Oh sweetie I really wish I had something to say but honestly I’m at a loss. I always screw up those (intentially) “choose from the following options” thingys and sooner or later they put a “person” on the phone to tell me how to do it next time. Not that it works all the time but… Hey I try. (even if I do screw it up on purpous) that’s all that counts right!.LOL!
I know Kelly. I am negative thinker. I think I inherited it from my dad. He is a big worrier and I think I learned it from him. I try not to fall into it but when I stressed or frustrated I fall right back into it. I am grateful for the safety net I have (even though my parents don’t make me feel very good about it) - I know it could be worse. It is just the increase of the negative views in the country towards people who are unemployed or on Food Stamps and having to be on them makes me feel even worse.
I am sure going to the Food Stamps office tomorrow will make me feel like I have a million dollars because there are really some very down and out follks there (but also some people who seem like have money and don’t need food stamps - as evidence by the brand new cars in the parking lot)
It is hard not to acknowlege all the bad luck because that is honestly all I have had in the last few years. Very few good things have happened to me. Getting diagnosed with D was the worst esp. in the midst of having no money or health insurance to help me with it and already being stressed out.
thanks for the positive thoughts. Did you find that more things came your way easier when you thought more positive? So far, I haven’t noticed it helping when I tried it in the past. Everytime I think things are going good for me and getting better and I start feeling more happy and positive - that is when bam! something bad happens and it usually isn’t something small either - something of a bigger obstacle. Such is how my life tends to go. :0
Hehe. If they HAD a hold system, I wouldn’t screw up it - I am so used to sitting on those things - that is what speaker phone is for. 
Just tested my blood sugar !
CRAP its 161 - that;s high for me plus I am just about to eat dinner - I had a few Trader joes cat cookies though - they are small though. under 10 carbs. Oh, wait I forgot to wash my hands! See, what stress does to us. 
LOL! I’ve done that (not washing my hands b/f I test then freaked out) too many times. My g-daughter (prefectly healthy) spilled some tea in the floor about a week ago and my daughter was testing her 3 kids for high bs’s (the tea was made out of sugar) She uses their toes b/c their youngness anyway my g-daughter tested 408 on her bs. We finally (after going nuts at 1st) figured out that she had stepped in the tea and that’s why she had such a high reading. We tested another toe. and she was 94. Oh well so is life around here…LOL!
I’ve been lurking since before you changed your nick so I looked at your linkedin.
What if you took food pantry stuff and traded with someone who isn’t vegan for items you prefer?
I don’t know what food pantries give out besides peanut butter.
Thanks Frances,
I would think potatoes and other processed foods like pasta and high carb breads and rice. Stuff we usually can’t eat… If they have beans I will take them. But isnt it usually stuff that is canned like soups - nothing fresh I would assume. I haven’t been to one before so I dont know. I don’t even know if there are rules or qualifications.
Well, hopefully I will be able to get things straightened out tomorrow and I won’t have to worry about the food pantry.
Sorry to hear of your bureaucratic nightmare. Feeling powerless makes the stress all the worse. If going to their office doesn’t get results, & I hope it does, try contacting your local TV news. They love human interest David & Goliath stories. Hope your caseworker gets back with you. Keep us posted.
Hugs, sweetie.
Thank you brucifer (cute name btw). I am trying too. Yes, I know - I am a negative thinker. Kelly already called me on that one! It is sort of learned behavior from my dad. They need to have a class called “how to unlearn the bad habits your parents taught you” - that class would be for me.
When things are going well, I am more positive and i don’t really worry - bad and I swing right back into defeatist thinking. Like i said, my dad was always a huge worrier and i know it rubbed off on me.
Kimkat: I tend to be a negative thinker too, my healer friend gave me this, I have to say it out loud every day and it does help.
I charge my mind with releasing all negative blockages
I love myself
I like myself
I accept myself
I am love and light
I am calm
I am safe
I am centred
And I heavenly breathe in the positive now
And I heavenly release all negativity
That is not mine and all that is mine
And I heavenly release the negative past
And heavenly increase my own divine
I am positive, I believe in myself and I can do this.
You know that you can apply for unemployment online, right? At least here in California you no longer need to go into the office at all (and no, you can’t get them on the phone at all).
Hi Zoe,
Yes, that is what I did. We have hear too. But you only do that at the beginning when you are first applying - when you need to reapply (which is what I needed to do) - you either can be eligable to do through an automated phone system or in person by “appointment” - which I put in quotes because it is a total joke (I found out today - no I never needed one - grrr! yeah, this is why it says on my paper work “You MUST have an appointment” - big confusing lie! ) When I was in WI, I got benefits for a while and I never went into an office - I don’t even think they have them. Illinois is a bit different. Although, I will say that my benefits have always been exactly on time - in WI I often had to call because I never got the benefits - it took a while for it work properly. But at least, they have a good phone system there - Here it is non-existant…
Anyhow, to make a long story longer, the reason why I had such a pain in the butt problems was that they moved my case to another locations (well, NONE of the locations answer the phone but at least I knew where to go for original one). I got up super early and went to my original location where I was first interviewed for approval. There is a sign on the door (which wasn’t there before) “If you don’t have any appointment, get a number from the guard and wait for your number to be called.” Cool! Lots of people had cards and lots people got there before me because they apparently open at 8am and not 8:30 like their voice message says.
So, I sit on the hard chairs and wait 2 1/2 hours to be called to the desk only to find out than that they moved my case to another location (geez, thanks for telling me!) so I couldn’t reapply there. I ask the girl if I needed an appointment there and she said “no just go on over” - even though it says on my paperwork “You MUST have an appointment with a caseworker”. ugh. If they would just take that off the paperwork, they could have people who don’t know this a bunch of grief trying to call getting through to the place to make an appointment? I wonder if they do it on purpose to sway people from going which is why they don’t answer the phones!
So, after sitting and wasting two and a half hours, I had to drive to a different location. Thank god I knew where it was so I could just get it all done in one day. More sitting of course. I had to redo the paperwork though. but at least I didn’t have to wait as long - only took me about one hour there. Less people here because it is apparently a location for single people who just get food stamps and nothing else. No families
So, finally solved even though it was a run around and I now have a sore butt from sitting and a HUGE headache - and did I meniton my BG was 123 this morning - never is that high in the morning. See - all that stress!
Crossing my fingers to hoping I still receive the same amount as before - i don’t expect more - just hope it isn’t less because with food prices going up - I can barely make stretch the month. Missy, recommend some other places here to get food besides the food pantry - so I have backups!
Thanks to everyone for being so helpful and supportive! I really appreciate all the advice. I learned one thing which is not to listen to all that stupid paperwork the state send me - it is in the dark ages!
At least you got it done – in spite of the bureaucratic mess. If they changed locations, they could have TOLD you, no? Sometimes I think it would be easier to be a hunter gatherer – Ungh! Trade you this for that! LOL!
Now get your spirits up out of the hole and decide what you’re going to do next – hoping for the best!
Not fun, not fun at all; glad it’s done. I feel almost guilty over how easy a process it is here. You can even reapply online though sometimes you then have to have a phone interview if there are “questions”. If you can be at home the time they send you the appointment, all is well and good. Sometimes the fact that they are overwhelmed and don’t have their act together works to make things worse as is your experience. Sometimes it actually makes it easier. Just the luck of the draw. Glad you are done. I don’t know specific places for food in Chicago, but do suggest local churches. Many of them have regular days once a month and they also have fresh vegies and non-food items as well like toiletries, onlike regular government food banks that tend to be processed cheese and such.
I am glad that you got that over with. You would think that they would have the location on the paperwork. I will keep my fingers crossed that they don’t lower the amount for you.
Hi Kim, I am also a negative thinker at times When I start thinking about negative stuff, I try to turn it off and think about happy stuff. I still have one big thing that is kind of blocking me that I can’t get past, but I am getting a lot better about that and it does not come up as much as it used to.
When I got my first CGMS, no one thought that I could get it – I have a Medicare plan and Medicare won’t cover a CGMS. I kept walking around saying thank you for my Navigator. I would say that about 30 times a day. I made sure I did not think about anything bad and only good stuff. I ended up getting the Navigator.
That is probably the biggest thing that I have been able to get with positive thinking but I have had a bunch of little stuff happen – things just show up unexpectedly. One time at the end of the month, I needed razors but I was really short on money so had to cross those of my grocery list. I checked my mail & someone sent me sample razors.
Pick something that would make you happy to do or even something you did in your past. When the negative thoughts start, try to think about the happy stuff. It really does help.
How in the world did you get Medicare to cover the Navigator? I didn’t know they had that kind of flexibility!
I have one of the Medicare Advantage plans. Although they follow Medicare guidelines, they have the option of not following if they want to. It took alot praying, being grateful and staying positive, but I won!
Going through similar stuff on my end, had to get help with so much recently now waiting on food stamps. I have had to skip some meds and doctors appointments to be able to make sure my family is fed. Call the office and no answers or leave a message and get no return. If I had the money it would drive me to drink but no money for that. Hang in there wish I could help.
I hear you Jim. Like other are saying (and like I did yesterday), just show up at the office if you need to talk to someone and are getting no where. Each state is different though. I hope you get a good amount!
Too bad we can’t buy some drinks with our food stamps! I honestly need one sometimes too!
Did you see that Paul Ryan dudes plan to cut Food Stamps? He is on my number #1 hate list right now - that has got to be the most inhuman thing going. He is like the anti-christ or something! He basically want to starve the the poor of America to death. If we all start standing in line for food like in the Great Depression, I am gonna put a sign on Ryans house “Free food here”. Let’s see how he likes it than! lol!
Those kinds of discussions always remind me of the 4th verse of Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land:
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’
If this land’s still made for you and me.