Black Friday

In my callous and misspent youth I did, on at least one occasion, go to a mall on Black Friday.  Well, I wasn’t really that young, but it was done just for the fun of it and as a lark so it was at least in the spirit of youth.

I never had gone out on Black Friday to shop.  Not, that is, until this Black Friday.  Dum dum dummmmmmmmm.

It was the first and most likely the last time that I will do such a thing.  I did, however, have an excellent reason.

We have a land-line phone at home.  It’s there for several reasons, not just because I am old, and on the line we had two cordless phones.  You will note, please, the use of the past tense.  This past week both phones decided to break on the same day.  It may have even been at the same time.  It was certainly noticed at the same time.  So there we were without fully functioning phones.

Now this had been anticipated, since neither phone was new and both were showing signs of impending trouble.  So we had actually looked at the options available for a replacement phone.

As luck would have it that very phone was on sale on Friday.

So early in the morning we went to the store, conveniently located less than a mile from home, and bought the phone.

I realize that that is not exciting.  It was in fact a calm and quiet shopping experience without stress or crowds.  So it was not a Black Friday shopping spectacle such as those you may have seen on TV.  However, that was my Black Friday shopping experience and it was just the way that we wanted it to be.

I have now shopped on Black Friday.  I was even drawn to the store by an advertised sale.  However, unless a similar circumstance occurs, I will not be doing so again intentionally.

As far as I’m concerned, Black Friday shopping is a spectator sport.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am, again this year, thankful for being alive.  I am also thankful for my family and friends, but I have to play favorites and say that I am most thankful for my wife.  She is my reason for living.

I hope that everyone has something to be thankful for and also that everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

I forgot one thing

The water heater might be the next thing to go.  I certainly hope not, but since it would be more inconvenient than the dishwasher breaking it just might be.

Of course now that we have the new range the countdown must begin on when the clock will stop working.

Yes, I know that it is a new, 21^st Century kitchen appliance with a fancy digital clock that does not fall into the same category as range clocks of the past so it will probably not break with amazing speed.  However, that was always something people of my generation expected to happen so it still crossed my mind.

Needless to say

But I’m saying it anyway.  All of this spending on the dentist, the car and the new oven is going on plastic.

What’s a little more debt, right?

Things could be worse, this just bugs me

Damn.  I just found out that I lost four boxes of books to water damage.

Before I got sick I had boxed up some things to put in a storage unit to make room to clean up the house.  So I had four cardboard boxes filled and taped shut and ready to go but they never went anywhere.  They were in a dry spot, protected from damp but not protected from the more than foot of water that resulted from the sump pump burning out.

It’s not that serious a thing.  I mean it’s nothing life threatening – been there, done that.  It’s just very annoying because of the circumstances, since it was stuff I was trying to save and now it’s trash.  I just feel like complaining about it.

I lost 3 – 4 years’ worth of National Geographic magazines, some fiction, some reference and text books from college and some worthless – not priceless – first editions.

I had forgotten this stuff was there.  I only found it today because I had to make room to get to the gas shut off valve, which I need to get to for when we have our new range delivered/installed.  Yeah, that broke, too.  First the car with the rack and pinion and now the oven won’t light.  I give the dishwasher about 7 weeks.

The garbage disposal will last forever because I hate it.

You might think

I’m foolish, or maybe it’s untrue

Ahem.  Yes.  Well.

You might think, based on a cursory reading of this blog, that I am excited, enthused and ecstatic about the results of the election.

You might think that, but I’m not.  I’m somewhat relieved, not more but not less nervous and moderately happy but probably not for the reasons you think.

I thought that Romney would not have been good for the country and bad for a lot of people.  But I’m not jumping for joy that Obama was reelected.  I’m just not as worried as I would have been if Romney had won.

If Romney had won I would be very worried about what would happen next year but now I feel like I have some breathing room.  Not much, but some and that’s still at risk, but it may be enough.  I am also relieved that the candidate who brought lying in a campaign to new heights did not win because of that.  That’s the part I’m happy about.  All politicians stretch the truth and make promises they may never try to keep.  This guy lied about hard facts and showed no reluctance to keep lying after the facts were reported.

So I’m glad that the candidate who wasn’t as bad won and the one who looked really bad lost.

Excited, no, but I am somewhat relieved and that’s a good thing.

Maybe that is what you thought.

To paraphrase myself

When you win the election you’ve only just started.

Now it’s time to do the things that need to be done.  It’s time to overcome obstruction.  It’s time to help the poor and the middle class.

It’s also time to reject the concept of a grand bargain and instead strengthen Social Security and Medicare.  Don’t cut them, fix what needs fixing and increase the benefits.

It’s time to improve economic chances for everyone; make the tax system fair – and remember that fair does not always mean equal; control spending but also remember that not all spending is wasteful and debt is not necessarily evil.

Notice that none of this is partisan.  This is what every president needs to do.  The hard work is helping the most people possible and that is what needs to be done.  When there is a strong middle class everyone prospers – just look at the numbers and look at the history of this country.

Congratulations to all the winners.  Enjoy the victory.  Then get to work, fix this mess and help people.  That’s the job you just fought so hard to get, so do it.

Awareness

I just wanted to say, for posterity and whatever part of the world reads this, that I am extremely grateful that we, here, are back into a more or less normal routine.

There are parts of my life that suck – a new rack and pinion?  Really?  I need that money for new struts, not to mention more dental work.  Oh well.

But that is part of the normal routine.  Stuff happens and you deal with it.  But I am dealing with normal stuff.

We never lost power.  Apparently there was only minor wind damage in this area.  The basement didn’t flood, it just got a little water and is already drying out.  We were not injured, nor were our family, friends or neighbors.

A freaking enormous storm passed right overhead with winds I’ve never seen the like of around here before and we came through it OK.  We were worried, but the worst did not happen.  It didn’t even come close.

So I am grateful.  There are people not that far from where I live who literally lost everything but the clothes on their backs.  People in those same areas died.

We were very fortunate.  Life sucks, but it could have been so much worse right now.  I know that.  Whatever I say on here, whatever I may rant about, I do know that a few days ago we came very close to a very bad situation.  We were fortunate enough to make it through so well that we could go on with our lives with no need to deal with the real aftermath of what just happened.

I am very grateful.

It’s not all about me

I use my family as an example because I know the details about us, but this isn’t all about us, it’s about anyone and everyone who is in similar circumstances for whatever reasons.

Our specific situation is unusual, but there are other people who are in bad shape financially because of disability as well.  We’re a minority, there are millions of us, but we’re a small percentage of the population.  So if anyone has a threshold of suffering that needs to be crossed before they can’t sleep at night, rest easy.

Except the disabled aren’t the only ones who will need a social safety net.  My wife and I would have been OK if we had been able to keep working.  We can’t save for retirement now because of health issues.  But there are a lot of people who don’t get sick, work their whole lives and still aren’t able to save for retirement because they just don’t earn enough.  It isn’t just when things go wrong that people need help.  This may be the richest country in the world but that doesn’t make everyone rich.  If you’re doing fine financially, good for you, but there are people who need help. 

They don’t need help because they did something wrong or because they’re lazy, they need help because the poor and working class live paycheck to paycheck and wages for the middle class have been stagnant.  Sometimes there just isn’t enough left over to save enough to retire, or save anything at all.  Even with the programs we have now some people will keep working until they die.

We should be talking about improving what we have, not trying to cut it because it’s expensive.  What’s a human life worth, anyway?  What’s a little dignity worth?  Why is compassion not worth the expense?

I’d like to think we’re better than this.  Maybe it’s time we showed it.

Of course I worry about my wife and myself, but we’re not alone.  We help others when we can.  I don’t understand why we can’t do that as a nation.  We’re not just individuals, we’re a community.  When did we forget that? 

Maybe Sandy can remind everyone.

Crushing the future

Let me see if I understand this.

Obama is entirely responsible for the current state of the economy, including all of the debt, which will crush all the grandchildren of America.

Bush didn’t leave any debt for anyone, not even Obama, to deal with and no grandchildren will be crushed by Republican debt because, um, Republican debt magically evaporates?

Have I got that right?  Because that’s what some of the campaign commercials are telling me.

The $800 billion question

Why do people want to get rid of Social Security?  Why would anyone spend decades of their lives and tens of millions of dollars to get rid of Social Security?

If we eliminate ignorance or stupidity, sheer evil or a desperate need for someone to suffer so you can feel better about being rich, what could be the answer?

After all, Social Security is a very successful program that helps millions of people, is guaranteed for principal and interest, and has never added, and never will add, a cent to the debt.

The answer is simple - money.

How much money are we talking about here?  Well, more than $800 billion was put into the Social Security Trust Fund in 2012.

So the plan is to give your Social Security money to Wall Street.  That gives you increased administrative costs plus fees for managing your retirement money.  That money will be put into risky investments where you can lose everything and have no money left for retirement.  But don’t worry.

Wall Street bankers will get an extra $800 billion a year, so everything will be OK.

Optionally disastrous

I mentioned the proposed changes to Social Security and Medicare, and you might be thinking that these changes won’t hurt them because it’s just a way to offer people options of how to save for retirement.

First of all, even if the proposed changes worked, my wife and I are both under 55 and can’t work.  There’s no way we can save enough for retirement.  If you’re 54 years old could you save enough for retirement in 10, or even 15 or 20 years?  If you can, good for you, but most people in the country can’t.

Social Security and Medicare weren’t created because everything was working great for seniors.  Seniors were sick and living in poverty, that’s why those social service programs were created.

But the changes would destroy these programs.  They work as they were designed, with some minor adjustments, but these changes will push millions of people out of them.  Reducing the base of people paying into them will run Social Security and Medicare into the ground very quickly.

Social services aren’t there just for the fun of it, they exist because it’s simple human decency to make sure that people don’t die sick, in pain, and starving.

Any talk of a grand bargain is talk of abandoning seniors because they just aren’t worth it to the people who run the country.  It’s just profit over compassion.

Honest fears

I wonder if my wife and I can survive a Romney administration.

Being a Wall Street supporting right of center corporatist, I expect Obama to slowly destroy the programs that my wife and I depend on, but we might have a chance.  Romney will kill them quickly.

If the private insurance we have can be made to honor their contracts we can manage for a while, but when we hit so-called retirement age we’ll be sunk.

Disability and medical expenses have destroyed our savings and put us in major debt.  I’ve already cashed in and exhausted one 401(k) and a pension is about to go the same way.  Even with insurance our medical expenses are over $20k a year.  Without Social Security and Medicare we won’t be able to survive.

I am voting for the lesser of two evils, to be sure, but I am doing it in the hopes that we have some chance of survival.

If the typically lying CEO wins, I can only hope that both Houses of Congress have sane Democratic majorities.  I know, that’s a pretty thin hope however you look at it.

If I weren’t disabled I would still worry about the future of this country, but as things are now, I worry about next year.

Career dissembler

I do have to admit that Romney is campaigning like a corporate CEO.  Not that that’s a good thing, mind you, but he is doing it.

NaNoWriMo

In case you were wondering, I am doing NaNoWriMo this year.

I have no firm story idea.  Well, nothing well developed that I feel strongly about doing at the moment.  Writing is work, but NaNo should be fun so I prefer doing fun things, not dark stories I mean, for NaNo.  So of course all the things poking at my brain at the moment are on the darker side of things.

Oh well, I’ll think of something.

Silver

Twenty five years ago today I married the love of my life.

It was a beautiful autumn day.  High white clouds accented the bright, shining, clear blue sky.  The leaves were in full color on the trees, vivid yellows and reds contrasting with the green of New Jersey pines.  The fallen leaves swirled on the ground, decorating the streets and sidewalks.  The air was cool, just enough to make it comfortable in the bright sun but not enough to need more than a gown or a tuxedo to keep warm.  It was a perfect October day.

Of course my most vivid memory is of my first sight of my wife-to-be standing in the back of the church.  I have never seen a more beautiful sight or a more beautiful woman.  She took my breath away.

It was a simple, traditional ceremony with a few family and friends that was the best wedding I have ever been to.  I might have been nervous but I don’t think I was.  I don’t honestly remember because I was too happy.  The wedding was serious, of course, but I spent the rest of the day and night smiling so much my face hurt.

I consider myself the luckiest man in the world married to the most wonderful woman in the world.  If you’ve read here from the beginning you know that my wife has literally saved my life.  Well, from the moment I first saw her she has made my life worth living.  I can be as selfish and self-centered as the next man, but all I really want is to be able to make her happy.

She wouldn’t agree, but I know I haven’t given her enough.  Certainly I’ve never given her everything I want to or everything she deserves.  I never would have made it through my life, let alone the last seven years, without her.  I hope that we have many more years together, my wife happy throughout them all.  I also hope that I can do everything in my ability to make her life better, more enjoyable and happier than it is today.

It doesn’t really matter what my wife has done for me, I owe her everything I can give simply because I love her.  My wife has given me love and happiness and support.  Because I love her I want her to have everything and I want to be better so that I can be a part of making that possible.  She’s also given me that desire, fulfilling it won’t even come close to repaying her.

Happy anniversary, sweetheart.

A quick Sandy post

Well, we seem to have survived Sandy with minimal problems, assuming that it has now moved on completely from our area.

Rain and winds from Monday morning until Tuesday – morning for the winds and, well, it’s still raining and it’s Tuesday night.

The length of the sustained winds was amazing, and I’ve never seen winds that high around here.  We officially had sustained winds of 40 – 50 mph for hours at a time.  I would estimate we had 20 -30 mph in the morning and mostly 40 mph for much of the day but there were gusts to 50 – 60 mph throughout the day and based on the sound I’d say the highest winds were around 70 mph with.

Around 10 pm Monday I realized that there was no wind or rain.  The center of the storm, the eye if it had still been a hurricane, passed overhead.  That was interesting.  Then the wind and rain started up again about an hour later.

We were very fortunate.  The lights flickered 4 or 5 times but the power stayed on.  Only small branches down for us and some very clogged gutters.  A few larger branches came down across the street but no major damage done.  The basement is wet but not flooded.  All in all we made out OK.

I know that others did not fare as well and I wish them a speedy recovery as fully as is possible.

Where I fit

I got out my bike because I wanted to get better and I thought riding might be a way to do that.  I put a lot on this and I know that I haven’t been realistic about it but sometimes that’s what I need to do.

I need the unreality because I need to dream.  This is the most that I can do and it really isn’t enough.  I have a serious problem with sustained effort – not the getting myself to do things part but being physically able to keep up the exertion.  It’s one of the reasons that I can’t work.  Unless someone knows of a job where I can work random 15 minutes a few days a week with unannounced multiple days and weeks off to recover.

Not being able to work was something I thought about the other day while riding.  I know I should be relaxing and escaping reality when I ride but I’m not there yet.  So I thought about what it meant that I can’t work.

I do as much as I can, more than I should sometimes, and I am cycling in an effort to improve my physical condition as much as possible.  I don’t know how far this will take me.  I think I’m doing my best.  I try to be responsible.  I don’t think I’m lazy.

But since I can’t work I don’t produce anything.  I do, however, pay taxes, which means I’m not in the 47%.  I’m a not working, not producing, taxpayer.

You know where that puts me?  That puts me in the same group as people who think investing money makes them a producer of something; except I can’t afford accountants to lower my taxes.

The world can not rationally be divided into only two neat, ideological groups of makers and takers.  It’s more complicated than that.

Not what he meant, but

During the VP debate JFK was cited as someone who cut taxes and had a growing economy.  My understanding is that LBJ got it passed, but that doesn’t matter.

I don’t know the numbers on the economy then, but I’ll concede the point for the sake of argument.  The tax rates under JFK/LBJ led to a growing economy.

So let’s have the JFK top marginal tax rate of 70%.

I think that would help the economy significantly.

Checks and balances anyone?

I’ve heard complaints about unelected judges having a say in things done by elected legislators.

Since when isn’t the Judiciary part of the US Government?

Some so-called Constitutionalists don’t seem to know what’s in the Constitution.

Probably not what it seems to be

It occurs to me that some of theses posts, talking about how I can’t do anything but collapse after I ride, may sound depressed or depressing and they aren’t meant to.

They’re accurate, but that’s all they’re meant to be.

I really am enjoying riding and I think it does me good to ride whatever the physical benefits have been so far.  I just need to work out how to get more done, and I will.

I measure out my life with prescription refills.

I did skip it this year

In case you were wondering at the lack of posts about my illness and hospitalization, which in the past I did on the anniversary dates of specific events, I did intentionally avoid blogging about it this year.

I was going to post on Sunday about the day I came home, because that was a great day, but I decided to keep silent – until now, which is just in case anyone was wondering.

I just wanted to try to think about other things.  To be honest I did think about it, but I didn’t focus on any of it which I would have done if I were writing a post.

I don’t know if this was a better approach or not.  It helps to let it out and writing about it actually can give me some distance from it and internalizing it is the hard part, but I needed to try this approach to see how I felt after the two months was over.  When I figure out the results I’ll let you know.

Still recovering

OK, so that post about the dentist really does prove that I am obsessed with cycling.  I was more concerned about missing a day riding than about going to the dentist, even knowing how much that would take out of me.  After all, I’m still recovering from the dentist today.  So, really, that’s two days riding I’ve missed.

I really wish it didn’t take so much pounding and prying and drilling to get things done.  My lip is still swollen.  With my big mouth you’d think they could get at my teeth more easily.

As it is I can only ride for 15 – 20 minutes several days a week and then I can’t do anything else for the rest of the day.  Occasionally I need extra days off to recover more fully.  I can’t cycle on days I go to the doctor or to the store and I really shouldn’t on trash night but last week I did.  Still, I like it and miss it when circumstances keep me from it.  I think it’s because it makes me feel normal for a little while.  I know it’s illusory, or at least temporary, but I’m going to keep doing it and we’ll see how far it takes me.

Aaaagh – dental follow-up edition

I have remembered that I have to go back to the dentist tomorrow.  I mean, it’s a good thing that I remembered, but still, it is the dentist.  I hope the crown is a good match and the other work goes well.  I didn’t actually get everything finished the last time so there will be more drilling and filling.

No cycling on Monday.

Yes, I am obsessed.

Yes, I am old – example #91228

Anyone else remember going to the store to check vacuum tubes on that big machine they had so you could buy replacement tubes for your TV?

Sometimes I hate it when I’m right

Doctors sometimes ask me if I exercise or what I do for exercise and I explain that I don’t do structured exercise.  I use what I do around the house as exercise.  Anything extra that I add would make it hard for me to do the things that need to be done.  I’m not always sure they believe me – some obviously do, but I even doubt myself sometimes.

Well, now I’ve started cycling and guess what?  I’m having a hard time keeping up with all of the things that I need to do.  As a result things have been piling up around here.  It’s not good to be proven right in this circumstance.

Sure, things could be much worse, but this is what I have to deal with, doing all of the things that I couldn’t keep up with before while also cycling as often as possible.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m really not complaining.  Seriously.  It’s more like I told you so (I told me so?).

Eventually the weather will determine what gets done, but until then I intend to keep up the cycling and do my best to make everything else work.  I’ll take it as a challenge/exercise in scheduling and prioritizing and figuring out how best to manage my energy.

For those of you scoring at home

And even for those of you who are alone *rimshot!*

The songs that sort of crept parenthetically into some previous posts were ‘Hell In a Bucket’ by the Grateful Dead and ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ by the Rolling Stones.

Egocentric, projectionist assholes

After describing their idea of a stereotypical liberal, someone said that those imaginary people should support Romney since he had done nothing to them so far.

I don’t hold my positions, or blog about things, just because of things that have been done to me – and I don’t fit that stereotypical description either, but that isn’t the point.

The point is that I care about government policies that hurt people.  Of course I care if something hurts me or my family, but I also care if other people are hurt even if I’m not.

Some people don’t have a fucking clue what empathy is; or common decency.

It’s all in the reflexes

I’ve mentioned before how I can’t do the things that I used to do, that I’ve lost many of the various abilities that a body accrues from a lifetime of movement.  And until I try to do something I don’t even know that anything is missing.

Forget that for now, because I want to talk about the trying and some things that I’ve retained.

Sometimes, I find myself trying to do things that I am surprised I even remember.  I can’t get on my bike in the usual way, but even doubting I could I tried.  It was just the natural thing to do.  I have seen this happen for all sorts of things with cycling.  All of the little things you learn how to do to control the bike, ways of pedaling, shifting, handling bumps and potholes and manhole covers and rough patches in the road, negotiating turns and bumps and curves – the reflex is still there.

All of this became so ingrained in my mind and my body when I was a child that it has survived the ravages of time and illness.  Maybe I haven’t remembered everything – after all you don’t know if you don’t remember – but I don’t care.  It’s fun to find myself doing things that aren’t every day activities but that used to be second nature.  And doing it without even thinking.

I don’t even care if I can’t do it well, or even at all.  It’s the fact that I try that I think is cool.

Just to keep things real

I can ride for about 15 minutes, then I collapse into a recliner, immobile, for at least 2 hours.  The rest of the day I spend recovering from exhaustion and stiffness and sore muscles.

That is the limit of my cycling ability.

I am enjoying myself but boy I am barely off the starting line here.

But at least I’m enjoying the ride

Back to optimism, of sorts.

I am concerned that I am expecting too much from riding my bike.  I seem to be expecting cycling to do everything for me, as if it will increase my energy, reduce my fatigue, make me stronger, give me bright eyes and a shiny coat.

I’m also concerned that I will have a serious problem if this doesn’t work – or if it doesn’t make everything better.  Well, maybe not a serious problem, but I really am hoping that this will do a lot for me and that may not be realistic.  This is a promising start and that on its own is a good thing.  Even if I get a minimum benefit from this that will still be a benefit.

I’m enjoying this and I am going to keep doing it.  I just need to be realistic.

I may love doing this just because it is something that I am able to do and it is important to me because of that.  My unrealistic expectations don’t make it a bad thing.  I’m just fixated on it – current rants on here notwithstanding – and I need to be sure that it doesn’t distract me or delude me from seeing what else needs to be done or the problems that still exist.  As the ‘Boxed in’ entry said, this disability is not something that I can get away from.  No matter how hard I pedal.

Then again I’m not really trying to do that.  I may be trying to distract myself for a time and do something that I enjoy and get away from things for a while.  I don’t see anything wrong with that and looking forward to riding is helping me in many ways.  What I can’t do is let myself see this as the perfect and immediate solution.

Being able to ride was a bigger deal than maybe even my babbling about it can relate.  I got the idea into my head that I wanted to do this – that I needed to do this – that this was a major and vital step in improving my health.  I made it a big deal and I was expecting to be let down when I couldn’t ride.  But I could.  That success looks like a major leap but it isn’t yet.  It is a little step.  It is a step in the right direction but it wasn’t a jump right to the finish line.

I’m hoping that writing this is enough evidence that I am aware of the limitations both of myself and this latest idea I have of what I need to do.  Cycling is not a solution.  Cycling is a step in the right direction.  It offers a lot that can help me. 

I am still in the very early stages of this.  I might not get very far before the weather gets bad enough to force me to stop.  If I put too much into this it could all fall apart – I could fall apart – when I have to stop either for the winter or for some other reason.

So I need to keep my head clear about this and keep looking ahead to other things.  And I will keep cycling, not put too much emphasis on it, and I will keep thinking about its place in my progress.

That and I will buy myself a new saddle.  My posterior just can’t handle the hybrid seat design anymore.  All my padding seems to be higher and in the front.  Go figure.

Self awareness

Yes, I am very aware of the fact that, as far as disabilities go, I am extremely fortunate to be where I am and not much worse off.

I’m lucky just to be alive.

But I am disabled and to say it is frustrating just doesn’t come close enough sometimes.

Blame the brain injury if you want.

Whatever the reason I felt the way I did to write that last post, it is true, for a lot of people.

And if you’re reading this and think you don’t have enough of a problem to complain sometimes, just remember what a physical therapist once told me when I said I felt guilty because I wasn’t as bad as some of the other people at rehab: Everyone has their own level of disability and needs help.

He was serious and he was right and he seriously wanted to help me get better so that I could be as good as I could be. 

I guess it’s OK to feel sorry for yourself sometimes, just don’t wallow in it.  I usually only get as bad as that when I hear people talk about how people on disability are lazy fakers who just want to mooch off the government.  I guess that’s how they justify cutting social services and still sleep at night.

I would love to be able to work.  Everyone I know who is disabled would love to be able to work.  Sometimes you just don’t get what you want.

I seem to keep alluding to songs in my posts.  What’s up with that?

Boxed in

Some people seem to think that being disabled or being on disability means not having to work.  They have it backwards.

It means that you can’t work.  No matter how much you want to, no matter how many ideas you may have, you can’t work.

You don’t stop thinking about it and trying and dreaming and hoping – and it drives you crazy.

Wherever you go or whatever you do that disability is with you, limiting you, keeping you down.  You can’t get away from it or break out to do what you want to do.  It’s like being locked in a box.

This isn’t a vacation – vacations are great.  Time off from a job can be wonderful.  You get to step back, relax and recharge yourself.

Being on disability is not a vacation, it’s hellish, and there is no vacation from it.

Income tax

It’s true that many people on disability do not pay income tax – usually because they don’t make enough to pay taxes.

My wife and I are both disabled.  We have private disability insurance.  We pay income tax.

I doubt we’re the only ones.

Just a clarification

That pension I mentioned does not have a lot of money in it.  I only worked for that company for something like 18 months.  If anyone out there remembers how long they owned the company let me know.

As a monthly annuity it wouldn’t cover either my prescriptions or food for a week.  As a lump sum it wouldn’t cover my medical expenses for a year – maybe not even for 6 months.

Still, it has more in it than that 401(k).