireworks and toddlers smeared with cotton candy, for the day that Dyson crossed the pond.

4.5 stars, guys. You swept me off my feet!