Getting by, making do, and moving forward
Today I am sharing photos of some repairs I have done to my boyfriends work jeans. In the agriculture and construction industry, the jeans taking a beating. And who wants to spend $50 bucks on new pants all the time. I find the biggest fixes for him are the pack pockets tear out at the rivet and the need for knee replacement surgery. So yesterday I ended up fixing 3 pairs of jeans.
Hi, It was a busy day for me and I didnt have a clue as to what to cook for supper. I thought of grilled cheese and tomato soup, but needed more bread and didn’t feel like burning up a gallon of gas for one item at the store. After looking in the cupboard, I found a bag of Knorr Spanish Rice, I added a can of Mexican diced tomatoes to make it go a little farther. In the freezer was a baggie of deboned rotisserie chicken. I had shredded cheese, tortilla’s and sour cream on hand. I beleive I have enough for 4 meals. Total cost was probably less than $4. which comes to One Dollar per meal.
Although I have small kitchen and not a lot of cupboard space, I always stock up on easy to fix sides for these sorts of days and it is well worth it. There are so many people that do not cook and waste too much money eating out or having food delivered on a daily basis. I literally boiled water and warmed up some meat…. how hard is that?
Hi, Not enough time to really address this term, but today I was talking with my boyfriend and we had chuckle about this word. It was from an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Basically, how the incompetbad employees are promoted up the ladder, while those that can work and actually show up and do work get no where. Why Why Why does this happen, as it is obriously not a one time time, but I think a good topic to hit on since it obviously happens more than we think.
My washer had a drip of water one day, so I have not been using it. Unsure how to find a good reliable repair man or get a new one. In the meantime, I’ve been going to the laundry mat. I use the laundry mat quite often when I have a working washer to do the big stuff
FYI- am not a laundry mat snob. If you ever watch Seinfeld or Big Bang, they used shared laundry as part of living in the city. The only reason I bring this up is because one time at work I mentioned going to the laundry mat and a member of my team was shaming me for using a laundry mat. I am like, dude, if you stay in a hotel you use sheets and towels washed in shared laundry….. really???
Not sure what to use for a title, so I guess I will just share what I recently expreinced in the workplace. I feel this is part of what creates a toxic workplace.
I was a new person in a small group of people. This is a high turnover position and the most senior person had been there less than 18 months. She appeared to be a very unhappy person. Shortly after I started, our tead lead (tl) was doing some rounds and on the other side of my cubicle. I hear…. I hate new people. The tl totally agreed with her, stating you were not very nice to me either. Then a few weeks later, the tl comes thru and this woman loudly states…. I HATE BETH… and proceded to complain about my existance on the face of the earth. This time she used my name. And yes, I am on the other side of the cubile. The tl replies, yes i know. I brought it up and was told this is a known problem.
OMG….. In my mind, that is bullying! And is bullying not a form of work place violence, and is workplace violence not grounds for immediate termination. I guess not. This is a health care provlder and one of their areas of specialty is mental health treatment. LOLOL.. what a f-ing joke.
As for feeling bad about leaving — NOT!
NOT makes me chuckle when I think of Borat.
Today I was browing some jobs at local public schools. I did this because there was an article on the local news about the need for the teachers aide. I think some places may call it the para-educator, which was stated as hard to fill positions. one posting in particular prompted me to look more into the “certification” the desired candidate should have.
#1 – this position pays $15.00 per hour.
#2. The desired certificate: https://educate.iowa.gov/educator-licensure/licenses-authorizations/paraeducator-certification
According to DMACC, the average salary is $30,000. That is a bit off rom the job posted below, as 180 days @7 hours per day + 1260 hours worked *15/hour + $18,900. The program cost is about $1600.00. What I find really humurous is that there are 2 options to renew your Paraeducator Cert every 5 years. Continuing education…. OR…. Master Degree for a job with staring pay of $15.00/hour.
https://www.dmacc.edu/pathways/ech/paraeducator.html
This is not a livable wage for a single person to live on their own.
I graduated in 1983. Small town Iowa. the poor girls got pregnant and had babies; the rich or popular girls got pregnant but did not have babies. This was before RU486, it was either brutal physical activity, gut punches, coathangers, or the vaccum at the clinic. We did not talk of incest or rape, but I am sure this led to many unplanned pregnancies also.
Many years ago I randomly came across a Bible passage from Ecclesiastes and always thought of abortion rights. The passage is shared in full at the bottom of this post. At that time, I did not even begin to fathom the government would take away a womens right to make her own health care decisions. Tonight I am randomly cleaning some clutter and came across this Bible with a random scrap of paper flagging a page. A torn off bottom of a Walmart receipt dated 04/02/2017 to mark the passage I felt so powerful. The Bible is called the Brave Girls Holy Bible. Very befitting of a Bible with this name to lead me to such a powerful message.
When I lived in Waterloo, I recall my elderly neighbor Margaret looking at me one day and saying, I hope they never get rid of Roe V Wade. She tells me she lost too many friends to coat hangers and suicide from the unplanned pregnancy. I worked with a woman who, like me, was born prior to RoevWade. She tells us at work one day that when her Grandmother discovered her Mother was pregnant with her, her mother was forced to drink a very dangerous concoction as an attempt to induce miscarraige. Is this really where we are going???
I think everyone needs to be very informed this election year of 2024 on the real issues facing our country and our democracy. Headlines are not information, you need to read.. actaully read the written word, educate and inform yourselves of facts over fiction. Do not rely on friends or narcisstictic gas lighting pushy people to inform you of the facts. To be an informed voter, you need to do this yourself. YOUR VOTE IS LIKE YOUR BODY, IT IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE... you choose and do not let anyone make that choice for you. Our freedoms and democracy depend on this. In Iowa, this is NO thanks to Kim “Serena” Reynolds.
Ecclesiasted 4: 1-3
Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.
2 And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.
3 But better than both
is the one who has never been born,
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.
Decided to add some info on eating cheap. This is not advice I hi-jacked from reading others ideas or the overly cheerful know-it-all youtuber. This is my speaking from real life experience. Eating cheap and eating healthy are really one and the same. When you cook and prepare your meals at home, you are eating healthy. And yes, it includes eating potatoes and pasta.
Many years ago, I was a single parent of a special needs child. I raised her alone, no family helped me out. Not even my own mother. Times were tough, as I worked graveyard shift and had about 3-4 total hours of sleep per day. Since she had special needs to ward off cerebal palsy, I felt it best to be home during her waking hours to do her therapy and developmental stimulation, as I knew she would not get this in a day care setting. But I had to pay rent, food and formula, diapers, car payment, child care expenses, health care expenes, and all those things that go along with being a responsible adult. So… I had to work. Overnights was the most logical answer. I was blessed to have a child that was a good napper like me. So when I say I know how it is to struggle to get by, I speak from experience. As I reflect back on this, these were actually the happiest days of my life. We were poor, but we were happy. I have many wonderful memories living on Grant St.
We had to eat. It was then that I learned to cook and prepare meals on the cheap. It had to be filling becuase I get hungry. I’ve always been a big eater. I dont mind left overs, and am not a food snob, so fairly easy to do. One word can best describe my main go to food. CASSEROLE. I ate like a Bee Gees record with a huge scratch, which means repeat repeat repeat until you move past the scratch to the next casserole aka-big scratch and repeat repeat repeat. I think you get the picture.
I carry a lot of that with me today. I rarely go ot to eat, it seems so wasteful. Today, I just wanted to say you can eat cheap and healthy. Potatoes and pasta never made me fat, but they sure do keep me healthy. (menopause and beer made me fat – lol) It’s all in the food prep, but that’s a topic for another day. Thanks for stopping to visit my site.
Hi. I recall last year New York passed a law stating all job postings must include the pay range. It is called the Pay Transparency Law (FARE Grant). Employers with 4 employees must note pay in job posting. I feel this is something that should be standard on all job posting nation wide. It is required that government jobs have a public pay scale, why not all jobs? Why waste time applying for a job that does not pay a liviable wage. For example, I just learned in the Des Moines Iowa Metro area that Hyvee and Fareway pay $13.00/hour. The rate of pay at Fareway is the same for a 14 year old as for a 40 year old – in my case, nearly 60 year old. Plus, labor laws restrict the type of work anyone under 16 and 18 can perform. yet same pay……age discrimination at its best. I wonder if the younger crowd gets special treatment in scheduling…hmmmmm???
So I decided to go one step further and apply at Michaels , the crafting store. Pay is $10/hour. And JoAnn fabrics… a whopping $8.64/hour. WTF!!! I learned these hourly wages because I either applied or called and asked. What would the customers of these stores think if they knew the pay scale out there on people. I think I am going to reach out to my state elected officials on this matter . Will they really care? So posting this in hopes others pay attention to wages, as no matter what your education or age, everyone deserves to make a living wage.
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/quick-facts-about-state-salary-range-transparency-laws/
Plus we have disabled people that do not get a fair wage, That is terrible. They the have the American with Disabilities act, yet pay people with disabilities less than others. Kind of contradicts the purpose of the act, but that is jsut my opinion.
This post has been on hold a while, but today I decided why not put it out there.