Ok, so blogs are kinda also meant to be a means which you can share with the world your mundane mortal life. So, here’s where I’m at. I drive for a living. My average pay is around 30k a year. (yea, I know. The myth that truck drivers make big bucks. That ended in the early 80’s). out of that I support myself, my soul mate and wife who has serious health issues and can not work. My child support (which was set when I was making about 40k a year, some 9 years ago, and is now about ¼ my current income). The mortage, which WAS 4 months behind, but we just got a modification, thank god (though we missed the first payment under the mod). I support my 2 step kids who live with us. Their dad doesn’t do a thing to help them out. They are 21, and had to put their educations on hold, while going to work. My stepson, at walmart. And my stepdaughter at krystals. Due to the wonderful economy, obummer-care, etc. their hours are cut way back, to the point where it’s barely worth driving to work. Oh, btw. We have one car, not counting my old (1969) pickup that everyone else is afraid to drive, and gets about 8mpg. On my wife’s disabilities. She has PTSD, a spinal injury, and rheumatoid arthritis. When the spinal injury happened many years ago, she was still with her first husband, who made good money. They decided that she would stay home and home school the kids. So, since she never filed for DB, and because she hasn’t worked in the past several years, we are being told by the social security office that she CAN’T file for disability now. The RA diagnosis just happened this year, btw. And she is in a lot of pain. We’ve been spending a LOT of co-pay dollars on getting tests done, doctor visits, and meds. Fortunately, they caught it early enough, that the meds can stop it from progressing. IF we can get her on the meds! The meds for rheumatoid arthritis are mostly immune suppressents. She has a sub clinical infection in her jaw/teeth. Dental work has to be done before they can put her on the RA drugs. But we don’t have the money for the dental work! Like most truck drivers, our insurance isn’t that great. I’m also taking meds for gout, high blood pressure, and type2 diabetes. And since I haven’t been able to afford one of the gout meds, my npain levels are starting to increase. Oh well. I’ve lost 40 pounds in the past few years. Not really planned. It’s just that I have to chose between a couple of pb&j sandwichs or a 89cent can of chili, instead of the $8+ dollars it would cost to eat a “bought” meal at a truckstop. And every dollar I save, is money to feed my family. Juli (my wife) has lost 80 pounds in the past 7 years. Hurting too bad to eat will do that to you. My daughter has been steady dating a nice young man a year older than her (she’s 16). And he seems level headed. BUT, she’s been putting all kinda wedding stuff up on her interest account, and it’s got me worried that she won’t wait till after she finishes her education, before they marry. Dear god, what is her mom thinking? The boy is going into the navy, into be a medic. And now SHE’S talking about going into the navy. Meanwhile I see what’s going on in the middle east putting us on the edge of WW3. Sigh. A couple months ago, the engine on the riding mower swallowed a valve. My dad knew a guy who could fix it, and found another engine. And loaned us one of his mowers for the meanwhile. But now it’s fixed, and I owe the guy $150. And my dad is giving me a crappy attitude, because I couldn’t just hand over the $150. I had to call the power company this morning, to put off the cut-off date till next payday, called the phone company yesterday. And left a message with the mortage company today. And am a few months behind on child support. (not sure she is even still living with her mother). And he’s disappointed in me over a LAWNMOWER REPAIR BILL??? And through it all I HAVE to remain calm, act sane, and can’t cry. With juli’s ptsd, it doesn’t go well when I look weak in front of her. She depends on me. I’m the one that takes care of her. That makes things right. That keeps her safe. I’m her knight in shining armor, but I feel like a retard in a tin-foil hat. I thought I had a line on a better job, locally. That would get me out of trucking, and back into industry. But they’ve been dragging their feet on hiring for about 6 months now. And I was being kinda recruited by a guy with a 5 truck fleet, that pulls flatbed contract loads. Would have meant a LOT more pay. But haven’t heard from him in days. Starting to smell BS on that one. I hope not. The guy who was My dispatcher for the past several months is awesome, and did a great job of taking carte of me, keeping me running (I get paid by the mile, NOT the hour), and getting me home. Well, they moved him to night shift 2 weeks ago. And the new dispatcher is either new, or just not as good. Last month truck broke down one week, costing me a couple days pay. Then the next week a punk kid in Alabama blew through a redlight, and took the front end off the truck, costing me about a weeks pay (again, I get paid by the mile. Sitting means no $$$). hmm, what else? My skin cancer is getting worse, because we can’t afford for me to go to the dermatologist. Juli wants me to go, but I know we just don’t have the money to pay him. Lightning hit the wiring in the house last week, and the wiring going to the dryer fried. Couldn’t just be the breaker or the outlet. NOOOO, it had to actually be the wire in the wall. (when you pull the outlet out, and flip the breaker, you can see it short back up in the wall, when the breaker trips). And something is under the house. Could hear it chewing/scratching last time I was home. So next time I’m home, I get to crawl under there and see what it is, while I see if I can get to the wiring, to pull new wire for the dryer outlet. (and what am I going to buy the wire with?). And this is just stuff in my household. Not even going to start on how we’re being lied to by an administration that wants to go start ANOTHER war, supporting the same al-quada that supposedly caused 9/11. Or the FEMAcorp gangs, NSA domestic spying, main stream media lies, police brutality, abuse of authority, the damn bulldog from across the street that craps on our carport, or the many other eff’d up things going on in the world. My head hurts. Love y’all
