Every day is catch up day

7/13/09 Monday
It’s been a long but good weekend. We were able to help out some friends with cleaning and clearing stuff out. It always makes us feel good to be able to help. In the process I received a lot of stuff they needed to make disappear including some auto racing stuff made for setting up a dragster. I need to research it to figure out what it is and what it’s worth and then will sell it to raise badly needed funds. There was a small freezer they gave us but unfortunately it doesn’t work. So we picked up a free refrigerator last week and this freezer and neither one works. I learned online that they go bad when they sit unused. The fridge we will turn into another worm bin. Not sure what to do with the freezer. I seriously doubt that having some repair guy come out and look at them will be cost effective. The freezer I can take to a place cause it’s small and not hard to move. Will make some phone calls first.

We finally got the bad news we were expecting from the VA regarding my disability. I was married when we got the first check and the forms they sent out stated we should inform them of any changes in my income. I started getting the oil well royalties when we inherited this place and they knew it because it was reported to the IRS. With this veteran’s pension I’m only allowed to make just so much money and anything over that disqualifies me. So to make a long story short they are disallowing everything they have ever paid me and will require me to pay it all back. One of the reasons stated was that the first check they sent me, one that reflected the accrued amount from the date my application was put in and was twelve thousand dollars, put me over that limit. WHAT? The disability check they sent disqualifies me for the disability payments altogether? Some numb nuts bureaucrat somewhere in a government cubicle must have a tumor in his or her brain or lack any kind of sense at all. So we will be appealing this. One suggestion we got from a friend was to do nothing because the VA doesn’t have any teeth. I can’t take that advice. There are too many other benefits the VA offers that I don’t want to be jeopardized, besides ignoring things doesn’t make them go away and my experience tells me things ignored become worse.

Every day is catch up day around here and I never catch up. I work as hard as I can when I can but I can’t work hard enough to do everything that needs doing. That’s just the way it is. The pain pills help me keep pushing past the hurt but I always pay when they wear off. I was telling my friend all about our dreams and my vision for this place but like I said to him “It takes money to make money”. I’ll get there, or at least get somewhere eventually because I won’t quit no matter how discouraged I get. So time’s awastin folks. Every minute I sit in front of this laptop is time I should spend working. See ya.
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It’s 12:24 now. Came in to get out of the heat and rest up. Been hoeing weeds, mostly around the blackeyed peas, all morning. I’m a little slow and had a hard time deciding what to do so did this. It’s simple work and needed to be done. Still haven’t finished, been working on it off and on for three days. My hands get to where it’s hard to hold the hoe so I must quit. Have three more rows to do. There are a ton of peas that Must be picked so I’ll focus on that. Cherie often goes out to pick them in the evening when it cools off but between our schedules and how tired she’s been it hasn’t happened much.

Cherie has a bunch of bite marks on her that we think are from the ticks that have become such a problem. That’s not good as they are a source of lime disease and probably a bunch of other ones. So that battle continues. We will have to bite the bullet and buy some of that expensive “Frontline” stuff because it works well. I sprayed the bedroom down this morning, we changed all the sheets, and Cherie ran the vacuum to suck up all the ticks she could find. After she swept she saw ticks crawling out from the baseboards. I went out to pet Ben at four this morning when he had a nightmare or panic attack and evidently picked up a tick from him when I did. Sure wish I could give Ben a wash with the tick shampoo but can’t with his leg and open wound.

Today I’ll go in about the traffic ticket. Going to plead not guilty but will submit a statement to the judge. Doubt it will do any good and don’t have a lot of hope going to court will make a difference but refuse to plead guilty or no contest to something I didn’t do. From what the ticket said they will set a court date later. This is so not fun.

I’ll make a quick sandwich and lay down for an hour before I go in. Then, despite the heat, I must get back to work on the farm. No waiting till it cools off at six thirty or seven.