I Want To Move Back

[bartfull]

The only rice that works for me is Uncle Ben's instant white rice. One of our two grocery stores stopped carrying it last year. I asked them to get it again but they refuse to do ANYTHING a customer asks. For example, they carry Blue Bunny All Natural vanilla ice cream, but it sells out quickly. I asked them to order extra and put some aside with my name on it. I asked SEVERAL times. They won't do it!

 

So anyway, I have been getting my rice at the other store. I went in today and they no longer carry it. I HAVE TO DRIVE 60 MILES ONE WAY TO GET RICE NOW!!!!

 

I can't order online because I don't and never have had a credit card.

 

I can't get seafood here. I can't get decent veggies here - they are all usually rotted, sitting there on the shelf. I can't get white cheese here. Now I can't even get rice.

 

I love the scenery. I love that there is no traffic. I love my customers and my students.

 

But I want to leave it all behind because I can't buy food here. This has been a terrible day so far! I stubbed my toe this morning - the one I have broken so many times it looks like cauliflower. It HURTS! Then I tried to buy rice. Then I tripped over a chair and almost went down. Then I turned around with my $5,000 guitar in my hand and smashed the peghead into the metal rim on the table.

 

I found out this week that the basement of my house is caving in. The drought is so bad the ground is shifting. It's going to cost WAY more than I can afford to fix it, but I have to fix it.

 

And all the while my jaw pain is raging. I just want to lay down and sleep forever. I don't believe in suicide, but if I died tonight it would be a relief.

 

I know, this too shall pass, but how much can a person take in one week?

 

And you know what? Just knowing I can come here to rant is comforting. Thank you my friends for providing a virtual shoulder to cry on. I WISH I could cry! But right now I'm more in a throw something/kick something and use all of those words I shouldn't use mood.  If anyone comes in with a guitar they want me to repair today I'm going to tell them I can't get to it today. The way things are going, I would break it or do something else wrong that would ruin it.

 

Lord help my poor little cat when I get home!  

 

 

[Adalaide]

We all have those days when it seems like the entire world is against us.

 

I don't do credit cards myself, and don't do banking at banks since they all want to charge me like a bazillion dollars a month just to have my money. So, when I got a "job" as a sub teacher at the college and had to set up direct deposit I found an out. I set up a Western Union debit card account. I've had it years now, have never paid a fee on it (especially not those 50 cent fees some charge for every transaction!) and it gives me access to make purchases I wouldn't otherwise be able to purchase. If a store locally has a Western Union thing you can just put funds on your card there. I believe (could be wrong) that it costs a few bucks, but it would allow you to buy rice from the interwebs. You just sign up for the card on their website then take it to a store to put money on it.

 

And remember, if its this bad today it can only be better tomorrow! (((hugs)))

[kareng]

I sent you a pm..

 

Maybe you could get the person who stocks the ice cream to call you when they get some in?

[GFinDC]

Ack - thhhpft Bartful !   (ala Doonesbury's Bill the Dead Cat)!

 

What a nice way to celebrate the middle of the week, hump day!  You sure like to do things whole heartedly, none of that half way disaster stuff for you!  Well, sorry for the rough day.  That's just what we need to shock us out of boredom eh?

 

I can't say I have any solutions for you except to maybe wear some steel toed boots or shoes around the house.  Or maybe some padding on the door frames?  Or maybe just cut out the first 4 inches near the floor of every door frame in the house?  Yeah, that's the ticket.  And then a ceremonial toe jamb cut out burning on the front yard with lots of gluten-free beer.  Obviously door frames should be made of foam for the first 4 or five inches in every celiacs house.  Or toes should be made of silly putty or some such thing.

 

Maybe you could set up a Paypal account to buy groceries online? Some sites might allow that.  Here's hoping things go better for the rest of the day and week too.

 

Chin up in the air,

 

Nose to the sky,

 

Eye on the pigeon,

 

But blink if it smiles!

 

 

[bartfull]

Karen, I know they get ice cream deliveries on Monday's and Thursdays. They only order four of these, and by the time I close the shop and get ther (after 6PM) it is usually gone. Me and my big mouth! I told a lot of friends how good this stuff is and they told THEIR frinds, and now everybody loves it. You would think the manager would realize that if it is gone within hours, maybe he ought to order more.

 

My friend Farty-Pants, it wasn't the door-jamb, it was one of those thin fins on a radiator. OW!!

 

And I can't get a paypal account without a credit card. I have a friend who is willing to let me order on his credit card and I just pay him back, but it shouldn't be that hard to buy rice!

 

I really do want to move. They are going to start fracking for uranium soon. It will destroy our aquifer. I can and do drink bottled water, but I don't want to be showering in the stuff or washing my dishes in it. It's all adding up to a move.

 

The question is, where? I don't like the desert so the southwest is out. I hate humidity so the east coast is out. I'm not fond of shoveling snow so north is out. I really loved northern California (around Eureka), but who can afford to live there?

 

Anybody got suggestions?

[kareng]

Maybe if your friends all tell the store manager they want more ice cream?  Can you close the shop for a few minutes and zip over to the grocery?

[Adalaide]

Utah! We're "sort of" the desert where I am but seriously, I'm in the middle of a city so who would know? And surrounded by mountains covered in trees and we have ginormous lakes. And I'm just far enough south to skip a lot of the snow... most years. And we have no humidity. Dear God I would never live where there is humidity again. We have the dryness of a dessert without the heat of Arizona/Nevada, and my city is nicknamed orchard city there are trees everywhere. You would never know. Plus, you can grow practically anything here.

 

Oh... and there are like 6 billion grocery stores here.

[bartfull]

Adelaide, that sounds great. The question I have is, what is the job market like? What about music stores? I'd like to continue in this business if I could. Do you have any idea of the cost of renting a commercial building? (My shop is small - about 25X50) Or maybe even the cost of buying one if there is an apartment upstairs? How about home prices/rental prices? If I can afford it, it sounds like heaven.

[Gemini]

bartie......time for a credit card, my dear.  Baby steps, baby steps........

 

If you don't like the desert (dry heat) and don't like the snow or humidity, then where else is there to live?  Everywhere has one or the other!  California has earthquakes.....are you comfortable with that?  I was going to suggest Boston because it's VERY gluten-free friendly here and you would have an automatic friend in me BUT we have traffic and snow so that's out.

I ask myself the same question when I try and figure out where to retire.  I do like the west...can't beat the hiking, the heat is dry, the people are friendly and it's got to be cheaper than Boston.  Addy might be right...UTAH!

 

I would offer to send you some rice, if you want.  I like sending care packages. 

[Gemini]

Utah! We're "sort of" the desert where I am but seriously, I'm in the middle of a city so who would know? And surrounded by mountains covered in trees and we have ginormous lakes. And I'm just far enough south to skip a lot of the snow... most years. And we have no humidity. Dear God I would never live where there is humidity again. We have the dryness of a dessert without the heat of Arizona/Nevada, and my city is nicknamed orchard city there are trees everywhere. You would never know. Plus, you can grow practically anything here.

 

Oh... and there are like 6 billion grocery stores here.

I think I'm sold on Utah for retirement, Addy.....I HATE HUMIDITY!  We don't get that much of it in Boston but 1 day is too many.

[Adalaide]

I think most aversions the the desert are either that it is brown and dead and just meh looking, or that it is like 500 degrees every day and you just melt the minute you open your front door. Heck, even though I am technically in the desert I am right at the mouth of the Provo canyon and from spring to late fall it is a riot of color and beauty that can't be matched.

 

Job market? Meh, I haven't looked for a job lately but last time I poked around there was plenty. We have two major universities in our two abutting cities and there are all sorts of business that employ and cater to the students, but also ones that employ the graduates as well. I will say though that I think I heard recently that BYU is one of (or maybe the single) largest employer in the area. There is a music shop down in Provo that has been open since I moved here something like 8 years ago. Another that idk if it is still open that builds guitars. I haven't been strolling Center Street down there in forevers. IDK, poke around about what you can see about the Provo/Orem area if you think it sounds awesome. I happen to think its great.

 

In the late summer or early fall we'll usually get a period where for a few weeks we get thunderstorms every evening. I am not exaggerating at all. It is amazing, it pours buckets, stops, and dries up just like that. It may get a little sticky for an hour but in no time you forget it ever happened. It is extremely weird though.

 

I will admit there is one thing many will find a downfall. I did when I first moved here. For anyone who doesn't recognize the name, BYU is the mormon university and this area is extremely mormon. Moving here at first can be a bit of a culture shock. I quickly found though that I like it here, even though I did not subscribe to the mormon way of thinking at the time.

[Adalaide]

Oh, as fair warning also... door frames here seem to viciously attack me for no apparent reason. I just mind my own business and then suddenly they just slam right into me while I'm walking. This didn't happen to me in PA so I think that door frames in UT are just inherently evil. You've been warned.

[bartfull]

Gemini, I'm pushing 60 and have never had a credit card in my life. I tried to get one and was told I "don't exist". They said bad credit is better than no credit. I was advised to try to get a JCPenny card and slowly try to build credit, but it'll take a long time, even if THEY would give me a card.

 

The thing about the weather - the southern Black Hills HAS perfect weather (usually). We did get a bunch of snow in April this year, but usually we only get three or four snow events each winter, and those are only three or four inches each. In between, we often get into the fifties and sixties even in January. Summers are hot, but not humid. I guess you would call it semi-arid. Lots of grass and trees but no humidity and no mosquitoes. We have rattlesnakes but no scorpions. We have mountain lions too, but most people never see one.

 

We do get some fierce thunderstorms in the summer. About once every ten years or so we get hail large enough to do damage, but tornadoes are very rare in the Hills.

 

I moved here thinking I would live out my life here. As bad as the food thing is, the uranium has me more worried.

 

I love Boston. I am not a fan of cities but if I had t live in one, Boston would be my choice. When I lived in Connecticut I used to go there for concerts and the museums and the great restaurants. But it does get humid in the summer, it does snow a lot in winter, and even though I could take the MBTA places instead of having a car, I just don't think I could handle the congestion. (I'd LOVE to come visit for a while though if I only had time.)

 

Adelaide, it sounds like a music store wouldn't work for me there. One of the reasons I do OK here is that you have to drive a good 60 miles to find another one, and that one is so overpriced (and with lousy customer service) that people from THERE drive HERE to shop.

 

BUT!!!! I bought a powerball ticket this morning! (Probably not a great idea the way my day has been going.) If I win, I can either move someplace else, or if I am the sole winner, I can buy the uranium land so they can't frack there, and then I can hire my own personal shopper to go get rice for me. I can fix up my caving-in house and fix my on-death's-door car. And you know what? I would still run my shop even though I wouldn't have to because it's fun.

[Adalaide]

SLC has way more "stuff" going on than down here in little old nowhere. The way the mountains work though, we get way better weather.

 

If you just buy me a car and pay for gas I'll drive whatever groceries you want right to your door when you win the lottery.

[ravenwoodglass]

Bart what I had to do when I needed a credit card to order stuff for my now defunct business was to get a secured card. You go to a bank or credit union with a couple hundred dollars. That is deposited and you are given a card with a limit equal to the amount you deposited. Usually you will get interest on that deposit and many times after you have used the card and payed the bill for a while they allow you to 'unsecure' the card.

I'm sorry you are going through such a hard time right now. A lot of us are. At least you are doing a job that you enjoy rather than slaving for minimum wage at a job that is physically killing you like many, including myself are. Today has been so bad for you that tomorrow just has to be better!

PS Please don't take it out on the kitty. (Not that I really think you would) Hug her and let her purr you into stress relief.  Even if she deposited a hairball in the middle of your bed while you were at work.

[bartfull]

Raven, I would NEVER hurt my beautiful cat! What I meant was, I am so accident prone and having such a bad luck day that I am dangerous to be around. If I whacked my beautiful $5,000 guitar and put a dent in it after whacking my toe on the radiator and tripping over a chair, I'm just afraid I'll step on her or drop something on her or fall on her or something.

 

I DO realize how lucky I am to be doing what I do for a living. And I do realize how lucky I am to have such great friends. And I even realize that although my jaw is so darned painful, a lot of folks are worse off.

 

I'm starting to cheer up as the day goes on. And all of you here have helped a lot. When you write about this stuff and then go back and read it, you realize how funny it all is in the long run. (Except the fracking.) I will get the caved in basement fixed. I will probably have friends tripping over each other to see who can go to Rapid and bring back rice. I will stop limping soon. And the guitar? Well, I'm just not going to think about that. It may be dented but it still sounds good.

 

Thanks everybody.

 

P.S. Adelaide, if I win, you've got yourself a job!

[ravenwoodglass]

Raven, I would NEVER hurt my beautiful cat! What I meant was, I am so accident prone and having such a bad luck day that I am dangerous to be around. If I whacked my beautiful $5,000 guitar and put a dent in it after whacking my toe on the radiator and tripping over a chair, I'm just afraid I'll step on her or drop something on her or fall on her or something.

 

Didn't think you would. Should have used a smiley face I guess.

Glad the day is looking up for you. You certainly have used up your bad luck comes in three's quota today.

[powerofpositivethinking]

I hate humidity too, but the east coast is where I am    i live just outside Wilmington, DE, and the location is so accessible to major cities. 40 min from Philly, 1 hr from Baltimore about 2 hours from NYC and DC, and although I've never been, Boston isn't too far by train.  

 

I'm an elementary music teacher, and there are quite a few local stores already, but competition is a good thing 

 

bad day or good day...music is always my answer for feeling better    hope your day is turning around!

[GF Lover]

Barty, go straight to the bathtub with your beverage of choice.  Light a candle, dim the lights and just float.  Tomorrow will be a new day.

 

They are doing that fracking here in northern ohio.  Not far from the wonderful great Lakes water supply.  Makes me sad.  They get little earthquakes all the time.

 

Have you considered a debit card through your bank?  My local bank has no fees for any of their services.  You can only spend what's in your bank account.  It's not a credit card.  But can be used as one for purchasing products.  Maybe check it out.

 

I'm really sorry about your sucky day.  I'm sending healing thoughts to your toe.  And praying to the guitar gods for mercy on you.

 

Colleen

[bartfull]

Thanks, Colleen. I think I'll take your advice. A nice long soak in a warm tub. I have some candles and my beverage of choice is water, but I'll enjoy it.

 

Debit cards should never be used online though. With a credit card, you have protection should some hacker get your number. With a debit card, they can drain your bank account before you are even aware of it.

 

Yeah, I've heard about earthquakes happening in every place where they do fracking, yet the oil and gas (and uranium) companies say, "Oh no! It's just a coincedence!". And we are sitting on the eastern edge of the largest caldera on the contenent. Yep, Google "Yellowstone caldera" and check it out. They say that when that blows, the whole country will be hit. We here in the Black Hills will die instantly.

[shadowicewolf]

Thanks, Colleen. I think I'll take your advice. A nice long soak in a warm tub. I have some candles and my beverage of choice is water, but I'll enjoy it.

 

Debit cards should never be used online though. With a credit card, you have protection should some hacker get your number. With a debit card, they can drain your bank account before you are even aware of it.

 

Yeah, I've heard about earthquakes happening in every place where they do fracking, yet the oil and gas (and uranium) companies say, "Oh no! It's just a coincedence!". And we are sitting on the eastern edge of the largest caldera on the contenent. Yep, Google "Yellowstone caldera" and check it out. They say that when that blows, the whole country will be hit. We here in the Black Hills will die instantly.

Most debit cards are visa cards now, meaning that there is protection.

[Adalaide]

I won't debate the this that or other thing of fracking. People all have strong opinions about it one way or the other. I will say though that if it eases your mind just a little they don't actually "frack" for uranium. They just dissolve it with water, suck it out and put new water in. (That is very simplified but the basic.) It isn't the hydraulic fracturing of the rock on which we are all depending to be stable. I know that won't make you feel better about the water... but maybe it will make you feel better about the potential of turning crispy.

[mamaw]

When you  find  the  that "special" place  to live  please  share  the info......I hear  they  are planning  a  citizen  trip  to Mars so  that  might  be  a place  to look into... Not  Mars, Pa   !!!!!!  But  you will probably  have  to  sell your  sole  & kitty  to  afford  the  space  flight...

I  hope  things  gets  better  for  you soon....

The  only    perfect place  I know  of  is  "Heaven" &  we  do not  want  you to go  there  yet!!!!!  Hang  in  there....

hugs