Help me help you

Last year my stepmother asked me to help her set up a blog. I had never done it, but I was sure that we could do it together. She needed to set up a new e mail address, I am very familiar with that. So she chooses a name and it won't work, so I ask her to read the name to me (I couldn't read the screen) and I could tell her why it wasn't working. She refused to do it, she was afraid that I would use her e mail. So I told her that without her cooperation I would not be able to help her. Eventually my husband (who has good vision) came in and helped her.
She had typed the whole address into the name field. So it looked like joniname@gmail.com When all she was supposed to write was joniname, and the server would have added the gmail part.
It was a simple problem that I could have easily helped her with, but because she was not willing to read it to me I could not. As if that were not bad enough, she made me feel like I was stupid!
So the lesson here is that blind people can be very helpful if you are not a paranoid person.
As a blind person it pisses me off that people associate intelligence with being able bodied.

Work

With the Tea Party taking over the House of Representatives, it seems like a good time to talk about work. As a high school-er I took those career placement tests and met with a councilor to discuss my future. I was told that I was "unemployable" I decided to go to college anyway, but that statement haunted me. I floundered unable to find a major that I thought I could do. So in and out of school I went, doing odd jobs for family and friends. Then I moved to Utah and decided to prove my old nemesis wrong. I got a job at a call center and preformed very well despite the fact that I had no adaptable equipment. I loved working, the GOP would have you believe that disabled people love to sit at home, that we love the idea of living off of "the man" and have no drive or ambition. this is not true, at least not for most of us. I loved working, I was so proud to provide for my family, it was wonderful. Sadly the economy hit the skids and hours became as rare as rubies. I did well, which meant that I was one of the first to be sent home (they had to pay me more) and the last to get pick up hours. One week in July I worked two hours, and that was scrubbing the break room floor. I knew I had to do something, so I switched to night shift. That worked for a few months, but in November I was being sent home again. Why am I writing all this? I am writing this so that you will understand why I am in school, so that anyone who reads this will know that I and many like me work hard and want the same things you want. You want less people on food stamps, so do I. You want less people on SSI, so do I. You want me to get a F***ing job, so do I.

SSI part 2

Yesterday I got a little insight as to why I am getting harangued by SSA. There was an investigation that found that federal workers were unlawfully collecting disability. So in order to cover the financial discrepancies it is clear to me that they are looking for scapegoats. If these SOB's can call me a liar and a thief of the system, they can keep stealing. This is further proof that the majority of fraud is perpetrated on the inside, these are the people who decide who gets audited. All they have to do is make sure that their names never end up of the audit list.

The thing about staring

Last year I was in a Wal*Mart check out line, when a boy in front of me pointed and loudly said,"Mom what is that". His mother ignored him so he grabbed her shirt and pointed again and again. "Mom what IS that, just LOOK at it." This customer had a full cart and this went on for three minutes. Nobody, including me, said anything. I was near tears when it became our turn at the counter. The cashier cheerily said, "what a cute little boy". Cute, really! I was fighting back tears by then and had to turn away to hide my face. As we walked out I lost it, holding onto the cart I sobbed all the way to the car.

That may seem like an over reaction, I mean the child was six or so and I was a 30 year old woman for goodness sake.
The reason it hit me so hard, is that nothing like that had happened to me in years. Growing up people stared all the time and if it got bad my mom would stick up for me. This rude child and his equally rude mother came out of nowhere and pimp slapped my self esteem in seconds. I was mad later, but at the time was so shocked I froze.
I think part of living with albinism is the constant vigilance required when dealing with people. I LOVE when people come up to me and ask if I am albino. I am proud of it, I have never been ashamed, but I sure can feel like crap sometimes.

wall mart in late evening

OMG, sometimes it's all in the timing. I from time to time shop like anyone else, and when I am inside I usually don't use my white cane. Boy was that a mistake the other day, it was around 6:30 or so and coming out from the check stands the sun hit that shiny concrete floor and WHAM. I could not see a thing.
I have another wal mart story but will share that another time.

SSI

I know I am not unique, I am not the only person to be audited by the social security administration. Knowing that doesn't make it any easier, it is frightening to know that in one instant everything familiar can be taken from you by a faceless bureaucrat. I have done many things in my life, getting an unskilled job was the worst thing. The government tells you that they want you to do better, to make something of yourself. That is just what I did, I worked trying to better myself. That was the beginning of the harassment. My job was crappy, my hours kept getting cut so I decided to go back to school. Because I did work and quit both the federal and state offices have asked why I am in school. Five times in one year I was reviewed and now, a full medical review. I could very well lose it all because I am trying to do the right thing.
They call this being entitled I guess, all I want is freedom from worry that's why I am going to school. The government of Utah could make me homeless, how does that make me less of a burden. anyway this isn't really a post just a rant.

intro

All right here it is. I have been wanting to host a blog like this for a while, a place to talk all things me and all things Albino. This is not a science blog or anything like that it is just some stuff. Hang out and see what you'll see.