Heading to the Community Room to take photos of today’s Craft Class for the residents’ facebook page, I caught Mr. Scissorhands in the process of giving buzz cuts to the remaining greenery.
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| Oh Oh! He caught me taking pics |
Didn’t stop me from taking more pics.
The Usual Suspects made bracelets from tongue depressors today.
Crafty Lady soaked the depressors in water, manually molded into shape and the ladies embellished with fabric and stick-on decorations.
One of these bracelets, posed atop a display in Vanity Magazine, is a tongue depressor bracelet. Can you tell which one?
Today’s tea involved one of our Usual Suspects — Di, who tells us her utilities have been cutoff because she forgot to pay, couldn’t remember last time she actually paid a utility bill, didn’t recall getting any notices warning of being $1400 in arrears and of impending cutoffs until utilities were turned off.
That got her attention.
Di is one of the residents that doesn’t make much money, pays about $150 in rent and has a hard time coming up with that. So, she’s really in a pickle, which she’s hoping Kesha can help her resolve … show her how to work out something with the utility company or put her in contact with an agency whose mission is to help seniors in situations like this.
$1400 is a lot of misremembering. I’m thinking about over a year’s worth of forgetfulness because, looking at my budget sheet, I last year paid a total of $892.89 in utilities ($491.37 to Edison Electricity and $401.52 to SoCal Gas).
So, I can’t imagine how long it took for Di to get to $1400 in arrears.
Di is easily confused and forgetful due to a brain injury suffered in an automobile accident. Before that she was a brilliant chemist and still occasionally will have moments of brilliance where she will say something that speaks of quantum physics while misremembering simple things.
I dunno. My spirit is telling me to pay the bill for her, but I myself am not rich and don’t want to step into something that might cause her to depend on me in the future.
Part of Kesha’s job is to help the seniors out by connecting them with resources for medical and rent and utilities. So, I think I’ll wait to see if Di can resolve this issue through other means before involving myself.
When you get to the point of forgetting to pay your bills, it's time for someone else to step in and start doing it.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
DeleteMr. Scissorhands appears to be masked -- could he have thought you were an ICE Agent? His debris trail is impressive though, LOL!
ReplyDelete"debris trail", LOL. And he looked more like ICE than I did.
DeleteDee needs more than just someone to bail her out. And bailing her out won’t solve the bigger problem. There has got to be assistance for someone in her situation. I hope Keisha comes through.
ReplyDeleteThat's supposed to be part of Kesha's job, so she'd better come through.
DeleteI thought he was the ICEstapo, too, disguised as a gardener.
ReplyDeletePoor Dee, that's a lot of forgetting. Hopefully she can work it out and work with the utilities to pay future bills. Our utilities are an automatic withdrawal from our accounts. Perhaps she can set something like that up.
That getup was a little much for a landscaper, but maybe it was a clever disguise should ICE actually show up, he can blend in, act like part of the team. I too am on automatic withdrawal. I'll mention that to Dee when next I see her, get an update.
DeleteA little much??? In your state with that heat? I'm surprised he didn't pass out!
DeleteAs am I.
DeleteThe Tongue Depressor Bracelets are a clever crafting idea and turn out nice. The Gardener is very Artistic with his Work... and the debris trail is indeed impressive!
ReplyDeleteLOL, the debris trail was part of his artistic process.
DeleteLove those bracelets. Who knew you could do that with tongue depressors.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised your electricity isn't included in your rent. Makes me glad that mine is.
This cheap management puts as much on us as they can legally get away with and sometimes tries illegal means ... like charging us for the fluorescent ceiling lighting when those lights go out. I think the only utility we don't pay for is water and trash collection.
DeleteLove the bracelets. Maybe you all could take up a collection for her. At least to bring her up to speed. No elderly person should be without power. That is a disaster in the making.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to mention to the others about taking up a collection, but they seemed unsympathetic, talked behind Dee's back when she walked away, said she causes her own problems; so, I figured they'd not be interested. If Kesha doesn't handle it, I'll think of a way to help Dee out anonymously. Don't want her or the others to know.
DeleteHow do you receive your utility billing? US Post Service or email? That in itself could be the problem. Dee may not open or pay attention to her email, especially if it's not clearly labeled as an invoice for electricity and gas. Or she may not even collect and open her US mail. I know you've mentioned going to a central point to pick up your mail. Does she know she has to do that? And, notifications should have been coming on a regular basis now that she is that much in arrears. Someone should have stepped in and caught it before now, and made personal contact. It does sound like she needs a conservator.
ReplyDeleteMy bills arrive electronically. It's all set up automatically, so I get a notice of how much is owed, the date the amount will be withdrawn from my bank account and, when that date arrives, a follow up notification indicating the bill has been paid. I don't know the details on where Dee's mail goes but, inasmuch as she has gotten in trouble before for hoarding, it's very possible she ignored and/or misplaced her mail. Bless her heart, it's been one thing after another with Dee, she's kind of a mess, does need some kind of assistance.
Delete