CARD CONTRIBUTIONS

Status: Writing on Chapter 146 of Starchild Duel.

Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)

Watching: CSI: New York; KIRO 7 NEWS

Listening to: "A Brass Band In African Chimes" by Simple Minds (On Chicane's Visions of Ibiza--Disc 1; Electronica and Dance--2001); "Strings for Yasmin" by Tin Tin Out

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 252.

TOPIC: WARM, FUZZY, THOUGHTS

Some more cards came in today.

I couldn't get to this weekend's batch because I was out with the flu.

With the extra contributions in hand, I'm going to put a little bit aside for extra food stamp money (I'm down to $12 on my card--this is always common before the 20th of the month. April and I tend to get what we can to last us a couple weeks at a time. This month? I spent more on flats of strawberries and grapes than I have in the last 2 years. Oranges too.

Sometimes, we have a severe fruit craving and others? Meat.

Chicken breasts are a popular favorite in this household. You should see what my wife can do with the right seasonings and chicken breasts! lol) so that we can get anything in terms of emergency supplies. ($30 books--bucks--may not buy much, but you'd be surprised at what we can do with limited amounts of money. :0) )

The rest--? I spent yesterday and today determining which is more of a top priority: My now $52 internet bill, or knock off the rest of my phone bill--leaving only $17 of the original amount behind.

I chose the phone bill--which will be paid almost in full tomorrow. Not counting next month's balance--but that's okay. We needed this done more often than naught.

I wasn't successful in getting a new keyboard or the money for my Neros 8 Ultimate program on download. (Or my comics for this month either.)

But you know...?

It really doesn't matter. For the most part, our PRIORITY needs were met first. And that is all that counts. Anything secondary is always getting the backburner treatment.

But the cards were cute. Those we like the most. My wife loved the kitten walking on the piano card. I liked the papyrus card--though it feels like recycled material. It has a picture of some billowy mangroves; and this one I am very familiar with. To some extent.

I spent some time in the Florida Everglades some 20 years ago while vacationing down there while at a private school.

So the mangroves were a familiar sight to me.

I've taken the liberty yesterday to contact a few artists (from deviant art.com) for a special thank you banner for everyone who helped my wife and I out. I hope to get some collaboration going on in a few days.

The pic won't be ready till the first week of May--at the least.

The idea is to do a chibi theme with a bunch of anime characters throwing a celebratory party, with lots of confetti and some cats lounging around. :0)But this is the only thing I can think of to return the generosity shown these past couple of weeks.

When I mentioned something about 'paying it forward', one of my contacts sent me two additional digital convertor cards, and since we used our Wal-Mart card getting the converters for the two TVs that we had--as we couldn't find the cards the government already sent us in time (d'oh on that angle? I later found them packed away in one of my storage containers--three days after I bought the converters. At that point, I gave them to two people whom were in need of a couple of converters; explaining the situation we were in and no longer had any use for them--not realizing we needed one for the third boob tube replacement! Double d'oh!)--(we're planning on getting a third to replace the one that died out in the living room sometime this year--but it's most likely going to need a third box anyways), we held onto just one for the third TV and when we heard that one of our own friends needed a converter for her analog TV...?

I gave it a thought for a moment and said to myself: "You know? I don't think that she would mind if I gave my friend a card for her--since she's also in the same limited income bracket as I am." (She only gets $435 a month on Social Security. I only subsist on $537. So it's not much of a difference.)

Plus, the cards have a very short shelf life, so I told her to get the box ASAP.

Let's just say that Julie is very happy with the gift. As am I. Because of someone else's thoughtfulness helping us out, I was able to go one step forward and do the same in return.

That's my good deed for the day--even if I am poor as the proverbial church mouse. :0)

And that's what I find a bit ironic. Even poor, I can still find some way to contribute. And those who helped me, it turns out that I am a lot more independent than I thought.

When most people heard that my wife and I were in need, there were skeptics abound. But after using the money sent for the purposes required, I found myself looking into myself today (I had a real-life zen moment) and discovered that I had changed a lot in the last 11 years.

I never knew personal responsibility up until my first job in 1999. But I think things started to really sink in when my wife and I first met as roomies in April of 2001.

It suddenly dawned on me that this was the woman I most wanted to be with--and when she and I had two separate brushes with death; I started doing everything I could to make sure that we had our needs taken care of. That meant basic bills and rent. Food on the table.

Y'know? I was busting my butt while April was in surgery during the week of 9/11/01--getting that 16-pound ovarian tumor removed. (As a bonus? The docs also removed her appendix! No charge!)

The recovery was pretty rocky--to say the least. (wink)

For the next 8 years after we both lost our jobs to 9-11 and I turned my attention to writing full-time--without pay of course (hehehehe)--I still managed to keep things on an even keel.

And even in the light of Kiva's recent accident with his mattes (his stitches are out and he's healing quite nicely), I still haven't lost that independent streak of responsibility. I think being married to April finally sunk in what people have been trying to tell me these last 20 years.

When I wasn't being a stubborn teenager with a rebellious streak a mile wide. (Remind me to regale to everyone at some point of what I did to the conference room of Vermont's SRS office in Newport around Christmas of 1985. It's a real horror story! lol)

I'm just glad that it's finally something I can take to heart.

LIST UPDATE.

Status: Writing on Starchild Duel. Chapter 146.

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails.

Watching: CBS-Evening News/NBC

Listening to: The Cars-Greatest Hits; some recorded tape music

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 252.

TOPIC: GONE AND GOT WHAT I LISTED

TODAY, I FEEL LIKE I CAN ACTUALLY START FOCUSING ON MY WRITING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. KIVA'S DOING MUCH BETTER ON HIS BOO-BOO. HE'S BEEN SUCH A HAM LATELY.

ONE STITCH CAME OUT, BUT OTHERWISE--HE APPEARS TO BE NORMAL. NO FURTHER INJURY TO HIS WOUND IS PRESENTLY DETECTED. AND HE'S HIS HAPPY AND FURRY LITTLE SELF. I COULD NOT IMAGINE WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE RIGHT NOW--IF I HADN'T GONE AND DONE WHAT MY WIFE AND I DID LAST WEEK. (THE SECOND PICTURE WAS TAKEN THE DAY AFTER WE BROUGHT HIM HOME.)

THE MONEY THAT WE GOT FROM OUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS OVER THE LAST WEEK, I SPENT EXACTLY ON WHAT WE DESPERATELY NEEDED: CAT FOOD, DOG FOOD, AND A LITTLE BIT ON MY PHONE BILL. I STILL HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF MY INTERNET BILL. BUT REFLECTING ON THAT, I MAY BE ABLE TO SKIRT BY THIS MONTH.

I WAS ALSO ABLE TO PICK UP ONE MUSIC CD YESTERDAY. ONE THAT I'VE BEEN HUNTING FOR FOR QUITE AWHILE: THE CARS--GREATEST HITS.

I COULDN'T FIND IT IN ANY OF THE MUSIC STORES HERE AND IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME TO ORDER IT! (LOL)

I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF THIS GROUP SINCE I WAS A TEENAGER AND I BOUGHT THE ORIGINAL CD SOME 16 YEARS AGO, BUT IT WAS STOLEN SOON AFTER.

BUT I ALSO HAVE TO PICK UP A PAIR OF SNEAKERS FOR MYSELF AND MY WIFE TONIGHT. WE DID A LOT OF LAUNDRY YESTERDAY, BUT WE STILL NEED TO FINISH WHAT'S LEFT.

OTHER THINGS WE PICKED UP WAS KITCHEN SCRUBBIES, TOILET PAPER, CANNED CAT FOOD FOR KYLALA (PICTURED AT TOP. SHE'S THE ONE WHOM IS ANOREXIC--A SAD RESULT OF SOMEONE WHOM CRUELLY NEGLECTED HER FOR 2 STRAIGHT MONTHS--LEAVING HER NOTHING MORE THAN SKIN AND BONES WHEN WE GOT HER BACK AND 4 YEARS LATER...? SHE HASN'T STILL BEEN ABLE TO GAIN WEIGHT--NO MATTER WHAT WE DID FOR HER.)

DEODORANT WE SNAGGED, SOME DISH SOAP AND DISH DETERGENT. I HAVEN'T GONE AND GRABBED SOME LAUNDRY DETERGENT JUST YET. (I'VE BEEN RUNNING AROUND GETTING GROCERIES AT WAL-MART WITH MY FOODSTAMP CARD TODAY. I'VE LOST 5 POUNDS IN THE LAST WEEK.)

SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER I STILL HAVE TO SNAG, BUT I DON'T THINK I'LL BE GETTING THE CONVERTER BOXES LIKE I PLANNED. I MIGHT PICK UP A FEW COMICS. BUT NOT TOO MANY. (AS COMICS HAVE INCREASED IN PRICE--I'VE BEEN ONLY ABLE TO PICK UP SO FEW EACH TIME I KEEP GOING OUT. MY COLLECTION HAS GROWN BY A FEW BOXES OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS, BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DOUBLE THAT--IF PRICES HAD KEPT TO $1.50 TO $2 A COMIC. BUT NOW I'M STARING DOWN $5 AND EVEN $6 OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.)

I DID ALSO MANAGE TO GET SOME MOUTHWASH AND TOOTHPASTE FINALLY--GETTING THE SPECIAL KIND WHICH REBUILDS MY ENAMEL.

PAID $15 ON MY PHONE BILL. BUT THEY WANTED $30 TO RESTORE SOME OF OUR BASIC SERVICES FOR OUR PHONE. I CAN LIVE WITHOUT 3-WAY CALLING (DON'T ASK ME WHAT POSSESSED ME TO GET THIS 8 YEARS AGO--SINCE WE NEVER USED IT! LOL), CALLER ID IS SOMETHING WE DO NEED, BUT I CAN LAST WITHOUT IT FOR ANOTHER MONTH. VOICEMAIL IS ANOTHER FUNCTION WE NEVER USED EITHER. I'M GOING TO HAVE TO ASK VERIZON TO JUST CUT THE TWO WE NEVER USED AND JUST RESTORE OUR CALLER ID.

I'M PUTTING OFF GETTING ANYTHING ANIME-ISH UNTIL NEXT MONTH. (APPLESEED: EX-MACHINA IS THE ONE I REALLY WANT--AFTER SEEING THE TRAILERS FOR IT ON ONE OF MY MIL'S MOVIES THIS PAST WEEK. TEEN TITANS: SEASON 1 AND WITCHBLADE CAN WAIT.)

THE KEYBOARD IS SOMETHING I'M HAVING TO PUT OFF FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. ONE OF MY WRITER CONTACTS SAID THAT HE MIGHT HAVE A KEYBOARD HE COULD MAIL ME. (SO I'M HAPPY! YAY! I CAN FINALLY THROW OUT THIS 5-YEAR-OLD PIECE OF SHIT! LOL)

I DID MANAGE TO GIVE MY EDITOR HALF OF THE $115 I WAS SUPPOSED TO SEND HER. (BETTER THAN NOTHING.)

NEXT MONTH, I PLAN ON GIVING HER A LITTLE MORE.

THE NEROS BURN PROGRAM IS BEING GIVEN TO ME BY THE SAME GUY GIVING ME A KEYBOARD. HE SAYS THAT HE CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK THE DAMNED THING. (LOL!)

SOMETIMES...? THAT DOES HAPPEN TO THE BEST OF US. I CAN RECALL A FEW TIMES WHEN I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK SOMETHING.

I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET SOMETHING FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE OVER A CHECK THAT I HAD LEFT WHEN I WORKED AT WENDY'S 12 YEARS AGO.

I RECALL BEING PISSED AT MY JOB BECAUSE I WAS GETTING PAID DIDDLEY-ASSED AND MY HOURS WEREN'T WORTH IT. SO I QUIT MY JOB AND LEFT WITHOUT PICKING UP MY CHECK.

THAT WAS 12 YEARS AGO.

A LOCAL NEWS REPORT SUGGESTED THAT I GO TO MY STATE'S DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE AND SEE IF I HAVE ANY 'UNCLAIMED' PROPERTY.

WAS I SURPRISED WHEN I FOUND THAT I DID! I WAS LIKE, "HUH?"

SO I GOT THAT SMALL CHECK ($28) ON MONDAY AND USED A SMALL PORTION ($10) FOR LAUNDRY AND TOOK THE REMAINDER TO GO DO A LITTLE FOOD SHOPPING FOR BOTH ME AND APRIL.

THE REST OF OUR CONTRIBUTORS' FUNDS DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR ANOTHER DAY--AND SINCE THEN...? I'VE BEEN A BUSY LITTLE BEAVER GOING AROUND EVERETT GETTING BUSINESS TAKEN CARE OF.

SO--JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS--THEIR MONEY WAS PUT TO THE EXACT USE I SPECIFIED ON MY LIST--MINUS A FEW THINGS WHICH I COULD NOT GET. (WHICH ISN'T IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW.)

BECAUSE WHEN YOU LIVE ON RESTRICTED INCOME, THERE ISN'T MUCH YOU CAN DO ELSE. (JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS, I'VE NEVER OWNED A CAR IN MY LIFE. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE. STATE ID--BUT THAT'S IT.)

SCHUYLER THORPE

(Tried 3 times to correct this entry--did not want to play nice!)

OUR CAT WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING!

4 DAYS HAVE PASSED SINCE KIVATA GIGANTE HAD HIS SURGERY.

HE WANTED ME TO PASS THIS ONTO EVERYONE WHOM FOUND THE TIME TO HELP OUT HIS MOMMY AND DADDY WHEN THEY NEEDED IT THE MOST: "MEOW, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW...PURRRR..."*






*(Roughly translated: "Thanks so much for giving me back my nine lives.")

***

This is what $232.92 saved. This is what my wife and I sacrificed so that our big boy can have more years added to his precious life.

We are so thankful to have your support and your understanding in this matter thus far. I know it's not easy to give to people whom you've never laid eyes on, but this was worth more than anything I can think of.

Who couldn't love this forest tabby like we do so much? It's why--despite our ongoing financial difficulties and hardships--we found it within our hearts to love something that gives us more than his fair share of love and affection in return.

And he's just a cat.

Some people may not understand that. But this is who we are. Both my wife and myself are avid cat and dog lovers.

No money in the world can easily replace the loss of a cherished pet. It is why we did what we had to do.

And why we asked for everyone here to help us out however they can.