Saturday, January 7, 2017

Today Is Today

Today I did my least favorite thing.  I renewed my application for Food Assistance and Health Care from Michigan.  It's the worst thing in the entire world.  The website is confusing, poorly made, NOT user friendly, and slow as hell.  AND I don't even want Food Assistance!! We applied when we first moved here and didn't have jobs, but now, I dont' want it. But I don't know how to get it off.  I tried several times over the years.  I just do it so that I can be sure to get healthcare for my children. 

It just took me an hour to tell them that the value of our cars decreased by 500$.  That's the only changes, and that's only needed for the food assistance.  They forced me to report my changes in liquid assets, even though they are the same as last time and they gave me the option of "renew".  So I just typed renew and put the date as 1/1/2017, oh sorry, 01/01/2017 as the effective date of change.  Then they forced me to try and upload proof documentation, without an option to say, No I don't need too, or Maybe later as I have none of the documentation scanned into this computer right now.

They send out a paper form to fill out to do this, but I did that the first year and it didn't work.  I still need to do it online.  Even though it's a yearly renew, I'll have to do it again in July for Lilly's birthday, and again in November for Damian's birthday.  And maybe again, just because that's how life works.

It pisses me off that people complain about the state of our welfare system without ever trying to use it.  If there is a way to game the system, I, an over educated under payed person, cannot figure it out.  And that's my skill set, figuring shit like this out.

Any overhaul of the welfare system must start with overhauling the paperwork and the online forms.  Transparency.  The whole thing runs like it was set up by an old person who can't find the start button.  You know who you are. 

Lilly built a kitchen out of her blocks, complete with refridgerator and popsicles in the freezer.  All for Tiny Kitty.  She cooked with three different colors of butter.

My printer came in and it weighs forty pounds.  We have to put it in the basement, but want to set it on something strong to keep it off the ground.  Josh suggested empty plastic kitty litter boxes with boards laid across the top.  Because that sounds stable.

I am (re)watching BBC's Pride and Prejudice from the 90's.  It's wonderful and dated. I love it.  Of course, I love every recreation of the book and reading the book too.  I do think I like this one better than the newer movie with that skinny girl with the open mouth as Elizabeth Bennet.


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