Laundry Day

Hello! Hope everyone is having an amazing week. I love the sunshine and heat, it’s the only thing that really gets deep into my joints and makes me go ‘ahhh’.  Well, that and a Hot Stone Massage, but those are expensive and sunshine is free. Today, I’d like to talk about one of those things we all, admitted or not, avoid to some extent. Laundry.

Now, laundry is a chore for everyone, but more so when you are a finicky tree hugger in a wheelchair. I love to hang my clothes on the line. Always have, just haven’t always had the space or the time.  Now I have both, sort of.  A traditional clothes line was pretty much out of the running as there was no real practical way to make it work for/with my chair. Not to be defeated, I pushed on, searching for a solution.

This is a 40 foot long retractable indoor/outdoor clothesline. I recycled an old pole to bolt it to and used zip ties to strap it onto the deck rail. At the other end I looped a zip tie around the support pole, for the height, and put a clip on it that fits neatly into the little plastic bit on the end of the cord.  It did require support in the middle, so I repurposed an old curtain rod, tacked a hook to it and ran the cord through it before using.  That made it not sag nearly as much, and put less pressure on the zip ties holding the ends in place. For less than $40, I had a nice long clothesline, on my deck, that I could hide away when not in use.  I confess, I did the happy dance while daydreaming of sheets fresh off the line and shirts that do not need ironing.

The clothesline, installed and in use on the back deck.

So, I try to keep myself on a schedule of doing things, mainly because it gives me a sense of goals and duty. This includes laundry, which is assigned to Friday, that way the clothes are clean for the weekend. Except David’s uniforms, which we do on Sunday evening. This gives me all day to let the stuff dry on the line, at least on good weather days. A problem soon presented itself. Transporting the laundry basket to the line and then down the line as I hung them up. Taking the basket out on my lap is passable, if a little awkward, but trying to manipulate the basket, the wet clothes, and the clothespins was very awkward. The only option I could make work was to put the basket down, hang the item, pick the basket up, move the chair and basket down a little, and repeat. Repeat in reverse to take down the dry items.   Okay, not a big issue really, for one or maybe two loads, but ten? Bending while using my ‘inside’ wheelchair is a bit like a normal person sitting on a bar stool and reaching down to get the laundry, it’s a long way. Yes, I’m extra bendy, but even being that way it still becomes a back ache when done repeatedly.

Then one afternoon I hit upon an idea.  It’s not a fix all, by any means, but it’s a lot better than picking it up and moving it each time!

This is a plant stand with casters I picked up last fall on clearance from Hobby Lobby. It was the winter home of the pineapple tree, but now the tree is out on the deck soaking up sunshine.  So, I used it.  It’s a heavier duty one, as the pineapple tree has gotten larger and it’s pot along with it.

Plop the laundry basket on top and Bingo! Now I can just shove it with just the foot part of the wheelchair. Totally eliminates the pick up and move between every item. As you can see from the picture, the basket is still a long way down, but this actually did raise it up a few inches.  Since I don’t have to bend, lift, bend, set down, repeatedly it has saved my back and shoulders a lot of soreness.

So there you go, another way to adapt.  I’m sure I’m not the first to think of this, but it sure made me happy!

I’m sure many of you have your own solutions, and I would love to hear them!

Post a comment to the blog, or post a comment and photo to the Facebook page by clicking here. Life, or something like it

You never know when your idea might be just the thing someone was looking for!

Thanks for reading and please come back!

TH

Freedom of Choice?

Recently my husband was home on a day off, he’s having some hip problems, and he spent a significant amount of time on the couch watching daytime television.  I rarely watch daytime television for one simple reason, it stinks. Everything is either talk shows competing for the Jerry Springer prize, soap operas (which I have always despised), and occasionally a decent show, like Rachel Ray (for the cooking part, it’s okay) or Ellen, which let’s face it, even if you disagree with her lifestyle, she’s really funny. I did happen to catch part of a news segment, however, that though short was very thought provoking.

In the news some politician had made a statement along the lines of ‘The ability for Food Stamp users to purchase food that is bad for them, is a contributing factor to the American obesity problem.’  The shit storm started immediately and viciously.

The statement was countered by such statements as ‘it’s a constitutional right to choose what I eat’ and ‘trying to prevent the purchase of unhealthy foods via the Food Stamp program would be impossible’.

Okay, here’s the thing. It wouldn’t be that difficult at all. The program already refuses the purchasing of alcohol and tobacco products.  While it would require work and effort, it could be accomplished.  The State of Missouri has a program called WIC-Women, Infants, and Children.  This program has successfully functioned for more than 20 years, and you know what? You can only purchase healthy food. Milk, eggs, cheese, veggies, low sugar cereals, etc. You can even use it at some of the farmer’s markets and to by your own veggie plants. If one state can do it, why can’t others?

Reducing the ability to purchase high fat foods would appear to have a great impact on the users of the program. Appearances can be deceiving.  Currently there is a whole underground market for EBT cards (there are no longer actual food ‘stamps’, its done electronically via a card similar to a debit card) that thrives because of this type of limitation. People regularly sell their EBT cards in exchange for half, or less, of the monetary value it contains. Why? Well, it’s precisely so that they can purchase the forbidden products. EBT users cannot buy the cigarettes or alcohol they want, so they sell their grocery money for half of its value and use the cash to make the purchases.

Yes, I know this for a fact. We have been approached outside of grocery stores multiple times by people wanting to do exactly that. These people usually say things like, ‘give me your grocery list, I’ll go buy your stuff, then you pay me half of it in cash’. Why?  Because the use of electronic cards means they can use your purchase habits against you. If you sell your card and someone takes it several hours away and uses it, bingo, you’re popping up as an anomaly.  EBT fraud comes with stiff penalties if you get caught. By waiting outside a store they normally frequent, they aren’t changing their patterns.

Just a point of fact here, participating in anyway in this type of arrangement is illegal and subject to prosecution. While there are many people who use the program as intended, it’s a case of one bad apple spoils the bunch.

Which brings me down to the arguments presented:  Is restricting the purchase of high fat actually going to make a significant impact on obesity rates?  Is it a ‘right’ of someone using a federal program to use it however they wish?

I can see both sides of this. As a tax payer, I’m keen towards restricting it. Why, because most of those people that are using Food Stamps are also on other government programs, like Medicare and Medicaid.  Obesity is an extremely costly condition, medically speaking.  That creates a larger burden on the Medicare and Medicaid systems, which is funded by tax dollars. There is a larger burden on the medical community, also, because of unpaid bills. Hospitals write off a huge amount of money each year for unpaid bills connected to under insured or uninsured patients. That translates into higher bills for those that can pay.  We won’t even discuss the whole insurance industry right now, it would take far too much room.

So I can see the idea of it working, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions, is it not?

Then you have the whole ‘it’s my right’ idea. I can see this too, as I don’t like the idea of someone telling me I cannot purchase something I want to eat or drink.  On the other hand, I tell myself ‘no’ all the time. ‘Don’t need the calories’ or ‘there are so many calories in that with so little benefit, I’ll pass’.  I think David probably gets sick of hearing me say that.  He’s uber skinny and can eat like a garbage disposal with no weight gain, me, well I gain wait just rolling by the donut counter in the grocery store. Partially because of the wheelchair, but partially just because that’s the way my body works.  So I self-regulate a lot. There are types of obesity that are rooted in medical causes, and types that are not. Saying no to everyone, even if they don’t have an obesity issue, to curb the ones that do, doesn’t sit right.

Is it really a ‘right’, though? Does a person have a right to be a burden on the Food Stamp and Medicare/caid systems because of their (non-medically induced) weight? Do they have the right to force the taxpayer to pay their food and medical bills because of their weight issues? Tricky question, that.  Even trickier would be how to decide who fits that category.  Who can certify that a person with obesity is from bad eating habits or medical causes? We all know that there are doctors out there that would say it was one or the other for a patient that annoyed them long enough about it, just as there are others that never would.

Then what? Force those people into exercise and diet programs? That would outstrip the Food Stamp and Medicare costs in a hurry.  Not to mention having half the country screaming ‘Socialist!’ As I said before, the Missouri WIC program already does some of these things. The parent participating has to take classes on nutrition, cooking, and healthy choices for them and their baby, if they wish to receive the free food. The problem is, most don’t really ‘learn’ from it and discard what they have been taught as soon as the last voucher has been redeemed. (WIC only lasts until a child is of a certain age, under 5 I believe but it’s been a while since I looked.) At that point they go back to whatever habits they had before.  

So would restricting actually work?  In theory, yes, but theory isn’t real life. Is it a good idea, well maybe, but it would take quite the effort to work it all out. 

So, how do you feel about it?

Does freedom of personal choice outweigh the increased tax payer burden?

Do you think it would be possible to implement such restrictions?

Do you think it would actually make a significant impact on America’s Obesity Epidemic?

I love these types of discussions, because everyone has their own unique view on subjects, things I might not have thought of, and I believe that gathering the largest amount of information is the best way to work out a real question. I emphasize ‘Discussions’ here, as that is what it is. Please feel free to comment in a civilized manner, without any name calling or political party flag waving. This is not a political discussion, merely an ideological exercise.  

Thanks for reading!

TH

Lists, lists, and more lists.

Sorry for the lateness of this post, things have been a bit stressful here this week.  I really don’t like to talk about what is going on with my EDS experience, instead focusing on ways to get along in a fashion that is beneficial. Sometimes, however, it is not possible to do one without the other.

So, today I’m going to talk about lists. If you know me personally, you already know that I’m moderately OCD in certain areas. One of which is lists. I make them for all sorts of things because I find them useful. I list things I need to pack for vacation to avoid forgetting something. I make a menu and a grocery list every week so that I only by what I truly need. I make lists of things that need doing, bills that need planning for (like car insurance), my husbands vacation weeks, yarn I have, knitting projects I’ve done, etc. I think, at the very least, I could easily be labeled ‘organized’ in that department, just don’t look at my sock drawer or closet. Sometimes I even make lists within lists. Such as the grocery list. I frequently add a list of coupons I have, where they are good at (such as pre-loaded ones on loyalty cards) and paper clip any printed ones to it.

Why? Well, I like efficiency. I find it a tremendous waste of time to wander around a store trying to recall what I have in the freezer compared to what we might want for dinner. With EDS and the wheelchair, shopping is already very challenging without adding that to it. I like to go in, get the things on the list and get out. You might wonder why I do the grocery shopping by myself. It is for the same reason, efficiency and trying to make it the least stressful on my body as possible. You see, having someone along slows me down, and because they cannot read my mind, I’m always waiting for them to catch up. In the hubby’s case it’s a proven fact that when he goes along the grocery bill increases $20 to $50.  I also insist on bagging it myself simply because the average person has absolutely no experience with doing things from a wheelchair.  This lack of experience usually results in the over packing of bags, making them far too heavy for me to manage by myself.  It isn’t their fault, it’s just a lack of experience and I sincerely hope that none of them ever have to gain that experience first hand.  

I feel the same about packing for vacation. I start the list early and add to it as I think of things so that come packing day, I’m good to go. Unlike my husband who waits until the last minute and just randomly throws things in a bag. I think every trip we have ever taken has included a shopping stop because he forgot socks, or undies, or undershirts, etc. I’ve learned during our marriage that there is really nothing I can do about him doing this. So I don’t stress, or try to help him pack (which is always met with ‘leave me alone’) and I don’t say ‘I told you so’.  Basically, I cannot impose my sense of orderliness on him and trying to do so only causes headache and arguments. I also make lists about routes and places to stop, nearby hotel prices, activities in the area we might want to consider. For years it was a tug-o-war between us. I wanted to know where we were going to stop so I could get the best price and place. He didn’t want to think about it and would say it didn’t matter, we’d stop where we’d stop and be done with it. After years of this, I said okay and just didn’t plan anything. Let us just say that it was a cruel way to teach us both a lesson. I learned that it wasn’t so bad being unscripted. He learned that he relied far more heavily on me to plan and therefore make it easy on him, and save us a significant amount of money vs ‘at need’ hotel rates.  We compromise now, meeting in the middle of unplanned and planned, and it works beautifully.

Yesterday, for reasons I am not at liberty to discuss, I was forced to make a list that I didn’t want to.  I’m not talking about a list ‘ten things you need to do but procrastinate on’. I was forced to verbally list every single thing that I have lost due to EDS, under oath. So no skipping or fudging or avoiding allowed. I told myself that it wasn’t a big deal, to use my usual humor to get through it. About for items into the list, my humor failed me.  

Hearing it, laid out bare for all of them to hear and having it transcribed onto a permanent legal document was like, well, it was horrendous. It was emotionally devastating in ways I could never have predicted.  I am not going to list the things here, once was enough, and as I said before, I do not like to linger on the negative side of EDS. Hearing it, in my own words, some how made it more real, more devastating. It’s an area that I usually gloss over and ignore as much as possible, as many people with chronic conditions do. It’s one of the ways we are able to maintain a sunny attitude and not go around with the ‘I hate the world’ thundercloud over our heads. For the geeks out there, it was like Luke walking into the cave to confront his worst fears. In fact, it was so horrendous that had to struggle hard not to let it show. It was so emotionally draining, that by the time I was done I was utterly exhausted. I felt it down to the depths of my heart. An pervasive sadness, some what akin to morning. Which, I suppose it was, morning the loss of parts of my life.

I was emotionally and physically exhausted, and apparently I looked it. I was questioned as to my ability to get myself home safely and in the end was required to call one of the concerned parties to advise them that I had, indeed, arrived home safely. For the rest of the afternoon I was in a sort of brain fog. My mind was chewing on this list, arranging it, rearranging it, adding to it, and attempting to find a way to file it away in a book that would be placed on a shelf in the deepest (and unvisited) part of my mind. I caught myself looking off into nothingness and just letting my mind do its thing, because it was going to do it anyway and trying to stop it would only prolong the agony. This lasted straight through to the morning alarm, when I had to beg off getting up and making breakfast for us. I stayed in bed until 10 or so, got up and took a shower, trying to wash away the last remaining vestiges of scar paper.

After a while of more zombie like brain fog, I gave up and went out, weeding in the flower beds for several hours. Which actually means I spent time scooting my garden blanket from spot to spot and tossing weeds into a bucket in between long bouts of just sitting there absorbing the positive energy of the nature around me. Something about that always seems to recenter me. I also figured that writing about it would be cathartic in its own way, hence this post.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Your attention is appreciated and I hope I didn’t bore you too badly.

As always, any questions, comments, suggestions, or opinion sharing is welcome.

TH

Time to earn! Alone Time, Part 2

After writing last week’s blog, I received a question from a friend. It’s one that I’ve been asked many times, so I thought I’d just put it down here for all to read.

The question was “How is it that you are on disability (aka limited income), but you are always buying things?”

The ‘things’ range from art supplies, knitting supplies, yarn, books, garden stuff, etc.

So, here is my answer, anyone can do it.

I use some of my alone time earning ‘rewards’ from different programs. More often than not  I am using rewards to pay for all, or a good portion of whatever I am buying.  I’ve learned by trial and error which are worth it and which are spamming idiots. There are always knew ones coming along, and sometimes favorites don’t survive, so you have to just keep looking around.

Here are some of my favorites:

Gongos Research

Gongos is the one I’ve been a member of for the longest time, probably 4 years now. Gongos is a research community with different options depending on your questionnaire answers. Sometimes it is a flash poll, sometimes a survey, but sometimes you get lucky and will land on a panel. You earn Tokens for the different activities, amount of tokens vary by activity. The tokens collected can then be exchanged for rewards, like Amazon e-gift cards.  You can set your preferences to participate, making it convenient to work at it when and how often YOU want to.  

One of the things I like about Gongos, no spam! It’s not one of those survey sites that send you 20 emails a day. Gongos doesn’t sell your information either.  The activities are sponsored by real companies that want real meta-data. I’ve done panels for Old Navy, a local hospital ER group, a computer company, and more surveys and flash polls than I can recall.  

Savings Star

I’ve only been using this one for three months or so, but I like it. As it continues to grow it could turn into something great.  Savings Star works off of your local grocery store rewards card (Gerbs Plus, Hyvee Fuel Saver, etc.) and for online shopping. You can browse through their coupon page, select any of the coupons you want and go do your grocery shopping. The difference is, instead of getting 50 cents off an item in the store, you get 50 cents in your Savings Star account. The one I use most often is the produce coupon. They feature one produce item every week or so, and it’s usually like 20% of the total purchase price on bananas,  avocados, or apples, etc. How often have you seen a coupon for bananas?  (Yes, I am allergic to bananas, but the hubby isn’t, so I get them for him). If it is something I’m going to buy anyway, then why not earn cash? If you start your online shopping through their links, you receive credit in your account. I haven’t done this option with them much yet.

Why is this good?  Because it adds up and then you get to spend that money to buy a reward. Again, my favorite reward is Amazon e-gift cards. You aren’t going to earn a fortune, but I do something on it once a week, when I do the menu and grocery list, and it adds up. I’ve already scored several $5 e-gift cards from them.

Yes, they are collecting data. From your grocery rewards card they can see what you purchase each time you use one of their coupons.  This one didn’t bug me like some other data mining sites.  Why? Because they are not collecting my specific information. The grocery rewards card only tells them what was purchased, no information about me specifically.  They don’t collect payment information.  Basically, they collect less information about your shopping habits than the grocery store that gave you the rewards card.  

Savings Star leaves the participation amount up to you. You can do as little, or as much as you like. Also, no spam and they don’t sell your info.  I get one email a week with the weeks new coupons in it.

Ebates

I’ve been a member of this one for a while, but I don’t use it like I probably should. Mainly, I forget about it, but also because I don’t do that much online shopping. I have specific things I buy at specific times. Ebates works like this: they partner with sites to get discounts, usually free shipping, or one time special deals. When you shop, you start at the Ebates page and click their link through to the site you want. Once your purchase is complete, Ebates gives you a ‘rebate’ amount and puts it into your account.

So lets say you want to order a Craftsman socket set for a Father’s Day gift. Start at the Ebates homepage, click their link through to Sears and buy what you want. In a few days you’ll receive a rebate in your account for a percentage of your purchase. Once you receive enough rebates, they give you the cash. I have them deposit it directly into my PayPal account.  Fun part is, you can click through their link to Amazon, use your e-gift cards earned from other sites and still receive a rebate from Ebates. Double win!

erewards

This one is a bit different. Erewards partners with specific companies.  In my case, Upromise. I have had a Upromise account for a long time. If you are not familiar with Upromise, and you have young kids or grandkids, you should be. Upromise puts money into a college savings account. It’s similar to the others, start your shopping through their site, and a percentage of the purchase goes into the account. You can also link it to your grocery store rewards cards.  The money goes into a college fund, for whomever you want.

Erewards is a survey site. You earn ‘money’ for taking the surveys and then trade that money in for a deposit into the Upromise account. The surveys vary in size and earnings, and you can participate in how ever many you want.  If I’m in the mood for it, I can do enough surveys in a couple of weeks time to earn a $50 deposit into the Upromise account.  So while I don’t directly earn spending money, I am putting money away for the grandkids.

Ibotta

Ibotta works very similar to Savings Star in that you earn the cash in your account instead of money off at the cash register. They have different rebates for groceries, in store shopping, and online shopping. For example, this week I used the Milk rebate and the ‘Back to Nature’ granola rebate. You go through the list, pick the items you want and do the activities. Usually a poll, or a ‘share it to Facebook’, sometimes a commercial. Each activity unlocks more rebate money.

For the ‘Back to Nature’ granola, I took a poll, learned a fact, and did a ‘how to’, to unlock 75 cents. Then when I got home from grocery shopping, I scanned the product bar code, snapped a picture of the receipt and submitted it. $1.25 credit into my account (including the milk). Once you hit $5, you can keep building it, or transfer it to your Paypal account.  I’ve earned over $45 in the last 6 months through them.

Fun tip for this one, the Ibotta reward has nothing to do with the actual purchase price.  So, you can match it up to sale ads, your coupons, and or rebates from other programs like Savings Star.   My best deal yet was on Ziploc. One week I was lucky enough to have a $1 (paper) coupon, the store had them on sale, and Ibotta had $1.25 reward. I purchased $9 worth of ziploc bags/containers for a sale price of $7, less the $1 paper coupon, I paid $6. Then I received the $1.25 reward from Ibotta. So really, I bought $9 worth of ziploc for $4.75.  

I hope this helps explain why I can occasionally afford to do something, usually via Amazon, lol.  I do choose the Amazon e-gift cards a lot, mainly because they never expire and if Amazon doesn’t have it, you probably can’t find it anywhere else anyway. The e-cards are good at all the Amazon sites too, like Amazon local, or Amazon Marketplace.

Any questions, or if you have a site you’d like to share, please leave a comment.

Thanks for reading!

TH