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spouse tales
July 06, 2017

It continually astonishes me (I should know better by now, but somehow I don't) to see how fast schools manage to find new ways to bleed the money out of students. Spouse left school only three years ago, when his funding dried up. He didn't get the degree(s) he was pursuing, because the school continually shifted and dropped necessary classes in order to keep him on the hook as long as possible, and when he was no longer a source of money coming in, he was left dangling--a few classes short of a dual degree.

Now, as we prepare to send him back to school to finish, just three years later, the program he was pursuing has completely transformed--there are a dozen more classes required, and all of a sudden, a bunch of the classes that he was required to take last time around don't even count anymore!

Sadly, these are mostly the general education classes. Apparently businesses drive curriculum, and they only care about the tech knowledge, not actual education their employees have. Let's face it: in this day and age, companies prefer NOT to employ anyone who has been taught to THINK.

But the fun doesn't stop there! Keep in mind, he was a full-time student for three years at this school. Accepted, enrolled, perfect attendence, graded highly. Now, suddenly, they can't even enroll him unless they have his transcripts his technical school in the Air force, and from his GED program.

He went through tech school in NINETEEN SEVENTY-SEVEN. He got his GED while he was stationed in North Dakota--IN NINETEEN EIGHTY.

Yep. This school, which already educated my husband for three years with no problems, now demands transcripts 40 and 37 years old, respectively.

Well, eff them, because guess what Spouse and I managed to track down and retrieve in the space of one weekend? Thank you very much, North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, and Community College of the Air Force. A pleasure doing business with you! (seriously. Both documents came in about three days, the CCAF transcript cost $2.25, and the lady from North Dakota processed it as an initial request, not a request for a copy, so it was no charge at all!)

So that should take care of getting the enrollment handled. Now the fun part, right? Funding. Wisconsin Veteran's turned him down back in 2009, but he never looked into it much because he was already fully funded through the programs his former employers had set up before they went out of business. Now, though--time to get it straightened out. Why, ecactly, did they turn him down back then? Time to call the VA in Madison.

Well, because it is nobody's job to ask themselves why this guy with the Wisconsin address on his application, who is applying for Wisconsin benefits, is coming up in the system with an Illinois address from 40 years ago.

Apparently it isn't enough to LIVE IN Wisconsin for nearly your entire adult life, you have to--PRIOR TO applying for benefits, mind you--make a concerted effort to inform the WVA that you are a Wisconsin citizen, and to provide documented proof of such.

And the best part of all this? The address in question was his parents' address that he was discharged to, in 1980...and they lived in Cross Lake, WISCONSIN. But way back then, Cross Lake's mail came through the nearest post office to Cross Lake.

Which was in the town two blocks away from their house.

Which happened to be Antioch, ILLINOIS.

So, basically, a clusterfuck. But one that could be sorted out, surely? Given that the man has lived, without interruption, in the State of Wisconsin, ever since the day he got home from the service?

So--they need a 5 years' residence, so if he's had his CURRENT driver's licence for 5 years, he's okay.

Well, it won't be 5 years till October, so that won't do.

How about taxes? Spouse ended up taking every tax return we have on file (over ten years' worth) to the local vets office to be scanned and sent to Madison. The local rep took one look at the stack, said "Ridiculous. I'm not scanning & sending all that personal information", and had him sign an affadavit, which she promptly notarized and sent to Madison.

I should add--she did all this while she vented vociferously about the kind of bureaucracy that couldn't update a simple piece of badly outdated information without a major song and dance, not to mention that would turn a guy down for such a reason, and NEVER STATE SAID REASON in their denial of benefits! Spouse said she was awesome.

So we have done everything at this point that we possibly can--provided all the info. Worked with the appropriate people. His next step is to meet with a program counselor to determine which classes he needs to take to finish the degree, and to set up a schedule. Hopefully, he will get the funding from the VA, but if he does, it will still have to be fronted from us, and reimbursed after he passes the classes. So that should bite into our savings, initially.

But oh, sweet vanilla wafers--if we can get him his degree, I will be SOOOO happy!

Meanwhile, he is looking for a job that will allow him to go to school. He has applied to all of the local home improvement stores, including on that is looking for a tool repair technician, and to an auto parts store that is hiring, as well. Nothing back yet, but he is just starting the process, because I made him hold off till after the trip. But damn, I hope he can get something fairly soon.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying having a house-husband again. I can't deny that it is nice to have the errands run, the laundry kept up (he only does his clothes and the towels, but it really helps), the food cooked and the dishes done, the yardwork handled, the dog fed, and some attention paid to the long-neglected household projeccts list. He doesn't do a really good job at housework, but I try not to be too hard on him, because after all, he was never taught anything about the whys or the hows of housekeeping.


I forgot to mention in my last post that I had my acrylic dip nails taken off on Friday--I loved them, they looked great, and they were absolutely trouble-free for vacation...but after having them removed, I don't think I would get them again. Between the grinding, and the "here, soak your hands in this warm bowl of pure acetone for 10 minutes", it is awfully hard on the hands and nails. I got a plain, old-fashioned manicure, with OPI "Not So Bora Bora-ing Pink". Nice, deep mauve-pink that goes well with most things.

In fact, I liked it so much that I bought a bottle of it for myself on Monday night--along with "Chicago Champagne Toast", which is decribed as a pink, but is really a copper-bronze color. Wasn't planning on it, but I went to Meijer for something, and found out they were having a "Buy One, Get One for Half Off" sale on OPI! Hey, if I can get my fave polish brand for $6.59 a bottle, I'm going for it.

We had a quiet Fourth. Well, "quiet"--if you don't count the neighborhood having all the charm of Downtown Baghdad, anyway. We went nowhere, worked doing housework and on getting the pool opened, relaxed a bit, and had a simple dinner of burgers, brats, potato salad, cole slaw, sweet corn, and fresh-squeezed lemon-limeade, with fresh cherries and strawberries for dessert. Since I worked Monday and Wednesday, there was no point in making any big plans. Mostly, we just wanted to stay home with the B and try to keep him from freaking out too much from all the fireworks. Poor pupper. He's been miserable from it. I actually gave him a dose of his Gabapentin one night, just to try and ease it for him. I don't like to, because it knocks him out so bad. But that is why he has it, so I will do it if I have to.

AND his darned leg has erupted again. They put him on another mega-dose round of the hated "stinky pills", but as soon as he gets healed up and finishes, he just erupts again. I've done everything they said, but we just don't seem to make any progress.





Reading: "The Rising Tide" (1915), by Margaret Deland. It started strong, but has devolved into one of those "she's learning the error of her ways" things that make me feel absolutely incensed.

Listening: Dawes, The Black Keys, Green Day, Walter Becker.

Inked Up: The Conklin Duragraph fine/ Pelikan Brilliant Brown, the Bexley 10th Anni Italic/Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses, Lamy Safari Fine/Iroshizuku Tsutsuji, and Parker IM Premium medium/Pelikan Brilliant Red.

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