Friday, December 28, 2012
Hubby Coming Home Soon...
I had my nuclear stress test yesterday. I won't know the results until sometime next week. I am hoping that I will get the go ahead to have my gallbladder removed.
We still haven't been able to make a decision about our future living arrangements. There are many things to be taken into consideration. It's very easy for someone reading this blog to advise us to rent out our home and rent another place with that money. However, the reality is that in the area where we live, rent is not very high. The amount we would receive per month would most likely not cover the cost of renting a place in the city closer to the doctors and hospitals. Even if it did, we would still have to pay property taxes on our home and we would have to worry about a renter not paying us causing us to not be able to pay our rent. These are risks that we can't afford to take because neither hubby or I could survive on the street.
I know I have angered certain readers by what they refer to us as "begging". When I post the link to our pens for sale, I don't consider that begging. I am simply asking that people who are looking to buy gifts consider our pens or consider sharing our link with people whom they know who might be interested in purchasing pens. I am just advertising.
Our expenses were already more than our income before hubby's heart surgery. We have cut our expenses to the minimum but things are going to be even harder now with additional trips to doctors and physical therapy for hubby. I am not begging but please keep our pens in mind if you should happen to have need of a handcrafted gift. We appreciate each and every purchase and it helps us out more than you can ever know.
We have more pens available than are currently shown in the catalog and we can also do custom orders so if you want a pen in a particular color, material or style just drop me an email describing what you would like. We will craft the pen, no obligation and email you pictures when it is ready. If you decide not to buy it we will add it to our online catalog.
My son will be staying for awhile to help in the shop until hubby is able to do more.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
bladecatz@mail.com
Thanks again for everything...
Blade
Monday, December 24, 2012
Hoping For A Christmas Miracle
I am very upset with the staff at the rehab center. Last week, when my husband was moved to that part of the hospital, he was told that he could get a day pass to come home on the weekend days, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We haven't been able to go back to visit him since the 20th because we don't have much money left for gas and have been saving that so we can pick him up Christmas morning and then take him back that night. I was talking to hubby on the phone yesterday and his nurse was in the room. Hubby asked her to speak with me and explain the procedure for checking him out for the day on Christmas. The nurse then tells me that before he can go home for the day, we have to come in and attend a family training session. That is the first time that a training session was mentioned to us and hubby has asked about getting the day passes several times. He was discussing it with the doctor when we were there the last time because the doctor has to approve the pass and there was no mention of us needing any training. So if we go for the training this morning, we won't have gas money to bring him home for the day tomorrow. We would all just go spend the day at the hospital with hubby but due to the flu being really bad right now, children under 12 aren't allowed to visit. My granddaughter is only 4 and I don't want my son to miss Christmas with his child. We have decided to just go to the training this morning and hope that we can find some way to get to the hospital and back twice tomorrow.
I am heartsick at the thought of hubby being alone on Christmas Day. We have never been apart for more than a few days at a time in the 36 years that we have been married and have never not been together on Christmas. Christmas is even more special to us because that is the day that we got to take our son, who was born prematurely in 1979 and had only a 50% chance of surviving, home from the hospital.
I know it’s too late for Christmas but pens are still available.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
For those who may not believe that we have to attend training or that kids under 12 aren't being allowed to visit right now, you can call and ask. Hubby is in Cape Fear Valley Hospital in Fayetteville, N.C. He is in the inpatient rehabilitation unit. The main hospital number is 910-615-4000. They can connect calls to inpatient rehabilitation. I know that I don't have to prove anything but I am getting tired of the nastiness and accusations.
One other thing, some people have been suggesting that we should rent our home out, get on housing assistance and use the rental income to pay our rent. That sounds like a recipe for becoming homeless and I will not risk that. If we rent out our home and the tenant doesn't pay then we could end up on the street. There are other considerations, also. Our house isn't in the greatest shape and we don't have the money to do repairs that are needed plus we would still have to pay property taxes. I am open to suggestions to help our situation but I think that renting our house out would be a colossal mistake.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas/happy holidays. Enjoy your family and don’t take them for granted because you never know what might happen.
bladecatz@mail.com
Blade
Friday, December 21, 2012
A Few Things...
No one forces anyone to read one word that I write, yet some come here for no other apparent reason than to sit in judgement of me and make rude remarks about me. At a time when I am worried sick about my husband, why do some of you feel the need to do that?
I haven't been able to visit my husband since Thursday. I miss him so much and I am very worried. He wasn't feeling very good when I spoke to him on the phone and he was in a lot of pain. He only talked for a little while and that isn't like him. I know he misses me and feels neglected but I only have a little gas money left and I am saving that so we can visit him on Christmas Day. He could get a day pass to come home on Christmas but we can't afford to do that. I am just grateful that I will at least be able to visit him at the hospital.
To those who will feel the need to leave hurtful remarks in reply to this, go right ahead. You must be very sad and lonely yourself if it makes you feel better to insult me.
Blade
To anyone who doesn't like what I am currently writing about, the solution is quite simple. There is an "x" in the upper righthand corner of this page. I suggest that you use it.
Now, to answer some questions and clear up some things. I live in a rural area but there are towns, but no major cities, located about 15 miles away. They have Wal-mart and they also have social services. I have never said that we didn't have a department of social services. What I said is that there are no funds available to help with our situation at this time. There also aren't any Salvation Army or Goodwill stores. Someone asked didn't my husband have underwear. Well, yes, he does but what he has is briefs and the rehab facility requested that he wear boxers so that his movement isn't constricted.
I wish all of the problems that we have had recently were all lies. Unfortunately for us, they aren't. I hope no one here, no matter how rude, ever has to go through the experiences we have had over the past year. I hope that no one ever finds themself with no money, a spouse hospitalized in an ICU 40 miles away and no way to visit them. I thank those here with generous hearts and souls who helped me out.
I wish that we didn't still have financial needs but driving back and forth to the hospital isn't cheap and both our vehicle and my son's use a lot of gas. I talked to the hospital social worker yesterday while hubby was having physical therapy and they couldn't help and didn't know of any agencies that could. I don't know when we will be able to visit hubby again. The doctor came in yesterday while we were in hubby's room and he said that hubby won't be released before Christmas. He said that hubby can go home on day passes Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but he will have to be back at the cardiac rehab unit by 8pm each night. I would love to be able to bring hubby home for those days but there is just no money for that. I am hoping that we can at least do that on Christmas Day. I have a nuclear stress test scheduled for December 27th so I have to keep money for that. My appointment is near the hospital where hubby is so I will be able to visit him that day, too. I am waiting to get an appointment with a surgeon to talk about having my gallbladde removed so that will be another travel expense. I feel like I am buried under all of these expenses.
I know this angers some people and to them, I say reread the first paragraph of this post. To anyone who may be interested, we still have some pens available.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
bladecatz@mail.com
Blade
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Thank You All
Thanks for all the responses to my previous post. I can see that some serious thought and research is going to be necessary. I will probably need to just meet with a DSS caseworker to get truly accurate information.
Hubby is doing well but has no strength in his legs after being laid up for 19 days. His leg braces that helped him walk (he has foot drop due to his back injuries) no longer fit because he has lost a lot of weight in his legs. He also has diabetic neuropathy so while he has the will to walk unassisted the reality is that he needs help. In his head, he knows this but he wants to come home. My son and I plus the doctors feel that he should go to cardiac rehab for a little while but hubby hasn't committed to going yet. I hope he does because we need time to make a few modifications. He may need a hospital bed to help him raise up because he can't use his arms to puish himself to a sitting position. There is so much to do and not enough time to do it.
To top it all off, my son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and myself have all been sick with a respiratory virus for the past week or so. I also had a gallbladder attack last Thursday night and spent the night in the ER. I was having some heart arrythmia problems while I was there because my blood magnesium level was low and had to be given magnesium through an IV. My gallbladder issues are longstanding but have been worsening for several months. I had told my primary doctor that it was getting worse a few months ago and she said there were some medical tests that I needed before she would refer me to a surgeon. With so nuch going on with hubby's eye problems through the summer and early fall, there was just no time or money for me to schedule those tests. I followed up with my primary yesterday and all she wants me to have now before setting me up with a surgeon is a stress test. I will be having it on December 27th to see if my heart is okay to go under the anesthesia. I hope that I will be able to have the surgery soon because my gallbladder is so sensitive now that I am living on fat-free yogurt, fat-free cheese, fat-free turkey breast and pretzel sticks. I have terrible pain if I eat anything with fat. I have no appetite and have to force myself to eat what I do. I have lost 23 pounds this month.
I know in my head that things will get better but this whole year has been one crisis after another. I know that I have annoyed people who read my blog and that some readers think that I am lying about our situation. I wish that I was but the reality is that things are very bad.
With Christmas fast approaching, I just haven't been able to get in the Christmas spirit this year. Writing here is cathartic for me and whether or not anyone reads or responds doesn't really matter.
Our future as far as where we will live is up in the air and I feel like things are spiraling out of control. I just have to accept that loss of control and trust that everything will work out for the best.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope that all your dreams come true. My only Christmas wish this year is that hubby will heal quickly and that he won't have any further heart problems. I feel guilty that I didn't even think that the pain in his upper back accompanied by nausea could be heart related since he already had a stent. Please take upper back pain between the shoulder blades seriously because it truly can be a big problem.
Sorry if this post is rambling but I write as things things occur to me.
With best wishes for a wonderful 2013,
Blade
bladecatz@mail.com
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Advice Needed…
I need advice. First, I want to say that I am not asking for money, not asking for anyone to buy pens, I just need good, reliable information about medicaid and ssi. If you leave comments, please be helpful. I am about at the end of my rope and can't deal with negativity at this time. Here is the situation.
My husband and I are both disabled. He receives social security disability and ssi. I receive only ssi disability. We own our home, a couple of sheds and the land they sit on. The value of them is $58000. My son wants to take us back to Texas to stay with them because he needs to get back to work. My husband won't be able to drive for about 2 months and will need help getting up, etc. I am worried that if we aren't living in our home then it will be counted as a resource and we won't qualify for medicaid anymore. That would be disastrous because our medicines cost more than we make per month. Does anyone have knowledge of how this works? Am I right in thinking that we might lose our medicaid? Would we have to apply for Texas medicaid since we will be living there with our son? Please comment or email if you are knowledgeable about how this works.
Thanks, Blade...
bladecatz@mail.com
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Hubby's Surgery
Blade
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Problem...
Blade
My son and his family arrived safely about 9am this morning but we still have a small problem. His truck doesn't have enough gas to get to the hospital which is about 40 miles. It took everything for them to get here. Hubby's surgery is scheduled for 7am and I really want to see him before that. We talk on the phone and I can tell that he feels alone. I want him in a positive frame of my mind when he goes to the O.R. If anyone is planning on buying a pen and is able to do it now, it would mean so much to me.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
Blade
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Hubby's Status
Blade
Update: I know that everyone is suggesting that we move to be helpful. The problem is that we live in an area where homes just aren't selling at this time. We may look into renting our home out and using that money to rent something near the hospital but that will have to wait until things settle down. There is no way that I can do all of the things needed to be done without help. My son is trying anything and everything that he can think of to get the money to get up here, as am I. Right now, he only needs about $95.00 to get up here. He isn't concerned about getting back home. Hopefully, we will be able to get that amount soon. I would like to see hubby before his surgery. Thanks to everyone for all the support, advice, prayers. It means a lot to me.
Blade
Hubby's condition is about the same from what the nurses tell me which isn't much. My son is still trying to get enough money to get here. I just pray that I can get to the hospital before hubby's surgery on Wednesday. I am terrified and I can't imagine how hubby is feeling. Please keep praying for hubby and that my son will be able to get here in time. I don't want my husband to have to go through this alone. I am able to talk on the phone with him for a few minutes at a time but I need to see him. If anyone is interested in buying a pen the link is:
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
Thanks to everyone for all of the support.
bladecatz@mail.com
Blade
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Really Bad News
4th Update: Hubby had to be transferred to Cardiac ICU during the night. Please keep praying for him.
3rd Update: The cardiac cath had to be canceled for today because hubby's oxygen levels dropped twice during the night and the rapid response team had to be called. The doctors say he had a heart attack sometime in the past week or two but he didn't have typical symptoms. We think it might have been Thanksgiving night because he was in severe pain and very nauseous that night. He thought it was coming from his pancreas because it was similar to what he felt when he had Pancreatitis. I am so thankful that he was transferred to the hospital where he is now because they have an excellent cardiac care unit. Thanks to those who have bought pens. I am getting closer to having enough funds to buy gas for my son to come. I feel so guilty about not being at the hospital but hubby is so understanding. I am just terrified that something might happen and I won't be there. Will update again when I get more information
2nd Update: My husband will undergo cardiac catheterization tomorrow, The doctors wanted him to be in better shape but his cardiac enzymes had increased when they did his last blood work. I am very worried and I still can't get to the hospital. Please keep praying for him.
Update: I am going to post personal here during this time. Hubby is still not doing well. I spoke to the nurse on the phone this morning and she said that they did an echocardiogram to get an idea of how well his heart is pumping. He isn't breathing well enough to have the catheterization yet. My son is still trying to get enough money to drive up here. I have never been so scared in my life. I can't get to the hospital to see hubby and he has a hard time talking on the phone because he gets winded. Please pray for hubby.
My apologies if this pisses anyone off but I am desperate. Last night, my husband was taken by ambulance to a hospital 40 miles. He has pneumonia and heart failure. I need to raise money to send to my son so he can come to North Carolina from Texas. I am here alone. Our neighbors who helped me the last time he was in the hospital left yesterday morning and won’t be back until Monday. I am worried sick. I talked to the nurse taking care of him and she said he may have a catheterization some time today. Hubby tried to talk to me on the phone but he is too short of breath. Please purchase a pen if you can and please pray for my husband. We have been married since I was 19 years old. He is my whole world and I can’t imagine life without him.
Here is the link to the pen site.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
bladecatz@mail.com
Blade
Friday, November 30, 2012
Stupid People Abound…
*Urgent: Please visit Blade’s Life by clicking the tab at the top. I promised to keep this blog Sarah Palin related so my personal news is there. I will say that hubby and I got a bad shock.*
**Just after I wrote this post we got more bad news. We need help urgently. Please read Blade’s Life.**
We all know that Sarah Palin is not fit to hold political office but there seems to be growing interest in her as a potential GOP candidate for 2016.
The author of this article thinks that Palin influenced Congressional races.
My thoughts are that those whom she backed won election in spite of her endorsement not because of it.
The real question is are there enough low information voters who just might vote for her if she were to run? I wish I could say no way with confidence but I just can’t be sure.
If babygate were to blow wide open, I am sure that would end her political chances once and for all but it seems like that scandal is fading into oblivion. Many of the blogs that were once invested in finding proof that the general public would have to accept are now defunct.
There are still so many questions about Trig and Tripp. I remain unconvinced that Tripp isn’t older than stated. Like Trig, I have seen pictures of Tripp that don’t seem to be all of the same child.
I want to gather as many pictures that are supposedly Trig and Tripp as I can find, especially ones where their ages and appearances seem suspect.
I would appreciate links to any pictures of Trig and Tripp. If you could email them to me or leave them in the comments section on Blade’s Life, which can be accessed by using the tab at the top of the page, it would be a big help. I am having issues with Disqus and may try to revert to using the blogger comment system but as for now I am only able to moderate this blog by email.
Thanks for any pictures or other interesting babygate related links.
Blade
Friday, November 23, 2012
Does Charlotte Allen Have A Clue About Who Sarah Palin Really Is And Has She Seen A Recent Picture Of The Woman She Believes Has It All Over Hillary In The Looks Department?
* I have added a tab for easy access to my new blog, Blade's Life. The tab is located just beneath the header. Blade's Life is where I discuss personal matters. The link to the site where we sell Hubby's ink pens is also there. Please visit if you have a few minutes. Thanks!*
Well, the election is over and we dodged the bullet this time but time flies and 2016 is just around the bend.
While perusing some of my favorite progressive websites, I was floored when I clicked a link that took me to this piece.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/18/opinion/la-oe-allen-palin-for-president-20121118
Charlotte Allen thinks that Sarah Palin is good looking, consistent and will appeal to the masses. Has she taken a good look at recent pictures of Caribou Barbie?
This picture of Palin taken in October 2012, shows an aging diva dressed like a slutty teenager. She looks far from presidential, in my opinion.
Allen heaps much praise on Sarah such as she’s ready for the talk show circuit, consistent (yes, you read that right) on the issues and patriotic.
She refers to Palin as someone who doesn’t shop at Neiman Marcus. Who here doesn’t think that La Palin would gladly shop at Neiman Marcus if she could just persuade someone else to pick up the tab?
Hasn’t this Sarah Palin is the new Ronald Reagan shtick been tried before with poor results?
I don’t know whether to laugh at the possibility of Palin running in 2016 or be afraid but I don’t think letting our guard down as far as Sarah Palin is concerned is a good idea.
With so many whack jobs in the GOP these days plus their desperation to find a candidate who appeals to the Evangelical base, I think we need to keep getting the word out that Sarah Palin is a fraud and not fit for any political office much less POTUS.
bladecatz@mail.com
Blade
Friday, November 16, 2012
FYI: About Hubby’s Handcrafted Ink Pens and Me
Recently some readers (or perhaps just one reader) have started leaving comments about the pens that my husband makes by hand which we have for sale online at:
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
There have also been some personal remarks about me.
I have decided to address these statements in this manner because I am unable to reply to comments except by email.
Below are the comments to which I am referring:
“Your husband's pens are the same ones the 7th graders at my school make for much less money to support school programs. I can buy the same of any of the ones on your website to support our yearbook or to support our student government for $2-$4 each - and that means 50% profit. Your husband charges $30 - $55!”
“Did you and i touch base in Greece a few years back? I recall the need for funds.”
“Several years ago, an individual who frequently blogged on a similar site, fleeced a bunch of good people out of hard earned money claiming he/she had needed money to pay part of a hotel bill in Athens. Caring bloggers, who had developed an online relationship with individual over time were out hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Turned out it was a scam. The urgent need for money was the same as is frequently on this site. I thought about this when reading this site. And agree, the pens are the same as kids make in tech ed.”
First, I have never been to Greece. I have never been out of the U.S.A. So, to the person who wrote about being fleeced, please take your hostility elsewhere.
Now, about the pens my husband makes. The reader states that they can purchase the pens for “$2-$4 each - and that means 50% profit.”
I can’t say if that statement is true or false but I can say that the materials my husband uses to make each pen costs a lot more than $4. My son, who makes pens professionally, supplies some of the materials. My husband gets wood and corian from contractors who have left overs from jobs. As a reference, here is a link to one of the sites where my son purchases pen making supplies.
If you search for pen kits, the lowest priced complete pen kit available is $1.95. These kits only include the guts of the pen and metal clip, tip and center band. The material for the body of the pen is not included.
Then the person says “Your husband's pens are the same ones the 7th graders at my school make for much less money to support school programs. I can buy the same of any of the ones on your website”
My husband designs the pens he makes himself. There is no template to go by so I highly doubt the person can buy the same pen. They might be similar but any handcrafted ink pen is going to be one of a kind unless a duplicating machine is used. My husband doesn’t duplicate any of his pens although he does make some that are similar to others.
If the school the person refers to can make pens of the quality that hubby’s are, sell them for that price and make a 50% profit then they must be using all donated materials.
I don’t begrudge the school fundraising but why attack us? I am fairly sure we aren’t competing with them for sales. Hubby puts hours of work into every pen he makes. He is an artist, if you will and his time and effort are worth something.
I think these remarks are made vindictively and with the motive of trying to make hubby’s pens seem so overpriced that no one will buy them but why?
Lee, school mum or whoever you are, if you have something personal to take up with me, my email address is included in every post. Please email me instead of leaving remarks to make my husband’s pens look like overpriced junk.
My husband and I are both disabled. We both have multiple medical problems which require visits to specialists. Hubby’s pension doesn’t cover all the medical expenses we have. We live in an area that is very rural. Healthcare, other than the basics requires travel. We need to sell those pens to get to appointments which one or the other of us has nearly every week.
I am not begging for people to give us money. We are selling a product to try to raise the money we need.
I hope this post doesn’t offend anyone. Most of the people who come here are great and have been so helpful. Hubby and I are sincerely grateful to all of you.
Hubby was diagnosed with skin cancer on his nose yesterday and it just seems like the bad times will never end.
This will be the last post where I ask people to please purchase pens or at least share our site with others. I can’t deal with the negativity anymore.
When I have time, I will still put up Palin related posts.
Here is the link to the pen site one more time:
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
If anyone has information or comments for me that they would like me to reply to please send them via email.
PS: To a reader called NYAH: I have noticed that your comments for some reason do not appear on the website. They arrived in my email and I replied to them by email but I don’t know where they went. I just want to let you know that I do appreciate the information you have given me and I apologize because I know from your last comments that you think I have ignored you. If you have anymore suggestions for me, please send them to the email address above.
Thanks to all my readers!
Blade
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
I Hate Doing This…
I hate doing this again and I know I will probably get flamed but I have run out of options.
I have an appointment Thursday morning with my oncologist. I want to cancel it because we don’t have any money and the trip is 220 miles round trip. I saw my primary care doctor yesterday for my monthly check-up. She reminded me about my oncology appointment and I told her that I was going to cancel it. She said I really need to keep the appointment if there was any way possible. I have lost over 60 pounds since May and she is really worried about that. My blood pressure was low yesterday and she lowered the dosage of my blood pressure medicine and took me off my diuretic. I kind of know what she is worried about but I just don’t want to think about it.
Hubby also has an appointment out of town next week. I worry about him getting to his appointment more than I do about getting to mine and he worries more about me getting to mine. He has been having trouble keeping his blood sugar levels under control. They swing high to low so he needs to see his endocrinologist.
The mess we are in with our bank has put us in a hole or we would have had enough money to get to our appointments. (see previous post for details).
I have tried every place I can think of to ask for help with our travel cost but none of them have any funds available because they have been sending everything they get to help storm victims.
If anyone can help by purchasing a pen, I would be very grateful. Also, if someone could post this at politicalgates, that would be a big help. For some reason, I can’t access their site anymore but Kathleen left a comment here saying that I could ask for help there if I needed to.
I have been having trouble with my computer. I guess a setting is messed up because I can’t even comment here. When I try I get an error message that says my browser is out of date but I am using IE 9. I have to reply to comments by email.
I know I have asked for help a lot lately and I apologize but I just don’t know what else to do. Selling pens is the only way we have to make money and our luck has been awful lately. Hubby was all set to sell pens at a carnival on October 27 but Sandy was supposed to be hitting us with tropical storm force winds so it was canceled. Thankfully, Sandy was a no show here other than a good stiff breeze.
Here is the link for the pen site:
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. To those who will leave rude replies, my husband and I are going through some rough times. I hope you never have to deal with several problems at once that just wipe you out financially.
Blade
Saturday, October 20, 2012
I Am In Big Trouble and Need Help UPDATE # 2
I contacted the business where I used the gift certificate this morning. The overdraft did go through but they agreed to return the money. The bank won't waive the overdraft fee, though. I just hope the business completes the return soon because the money has to be refunded to paypal and then I have to transfer it back to our bank account. If the money isn't back in our bank account before Friday when hubby's pension is deposited the bank will take what they are due which will cause more overdrafts. I hate greedy banks but there is only one bank in town so we didn't have a choice. Any purchases will be greatly appreciated and please keep sharing the pen site and our facebook page. Big thanks to everyone who has purchased or donated in the past.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
https://www.facebook.com/Hubbyshandcraftedinkpensyolasitecom?ref=hl
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I will be on the phone in the morning trying to straighten this mess out. Please pray that I will get the money needed or can get the businesses involved to work with me to resolve the issue. If the problem can’t be corrected, it will be a disaster for us.
Visit our new facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Hubbyshandcraftedinkpensyolasitecom?ref=hl
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I am in big trouble and need to raise $500.00 very quickly. If you or anyone you know is looking to buy unique gifts for Christmas or other occasions, please consider our pens.
ctehttp://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
I think I am either a bad luck magnet or someone has put a hex on me(only half-joking).
The problem began when I was using a gift certificate on a woodworking equipment website. My husband's birthday is a week from today and our son emailed a gift certificate to me to use to buy hubby new penmaking equipment.
Our son is a penmaker, too, but on a much larger scale than hubby. His pens are sold in stores. He places so many orders for penmaking stuff that he earns rewards and he had accumulated reward points worth over $500.00. He used his points to order a $500 gift certificate and emailed it to me so I could order a new lathe for hubby.
I started the order but when the shipping charge was added the total was $504.89. I thought I was going to have to cancel but then I remembered that I had $5.00 in my paypal account that I could use to pay the difference. I placed the order using my paypal debit card to pay the $4.89 but there was a glitch and I got an error code. I tried again and experienced the glitch again. I tried a third time and still got the error code. By this time, I figured that the order wasn't going to be accepted and I looked for an email address so I could notify the website about the problem.
I found a report a problem form and began filling in the information. There was a place to enter error code received but I couldn't remember the code so I hit the back arrow to look for it. When I hit "back" I was returned to the place your order page. I had been getting the error code when I hit the submit order button so I hit it again. This time the order went through and I thought everything was okay. Then I noticed the whole order had been charged to my paypal debit card.
My paypal debit card is linked to our bank account which has a balance of less than a dollar. I called paypal and told them about the problem but the order is pending until Monday and I can't dispute the charge until the order is complete. The problem is since I only have $5.00 in my paypal account, paypal will try to pull almost $500.00 from our bank account. This will cause an automatic overdraft on our bank account and we will owe the bank the amount of the overdraft plus an overdraft fee.
Hubby's pension is direct deposited to our bank account so the bank will pull the money they are owed when the next deposit is received. We have our household bills on autopay so when our bank account doesn't have enough money to pay the bills overdraft will kick in again. I don't know how we'll ever get out of this vicious cycle if it starts. The only way to avoid this is to get the $500 in paypal before Monday morning so paypal doesn't try to take funds from our bank account.
I called the bank's 800 number and spoke with a rep but she said the process is automated and there's no way to cancel it now. I tried to call the woodworking site that I placed the order with to see if I can cancel but they are closed till 9 am central time Monday and by then it will be too late. I haven't told hubby about this yet because he will worry himself sick.
I don't like begging but selling pens is the only way I know to get out of this mess. Our son would give us the money but he has been in financial trouble due to being defrauded by a stock transfer agent and he had to hire a lawyer to try to get back the stock the agents say they can't find. Please buy a pen if you can or suggest our pens to others. Thanks again...
bladecatz@mail.com
Blade
Friday, October 12, 2012
Car Will Be Repaired Tomorrow…
We finally raised enough money to get the part we needed and our neighbor will be fixing the car tomorrow.
Hubby and I want to thank everyone for the donations, pen orders, suggestions and support.
Being able to use our car again will be a huge relief.
We still need funds to pay for the trips back and forth to doctor appointments so please keep our pens in mind when you are shopping for gifts and share the link with others.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
Hubby has been working on some new pens while we’ve been homebound. I still have to add them to the catalog so keep checking because they are truly beautiful.
I am also working on a facebook page to advertise the pens and tell people about our situation. I will post here when it’s ready. Please share it.
Thanks again for all the help!
Blade
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Any Suggestions? We Are Really Desperate
I posted the following yesterday while I was on hold, waiting to speak with a counselor at a local agency about getting help to have our car repaired and I accidentally posted it as an update to a previous post instead of new. I am going to repost as new because we really need any suggestions that might help us out. The counselor I spoke with was very nice but their organization just doesn’t have the funds.
I can’t understand why the person who hit our car didn’t leave a note. Hubby and I both thought that our insurance would cover the damage. We have been with the company that has the vanishing deductible for over 10 years and haven’t had any accidents which we are at fault. We thought our $500.00 deductible would have disappeared by the way the ads on television describe the feature but it turns out that feature is optional and it didn’t exist when we took out our policy so we still have the $500.00 deductible and can only file a claim for the difference if the repairs cost over $500.00. Of course, we don’t have the $500.00 so we can’t have the car fixed.
I am ashamed at having to post requests for advice and help but I just don’t know where else to turn. We have no relatives nearby. Our son and his family live in Texas and would help us in a heartbeat if they could but they are in financial trouble, too, at this time.Our neighbors are great but have no extra money and they work during the week so they can’t help with transportation to our appointments. The neighbor who is a mechanic would be doing the work for us free to save us the labor cost.
Here is what I posted low. The one organization that helps with car repairs refused us as I explain below.
I have been trying all week to find an organization that will help us get our car back on the road. Our neighbor will do the work but we have to get the part which cost $312.00 new. We have raised $45.00. Our mechanic neighbor tried to find us the part through a network of salvage yards. He was only able to find one. It is in California. The price of the used part is $225.00 but we have to pay shipping. The part is over-sized because it's a body part that wraps all the way around the front end of the car. The shipping cost is $70.00 making the total price 295.00. Our neighbor said that since we would only be saving $17.00 if we bought the used part it wouldn't be wise because the part is sold as is and if there is anything wrong with it, we wouldn't be able to get our money back if we are able to come up with enough money to buy it.
What really irks me is that our car runs fine but we can't drive it because the likelihood of the part falling off in the road is dangerous. Our safety inspection is due and it won't pass until this is fixed.
I thought I had found an organization to help with repairs but then we found out they only help with mechanical repairs, not body damage. They consider such damage to be cosmetic but in our case it's a safety issue. I asked if they could make an exception but they refused.
I hate to keep hawking hubby's pens but selling them is the only way we have to raise extra money. We have nothing left each month after we pay our bills.
Hubby and I both have medical appointments almost every week until the end of the month. Next Wednesday hubby and I both have an appt. with our primary doctors. I can't miss my appt. because since I am on Coumadin I have to have my INR checked monthly. Thursday, hubby has an appt. with another ophthalmologist Hubby's vision has improved but is still not as good as it should be so his local ophthalmologist set up an appointment with a specialist in Fayetteville, about 35 miles from our house. There is a new medicine that sometimes helps the type of problem hubby has and this Dr. wants to to examine hubby to see if he is a candidate for the drug.
The week after next I have to see my kidney doctor. I went in July and I usually go every 6 months but my blood tests were way off in July so I have to go for a recheck. Hubby has an appointment with a podiatric surgeon who is treating him for da foot ulcer.
These aren't appointments we can postpone but we have no way to get to them. The neighbors have to work. We don't even a taxi service in our little town and for some reason, the taxi company in the nearest larger town about 13 miles away in the next county will not serve our area.
Then, November 8th, I have an appointment with my oncologist. That's 240 miles round trip. My primary doctor asked my oncologist to have me come in earlier than usual because I have been losing a lot of weight. I have lost over 50 pounds since May and my primary doctor is worried about that.
I hate to write about this stuff but everything is hitting us at once. Please consider buying a pen, recommending them to others or just make suggestions as to how we might be able to get assistance. Any kind of help at all is truly appreciated.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
We have more pens than shown so if there is a special color or style that you would like, just email me or post it here. We might have what you need.
Thanks,
Blade
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Email I Received About The Palins Plus Update On Hubby–Urgent Update Today
I have been trying all week to find an organization that will help us get our back on the road. Our neighbor will do the work but we have to get the part which cost $312.00 new. We have raised $45.00. Our mechanic neighbor tried to find us the part through a network of salvage yards. He was only able to find one. It is in California. The price of the used part is $225.00 but we have to pay shipping. The part is over-sized because it's a body part the wraps all the way around the front end of the car. The shipping cost is $70.00 making the total price of $295.00. Our neighbor said that since we would only be saving $17.00 buying the used part wouldn't be wise because it's sold as is and if there is anything wrong with it, we wouldn't be able to get our money back.
What really irks me is that our car runs fine but we can't drive it because the likelihood of the part falling off in the road is dangerous. Our safety inspection is due and it won't pass until this is fixed.
I thought I had found an organization to help with repairs but then we found out they only help with mechanical repairs, not body damage. They consider such damage to be cosmetic but in our case it's a safety issue. I asked if they could make an exception but they refused.
I hate to keep hawking hubby's pens but selling them is the only way we have to raise extra money. We have nothing left each month after we pay our bills.
Hubby and I both have medical appointments almost every week until the end of the month. Next Wednesday hubby and I both have appts. with our primary doctors. I can't miss the appt. because since I am on Coumadin I have to have my INR checked monthly. Thursday, hubby has an appt. with another opthalmologist. Hubby's vision has improved but is still not as good as it should be so his local opthalmologist set up an appointment with a specialist in Fayetteville, abut 35 miles from our house. There is a new medicine that sometimes helps the type of problem hubby has and this Dr. wants to to examine hubby to see if he is a candidate for the drug.
The week after next I have to see my kidney dr. I went in July and I usually go every 6 months but my blood tests were way off in July so I have to g for a recheck. Hubby has an appointment with a podiatric surgeon who is treating him for a foot ulcer. These aren't appointments we can postpone but we have no way to get to them. The neighbors have to work. We don't even a taxi service in our little town and for some reason, the taxi company in the nearest larger town about 13 miles away in the next county will not srve our area.
Then, November 8th, I have an appointment with my oncologist. That's 240 miles round trip. My primary doctor asked my oncologist to have me come in earlier than usual because I have been losing a lot of weight. I have lost over 50 lbs, since May and my primary is worried about that.
I hate to write about this stuff but everything is hitting us at once. Please consider buying a pen or recommending them to others.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
Thanks,
Blade
If there are any typos, I apologize. I have been really sick since the Friday before we left for hubby’s surgery. It started with a gallbladder attack. I have stones and get them from time to time. They usually go away in a few hours. Not this time.
I developed a severe headache and then a sore throat with a fever. Hubby wanted to cancel the trip but I refused.
I had no appetite all week.
We got home Thursday night and I got a neighbor to take me to the doctor yesterday morning (we had a car problem mentioned at the end of this post) and was diagnosed with strep throat and ear and sinus infection. I was prescribed Levaquin but my insurance refused to pay. So for now I am using salt water gargles and hoping it helps.
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I received this email today and thought it would make an interesting post. The remarks of the person who emailed me are in brown text and my comments are in blue.
Opinions welcome.
"Just thinking about irony and double standards. You say that people who believe in the power of the family and the strength of family unity are hypocrites when family members make common mistakes, in adolescence or beyond. What you fail to admit or acknowledge is every other person who doesn't publicize their personal beliefs and whose family members display the same mistakes. There is no real difference between the two."
I do not criticize family unity. I know mistakes happen in every family because no one is perfect. However, when people lead private lives then I am not privy to their family dynamics. I can not comment on things of which I have no knowledge.
"Take your favorite scapegoats: Sarah and Todd. You say they're bad parents because their kids have made a few mistakes (forget their mistakes were made public because of a few people's jealousy and the nature of parents career)"
Sarah and Todd's bad parenting is evident not only through the misbehavior of their children but through their ill-treatment of them. Sarah uses her children as props. Their physical well-being is unimportant to her. She has no qualms with endangering their health if it benefits her. Trig is a case in point. While I ABSOLUTELY do not believe that she gave birth to Trig, for the sake of this argument let's say she did.
She has stated that she knew the baby she was carrying had Down Syndrome. Babies born with this condition need special care immediately after birth. Sarah, thousands of miles from home in Dallas to give a speech, awoke with pains and her amniotic fluid leaking around 4am on the morning she was to deliver that speech. What should a woman do in such a situation? I was in this situation myself and I know that it is mandatory to go straight to a hospital. Pregnant women are routinely given these instructions by their obstetricians so considering all of Sarah's previous pregnancies, she no doubt knew what she was required to do to assure the safety of her unborn child. But instead of heading to a hospital in Dallas, where she had a choice of several nationally acclaimed facilities, she chose to call her family doctor who isn't even an obstetrician. According to Sarah, the doctor agreed with Sarah's suggestion that it would be reasonable for her to rest until time to deliver her speech and then board an airplane for a very lengthy flight home. Not for one minute, do I believe that this is the advice Sarah received. I highly doubt that she even spoke to her doctor. So Sarah, who claims to be so in love with her unborn child and praying that he will be okay chooses to rest in a hotel room until time for her all important speech. Her contractions and leakage began around eight hours before her scheduled speech. She had ample time to go to a hospital and be checked out. I'm sure her V.I.P. status would have resulted in her being examined expediently and if everything was okay she would have had plenty of time to get where she needed to be to give her speech. The only reason for her not to go immediately to a hospital was because she was worried that something was seriously wrong which would necessitate her being admitted to the hospital and she would miss delivering her speech. A speech was more important to this woman than the life of her unborn baby and you think she's a good parent. Todd bears responsibility, too, because he should have insisted that she go to the hospital. In fact, he should have made sure that she went even if he had to enlist the help of the proper authorities. Sarah was a danger not only to her unborn baby but herself because a woman becomes vulnerable to infection once the amniotic sac is breached. Neither Sarah nor Todd acted as loving parents would in a situation that very well could have resulted in the death of their unborn baby and perhaps even Sarah, herself.
Next, I want to delve into what occurred after Sarah gave the speech that was more important than the life of her unborn baby. The speech was over. Surely a loving pro-life woman experiencing signs of premature labor with a baby known to have Down Syndrome would rush straight to one of the fine hospitals in Dallas. Hospitals with state of the art neonatal intensive care units staffed with me medical experts equipped to handle the many problems that a premature infant with Down Syndrome might experience. Instead, Todd and Sarah boarded an Alaska airline flight. A flight that would last 8 to 9 hours not including a 2 hour layover in Seattle. Sarah boarded an airplane knowing that she could possibly give birth during the flight. She chose to take yet another risk with her unborn baby's life. Had Trig's birth occurred aboard the plane, most likely there would not have been a medical professional qualified to care for a premature baby not to mention one with Down Syndrome. Although flight attendants have some first aid training, they would not be able to handle such an event. Even if a doctor qualified to treat such an infant had been aboard, the necessary life-saving equipment such as an incubator would not have been available. Then there is the problem of the germ-filled, unsanitary environment in which the baby would have been born. For a premature infant, contacting even a simple cold could possibly be fatal. After several hours in the air, the flight reached Seattle for the 2 hour layover. Nearby hospitals were equipped to handle Trig's birth but these loving caring parents to be chose to continue on with their flight back to Alaska. The plane finally lands in Anchorage. Alaskan soil and only about an hour from the Palin residence. A hospital equipped to handle complicated births is located there but these wonderful examples of what parents should be get in a car and drive to their local hospital, a hospital not equipped with an NICU. A hospital that will not handle complicated deliveries; not even the birth of twins. In this tiny, unqualified hospital Trig is supposedly delivered by a family practitioner. Against all the odds, in spite of the numerous risks his parents took with his life, Trig was born. Did his mistreatment finally end? No.
Three days after his birth, Sarah takes her premature son to her office to show him off. Without regard to the possibility that he might contract an illness that he would have trouble fighting, Sarah had to introduce her prop. A prop that had people calling Sarah a saint. What a wonderful thing to bring a Down Syndrome baby into the world. And it would have been a wonderful thing if done for the right reason, because of a mother's love for her child even knowing the child will face many challenges. But Sarah's motives for giving birth to Trig did not arise out of love, they arose out of political ambition. She knew that she was being considered as the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee and she knew that her seemingly saintly actions would garner huge support from Christian Evangelicals. Her name on the ticket with GOP candidate, John McCain would bolster McCain who the Evangelicals weren't particularly keen on and having a female on the ticket might appeal to women. So Sarah set out to publicize herself as a pro-lifer who not only talked the talk but walked the walk. She was rarely photographed without her prop. Then in August 2008, her dream became reality when McCain chose her as his running mate. Trig's birth had accomplished it's purpose and Sarah and her family, especially prop baby Trig became world famous. But even Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket couldn't give McCain the push he needed and he was defeated. Bitter, Sarah returned to Alaska but she was no longer satisfied with being Governor. She wanted more, she craved fame and wealth so she resigned as Governor. A ghost-written book about her life became a best-seller and prop baby Trig who should have been at home receiving therapy that would help with the problems he had due to Down Syndrome, was dragged from city to city on a cross-country tour. Trig was the real draw. Crowds of people gathered begging to see him. One picture was taken at night in what was obviously cold weather as people pictured including Sarah wore long sleeves or jackets. Sarah was holding Trig up for the crowd to see, dressed in nothing more than a sweatshirt over a diaper, his legs and feet bare. Her little political prop was now also her little moneymaker. And make money she did to to tune of 13 million. But soon Trig was no longer a cute baby and he was seen less and less. When Sarah and family did a reality television show, Sarah Palin's Alaska, Trig was rarely seen. He was left with relatives while his so-called family toured the state. Trig had served his purpose and was put out to pasture, so to speak, replaced by Tripp, Sarah's grandson by daughter Bristol as the cute kid.
So there you have my reasons for calling Todd and Sarah bad parents. As I said, I do not believe Sarah was pregnant with Trig but if she were her reprehensible actions while in labor lead me to conclude that she was trying to get rid of the baby. The statement made by Todd that they couldn't have a fish picker born in Texas when asked why they returned home for Trig's birth is utterly ridiculous. The baby's well-being would have taken precedence over anything had Sarah and Todd been good, loving parents. No speech would have been more important than their baby.
Next, I want to delve into what occurred after Sarah gave the speech that was more important than the life of her unborn baby. The speech was over. Surely a loving pro-life woman experiencing signs of premature labor with a baby known to have Down Syndrome would rush straight to one of the fine hospitals in Dallas. Hospitals with state of the art neonatal intensive care units staffed with medical experts equipped to handle the many problems that a premature infant with Down Syndrome might experience. Instead, Todd and Sarah boarded an Alaska airline flight. A flight that would last 8 to 9 hours not including a 2 hour layover in Seattle. Sarah boarded an airplane knowing that she could possibly give birth during the flight. She chose to take yet another risk with her unborn baby's life. Had Trig's birth occurred aboard the plane, most likely there would not have been a medical professional qualified to care for a premature baby not to mention one with Down Syndrome. Although flight attendants have some first aid training, they would not be able to handle such an
event. Even if a doctor qualified to treat such an infant had been aboard, the necessary life-saving equipment such as an incubator would not have been available. Then there is the problem of the germ-filled, unsanitary environment in which the baby would have been born. For a premature infant, contacting even a simple cold could possibly be fatal. After several hours in the air, the flight reached Seattle for the 2 hour layover. Nearby hospitals were equipped to handle Trig's birth but these loving caring parents to be chose to continue on with their flight back to Alaska. The plane finally lands in Anchorage. Alaskan soil and only about an hour from the Palin residence. A hospital equipped to handle complicated births is located there but these wonderful examples of what parents should be get in a car and drive to their local hospital, a hospital not equipped with an NICU. A hospital that will not handle complicated deliveries; not even the birth of twins. In this tiny, unqualified hospital Trig is supposedly delivered by a family practitioner. Against all the odds, in spite of the numerous risks his parents took with his life, Trig was born. Did his mistreatment finally end? No.
Three days after his birth, Sarah takes her premature son to her office to show him off. Without regard to the possibility that he might contract an illness that he would have trouble fighting, Sarah had to introduce her prop. A prop that had people calling Sarah a saint. What a wonderful thing to bring a Down Syndrome baby into the world. And it would have been a wonderful thing if done for the right reason, because of a mother's love for her child even knowing the child will face many challenges. But Sarah's motives for giving birth to Trig did not arise out of love, they arose out of political ambition. She knew that she was being considered as the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee and she knew that her seemingly saintly actions would garner huge support from Christian Evangelicals. Her name on the ticket with GOP candidate, John McCain would bolster McCain who the Evangelicals weren't particularly keen on and having a female on the ticket might appeal to women. So Sarah set out to publicize herself as a pro-lifer who not only talked the talk but walked the walk. She was rarely photographed without her prop. Then in August 2008, her dream became reality when McCain chose her as his running mate. Trig's birth had accomplished it's purpose and Sarah and her family, especially prop baby Trig became world famous. But even Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket couldn't give McCain the push he needed and he was defeated. Bitter Sarah returned to Alaska but she was no longer satisfied with being Governor. She wanted more, she craved fame and wealth so she resigned as Governor. A ghost-written book about her life became a best-seller and prop baby Trig who should have been at home receiving therapy that would help with the problems he had due to Down Syndrome, was dragged from city to city on a cross-country tour. Trig was the real draw. Crowds of people gathered begging to see him. One picture was taken at night in what was obviously cold weather as people pictured including Sarah wore long sleeves or jackets. Sarah was holding Trig up for the crowd to see, dressed in nothing more than a sweatshirt over a diaper, his legs and feet bare. Her little political prop was now also her little moneymaker. And make money she did to the tune of 13 million. But soon Trig was no longer a cute baby and he was seen less and less. When Sarah and family did a reality television show, Sarah Palin's Alaska, Trig was rarely seen. He was left with relatives while his so-called family toured the state. Trig had served his purpose and was put out to pasture, so to speak, replaced by Tripp, Sarah's grandson by daughter Bristol as the cute kid.
So there you have my reasons for calling Todd and Sarah bad parents. As I said, I do not believe Sarah was pregnant with Trig but if she were her reprehensible actions while in labor lead me to conclude that she was trying to get rid of the baby. The statement made by Todd that they couldn't have a fish picker born in Texas when asked why they returned home for Trig's birth is utterly ridiculous. The baby's well-being would have taken precedence over anything had Sarah and Todd been good, loving parents. No speech would have been more important than their baby.
"Anyway, you fail to acknowledge that the two parents named above were proactive in punishment and in trying to get their kids to see things in a better light, to make better decisions - in dating and I'm sure other such things.
Look at the other side. Boyfriends of the above kids had parents who did not parent proactively. That has been proven by their own kids.
It's unfair in general to attack one side when the other does nothing to remedy a growing problem. It's doubly unfair to ignore the other side, positing them on a pedestal. The family named has a healthy mentality and contains individual members who have their own lives and focuses, while remembering what matters most - family.
So, what's to really criticize? The few mistakes people made during the most naturally rebellious time in their lives? Not if you're a decent and sane individual yourself. Because even at that time, there was still, underneath it all, family unity and a love for one's family within the rebellious mind. Regardless, no outsider can offer no justified criticism or rebuttal. And anyone speaking about it from the inside, well, the simple act of ignoring their own huge family problems while criticizing another family is weird and hypocritical itself.
By the way, if the mistakes were indeed detrimental to anything, there would still be remnants of said mistakes in the individuals lives. Outsiders need to learn how to form an unexaggerated/distorted opinion."
A few comments on the rest of your remarks. The proactive punishment meted out by Sarah and Todd. Let's see. Track, in the military after vandalizing school buses. His wrongdoing wasn't really dealt with. Some community service work, say washing the buses, weekly for a year might have taught him a lesson about respecting public property. However, Track seems more level headed now. Willow broke into a house and received no punishment. Let's just hope that she appreciates the break she received and stays out of trouble but her propensity for cursing and name calling people on facebook who don't think that the sun rises and sets because of the Palin family doesn't bode well for her future. Piper's lack of schooling is going to effect her negatively at some point. Trig, now that he is rarely seen since he's no longer the cute prop, I hope he is okay. Now for Sarah and Todd's biggest failure, Bristol. She is a spoiled rotten brat raising a spoiled rotten brat. Sarah's fans did Bristol no favor by advancing her on Dancing With The Stars in spite of her utter lack of talent as a dancer. As a mother, she is an abysmal failure. During Life's A Tripp, the reality show based on poor Bristol's trials and tribulations as a single mother, the supposed 3 year old Tripp hit, kicked and uttered a curse word that sounded to many like faggot. When questioned about it, Bristol claimed that what Tripp really said was fuck. She said that she is aware he is out of control but laughs and giggles at this behavior. Tripp will receive no discipline unless he is taken out of the Palin environment. The Palin mentality is "gimme gimme" hardly healthy and if they work together as a family it's to try to stay in the limelight because they crave fame. Sooner or later, they will self-destruct as most people do who lie and cheat their way through life.
I am quite sane but with your obsession with all things Palin, I have to wonder about your mental state.
Hubby update: His surgery went well. He has a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks and then we should know how much of his vision was able to be preserved.
We did have some bad luck while we were in Winston-Salem. Someone hit the front of our car in a parking lot and didn’t leave a note. We have comprehensive insurance but there is a $750.00 deductible. We can file a claim if the damage is over $750.00 but we have no money to pay the deductible. If the damage was only cosmetic it wouldn’t matter but the front end is nearly falling off so we can’t drive it without it being repaired. A neighbor has offered to do the repair work for us if we can buy the parts which cost $312.00.
If anyone is interested in handcrafted ink pens, please consider buying from our site.
We both have a lot of doctor appointments scheduled so having transportation is crucial. If you know of any groups that help with car repairs, please let me know.
Thanks!
Blade
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Kicking Myself In The Head…UPDATE
We’ll be leaving Sunday morning for Winston-Salem. Many thanks to those who donated or purchased pens. Hubby and I are truly grateful for all the advice and support.
I finally convinced Hubby that everything will be okay. He’s a worry-wart about traveling with limited funds because our car hasn’t been running great lately but I have faith that we’ll make it.
I’m not sure if I will be able to get online while we’re gone. My laptop isn’t in the best condition so I may not take it.
If anyone is planning on ordering a pen,orders placed by Saturday morning will be shipped before we leave. Any orders that come in while we’re away, will go out ASAP when we get back home.
Hubby’s pen site: http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/
Again, thanks for everything.
Blade
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I called this morning and scheduled hubby's surgery for next Monday morning. It's at 8am.
The nurse gave me the pre-op instructions for hubby and directions to the hospital. Then she said hubby had to go to the hospital Sunday afternoon to speak with the anesthesiologist, have blood drawn and get a chest x-ray and perhaps an EKG if the anesthesiologist thinks it's necessary. I told her that we had planned on driving up there early Monday morning and asked if he could have the tests that morning and the surgery later but she said diabetic patients are always scheduled first. So now we are looking at another night in Winston-Salem and we only have $302.00. for gas and a hotel or motel.
The lowest priced handicapped accessible room I have been able to find is $280.00 for 4 nights and now we need another night.
Hubby wants to cancel it but I don't want him to. He really needs to have this done.
I'm kicking myself in the head because I should have realized he would have to see the anesthesiologist. I had to when I had outpatient surgery in 2008 to remove melanoma.
I don't know what to do but I just needed to vent. Thanks to everyone for listening, so to speak. I know you all probably get tired of hearing about our woes.
Any suggestions please email. I have tried the Ronald McDonald house already but they are full. Someone suggested asking the Red Cross or Y for help and I will be checking on that. We don’t have either in our county but maybe a neighboring county serves our area. I will try anything.
Hubby’s pen site: http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/
Blade
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Bad News, Good News, More Bad News…Help Needed Urgently
The eye surgeon's office called this morning and said they need to schedule hubby's surgery for September 24th or it will have be postponed until sometime in November. The doctor doesn't recommend waiting that long because further deterioration will occur but he will be out of the state most of October, attending Opthalmology conferences.
We have $302.00. I know gas roundtrip will cost about $120.00 so that leaves $182.00 for other expenses. I'm not really concerned about food because we can take some stuff from home with us. Finding a motel or hotel is what worries me.
The surgeon wants hubby to stay in the area until the 28th. We have to have a handicapped accessible room because of my being in a wheelchair. I've checked online and the least expensive room I can find that is handicapped accessible is $280.00 after taxes and it is nearly 20 miles from the hospital. I called and asked if they could give us a discount because of our situation but the clerk said the rate I was quoted was their lowest . That leaves us nearly $100.00 short plus it will take additional gas driving back and forth.
Hubby doesn't want to travel so far with no extra money for emergencies but I told him that we have to take the chance. I don't want him to go blind and I am so afraid that is what will happen if he puts this surgery off until November.
Does anyone have any suggestions about where we might be able to find a lower priced hotel or motel with a handicapped accessible room. The bathroom needs to be accessible with a raised toilet.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated and thanks so much for the help received so far.
Pictures of all the new pens are now up at:
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/
Thanks to everyone for their generosity, From pen sales and donations we now have just over $300.00. I think we need about $200.00 more to cover everything and to have a little safety net.
I have added more pens to the site and I am working on getting pictures of them uploaded.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/
Please pass the link to anyone who might have an interest.
Hubby and I truly appreciate all the help.
********************************
Thanks to some pen sales and donations we have raised almost $160.00 for the trip for my husband’s eye surgery.
My husband is the most unselfish person that I know and he always puts my needs ahead of his own. When I told him how much money we have raised for the trip he said that’s great but it’s not enough money to get a room for the three nights or possibly more that we will have to stay in the area after his surgery. I told him we could sleep in a chair in the lobby but he said no because he is worried that I might get another blood clot if I sit up that long. I would sleep in the floor but I have a lot of health problems and have to use a wheelchair so doing that isn’t possible.
I had a pulmonary embolism three years ago after sitting in my wheelchair for two days after taking a bus trip to Dallas to visit our son. We got stranded in Atlanta where we were supposed to change buses. The bus we were supposed to board didn’t have a lift to load me in my wheelchair on the bus so what was supposed to be a two hour layover ended up being a twelve hour nightmare and the trip to Dallas that was supposed to take 27 hours took over 40. My husband said he will not put me in a situation that could cause me to get another clot.
His going alone isn’t an option because he is diabetic and sometimes forgets where working will be having the surgery to see if we could stay at the Ronald McDonald house but she said it was for families with sick children. She did say that some of the motels/hotels in the larea offer 10 to 15 percent discounts to family members of cancer patients but she didn’t know if we would be able to get a discount or not.
I am praying that we can sell more pens so my husband can have this surgery. If he doesn’t have it, the doctor said his vision will keep getting worse and he could possibly go blind.
Please consider buying a pen and/or send the link for the pens to anyone you know who might be interested. I hate having to ask for help but I just can’t think of any other way to get the money we need.
I will be adding some more pens to the site later today so if you looked before and didn’t see anything that you liked, check back
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/
Thanks again for the donations, purchases, helpful suggestions and encouragement. It’s truly appreciated.
Blade
The Bad News
My husband has been havding problems with his vision since he had cataracts removed in the Spring of 2011. He kept complaining to the doctor who did the surgery that his sight wasn’t getting any better but the doctor kept telling him to just give things some time. So he did.
Six months after the surgery, there was still no improvement. He was having double vision, seeing shooting lights, etc. The doctor still kept telling him that sometimes it takes awhile for vision to settle down after the trauma of surgery. That was the last time my husband saw that doctor because the doctor sold his office and patients’ records to the local hospital. The hospital brought in a new doctor who took over my husband’s care.
The new doctor did a lot of tests and tried treating my husband’s eyes with steroid eye drops but his sight still wasn’t as good as it should be and he was still seeing shooting lights. Finally, the doctor asked a colleague from another part of the state if he would come to his office and examine my husband because he just couldn’t figure out exactly what was causing his problems. His colleague agreed and examined my husband on Thursday.
The doctor who came to look at my husband’s eyes specializes in problems with the retina. He said the problems my husband is having are caused by blood pooling in his eyes, near the retinas, Electrical impulses cause the the blood to shake around which causes my husband to see what looks like sparks.
The Good News
The condition can be corrected with surgery that can be done in an outpatient surgery center and chances are good that my husband’s vision will be close to normal.
The Other Bad News
In order to have the surgery, my husband will have to travel to Winston-Salem which is nearly 160 miles away. He will need to stay in the area for at least 3 days for follow-up. The doctor wants to do the surgery as soon as possible but my husband can’t schedule it because we don’t have enough money to pay for gas and a motel room for 3 nights. I talked to Social Services yesterday and they said that they can devreimburse part of our gas expense after the trip but that would be all they could do. I knew they usually don’t help with travel upfront because I have tried to get help with gas money when I visit my Oncologist but I was hoping that since my husband needed surgery they might make an exception.
So right now I don’t know what to do. I’m not asking for donations but if anyone is thinking of buying pens as gifts for Christmas or other occasions now would be a great time. If we are just able to get enough money for gas up there and back maybe we can stay in the hospital lobby.
It would be such a relief if hubby can have this surgery. He tries to hide it but I know he’s really worried about going blind. I have seen him walking around the house with his eyes closed and I know he’s trying to prepare himself.
Here is the link to the pen site and many thanks for any purchases made.
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/
Blade
Thursday, August 23, 2012
A Favor, Please…
Could someone email me or post here, a link to the pictures from the AHA Go Red Luncheon held in Alaska in February, 2008?
Thanks in advance!
Blade
I received the link I asked for and my previous post “Was Tripp Born On April 18, 2008?” has been updated.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Was Tripp Born On April 18, 2008? Update…
Additional information: Some replies mention that Bristol doesn’t look pregnant in the picture taken at the Go Red For Women Luncheon held on February 15, 2008.
I looked at the set of pictures from the luncheon when they were first discovered but I forgot to save the link to them. In the interest of fairness, I asked for someone to send me the link to the pictures so I could look at them again to refresh my memory.
Here is the link to the picture of Bristol at the luncheon.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairbanksheartwalk/5348019671/in/photostream
After looking, I am still not convinced that Bristol wasn’t pregnant. She is seated with Willow next to her. Willow is closest to the camera. Both girls are dressed in jeans and black jackets. Strange attire, in my opinion and Bristol’s abdominal regional is totally obscured by the table and Willow. I don’t think anyone can say that this picture proves Bristol wasn’t pregnant.
If there is another picture from the luncheon that I missed that shows Bristol’s abdomen, could someone please send me a link to it as I do want to be fair in my assessment.
Blade
**************
Those of you who have been here since the early days of this blog will most likely remember these posts.
http://shesnohockeymom.blogspot.com/2010/08/oh-baby-baby.html
http://shesnohockeymom.blogspot.com/2010/08/little-more-information.html
In the above posts, I discussed in detail this baby who was born to an Amber and Levi at Alaska Regional Hospital on April 18, 2008.
To this day, I still think the baby pictured above bears a striking resemblance to Tripp and I wonder could this baby actually be Tripp?
When I first noticed the remarkable similarity between Tripp and this baby, I thought there might have been a baby switch. I no longer think that is the case.
Consider this: Perhaps Bristol gave birth to Tripp on April 18, 2008 at Alaska Regional using the pseudonym “Amber” – I remember reading somewhere that Bristol used Amber as a fake name sometimes. She gave the baby’s father’s name as Levi.
Coincidentally, another woman named Amber also gave birth to a baby boy, at Alaska Regional on April 18, 2008 and also listed the father as Levi.
Is it possible that the person responsible for adding newborns pictures to the web babies page, put up a picture of Tripp instead of a picture of Amber F.’s son by mistake due to the parents’ names being the same?
If so that would explain the uncanny resemblance between Tripp and this baby and why Tripp seems older than his stated age.
Blade
Please visit http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/ and consider purchasing a pen.
My husband and I are still dealing with a lot of health issues. Any money raised from selling hubby’s pens goes toward our medical expenses.
It isn’t that long until Christmas and these handcrafted pens make unique gifts.
Thanks for your consideration.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Statement Analysis of “The Wild Ride”
by guest poster "Arax"
Statement Analysis is the most accurate way of determining if a person is lying in a verbal or written statement. A person cannot give a lengthy deceptive statement without revealing that it is a lie. This is because people will always word their statement based on all their knowledge. Therefore, their statement may contain information they did not intend to share.
Transcript of Palin Interview
Reporter: I was hoping you could walk us through a little bit about kind of what happened because he came earlier that you thought and not when and where.
Palin: And, uh, he wasn’t due for 4 or 5 weeks later and um, while I was at the energy conference. I felt perfectly fine but uh, had thought maybe a few things were starting to progress a little bit that perhaps there was an idea there that he might come early. So I called my doctor at about uh four in the morning in Texas and um I said ya know I’m gonna stay for the day here at the energy conference - have a speech that I was determined to give at one o’clock that afternoon and, um, had Todd check on a couple of flights that were earlier than we had scheduled. I decided it would be ok to, um, skip the reception that night that we’d already by that time have taken care of our meetings and my speech. So Todd checked on flights. A flight allowed us to get out a little earlier than we had planned.
Her use of the word "I"-- I was at the energy conference. I felt fine. I called my doctor. I said I'm gonna stay. I was determined. I decided. This is distancing between her and her husband and leads an analyst to wonder if Todd was present with her during those times she described. When she changes the pronoun from "I" to "we" it indicates when they were actually together (after the meetings and speech). By repeating twice that Todd was checking on early flights, she shows us this topic is sensitive to her, which indicates deception.
Sarah says, "I was at the energy conference, I felt perfectly fine." These are true statements; there are no unnecessary words added in and no effort made by the subject to clarify them as she feels the need to do with Todd checking on flights.
Reader: note that she uses "he" to refer to Trig. She does not use his name or any kind of pet name or nickname, which suggests that she is not at this time close to Trig on an emotional level.
Skipped the reception and, um, called my doctor before I got on the plane to say, ‘Yea, we think that we will come home a few hours early,’ and, uh, she said ‘OK call when you land and I’ll check you out.’ But none of my babies had been early and being my fifth child I know what labor feels like (laughing) and if I had felt at all that I was really engaged in uh, labor activities I would not have desired to fly and, um, get back uh, to deliver in Alaska. But anyway, so no real huge labor signs. Landed in, uh, in Anchorage at about10:30. Got out to the valley at 11:30 and she met us at the hospital, checked me out and said, ‘Um, Yea you look, you may have it um tonight or in the morning.’ And it was smooth, it was relatively easy, in fact it was very easy, the easiest of all of them because he was so tiny. And, um, it’s just been absolutely wonderful. It was all, it just all seemed meant to be… the logistics and everything else just worked out so perfectly and to us he’s absolutely perfect, too.
Note that her narration changed from her deciding, her coming home has changed to "we." Also note the missing pronoun for "skipped the reception and called my doctor." This indicates deception because she has skipped a large chunk of time. She is not being led by questions, she is free-editing her own story and for some reason decides to go straight from Todd checking on flights to skipping the reception and getting on the plane. Judging from her use of pronouns, we can determine that she was not alone when she arrived at the hospital. However, she gives no indicators as to who she was with.
She refers to her other children as"my babies," not "our babies, which is very telling. She then refers to Trig as her "fifth child." For those well-versed in Statement Analysis, when someone uses the word "child," it is associated with risk, danger, harm, and abuse. It is not called baby abuse/kid abuse, it is called child abuse. Trig is not her baby like her other children have been, he is simply her fifth child.
She starts out by describing her labor as relatively easy, and then corrects herself by saying it was not just easy, not just very easy, but very very easy. When the subject uses these qualifiers, she is telling us she wants us to believe them. From this sentence we can say that his birth was not very easy.
Reporter: Of course you’re back to work already today and actually signed a bill that day, right?
Palin: That day, yeah, staff came out to the hospital and I signed a bill there so I could uh make sure we transmitted that in time and then uh here today also yeah, we have some energy updates I didn’t want to miss so that was good. Look at him he’s just doing so well and it’s been easy and relaxing and again it all seems just meant to be this way.
Please note that any use of "so, since, therefore, because" shows a reason why something did or did not take place. This indicates sensitivity. She had no reason to explain why she signed the bill but offers us a lengthy response as to why she did. Again, Trig is mentioned using only he/him pronouns. He has not yet been mentioned with a name/term of endearment/nickname by his mother. "Meant to be" indicates that God is controlling the situation (freeing her from all guilt) and that God is the only person who can judge her alleged actions.
Reporter: You said you felt some signs of labor, what were those signs?
Palin: Well not contractions so much because I had Braxton Hicks contractions for months as every pregnant woman does, and nothing real painful but just knowing that, um, it was feeling like, I may not um, be able to be pregnant a whole another four or five weeks knowing that it would be not a bother to call our doctor and let her know. And um she’s delivered how many babies over the year did she say?
Extra words in describing that not just she, but all pregnant women have Braxton Hicks for months. This indicates sensitivity concerning her labor. She says she was not in pain and not having contractions which would have alerted her. She goes on to say knowing that she may not be able to be pregnant and corrects herself halfway through by saying it was feeling like she may not be able to be pregnant for much longer. Her first response indicates that she knew Trig was close to being delivered. She gives no indication as to what alerted her to this. This is also the first time that "my doctor" has been referred to as "our doctor," why the change? Sarah then asks how many babies CBJ has delivered over the year; it is a specific time frame (the year) that she changes to a couple of decades in her next breath.
Todd: Lots
Palin: A lot. It’s been a couple of decades of her delivering babies. We knew to call her and just get her advice and, um, from there we again decided to skip the energy conference reception and come on home and get checked out.
She says "we knew to call her" but in her first paragraph she said that she called the doctor herself. Usually the person dialing the phone makes the statement that they were the one who called. In her whole paragraph she indicated she was alone when she called to talk to her doctor. Was the decision-making in reference to phoning the doctor made over text messaging? She also says "we again decided to skip the energy conference." Who is "we?" In her first paragraph, she describes herself as making the initial decision, indicating that Todd had nothing to do with the decision. Her priorities are also telegraphed by her saying "come home and get checked out." Getting back home was paramount to her getting checked out.
Reporter: So did your water break?
Readers note that this is a very straightforward question. It is a yes/no answer. The strongest statement Palin could make to answer this truthfully would be to say "Yes, my water broke" or "No, my water did not break." She does neither of these.
Palin: Well, if you must know more of those type of details, but, um…
Reporter: Well, your dad said that and I saw him say it so that’s why I asked.
Palin: Well that was again if, if I must get personal, technical about this at the same time, um, it was one, it was a sign that I knew, um, could lead to uh, labor being uh kind of kicked in there was any kind of, um, amniotic leaking, amniotic fluid leaking, so when, when that happened we decided OK let’s call her.
This response is incredibly sensitive to Palin. She telegraphs this by repeating words: if if, personal technical it was one it was a sign, amniotic leaking amniotic fluid leaking, so when when that happened. This shows she does not want to answer the question and indicates deception. Her use of synonyms with regards to "personal, technical" also indicates sensitivity. Is the question personal or is it technical? One implies she shouldn't have to answer it and the other implies it's too difficult to answer it. She was asked, did your water break and answered that "I knew [amniotic leaking] could lead to labor being kicked in. When that happened we decided OK let's call [the doctor]."
She again states that "we decided" to call CBJ, although she does not indicate that anyone was with her when she called, only that there was another person who helped her make the decision to call.
Todd: There’s a lot of new doctors out there on the streets in the last couple of days.
This is a sarcastic remark. It would seem to be aimed at the interviewer, since he was asking personal/technical questions.
Palin: Yeah, that’s significant too. Todd said, uh, after getting a couple of comments he said that he said wow everybody’s a doctor, Everybody’s going to tell us what we could have should have done and even though these folks - especially the critics- they’re not doctors. They didn’t know the situation. They don’t know the situation. They, they certainly don’t know our doctor and the consultations that we’ve had with her. So we did nothing to put our child nor anyone else in danger, uh, going through this five times I know what labor is and, uh, I am not a glutton for pain and punishment. I would have never, um, wanted to travel if I had been fully engaged in labor.
That's significant too, she says. What is it significant to, especially since it was a facetious remark and not intended to be serious? The timing of this remark in this interview suggests that the doctor comment was significant to what she was just talking bout: her water breaking. This implies that she does not think discussion of her whether or not her water broke is significant. She states that "they didn't know the situation, they don't know the situation;" there is only one situation being questioned which is her labor. She indicates that there is not just a past situation, but also a present situation that people are unaware of. Presumably because they are not doctors, don't know CBJ, and were not present during consults. Consultations is plural, meaning they had more than one need to consult her. A consultation is not a prenatal appointment or testing.
Conclusion: there is marked deception indicated multiple times throughout her story. She does not refer to her newborn as her baby, a baby, by a nickname-- only as her "fifth child" or "child." She uses pausing fillers like "um, uh, yeah" more than thirty times in this section of the interview, this indicates she is not recalling an actual memory but has to think of what she's going to say. Her ums and uhs stop entirely when she gets defensive and angry about people acting like doctors. She is genuinely upset. They start up again as soon as she mentions that they did nothing to put their child in danger. Does this interview give proof that Sarah Palin did not give birth to Trig Palin? Sadly, no. It does indicate that she is lying throughout the entire interview concerning the Wild Ride, however. Does it give proof that Sarah has a poor relationship with her husband and her fifth child by using distancing language? (Skeptics please remember that if Trig was adopted, he's legally a Palin) Yes.
I know that many mothers, nurses, doctors, and Trig Truthers have already decided that the Wild Ride was a load of Palin crap. But hopefully this analysis gives us a few more clues as to certain nuances in the Palin clan.
Thanks, Arax, for this detailed analysis of Sarah’s statements regarding “The Wild Ride”. I know it has been discussed many times but examining the Palins statement as a whole in this manner truly leaves little doubt that they weren’t being truthful about the events that occurred on April 17-18, 2008.
Blade