Crisis...anyone?

True, the outdoor homeless kitties don't know if they get dinner today or not. For all the begging and dancing I do I KNOW I will get my dinner today. And my crunchies bowl is never completely empty.......Bij

Weezer, I understand your Ma's frustration, every now and then you do have to resort
to Better Living Through Chemistry. Meowmy.

Amen to that Sue. Sometimes you just have to resort to the big guns to get anywhere in the War on Bugs.

Major crisis here. They have been working on the water and sewer lines in our back alley. Yesterday we received a notice that the water would be turned off at 9 and would be restored in three to fours. Well the water main broke and and we are now without water over night. The horrors of it was I didn't get my shower till about an hour ago and I've only brushed my teeth once today. YUCK!!!

  First World problems SUCK!!!!  Okay, I'm being a little facetious, but of course that really does suck, Sue.  Can you go buy a gallon of grocery store water to get you through the night?  (and no, I don't suggest you bathe in it)

Gah! Never fun to have no water. Sometimes, a YMCA or gym will take pity on people who need a shower. And, if you're brave, there's always a truck stop.  Suzzzz had a good point about grocery store water. We always keep some around just in case. It's been helpful several times.

LOL!! Suzz, I just bought a gallon of water to make sure there was water for coffee in the
morning. I've got a small bottle of water in the fridge for Antonio and club soda's for me. I took a shower across the street at a co workers flat. There was water when I got home but very little pressure, at least I could flush the toilet.

Amen for that! Having no water is never fun, especially in this heat wave, and my complex will shut it off for this n that with NO NOTICE whatsoever. I just come home to find no water. The least they could've done though when the main broke was have some bottled gallons of water brought in to those affected by the water being shut off longer than planned.

Now I have a problem: the state changed the date I get my foodstamps....now it's 2 weeks later and they screwed me out of an entire months worth (June 20th -July 19th). The letter they sent in early June claimed I wouldn't be getting a cut with the date being changed but what they did to me amounts to a huge cut.

Here's how I figured it: I usually get $170 on the 20th.....they said I'd get $99 added to the account on July 6th. I figured that would be added to the usual amount and that total would tide me over the 6 weeks until Aug. But on the 20th of June I didn't get my usual amount at all, in fact I got nothing until July 6th when I got the $99 and it's supposed to last for the entire next month until Aug 6th. How do they figure that is NOT a cut? How on earth does a person eat healthy, lowcarb for over six weeks on only $99? Can't get through on the phone to the local office, I have no caseworker (haven't had one in 3 years--I'm in a 'special group'), and the local office requires a caseworker name to even get past the damned computer answering system. They also never return phone calls when you do manage to get through. I managed to send an email to the state head office. I hope they actually answer me.

Please pray they straighten this out soon, I'm tired of going to bed hungry.

ESH!!! I don't know what to say other than see if you can talk to them in person.

You can't get in to see anyone unless you already have a caseworker....they said so the last time I went there to straighten it out last year when they screwed it up. I swear their 'war on poverty' is to starve us out. My mom helps me with groceries when she can....she gets more than she can use from the pantry but a lot of it is too high carb for me but she tries to get stuff for me that isn't. We're going to a different one tomorrow since the one here is closed this week. We'll see what we get from them.

At least Sally gave me 4 nice sized zucchini last Thursday. I still have 3 left so I can have zoodles, use the seedy core for stirfries, and mom gave me half a bag of carrots yesterday. Still have some of that free cauliflower in the freezer......still it's hard to make a balanced diet from that and still stretch it to go further when you can't have rice, potatoes, bread, or regular noodles.

Is there an advocate that you can go to that deals with people who are heavily dependent on food stamps?

There is no one by that desciption here. Even my mom's building (who is supposed to have one) doesn't have anyone to help them navigate this stuff right now. :-( Doesn't help that this area still has the highest unemployment rate in two states. Even the line for signing up for summer LIHEAP (elderly, handicapped, have kids under 5 years old) went all the way around the block and back it's so bad here.

I'm about to send more emails, maybe even one to the president, and see if I can get someone, anyone, who's able to and have them help me straighten this out.

Try your state senator.

This sounds kind of silly, but could the Salvation Army maybe have someone who could help you walk through this? They often have people who help folks get state assistance here. But, that might just be a local thing.

It's not silly but worth a shot.

There is a Department of Human Services, which has its office in Chicago. I don't know that department would be of any help.

Not sure but I think that's who I emailed about this. STILL have not gotten any replies from that. Typical government behavior...ignore the problem and it might go away.

I'd definitely be on the phone pestering anyone I could. I know government people usually seem like they don't care, but I actually think it's the system that keeps them from being efficient.

Yeah, it's convoluted, complicated, and bloated to be sure.

Well if it's any consolation I read that the Illinois comptroller is refusing to pay the state
legeislators(sp) because they haven't passed a budget and it's against the law or the state
constitution to pay them with out a budget. If anybody knows any more or has better information. chime in.

I agree with Becky. Emails are easy to ignore but it's harder to ignore a pest on the phone, especially if she's nice, patient, persistent and willing to hold. Be the Pest! And good luck, shweets.

Thanks, I have a sinking feeling I'm going to need as much luck as I can get.  Any bets on how long I'm on hold and then get hung up on?

I just now finally got an email from them.....asking for my full name, dob, and last 4 of my S.S. #. That's so they can pull up my case and check it out. Hopefully they'll give me the benefits I didn't get so I can restock my pantry before it looks like Mother Hubbard's empty cupboard.

That sounds hopeful, or at least a step in the right direction.

Fingers crossed!