Well, what a surprise!
After four plus years of their messiah, the smug snots at Old Elm Tree aren't quite so smug!
In fact, their despair is so dark and hopeless they're even funnier than the DUmpmonkeys.
Check it out as Crazy Andrea checks with her formerly smug snots, most of whom have been transformed into hungry snots:
02-18-2013, 11:28 PM
Andrea
Administrator
How are you all getting on?
Things are really rough right now for all of us. How much worse can it get than having your president declare that he has the right to kill you any time, with no due process or any review whatsoever. That's just the leading edge of an entire avalanche of things we're all outraged over. CISPA, Bahrain, Syria, Afghanistan, Too Big to Jail, HSBC money laundering and getting off scot-free and on and on and on, threatening to roll right over us and suffocate us in our sleep. It's getting hard for me to know what to do. I strongly feel we all need to keep fighting just as hard as we can, but I am running out of determination, in the face of the never -ending onslaught. I feel like the little Dutch boy, except I haven't managed to stick a finger in even a single hole.
No doubt some of you are doing better than I am. Maybe you could share what keeps you going. If you feel like commiserating, please do.
http://oldelmtree.com/showthread.php?tid=2494802-19-2013, 07:42 AM
cornermouse
Super Moderator
RE: How are you all getting on?
I alternate between anger and mild depression: anger when I look at what the politicians won't do and what they are doing, depression when I look at the effects of the former. I've come to the conclusion that at times it's better to just concentrate on the small stuff (family and friends) and refuse to look at the big picture.
Lots and lots of admins and moderators at Crazy Andrea's place these days.
02-19-2013, 11:22 AM
enufalready
RE: How are you all getting on?
First, hugs and healing thoughts sent your way, wfh. I've always thought insurance was basically criminal and situations like yours are further proof of that.
Like cornermouse, I try to keep my attention on the little things of my day-to-day existence. I have to keep a wood stove going. Had to give up having a vehicle a few years ago so keeping supplies on hand requires much planning and a bit of creativity.
My time spent every day reading Buddhist teachings and watching videos convinces me I am on the right path. I don't watch TV or movies. I will never fly again. I don't "go out." I no longer buy things. I eat only very simple, basic things. I've sort of become a nun, or 'none' as I like to call it. It feels right, now that my time is drawing towards its end.
If I was 40 years younger, I'd probably become a full-time activist. Voting, signing petitions and attending the occasional rally no longer have any effect. We need something major. I think the answer is universal love, so I'm doing what I can for that.
That's where I'm at these days.
Universal love, that's the ticket!
02-19-2013, 03:15 PM
Daveparts
RE: How are you all getting on?
I am...working. It seems for some strange unknown reasons the heavens have opened and I have work. Low pay, low class, writing work but it's work and I'll take all that I can get!
02-19-2013, 03:44 PM
TheCrone
RE: How are you all getting on?
I look at the grocery bill, and of course, there is just the two of us, and if we have to have an omelet for dinner, or popcorn, occasionally -- it is probably okay for the waistline. A lot of luxuries we need to cut back - I mean, Ice cream, the good brands anyway, it is so expensive. But us old geezers don't really need it.
But i can't imagine trying to feed kids in this day and age. And then the "experts" tell us that inflation is under five percent!! Who are these jerks? Guillotines anyone?
I wonder how smugsnot TheCrone voted? But the hunger is all W's fault.
02-19-2013, 07:11 AM
waiting for hope
Administrator
RE: How are you all getting on?
We are barely hanging on - if it wasn't for family keeping us afloat, we would have sunk by now. My husband's job is going very well - his company has work, more is coming in but until the pre-existing clause on our insurance lapses, I can not contribute to our income. Most days, I am so overwhelmed with anxiety and depression, I can't make it out of bed - I feel so lost right now.
Another admin.
02-19-2013, 05:25 PM
Andrea
Administrator
RE: How are you all getting on?
I have to buy some things, but I have been trying to make sure that I don't give one extra cent to any large corporations. My main expenses (other than medical, rent and utilities) are food for my dogs and I. I can't afford to get all our food from the small independent (and incredibly expensive) grocery stores around here, but for everything else I am avoiding it as much as possible. I do a lot of thrift store shopping. It's kind of thrilling to pick up a nice sweater for $2 instead of $40, and I couldn't afford to spend $40 anyway. I try to make gifts when possible. Just in general I try to find a way around giving my money to the big corporations. I also use a credit union instead of a bank. I've been doing that for decades and I encourage everyone to do the same. Don't give any of your money to the too big to jail criminals.
Any other suggestions? I'm having trouble with becoming obsessed I think.
02-19-2013, 09:20 PM
waiting for hope
Administrator
RE: How are you all getting on?
I buy store brands where they are available - our neighbor next door works at Wal Mart - the cheese (shredded and block), milk, butter, creamer - they are made by the big brands, just re-packaged by the store - Food Lion, Wal Mart, Lowes - all of them do it, you can't get away from it so I thumb my nose with buying the items at a cheaper price. My son is entering the teenage years, he doesn't do breakfast, eats lunch, after school, he has a bowl of cereal, eats dinner and before he goes to bed, has a snack .... my daughter on the other hand, she is a picky eater (she's 8). I am home during the day while they are at school - I don't eat at all to save money, the only meal I eat is dinner unless I go by my Mom's to do her bills, normally she will take me out to lunch before I have to pick up my daughter from school, but that is only once a week. My husband isn't doing lunch at all, either making it at home or eating out, he is on the same page as me - it sucks, but we do it for the kids.
Thank you everyone for your kind comments, I know I don't reply to every thread but I am reading all of them, you guys are the best!
More hunger among the smug snots! I love it!!
I want to hear about rickets! Beriberi! Scurvy!
02-19-2013, 10:32 PM
tonysam
RE: How are you all getting on?
Not really making it at all. Literally nickeling and diming to death. Going on three years this way after my UI ran out in July of 2010. Tiny state pension plus whatever I can make substituting, which is under 1000k a month total during the school year. A far cry from what I was making five years ago teaching.
Let's see....five years ago..
02-20-2013, 07:00 PM
Atehequa
Jaguar
RE: How are you all getting on?
Here gasoline is going up 10 cents a day.
Filling up earlier this evening before it goes up again,I heard an old woman at the pumps say - "Those damned oil executives should all be tarred and feathered and ran out on a rail"
"Them and a few more" I returned.
Yesterday, 05:42 PM
Andrea
Administrator
People are starving while others have so many luxurious homes they don't have time to visit them all. Income inequality is more extreme in this country than it has been since the gilded age.
The extremely wealthy hoard their wealth because they can't spend any more. There are only so many yachts that can be bought in a year. Their money sits and contributes nothing. If the minimum wage goes up 50 cents an hour, every bit of that gets put back into the economy through spending. Increases in income or wealth to anyone in the 1% will mainly just sit in an offshore account. There is a whole spectrum in between, but the amount spent (and thus contributing to employment, GDP, local tax base, etc) is inversely proportional to the income of the person receiving it. There is no trickle down. It's all trickle up.
Extreme income inequality tends to be followed by a huge crash. We haven't recovered from the Great "Recession" yet, regardless of what goes on on Wall Street, and we're flirting with our next huge collapse.
When I want financial advice, I go to a depressed lifelong loser like Crazy Andrea.
Crazy Andrea has a plan for prosperity:
Yesterday, 05:48 PM
Andrea
Administrator
For years I've been bemoaning the fact that while I could afford to live (much better) in any number of countries, I can't afford to move or even visit to pick one out. I've decided to start trying to save up just enough to drive myself and my two dogs to Canada if/when the time comes. I'd be happy to take a long a couple friends or neighbors if any are ready to flee when I am. I live about 3 hours from the border. I'd need enough for a couple tanks of gas, as many nights in Motel 6 as I could manage, a cooler of food to take with me, my laptop, medication, some necessities, all of which would fit in my car. I could enter as a tourist and then figure out what to do from there in the relative safety of Canada. I might end up a refugee, but that's a lot better than dead.
She sounds like DUmmy TwixVoy, planning to join his son in enjoying the wealth and prosperity of Portugal.