This might be goodbye.

GOOD NEWS!!!

The Office of Dave Obey called us today! They have agreed to help us push our claim through. Not a 100% guarantee, but very good chances

EDIT:

If our claim is turned down again, the Intel rig will be put on eBay for those interested. All peripherals included.

 

Just an update.

I found out the reason we were turned down. Those @$$hats at Social Security are FREAKING LAZY!!!!

My dad sent them a medical summary of every significant(pertaining to his injuries) doctor/hospital visit he's had in his life. It was ~30 pages. Those lazy ****ers didn't even bother to read it AT ALL!!!

They just took the three most recent visits(2 of which were to Social Security doctors to be qualified, 1 for his left eye) and they claimed that they didn't see anything that indicated he was disabled!!!

When my dad called them he got something similar to this: *whiney voice* "But sir, how are we supposed to know which ones to look at? You can't just send us your entire medical history and expect us to know where to look..."

First off, YOU BASTARDS ARE GOVERNMENT WORKERS!!!!! YOU HAVE NO ROOM TO BE LAZY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!

Second off... complete medical history? COMPLETE MEDICAL HISTORY?!?! HIS COMPLETE MEDICAL HISTORY IS A STACK OF PAPERS THAT LITERALLY TOUCHES THE CEILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS THE IMPORANT STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fricken lazy *****BLEEEEEEEEEEEP*****(bleeped that myself)

That's my rant for today >.<

 

quad...


Sorry guys. Our ISP sucks. They're always having problems... When we get our settlement money we're switching to Charter Highspeed. A 3Mb connection would be nice

 

Don't you love how people get away without doing their jobs? Assholes.

 

Thanks ddp

Life is getting pretty stressful now. We're getting like 100 phone calls a day. Vultures...

There's a lot of family tension too. We're always arguing over nothing and there's been a lot of hurt feelings... I dunno... it's depressing...

 

lol, I dunno if that would work

We might not want to make them mad, we won't get our money, lol.

 

You are awfully mistaken, my friend. I work with some of these lazy bottoms everyday. Unfortunately, government service is far different from that of private sector's. Sadly, but these people are ludicrously being evaluated for merely showing up, and not for their hardwork. Keep your head up!

 

My dad was on the phone with social security the other day. All they kept telling him is that they could do nothing with his complete medical history even though my dad has explained several times now that the papers sent ONLY had to do with his disabilities. They just won't be convinced.

Now my dad has written a very long-winded letter explaining EXACTLY what is wrong with him and how his problems affect his every day life. Here's a short summary of the summary:

-One blind eye from an accident as a kid. This gives him very bad ghosting and terrible headaches. The hospital has REFUSED to remove the eye and replace it with a glass one like he requested. They claim that the eye can be saved... well, here we are 2 years and 8 surgeries later with nothing to show but $10,000 in debt.

-Heart problems due to enlarged aorta and a leaky valve. 3 years later and $5000 in debt(luckily we had insurance then.) He never fully recovered due to stress and the high blood pressure caused by it. He is significantly weaker than he used to be. I wouldn't describe him as feeble... just constantly feeling weak and drained.

-Whiplash injury from a car crash. Some drunk asshat rear-ended him going 40mph. 3 cracked vertebrae and 2 ruptured disks. He has CONSTANT back pain due to this and the ensuing arthritis from being immobile after the heart surgery.

To make it short, I am surprised my dad can even get up in the morning let alone find the strength to go do errands, clean, do laundry, dishes, etc. Even light stuff like this can leave him sore and grumpy after a few hours.

I would help him out if I could but as of now I'm spending 3 hours in school every morning and another 8 at work every day making $6.50 an hour. Hell, it's 1:18 AM right now, It's the only time I could find to reply. I work 6 days a week, so can only ever check my email at night or during my lunch break.

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This whole fiasco is why we contacted the office of Wisconsin State Legislator Dave Obey. My dad has spoken with him IN PERSON. He has agreed to have his office work to push our claim through.

We are OUT OF MONEY!! Mine and my mother's paychecks have been the only thing even keeping us fed for the past few weeks. Sadly, even that has diminished somewhat as the collectors circle lower and lower. We have to keep putting almost every cent into paying our bills and utilities. Some nights we do not even have dinner because there is NO FOOD.

If we don't get this money soon, we will lose our house and most of our belongings to the bank. This is not just a bad spot for our family. This is an EMERGENCY!! We are in serious trouble!!!

Keep my head up? I can't even find it because I've lost it >.<

 

the sad truth about a social security claim is most all claims are denied, at least twice, and the only way you can get it is to get a lawyer, it is a game that everyone has to play,

 

I finally found a better job. My dad's friend started a company and for some of their stuff they have contracted an EXTREMELY talented carpenter who happens to be their friend.

He has agreed to take me on as an apprentice at $9.00 an hour for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week... finally I get some free time

This guy is literally the Picasso or Einstein or Mozart of woodworking. He is an AMAZING artist. I am honored to be PAID to learn from him XD

Other than that, sold most of the parts of both my PCs and built a new one with the old parts. Not a bad rig, but I was sad to see my 8800GTX go

Made some money off it though. ~2000 when all was said and done.

 

Glad to see some things looking up for you. It's luck to be apprenticed under a good carpenter and get paid decently while learning.

As mentioned, it appears most SS cases are only settled after several times in court. Few are ever settled without a good lawyer. Don't look at lawyers too harshly. Without them you usually don't stand a chance. The percentage the lawyer gets is usually worth it considering without them you might end up with nothing. A hundred percent of nothing is still nothing is the way to look at it.

In your father's case it sounds as though no one particular problem would totally disable him. With the multiple problems listed, when considered together, there is a more difficult situation presented. I've seen similar cases try to depend on one significant problem and fail. Then a good lawyer becomes involved with the aid of a vocational specialist and the case gets solved quickly because of all the contributing factors leading to total disability. There are grids used to determine disability used by the vocational specialists. Hopefully your lawyer is using that to your father's benefit. Severe back pain from damaged vertebrae, severe headaches associated with blindness in one eye, arthritis, and no doubt psychological trauma and depression (from the current situation if nothing else). Your father should also be seeing someone for psych counseling, which can be added to his case. A good lawyer would have suggested that. There are free facilities in most states. It's the combination of factors that has to be submitted to the judge that will finally decide the case.

I've seen SS cases last for years. Maybe Obey can help, but Social Security cases are notoriously slow. In such a situation filing bankruptcy may be called for. The law is there to keep people from losing everything in just such a situation. The law is more difficult nowadays, but still something to check into. On such cases the lawyer usually wants paid up front.

Good luck.

 

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you guys.

We've now almost faced bankruptcy as an inevitability if we can't get disability. But our bank is working with us, and the president of the bank that owns our home is more than willing to wait until we can get a final answer from the Office of Social Security. He says the last thing he wants to do is kick us out of our home. Bless him

We have had a lawyer working with us, and mental anguish and depression are definitely issues that have been brought up with both the State Legislator's office and the Social Security office. We are willing to be patient for the request to go through. But, if turned down again, our lawyer will take them to court.

Our lawyer does want a modest payment(like 4k). But if the case is successful, my father will be receiving at least over $20k in back-pay. So paying him will not be a gigantic issue.

-------------------------------------------

Now, I'm gonna be straight-forward and tell you guys why money is a HUGE issue for us even with both mine and my mother's salaries.

When my dad was laid off from work, he took his 401K and paid every single bill we owed. He figured our budget and set it up so we could live and pay bills with my mom's salary. We were golden.

Well... my mom has a severe gambling addiction. Like slot machine gambling. Electronic slots in bars, internet slots on Golden Palace Casino. She can't stop doing it.

So here we sit with all our worries gone and nothing to do but wait for disability. Then, BAM! A year later and $60,000 in debt. You realize where the debt comes from, I hope.

So when this is all done and over with, my dad plans to divorce my mom. I don't have a single problem with it. Every day of my entire life has been in filthy conditions, a messy house, and poverty because of her. Because her gambling, our family has already had to declare bankruptcy twice. I'd rather not go through it a third time.

----------------------------------------------

Here are my main gripes with my mother.

She gambles, I confront her about it. She denies it and gets all pissy and tells me to f*** off and that it's none of my business. Yeah Mom, it IS my business when we don't eat dinner that night because we have no money... Yes, she's seen a therapist, she's joined support groups, all that crap. Ignored the therapist, never attended the support groups.

She is the one who adopted 5 cats over the years. She is the one who always has to have 2 parakeets. She is the one that always needs dogs... doesn't take care of a single one of them.

Mom gets new birds, feeds them and waters them once. One month later, birds die from starvation. Mom says, "but I just fed and watered them."(yeah, whatever). So she gets new birds and the cycle of neglect continues.

I try to keep up on feeding them, but I'm hardly ever home. And when I am, the birds are the last thing on my mind.

5 cats... I HATE cats! They're all males, so they piss everywhere(yes, all neutered). Clothes in the basket in my room... soaked with piss. Couch cushions... soaked with piss. You get where I'm going with this. Plus, 5 cats fill the litter box fast. We let them out during the day and at all hours of the night and early morning. But they keep feeling the need to crap in our basement.

Dad wants to get rid of them, Mom won't let him. But she won't change the litter box, she won't feed them, and she won't pick up their crap.

I pick up cat crap every night when I get home. But, next day there's more crap. I change the litter box every week. But the cats fill it in a day or two. Too many cats, too much work. No use for them. The only one that even likes them practically REFUSES to take care of them but won't get rid of them.

3 dogs. Now, dogs I like. But THREE of them. One is mine and my dad's. The other is my mom's. And the third is my sister's.

My dog is a small Bichon-Shitzu mix named Rudy. He is well behaved and he waits by the door to be let out.

My mom's dog is an elderly(12+) Malamar named Shadow who's got it in her head that it's okay to walk downstairs and take a dump and piss then walk back upstairs like nothing happened. Mom denies that her dog did anything and REFUSES to clean up after her. And yeah, we've caught her in the act. I like her, but she is too old and she has hip problems and a urinary infection(stinky piss). She needs either a) a family that can tend to her special needs and pay for her treatment or b) to be put to sleep. Mom REFUSES to give her up for adoption and REFUSES to have her put to sleep.

Third dog... well... actually the third dog is just a really hyperactive Border Collie puppy. My sister's. But, what she'll do is bring you a toy and sit there, staring, until you throw it. Cute enough, I admit. Problem is, she'll literally play for eight hours straight. And if you don't play, she gets bored and goes inside and chews up the most expensive thing she can find. My sister is never home AT ALL. Her solution is to leave the dog in a cage all day. We can't exactly do that, can we? But if there isn't somebody there to watch her ALL DAY something important gets destroyed pretty quickly. The most notable items being almost every single bathroom towel, my paycheck from last week(got a new one from my boss), the PSP that I USED to have.

My clincher with the third dog? When my sister moves out she is taking the dog with her, but my mom REFUSES to let her go.

My most recent gripe... my mom thinks she's been cleaning the house. THINKS being the key word. She'll take ALL of the furniture out of the living room so she can "re-arrange." Well, all that stuff goes into the kitchen and STAYS there. Last record was a week and a half. She just gets lazy and quits half way through and leaves it all sitting in the kitchen. She's been doing the same thing with the basement, but moving it from one end to the other OVER AND OVER.

Also, she's a HUGE pack-rat. She'll literally just pick broken junk up off the floor and put it into little boxes "because it might go with something". So here we are right now with the beautiful hand-carved oak coffee table in our basement covered in little boxes filled of garbage. Same routine with anything broken. Boxes of broken headphones. Boxes of old broken computer speakers. Boxes of old(like pre-PS/2) or broken keyboards and mice. It's just ridiculous.

And she REFUSES to let me throw anything out.

She gambles money away like sand through a sifter and takes advantage of Friday nights to go out to the bar and get drunk while she gambles. She's literally come home with a $3500 charge on the credit card. SHE MAKES 25,000 A YEAR!!!! THAT'S ALMOST TWO MONTHS OF HER SALARY DOWN THE DRAIN IN ONE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry if my ranting took a while to read.
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So there you have it. All my daily problems are caused by, or are in some way related to, my mother. She's lazy, messy, self-absorbed, nosy, intrusive, and just plain stupid in some cases.

Don't get me wrong. I love my mother dearly. But when dad files for divorce, I'm staying with him.

 

There's support groups for families of those with gambling addictions. Sometimes family members become enablers without realizing it. If nothing else, family members suffer the trauma of the situation, as you have. It ends up being a family affair with everyone involved needing counseling. Sadly your mother doesn't appear to want help. In such a case there's nothing that can be done, if she cares so little about her home and family. You do need to take care of yourself and get your father involved in some counseling. It may not change the current family situation, but it may improve your and your dad's mental outlook.

As for the poor animals, be responsible and report the situation to the SPCA or other local animal care organization. They can legally prevent a person from keeping animals in a dangerous environment. Sounds like a poor animal in your mother's care couldn't be in much more danger.

 

Aside from the birds, all of our animals are babied. The birds being a problem, yes. But one has just died recently. And when the other one goes(which I hope to prevent) I WILL be removing the cage and putting it in the shed.

Presently I am moving the surviving bird into my room. At least in my room I will remember to feed and water it.

As for cats... well, some of them ARE going. I am going to be asking friends at school if they want some of them. I'm sure I can find one or two people who want a cat. But a few have been with us for a long time and we would not like to get rid of all of them.

Dogs... well, one is in her old age so we have agreed to keep her for the time being. I don't hope she dies, but I do hope we can ease her suffering if the situation permits. Last night, my sister agreed to take her in and get her a check up, pay for medication, etc. We are using Ibuprofen as recommended by my friend who is a veterinarian. It seems to work well enough for now.

Maybe it sounds like I'm making lame excuses. But I just don't want anymore stress in my family's lives. Calling the SPCA will only get me more problems. I am trying to do what I can to REDUCE the number of pets we have. I can only wrestle so much control from my own mother. Sorry pets, but I gotta do what I gotta do.

Mentally, both my father and I are fine(as far as I know). We are both just sick of it. My father has only stayed with my mother for so long because, despite all her shortcomings, he does love her. But in past months, with the lack of money, my mom seems to have gambled more often. My dad sees this as the last straw. She is dragging us down and she really doesn't care. I honestly don't know what will happen. But I see an intervention in the near future.

I really don't want my parents to break up. But if my mom continues this bullsh*t, It will not bother me to see her go. It's to the point where she thinks she is exempt from doing anything around the house because she has a job and my dad doesn't. "I work all day. You sit on your ass." Which is absolutely untrue. He does laundry, dishes, cooks dinner, works on people's vehicles in the garage. He is working all day with a few half hour breaks.

Thanks for all the support guys. Sorry if my ranting dragged down your day at all. I just need to tell somebody my problems without having to talk to either parent.

 

You are far more man than I, amigo. If I was pushed to the point you are, I'd be placing a heavy life insurance policy on your mom and arranging an accident.

 

Man, I don't even wanna think about that! That's not even an option. I still love her. I really hope you're kidding Auslander.

That's scary talk buddy. How's YOUR life been, if you don't mind me asking? lmao

 

My uncle was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer w/ diabetes. One week in the hospital and his meds came to over 150k, 200k if I remember correctly, but even that seems a bit high. He had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. This also happened over Christmas. You're not alone dude, I know how you feel. Although forclosure on top of that really sucks. Being in the military, and on a 24-hour operations schedule, it was very hard to go see him which broke my heart...worried every day.
He's doing much better now, and I hope you and your father are the same.

 

I'm not 100% sure about anything right now. I just hope we aren't screwed.


Thanks for the support guys. My weekend is going awesome so far though. I'll post back with an update maybe next week. Talk at you guys then.