Did anyone miss me?

[ThomCat]

:)

Honestly, did you even notice I was gone? :P

:hi:

Got a minute for a rant?

Republicans love to yell about how easy it is for people to sponge off of government money and live like royalty. I have just come back from having my meager benefits restored for the THIRD time.

I am one of those text-book cases who SHOULD be getting benefits. I worked, I paid taxes, and now I really, truly cannot work. I have doctors swearing up and down that I physically can't work. I need the assistance.

They keep finding one bureaucratic reason or another to suddenly cut my assistance about once per month. Then I have to go through a bureaucratic mess to restore my benefits. All this for a few hundred dollars per month in food stamps and rent assistance. x(

If someone is out there living like royalty on this I'd sure as hell like to know how.

There. I'm done. :)

[Midlodemocrat]

1. I missed you. I haven't been over to FB lately, so I couldn't

play with you. I've just up to my neck in work and my war on taterguy.

[ThomCat]

7. War on taterguy? Why?

:)

Which side am I on?

[Midlodemocrat]

17. He threw the first salvo and must pay.

Mine of course.

:hug:

[CreekDog]

2. I was about to start a thread asking where you were

because I was thinking that just last night. Yes really.

I'm glad you are back. :hug:

I'm sorry the powers that be harass you over the pennies in assistance you live on while the fed loans out trillions with no accoutability. :rant:

[ThomCat]

8. If I only made a few million a year more

the government would have been happy to give me a bail-out. But instead, it's called welfare and it comes with built in humiliation and long lines. :P

:hug:

I'm glad to be back too. between pain, stress, sleep disorders and bureaucracy I lost the entire week. I'm planning to make up for it this weekend reconnecting with everyone. :)

[DarkTirade]

3. I missed you like crazy!

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

[ThomCat]

9. I knew you would.

:*

:loveya:

[TZ]

4. I missed you too!

And I know all about the bullshit you have to go through for disability having watched a family member try unsuccessfully to get it...
:hi:

[ThomCat]

12. Disability is another whole can of worms I'm still waiting to hear about.

I just hired an attorney to help me with the Social Security Disability, and with the Long Term Disability Insurance.

Not only does SSD like to deny people for no good reason, but the insurance company has a big profit motive in NOT paying me that large percentage of my salary until I'm 65 regardless of what my insurance policy says. So I need to lawyer up and be ready to fight. :(

It sucks to be this damned fucked up and disabled, and have to fight this hard to survive too. :cry:

[TZ]

14. .

:hug: You are too nice to have to go through this bullshit..:(

[VenusRising]

5. zOMG Yes!!

:hug::hug::hug:

I'm sorry that you have to fight to get what you need. It's so unfair sometimes.

Hope you're doing okay, otherwise.

:loveya::hug::loveya:

[ThomCat]

15. My dear house elves are coming over later

and Jenna is bringing the dogs! :woohoo:

So I'll definitely be doing better soon. :)

The t-shirt and jersey you made for me are a Huge hit. Even the friends on team Edward are jealous. :hug:

:loveya:

[VenusRising]

34. As they should be!

Those are one of a kind Venus originals. ;)

:loveya: more

[geardaddy]

6. Glad you're back TC

:hi:

[ThomCat]

18. Thank you, Geardaddy.

:hi:

It's a wonderful relief to be feeling well enough, and alert enough for a change, to be social.

I'm so used to being exhausted, or zonked out in pain, or disoriented and dizzy, that I have found myself avoiding people a lot recently. So I'm really going to make a point of being social when I can. :)

[lost-in-nj]

10. of course we missed you

:hug:


glad your back though
I'm sorry for the bullshit you have to go through.......



lost

[ThomCat]

22. The one thing I keep reminding myself

is that it's not the bullshit we all remember. It's the really nice people who bend over backwards to help us. It's the cool stories, and the kind things that happened. We remember the good stuff, and leave the bad stuff behind pretty quickly.

I'm getting better at leaving the bad stuff behind, and I'm always remembering and appreciating the good stuff.

I was telling a couple in the waiting about all of these awesome friends of mine online who got together to buy me a scooter, and raised so much that I was able to upgrade to a wheelchair, all because the insurance company kept denying my claims.

I love telling people that story. :loveya:

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Welcome back, Welfare King.

:P

Of course I noticed that you were gone. Always do. I'm sorry that you're living the fulltime job of obtaining and keeping needed assistance. :pals:

[ThomCat]

24. Thank you, mere working class peasant.

:P

I'm still trying to figure out how to get the home care aide they say I'm qualified for. I definitely need one. My friends are amazing, and I love the help they are giving me, but I shouldn't have to count on friends to come over to do my housework and laundry and cooking every weekend. :(

And, once my Social Security Disability and Disability Insurance finally kicks in and I have income again, I will finally be able to afford the co-pays to start getting real health care again. I am far past due on medical tests, referrals to specialists, and staring occupational therapy so I can maybe regain some of my lost function. But I can't do any of that while I'm poor.

It really, truly sucks being poor in the US. I thought that maybe I had escaped poverty. But there is no escaping poverty when you have a serious disability in the US. :(

[TK421]

13. I was wondering where you went!

welcome back! :toast:

[ThomCat]

25. Thank you!

Is the bar open?

I could use a tall stiff... um, well I'll settle for a drink. :P

:toast:

[TK421]

27. ......

:toast: I'll have a tall one for you at the bar! I don't know about a stiff one, though :spray:

[LynzM]

16. Hi Thom!!

Yes, you are missed, silly man! :loveya:

It makes me so angry that people like you, people who worked and really *need* help, and are not in the easiest place to fight for it, are made to jump through the most hoops. Stupid, stupid hoops, too. :banghead: :grr:

:hug: :hug: :hug:

[ThomCat]

30. Hi LynzM!

As soon as the weather is warm I would love to come visit. JennaLaw lives in Ct, and has offered to drive me up to you and back again any time. So any weekend with good weather give me a call. :loveya:


This week's screw up is really, totally more stupid than most. A receptionist for one of their offices called me to schedule a follow up meeting, and interupted me in a doctor's appointment. I asked her to call me back in an hour after I got out of the doctor's office. That apparently pissed her off so much that she deliberately miscoded me as non-disabled.

So now I keep getting called for the WEP program that required work or volunteer experience in order to qualify for aide. But I can't physically do the work or volunteer work because of my disabiliy. Because I can't do the work, they cut my benefits for "willful failure to comply." They can't remove me from their system. There is no way to do it, even though they see in their system that I'm fully disabled.

The most they can do is have their director give me temporary exemptions, but then they expire and I come back up as needed work hours, which I tell them I can't perform, and my benefits get cut again for "Willful failure to comply."

x(

[lightningandsnow]

19. Um, yeah!

Welcome back, dear! And freepers are silly, we all know that.

I need to give you a call sometime!

:hug:

[ThomCat]

31. Yes, you definitely do!

:hug:

I want to hear how you're doing. I'm actually coherent enough to talk to people today, and hopefully that will carry over for at least another day or two this weekend. :fingers crossed: :P

:hug:

[trof]

20. Desparately!

Welcome back.
:hi:

[ThomCat]

32. Thank you, trof!

:hi:

Are the bureaucracies that you deal with as a retired person anything like these ones that I'm dealing with?

I hope you get treated better than this if you deal with medicare, social security, or any other agencies. :(

[trof]

46. Actually, filing for Social Security was a good experience.

When I first filed for it 5 years ago (I went early at 62) the lady I talked to on the phone was terrific.
She went over every aspect of my working life and military service to squeeze out every last dollar I was entitled to.
She was extremely pleasant and helpful.

Medicare is working OK, so far. Don't have any serious health problems, so not much action there. But the premiums are more than my company subsidized retirement health plan that was in effect until I hit 65.
:-(

[Flaxbee]

21. so nice to see you!

:hug: :hi:

They cut your benefits to give themselves a reason to have a job. More work justifies someone's position.

Capitalism doesn't work. And with increasing technology advances, which we all hail as wonderful examples of the capitalist model, more and more jobs will be replaced by robots. Capitalistic successes are actually going to result in the loss of lots of jobs for your average working person. And probably not as many new jobs will be created. Service sector, manufacturing, etc., all done by robots. You KNOW corporations would love that, because there would be no health care issues, no worker's comp., none of the messy stuff that comes with having humans as employees.

I'm not against robots and increasing mechanization, either. But we need to realize that major changes are ahead and plan for them.

So we either create make-work jobs, where too many people are doing too little (lots of this going on in gov't sectors which allows people to f*ck with other people) and have to justify their sector's budget so they create paperwork - by canceling benefits, which means a hearing has to be held to restore benefits (and all this shit costs more than just paying you the benefits you're due, so it has nothing to do with efficiency) or other stupid stuff.

OR, we finally realize there has to be some sort of socialism in this country, a real level below which people cannot fall and for which you don't have to jump through hoops - real housing, healthcare, etc. Not shitty tenements, but real, quality apartments in well kept buildings and quality, reliable healthcare that's as good as what Congress gets, if not better. We're their bosses, after all, right? ;) So, if you can't work, or a robot took your job, or hell, you want to write a great American novel, or just take your kitties out for a walk all damn day long, you can. You're not going to live in a palace, but you can live comfortably and pursue happiness, something our Constitution was all about. Or, if you want to work your ass off and make billions, you can do that, too. But your cousin or brother or neighbor who wants to just hang out and do pottery could do that, and he'd have a nice home and food and care if he was sick, too.

At some point, the world will have to do this, or we'll all perish. It is uncivilized to do otherwise. There really is no alternative. You can make zillions if you want to, but there is a civilized, safe, healthy level for someone who just wants to *be*.

That's my rant. Your situation sucks, and people are just being inefficient assholes, but I think it's a way to justify their own jobs by creating work that doesn't need to be created.

[ThomCat]

35. I agree. But I think part of the motive isn't just to create more work,

It's to validate their egos. If you give someone authority then they feel the need to use it. If you step in front of their desk they feel they now have a need, no a Right, to judge you and determine whether or not you deserve to live. And regardless of what the rules say, if they have the power to fuck with you some of them are going to use it.

That also makes more work, which makes more work as you say, and guarantees their jobs. But I think they do it to stroke their egos more than anything else. :(

And then the good people have to work all that much harder to fix the screw-ups and get everything working again.

[Flaxbee]

44. you just described the last 8 years very well, and now

the good people are having to try to fix it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

23. My dear ThomCat!

You know I missed you, sweetie...

I need my ThomCat!

I am so sorry you're having to deal with such a nightmare...

And I definitely think it's time for a lawyer who's on YOUR side!

Welcome home, sweetie!


:loveya: :hug: :loveya: :hug: :loveya:

[ThomCat]

39. Hi Peggy!

:Loveya:

Thank you very, very much. I need my dear CaliforniaPeggy very much too. :hug:

When I think of how much different my life would be if only I didn't have a disability... it's frustrating. Not only could I still have my old job, I would almost certainly have been hired away from it into an executive position a few years ago.

I turned away a lot of interviews through headhunters because of mobility issues. It would have been nice to have the chance to pursue some of them.

Instead I'm here, fighting with public assistance. :(


"I coulda been a contender" :P

[suninvited]

26. Hi Thom !

welcome back.

[ThomCat]

40. Hi Suninvited!

Thank you! :hug:

[suninvited]

93. I know you are just being nice.

Cause you don't know who I am.

Imagine in Texas here ~!

[foxfeet]

28. Welcome back!

I hope the bureaucrats get their collective act together. It's hard enough dealing with a disability without having to do battle with the very programs that are there to assist you. Good luck! :hi:

[ThomCat]

41. I wonder who they think they are there to help.

:P

I figured I would be a text book case of who they are there to help. I worked, but I can't any more. Nothing fuzzy about it. It's clear and simple. But they way thinks keep going, I don't think they agree.

:shrug:

Thank you. I'm very lucky that most of the people I've had to deal with at public assistance have been amazingly kind people. It's just the couple of total jerks who seem to deliberately turn everything into a scramble for everyone else.

[Lucian]

29. I did!

This place isn't the same without you. :(

[ThomCat]

42. I'm glad you missed me.

:hug:

Whatever it is I bring with me, it's back. :)

[WolverineDG]

33. Didn't know you were gone but dammit, I hate it when they cut benefits

I swear it's in the codes somewhere that if someone actually NEEDS the assistance, they should be denied until they have to sue & if by some chance they still get approved, then their benefits should be cut off at random times. Meanwhile, those who don't really need the benefits automatically get approved & never have a problem with benefits getting cut off.

(don't yell at me, I work with someone who deals with SS disability claims & this has happened so many times I've lost count)

Anyway :hug: & :loveya:
dg

[ThomCat]

47. I would never yell at you.

:hug:

I think you are right. If you really need the benefits it usually means you're in a bad situation and don't have a lot of energy or ability to fight back.

If you don't really need the benefits then you have lots of energy and ability to raise all kinds of a stink and fight back.

So if they're going to cut people's benefits, and they don't want to deal with any kind of a fuss afterward, who are they going to cut? If the goal is to minimize their work, and minimize the drama in the office, and keep things quiet, they're going to cut the people can least fight back. And that's going to be the people who most legitimately need the help.

I think that might be an unintended, but real, effect of the system. The more pressure there is to cut people off the welfare rolls the more people like me will always get whacked first as the easy "low hanging fruit."

[Rising Phoenix]

36. I feel for you Thom

I too struggle to get aid.....no insurance, have not been to therapy since October.....I met the deductible to have my mass health restored and they won't do it.....took away my food stamps.....:wtf:...... I have contacted the Dept of Mental Health because I am too damn sick to deal with this shit......I hope it all works out for you....love you always
rant over

[ThomCat]

48. Wow.

I hope you can get your services restored too. :hug:

That's really fucked up you're getting treated this way too. x(

I hope you can get though to someone that cares and knows how to help you. I'm sending you all the good vibes I have right now. :loveya:

I'm coming up to Boston again sometime later this year. I don't know when yet, but I'm definitely coming back. I really, really hope I get to see you while I'm there. :hug:

[Rising Phoenix]

49. thanks hon

you WILL see me this time......hell or high water......:loveya: goodvibes going out to you

[Jamastiene]

37. Hey ThomCat!

:hug:

I've missed you. I sure hope you can get your assistance done permanently so you don't have to go through that over and over again. Is there a way you can do that, like permanent disability or something?

[ThomCat]

50. I'm on hold, waiting for the judgement on my

social security disability. Once I get that, it's supposed to be permanent, except it's not really.

For the first two years they ask can you do the job you left or any similar job. Then after two years they come back and re-evaluate you and ask if you can do any job of any kind. That's a much broader question, and it's designed to force people back to work.

With my combination of loss of function in my hands, loss of mobility, chronic fatigue, severe pain, and chronic migraines, I'm probably going to be covered permanently but I'll have to prove it in hearings every few years.

That same is true with my disability insurance, but worse. From what I've heard, they'll shut off my payments periodically and make me take them to court to get payments reinstated. I'll be arguing with the insurance companies lawyers, so it will be a much harder fight. They are going to be fighting like hell to try to end my insurance payments. They don't want to pay me for 25 years.

[NewJeffCT]

38. Believe it or not

I was thinking about you the other day and wondering how you'd been.

Sorry to hear about all the BS you've been going through.

:hug:

[ThomCat]

51. I hope you're doing well!

:hug:

When I come up to CT next time, what are the chances that you might be available for a bit of a meetup? I don't know I'll be up that way yet, but it would be nice to see you gain. :)

[NewJeffCT]

53. I'll do my best to be available

but, it all depends on when & where.

[av8rdave]

43. I missed you

That crap all started with Reagan and his tales of "welfare queens" driving their Cadillacs to spend their food stamps. Everyone (including me at the time, I'm ashamed to say*) bought those stories without ever questioning their accuracy. I mean hey, they went down so smoothly, like a nice tequila.

Say what you will about the right - they are geniuses at getting total bulls#!t accepted as common knowledge.

Anyway, glad you're back. Hope that opulent, rich government gravy train ( :sarcasm: ) keeps running uninterrupted this time!


*What can I say? I was 22, arrogant, and knew EVERYTHING at the time! I did learn a valuable lesson from that about not blindly accepting whatever I hear/read.

[ThomCat]

52. I'm glad it's a lesson learned. And it's good that you learned it as

part of the maturing and growing process. That in itself says a lot of good things about you. :)

What pisses me off when I talk to people (always white supposed adults) who have been poor and should know better, and they still spout that bullshit. They never matured enough to think rationally and see through racist bullshit. Somehow they believe that Black and Hispanic people have a seemingly magical ability to defraud government programs. But they don't see that as a racist belief.

I'm related to too many of those bigots, but they've fortunately learned to keep that shit to themselves around me. I fail spectacularly at keeping my thoughts to myself one too many times. :P

[av8rdave]

55. I think a lot of that is because most people are fundamentally insecure....

that's how even someone who has been poor (mea culpa - I've had my times when I THOUGHT I was poor, but I was always well enough off to make ends meet - it was just more of a challenge some times) can look down on those who still are.

It's (I think) a coping mechanism to deal with some deep seated, nagging doubt about whether they have any true worth as a person. Easy to feel you do when you have someone else to look down on. I can't think of another rational reason.

For me, maybe it took working for a very unstable industry to finally come to the realization that the vast majority of us are no more than a paycheck or two from the poorhouse ourselves. A humbling but necessary awakening!

[graywarrior]

45. Unbelievable.

I just don't understand why they do that to people.

[ThomCat]

54. Because all the best meaning programs were conceived by

democrats, but we let the republicans define them, constrain them, reshape them, and stigmatize them. Then we staff them with layers of bureaucrats. We let the republicans come back in and chop the funding repeatedly to less than the bare bones, so that whatever gets done is guaranteed to be the absolute minimum that money can buy, and here we are. x(

[graywarrior]

69. Republicans need to be put on the endangered species list

[Danger Mouse]

56. I don't know about you, Thom, but I'm the biggest welfare queen there is.

It's good to see you.
:hug:

[ThomCat]

57. I'm not a very good queen to begin with.

I haven't been able to pull off a convincing drag since highschool, and I just don't come across as femme at all. :P

But I'm definitely figuring out the ins and outs of this welfare system whether I want to or not. I've seen so many different agencies, and had so many escalations and hearings and referrals to other agencies that it's maddeningly confusing. My stack of records that I have to carry around with me is straining one accordion file, so I'm about to buy a second.

I hope you're having a much easier time of it than I am. :hug:

I didn't know you were on public assistance. I don't know if you've mentioned it before. I think I can understand the attitude of some of your older posts now if I think of them in the context of having just come back from one of those office. :(

:loveya:

[Danger Mouse]

59. My friend...

I am not. I just wanted to say that I'm a welfare queen.
:hide:
But trust me...I know a thing or two about the system...I lived with a disabled step-father, after all.

[Inchworm]

58. I was wondering about ya!

Sadly, I feel your pain.. bad choice of words no doubt.

All I want to do is work, work, work... but there is hella tape holding me down.

I hope you get all you deserve from the tightwads with little common sense.

:hug:

and HI!

:hi:

[ThomCat]

61. Hiya Inchworm!

:hug:

I would love to be able to go back to work. It's amazing how much I miss having a routine, having a job, being around people, being an expert at something and being in demand for it. :(

I miss being part of the world. I live in NY City and I never leave my apartment. It's all passing around me and I'm never going to see any of it. x(

I hope you are doing better than this. I really hope you have more of a life than this. :hug:

[SallyMander]

60. Of COURSE we've missed you!!!

:bounce:


Glad to hear you got your benefits back, sweetie, but GAWD it makes my blood boil that you have to go through all that! :grr:


Hang in there and remember that we lurves you!!! :hug: :loveya: :hug:

[ThomCat]

62. I'm hanging. I'm definitely hanging.

:P

:hug:

I never forget the love here. When things get really stressful I just get through it until I can reach out to the people I know will care. There are friends here, my house elves, and dear long-time friends scattered about. :loveya:

I couldn't deal with everything I seem to be fighting against if it wasn't for everyone pushing me forward. :)

[bigwillq]

63. Welcome back!

:hi: Hope you're doing ok. :hug:

[ThomCat]

71. This evening is good.

:)

I'm awake, alert, the pain is under control, my head is clear, and I won't be here alone.

I can't ask for more than that! :toast:

:hug:

[Cassandra]

64. I was just looking in the lounge for you...

the other day. :hi:

[ThomCat]

72. Hi Cassandra!

I miss you. We should get together for lunch. :hug:

[Haole Girl]

65. Hi Thom!

:hug:

[ThomCat]

73. Hi Haole Girl!

:hug:

:loveya:

[BarenakedLady]

66. I'm sorry Thom

It breaks my heart to hear you are going through all this. :(

:hug:

[ThomCat]

74. As long as I come out the other end intact it's all okay.

:)

It would be nice if we had good government, so that the people who need help got it, instead of the people who steal billions. But in the real world I'll settle for coming out the other end of the gauntlet intact. :P

How are you doing? :hug:

I hope you're life is resolving into something happier, healthier and more supportive too. :loveya:

[BarenakedLady]

77. Well...

I'm in the middle/end of my separation. Everything is a bit crazy right now, but I'm hopeful it will all turn out ok.

I would feel a bit more relaxed if I had a source of income though.

:hug:

Let's hope that our new President and his peeps will address these issues.

[ThomCat]

79. I have heard that your area has been hit hard.

:(

I hope you all get a big rejuvenation, and I hope you can find some kind of nice sustainable job out of it.

:hug:

In the meantime, I hope you don't end up with the same hassles I'm going through. :(

[Pierre.Suave]

67. I am glad to see you

and send many :hug:s and good vibes.

[ThomCat]

75. Thank you very, very much.

:hug:

I love your leftover heart. :P

[jobycom]

68. We felt the emptiness even if some may have not realized its cause!

:) Welcome back! Sorry about the crappy beauracracy. We should fix that!

[ThomCat]

78. It'll take decades to undo the damage the republicans

have left us. Underfunded programs have been stripped down and demoralized, turned into mammoth but skeletal bureaucratic beasts with a mission but no room for a heart.

There is always more and more money to give to the banks or the pentagon, no audits necessary. But never another dollar for a program that helps poor people. :(

And for all the changes that are happening, that isn't changing. If it ever changes it will be a long way away, in an administration long after this one.

But despite that, it's good to be back here to talk about it, argue about it, and grouse about it with friends. :hug:

[malta blue]

70. i missed you!

:hug:

They really love to f**k with you, don't they :mad::nuke::mad:

[ThomCat]

80. I missed you too!

Happy Belated Birthday! :loveya: :party:

:hug:

I think I must be an easy target, and I must be wearing a large sign advertising it. :P

[malta blue]

81. Thanks sweetie!

:loveya::loveya:

I wish I could to more to help. I hope you will be able to come visit this summer. :D

[Shakespeare]

76. Yes, I did!

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with so much bureaucratic BS.

How are you doing physically? Things mostly under control right now?

:hug: :pals:

[ThomCat]

83. Things are mostly under control this evening.

I hope that lasts at least through tomorrow. If I'm very, very lucky I might even get to enjoy part of Sunday too because the weather looks like it's going to cooperate. :)

:hug:

[fizzgig]

82. who are you again?

:P

i was wondering about you the other night, i'm so happy to see you :) i'm sorry you're having to fight with all that bullshit, it blows my mind how unwilling the government is to help those who really need it. :hug:

[ThomCat]

86. There are evenings I wonder.

:P

I have to say that some of the people I've dealt with at the Public Assistance offices have been incredibly kind and really are trying to figure out how to help. I wish those people had the power and budget and support to really do what they want to do.

Being on the inside now, it really looks like it's the levels above them that don't want to help. It's the budget people and the legislators and the lobbyist, and all the people with power and money who decide that only people with power and money are a priority. x(

[bluesbassman]

84. Hey Thom!

Glad you're back. I just figured you were taking a breather.

The benefits thing sucks. I'm happy you were able to get it sorted out, but it's just a damn shame that they make you go through all of the hassle. Hopefully you won't have to again.:hug:

[ThomCat]

87. I'll have to go through this exact hassle again in June.

The workaround they found, the exemption that a director was able to give me for this work program, expires in June and I'll have to do it again. :(

And I'm sure there is another surprise of some kind waiting in the wings to hit me in a few weeks. They don't like to leave things quiet for very long.

But one way or another I'll keep getting it sorted out. Just because, if you keep appealing high enough, persistently enough, eventually someone can make the system do what it's supposed to do.:)

[yellowdogintexas]

85. yes I missed you.

I have not been on much this week and I had not seen you at all. If I had not seen this, I was going to PM you so there.

and it is a damn shame what people who really need it have to go through.

damn Republicans

[ThomCat]

88. Hi, Yellowdogintexas!

:hug:

I win these appeals because I have been a project manager for years. I am petty meticulous with documentation. I show up with everything! They don't tell you what to bring, I just have to know what documentation they'll have to accept.

I feel sorry for the people who just show up and expect to be the system to work. It won't. I feel sorry for the people who don't understand all of the paperwork and don't know what they need. If they don't understand the documentation it's going to be hellish for them, and they're going to lose benefits on technicalities and not know why.

It is a damn shame. It's a shame that a college education and professional experience help make the system work. It just goes to show that the system is rigged to be difficult. x(

[blueraven95]

89. Hi Thom!

I'm sorry the bureaucrats suck so much! :hug:

It's good to have you back.

[ThomCat]

90. Hi Blueraven!

:hug:

DUers got together to chipped in to buy me this computer so I could stay online. And DUers are the ones I go to to talk after dealing with the stress of too much idiocy. What would I do without the people here?

:grouphug:

[enigmatic]

91. Welcome back, my friend

:hug:

[ThomCat]

92. Thank you, enigmati

:hug:

I remember when I used to routinely post 500-700 times in a week. And if I missed a day I would freak out wondering what I was missing.

Now I'm going to make it a goal to be here just whenever I can. :shrug:

[DainBramaged]

94. I promise, if I win the Lottery, I will not forget you

along with about 40 other DU'ers whom I wish I could write checks to today.

:cry: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

95. Of course Thom :)

Good to see you :hi: :hug:

Bureaucrats are what termites would be if they were human.

They have to be seen as doing their job even if they're doing it wrong.

Rant whenever you have to. :pals:

[MrScorpio]

96. Welcome back, here's a huggy

:hug: