A friend and I were catching up the other day, when the subject of work came up. She works in an animal clinic, and she told me about this sad case they recently saw where a woman brought in her new puppy for an exam.
This wasn’t a typical puppy wellness exam that comes with adopting an animal from the local shelter, or just because the pup was new. The poor puppy had contracted canine parvovirus, commonly referred to as Parvo or abbreviated as CPV. Parvo’s a pretty miserable disease, and left untreated, especially in young dogs, can be fatal. It basically causes the gastroinstestinal problems (sorry to the squeamish!) of vomiting and diarrhea which leads to dehydration and of course, it doesn’t take long for that to take out a young’un. So it’s a serious matter when you bring a Parvo pup in for treatment, they have to be on fluids and medications, sometimes for weeks, until the virus clears out. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. The only guarantee is that it’s a lengthy and usually expensive process unless someone foots the bill for you.
Your choices are limited: treat at the hospital and hope for the best, treat at home and hope for the best (while bleaching everything that comes into contact with the puppy), or decide to euthanize.
Confronted with this diagnosis, the woman didn’t know what to do. This is a common response.
“I don’t have a job, my husband just lost his job, and I don’t know how I’m going to feed my (2) kids,” she wailed. This is, unfortunately, a far more common response than it should be.
I have the biggest soft spot in the world for animals and have worked to pay the vet bills since I was 17, paying hand over fist for medical treatments for my dogs on occasion, but I have never put them before my family’s wellbeing, either.
On the one hand, I wanted to shake the woman, reach right through my friend’s narrative and give her a good shake: what were you doing bringing home another mouth to feed when neither breadwinner has income and you can’t feed your own children?!??
On the other hand, the damage is done and I fully believe “You are responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) That part of me wants to say: you find a way. You will buckle down and you find a way. I know that unemployment, especially now, is really not a choice, but picking up the responsibility of a domesticated animal that now relies on you, literally for its life, is your choice. And once you’ve made it, you’d better find a way to fulfill your responsibilities.
A lot of people choose to go into debt using Care Credit which Miss M has written about before, a lot of people use regular credit cards, and a few of them will give the pet a fighting chance at home. On occasion, some will opt to euthanize the pet.
SS4BC – I was shopping at REI for some shoes. I had a $50 giftcard that needed to be used (this was a rebate giftcard from buying merchandise from them the year before). I found a beautiful pair of Merrells that I wanted. With my $50 GC, I would pay around $36 out of pocket for them. Not too bad. I went up the the cashier and smiled. Then I said “Hi, I would like to buy these shoes, but I don’t want to pay full price.” To which he replied (I kid you not): “How about a 20% discount?” Me (astonished that this actually worked): “Sure! That sounds great!” He rings them up – $86 with a 20% discount, we’re down to $63. I hand him my $50 giftcard. I pay $13 for my $86 pair of shoes. And could not have been happier. All because I ASKED.
RainyDaySaver – Today alone, I got a free cupcake because it was my birthday and had a jeweler take links out of my too-big watch for free. And a follow up post here.
Sense to Dollars – When I complained about my dental visit a little while ago on this blog, I also put my sentiments into a letter written on the Lumino site feedback form. I very nicely explained my disatisfaction with my visit, and how horribly inept I found the dentist’s technique to be. Read the rest here: Complaining pays off in more ways than one
Success! There were issues with my seats (reading light out, sound was out) to and from HNL last month. I emailed United informing them of the malfunctions, and left it at that. I suppose this doesn’t really count as asking, so much as speaking up. They replied with an apology and a $150 courtesy gift certificate good for a one-way or round-trip fare, expires in a year.
Success! I’ve been helping a friend move into a new place. When we picked up furniture in the city, we had to park in a neighboring structure to go into the store. It wasn’t until we were committed to the $6 parking fee that we found out that the folks in the storage area would be willing to carry out and help load our packages in the car only if we pulled up front. They wouldn’t help if they were brought out onto the sales floor. I asked the parking attendant to let us pull out and pick up the stuff, and then come back and park, explaining that we had no idea they’d only help us if we were pulled up out front. The attendant decided to be kind, giving us the first hour free so that we could leave and come back after loading up the car.
Success! My missing rebate finally arrived.
It’s fun keeping track of these wins, big and small. If anyone wants to join in the fun, or submit their own for inclusion, please email me!
I’m back from the hospital for a day and just checking in.
My iPhone has let me keep up with those of you who have full feeds in Google Reader, but I hope everyone is doing well. Y’all are amusing on Twitter, so that helps me get through the days, too. Just wish I could click on all the links of the enabling shoppers out there to see what goodies you’re perusing. 🙂
My weekend visit doubled from the intended 2-3 days to a full 6 days at the request of the younger sib. Though a full 8 years younger than I, apparently my company was still of value and I could sense that the older sib and mother were both quietly hoping that I would stay and serve as sounding board for the youngster.
Holding a hospital vigil is terribly difficult on the spouse, but she’s a rock. An insanely strong, even-keeled, upbeat rock. It shouldn’t surprise me at all but it’s almost inhuman how strong this couple is: Mr. Dad is fighting so very hard, and Mrs. Mom, from beginning to end, is always able to bear the burden and her kids are free to make the choices that work best in their lives. She makes zero demands, just a few reasonable requests for changes of clothing and has maintained her sense of calm far better than any of us kids. Oddly enough, that frees us all to be as strong or weak as we need to be, and tears have flowed freely. No repression here, folks. Not really, anyway.
She’s only left the hospital three times since the hospitalization ten days ago, and that only to see to some crucial financial matters. It’s our responsibility to keep her company, make sure someone is always with Mr. Dad if she stepped away however briefly, cook dinner, do laundry, clean the home, and just support one another. It’s as guilt-free as you can get. They’re amazing. Can I grow up to be just like both of them, please?
As the “adopted” daughter, I took over the domestic chores. We’d be at the hospital all day and late into the night, and when we got home I’d cook dinner for the next day. That’s my ziti you see up there. I still have a nice little shiny spot on my thumb from accidentally pressing it against the 400 degree oven. Y’all don’t like war wounds so I won’t share a picture of that. 🙂 That’ll last my friend through the week, and I’ll come up with something else for the weekend.
My friend’s the oldest and so is, at times, a complete wreck when he feels the weight of his father’s passing the responsibility for the family to him and his sibs. He’s up to the task though, and knows that he has all kinds of support on the practical matters from me since the running joke is my love of all things financial makes me the father’s favorite son. It’s just heartbreaking because we still had so much to learn from his dad.
In the meantime, I’ve got to run a ton of errands and do something about my online classes. And then make the decision whether I should go back down to the hospital tomorrow, or if I should proceed with my travel plans that were made weeks ago. My heart and mind are going to be here, shouldn’t I be as well?
My usual glee at a) getting something in the mail, b) getting a new toy to install, and c) finally getting something to take care of this MESS was slightly dampened by the fact that I’m home to receive it ’cause I don’t feel good. Blech. I’ve leached out the grumpy, crabby commentary for your convenience.
Yep, the plastic remains on the display panel. No, I don’t know if I’m taking it off. Doubt it, though.
My desk is a bloody mess, so if you’d like to see a ton of photos, feast your eyes on this guy’s documentation of every single step. His was free (I think) – thus he has more responsibility on his plate, or at least a more complete review.
Set up: As long as you followed the instructions on the screen, with an occasional referencing of the manual, the set up is mild. The spiciest part is when you realize that you must use an Ethernet connection first to set up the wireless connection. Since my router is most inconveniently located a few rooms away, and this printer was h-e-a-v-y, having to set up an Ethernet cord for all of ten minutes made me crabby.
The installation guide naturally assumed that I’d have to manually confirm my network connection before beginning to scan, but that wasn’t the case at all.
My first test print, though, was horrifying. First of all, the printer/feeder is LOUD. I mean, startle you from a deep sleep loud. And it jammed up first thing with a hideous bone-like crunch.
Program installation: There were about four other programs, including some Arcsoft stuff that I’m unfamiliar with, that were downloaded early in the installation process. I might have to spend some time removing those later if it turns out they’re not essential to the printer’s basic functions.
First print page: After the mangled mess of a first test print page, I conducted my own test print. Apparently Epson’s only on board for one go at it – you’re to shut off the machine and free up the works before continuing, but the software just assumes everything was hunky-dory. My draft print of some text worked just fine, but again, the noise factor is rather unbelievable.
Be aware that draft print seems to be quite the ink saver as the text prints out gray and pixelated – they do indeed skimp on that setting. That’s fine. I’ll just go grayscale next time. I notice that the Properties screen also offers a “Quiet Mode” option, but I’m not sure what that means. Since I don’t have any immediate printing needs, that’ll have to wait for later.
On to the scanning!!
Scanning: My goals are to scan in all mailed documents as PDFs so that’s the setting on the LCD. Thus, to the Auto Document Feeder!
Test subject was a set of T-Mobile bills. The scanning process was very very slow. It asked for settings – which I prefer to customize at this time with each scan to be sure it goes where I want and does what I want. I skipped the preview option and went straight to scan. After feeding (or scanning from the screen) a box pops up asking if you want to Add Page, Edit Page, or Save File. I like this option – you can cram as many pages as you want into a file incrementally.
When you just Save File, it converts, and then sends the file to FineReader to “process,” then it savesto the file designated for these test scans.
The feeder is also quite loud, and slow: it feeds one page about half or a third as fast as a regular standalone fax machine, possibly slower.
The clarity is pretty decent at 300 dpi resolution, and it’s smart enough to rotate horizontally when it encounters landscape pages among the portrait. Not smart enough to differentiate between right side up or upside down, but that’s asking a bit much anyway.
Cost: Originally priced at $179, I wouldn’t have looked twice at this guy, but on sale at $129 and free shipping, decently priced OEM ink carts (though I will definitely look for better alternative pricing), I could deal. Wouldn’t call it a steal, but it may be worth the money.
Overall: Outlook is promising – I’ll revisit the issue in about three months to see how we’re doing on the printing and scanning. It was a bit of a waste to get a five in one for my purposes since I don’t intend to use the fax or photo printing options (ink is expensive!) but for a printer, scanner (with ADF) this best fit the profile.
The slight uptick is due to gains in the market, so I’m not going to get excited about “progress” just yet, I won’t trust that these gains will hold.
More bills are coming down the pipeline: we had to replace the last tire standing this weekend. By that I mean, the sole tire that didn’t ever get replaced during the time my mum was damaging tires right and left finally gave up the ghost.
The hunt for a printer all-in-one remains in force; it’s darn near impossible to find a smaller sized machine that is wireless, has an auto-doc feeder, and is reasonably priced. Aggravatory. Then again, the search precluded HP models based on reader and friend feedback, it might be time to remove that injunction.
Oh and of course the net cost of the Miami weekend has yet to bite the pocketbook. Much of the trip was subsidized, my portion was small, but it’s still another little fishie nibbling away at the cash reserves.
Southern California’s on fire again, and not in a good way. (Is it ever?) Between the fires and the over 100 degree heat, we’ve done surprisingly well in not using the a/c. Shading the windows, fans and letting in the coolth from the early mornings keeps the house tolerable. We may survive this summer yet!
Has anyone out there got experience they’d like to share about their printer all-in-one favorites or least favs?
As much as I hate to add to my pile of Stuff here, an all-in-one printer is essential to prevent the stockpile of paper records from taking over my life again.
I started my reduction-of-paper quest some time ago, but there weren’t any good deals to be had at the time so a friend offered up her printer/scanner. I loved it, btw, but it’s more than time to get one of my own so I don’t have to keep bothering her as the inevitable paper mail trickles in.
Perusing the Staples ads, and Fatwallet of course, HP had some pretty good offers but a friend warned me off: his HP AIO, and a number of others according to the help forums, have problems with retaining wireless connectivity. Or working.
I liked the looks of a couple of the Lexmark and Brother models in terms of technical specs, not so much for aesthetic reasons, but the deals were lackluster.
My requirements are not many: Flatbed scanner with an Auto Document Feeder Wireless capability Double sided printing (manual is fine) Separate ink cartridges preferable Less than $100 Lightweight: less than 18 lbs?
So far, the only AIO that looks remotely like matching the wish list is the Epson Workforce 310 available from Frys.com or Staples.com for $89.99 after coupon. Black ink carts run about $18, and color packs are $37 for all three colors (CMY), or about $13 per color.
I’d also heard good things about the Brother brand, and this Brother MFC-490CW model doesn’t look half bad, either. The printer is the same price, but the ink carts are a bit pricier. The auto feed capacity is only half that of the Epson at 15 pages, but that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker since the scanning pile is relatively controlled.
And what is this “cable NOT included business,” anyway?
Possibly the most popular question of the year: What would you do if you lost your job?
Well, young grasshopper, I’m totally there.
Most PF savvy folks immediately address cost-cutting measures, identifying and trimming the fat from their budgets. This is always a good idea: you need to batten down the hatches since you don’t know how long you’ll be taking on water before you find another job.
I’d already been on the cost-cutting rampage for months so discovering that a layoff was imminent was even more motivation to bring monthly expenses down to a bare minimum. By the time the layoff and I were staring at each other, inches apart, nose to nose, I’d achieved near parity. My household’s monthly needs, outside of my personal spending, were officially within $200 of my unemployment benefits.
The cash cushion I’d amassed during that time, courtesy of those very same cost-cutting measures (eliminating extra vehicles, reducing auto insurance, reducing gas and electricity usage, etc.,) and working mucho overtime meant that I had the luxury of not panicking once the paychecks stopped. I was sure that I would, but I didn’t have to.
Applying for unemployment. There was a tang of bitterness when I sat down to fill out the claim form. I thought I’d have found another job by this time – didn’t I establish my rep as a resourceful, high-producing, motivated careerist? Yes, but that’s a gripe for another day. Today my job is to make sure that some form of income continues to flow in to cover the bills while I stump for jobs. The one benefit of ending employment mid-week was that even though I was paid for a few days of work the last week of June, the entire week of 6/28-7/4 was designated the mandated waiting week. That only cost half a week of waiting for benefits.
Constantly on the move. Since long before the layoff paperwork was in motion, I’ve been working on my resume, talking to people, networking, applying for jobs, and interviewing. I’ve got at least three active applications in undecided status right now, but I’m not resting on my laurels. The resume is being revamped again post-feedback from another professional and I’m sending the new one out ASAP to my current contacts. In the meantime, though I’m awaiting a decision on the Dream Job, I’m exploring other options in other fields. The second I know that these prospects aren’t panning out? I’m on the next train out to another career.
R&R: The last 5 days were eaten up by friends/family obligations, so I didn’t have time to do more than make sure paperwork was in the mail in time, and gather information for my next moves. Still, I’ve got to build in some time to rest because I can’t be on the run constantly. I’ll physically rest at least one day a week, but my brain will finally begin to process the list of opportunities.
My first unemployment check arrived in the mail. There’s no sense of excitement or satisfaction like that of paydays. Maybe it’s because there aren’t the corresponding retirement contributions, or the transfers to savings that are normal with direct deposited checks. Or maybe it’s because “earning” unemployment is exhausting to the soul. Whatever the case, I’m depositing it know that it’s part of what keeps the wolves at bay and continuing with my job search.
Note to self: the stub attached to the check had the following note: “Your claim balance after this payment is $11,250.” I’m not certain what that means. Must find out.
