Oh, dear lord I'm a rich woman!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

Not only has my $1400 stimulus amount hit my checking account, but also my Social Security $1569 hit. And a good three hours earlier than I'd been expecting.

I have recently incurred some additional medical expenses, having had a very serious heart attack back in December. The extra money is quite welcome.

And soon I should be getting a $900 federal tax refund. Hooray for me!

[blm]

1. Happy you're feeling

some relief. I remember you had a tough time not too long ago.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Thank you.

I have had my own tough times. In my younger days I really was quite poor. The honestly good thing about that was that I learned to live on very little, and that has helped in my more prosperous times.

[choie]

2. That's good news, Poindexter...

I hope you're feeling better!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. Yes, I am feeling much better.

Thank you very much.

[MustLoveBeagles]

3. That's great

Congratulations. You must be so relieved.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Yes, I am relieved.

Life is very good for me now.

[iluvtennis]

4. Nice windfall! nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. It truly is a lovely windfall.

The stimulus money is what many of us are getting. It will be helpful with my recent health related bills. I had a serious heart attack back in December. I'm currently in cardiac rehab and have a copay for each session. To be honest, even without the stimulus money I'd have been able to pay this, but I'm glad for the extra money.

[Marie Marie]

5. I hope that you will take a little of that and be good to yourself.

After a heart attack - you've earned it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. Oh, yes. After the heart attack I deserve what I can get.

Last year, on March 1, I started a cruise to Hawaii. It was a somewhat delayed 70th birthday present to myself. The cruise was fabulous. We all felt extremely safe on the ship (Holland America) and the entire time they ramped up the cleaning protocols. Our very last port stop, in Ensenada, Mexico, we were not allowed to disembark. No one I spoke with on board was remotely bothered. We all understood.

I love cruising. I think Holland America is a truly fabulous cruise line. I really hope to take more cruises. But I do understand that cruising is likely to change a whole lot because of Covid. I've decided I will think about a 75th birthday cruise for me. I turn 75 in 2023. I have an idea of where I'd like to go. The main problem is that singles get the joy of paying 2 fares, since the fare is based on double occupancy. But I've resigned myself to that, and can probably figure it all out.

Otherwise, I'll do a bunch of travel within this country. The past few years I've attended a number of science fiction things. Yeah, I'm a science fiction person. Can I brag about seeing the 2017 eclipse with one very well know author? Anyway, I am very much looking forward to the science fiction cons going back to being in person.

Oh, and I love taking Amtrak. Last year I was booked on Amtrak at the beginning of April from Lamy, NM, to Chicago. I'd booked a hotel in Chicago. The next day I was to take the Empire Builder to Seattle. Oh, my, what an amazing trip that would have been. Four overnights, three of them on the train. Then time in downtown Seattle to do standard touristing stuff, plus meeting a long-lost cousin. Then on to the science fiction thing at a hotel at the Seattle Airport. And then home. Alas, but no surprise, the science fiction thing got cancelled even before my cruise ended. Sigh. I was able to cancel everything I'd already booked. I am hoping I can take this trip in 2022, or 2023. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

I am very fortunate to be retired. I have no job obligations. One son, no grandchildren. So my life does not have the complications and considerations that so many others have. I am a firm believer in taking care of myself, of treating myself when I can.

I just hope everyone else can do the same.

[brush]

6. Oh, baby. You're rolling in dough. Enjoy it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. I am absolutely rolling in dough.

[3Hotdogs]

7. Glad you got lots of $$$. Now, how would you like to make it grow?

I'm a Nigerian prince and my fambily had a lot of money impounded after an illegal coop. If you help me get it out, I'll set you up for life. I am the soul surviving member of my clan.

P.M. me and I'll tell you more about how we can both be rich.







Yes, Agnes, its sarcasm. Don't flag it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Will my $1400 be enough?

I certainly hope so.

[magicarpet]

8. Nice to have ample funds to pay things up. Alleviates a lot of stress.

Good for you.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Having ample funds truly is a reliever of stress.

Much of my life I have been relatively poor, and I'm all to familiar with that stress.

For me, the up side has been that I learned to live on very little. Depending on your perspective, my current income is either a lot or shockingly little to live on. For me, it is more than adequate. Again, I've learned to live on very little. Plus, I live alone. I have no grandchildren which I know can be a huge source of financial drain.

I am always an optimist, which helps.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. Thanks to all of you.

I am actually in the fortunate position that I would do just fine without this stimulus money. But because of those recent extra expenses, I'll use this rather than going into savings.

This is EXACTLY why we need a UBI, Universal Basic Income. I was at a conference two or three years ago where this was one of the panels, and I was astonished at the hostility on the part of some in the audience to this. One of the panel members (someone I also know personally) pointed out that he's on Social Security, which is a form of UBI, and it frees him to do other kinds of work.

He was absolutely right.

I have, at various times in my life, been relatively poor. At one point, when I was a sophomore in high school in 1964, I had a Saturday babysitting job that paid $3.00 to take care of two little girls, ages 7 and 9 for eight or so hours while their parents worked. Most days, when the mom was driving me home, I asked to stop at a grocery store on the way to buy groceries, food, for my family. I had four siblings at home. The mom was amazed. She couldn't really understand why I wasn't spending that money on myself. My oldest brother was in the army. My mother was a nurse, and she worked as much overtime as she could get. A year and a half earlier she'd left her husband/our father in upstate NY and moved us to Tucson, AZ, to start a new life. She knew that as a nurse she could always find work, but nurses earned a pittance back then. I'm glad they earn a lot more now. But back then it was different. She could not possibly support us if she didn't work any overtime. So she took every extra shift she could. And when I got that babysitting job, it simply didn't occur to me to keep that money for myself. It was needed for the family.

For a number of years after, in various different jobs, I barely kept my head above water. I honestly think that my early experience of poverty was in many ways a good thing. I learned to live on very little. I learned to be frugal. I learned to hoard my money, to spend it carefully. Today, even though my income is below the national median, I am doing just fine. I am saving money. I can travel nearly as much as I'd like to.

For me, life is good. And I'm grateful.

[orleans]

21. thank you for sharing this -- i'm glad everything worked out so well for you. n/t

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. You are welcome. And thank you for responding.

I honestly think that sharing certain things with others is highly useful.

One huge problem with money is that too many people are very secretive about it. Okay, so I don't expect anyone here on DU to publicly share their income or precise expenses. But some of that really should be shared with close family members, such as your children or parents.

Recently I made a new will and trust documents. I sent copies of them, along with copies of my financial statements, mortgage paperwork, a life insurance policy, and several other such things to my son, my main heir, and my sister who is a subsidiary heir. I feel that they should know as much as is reasonable about my finances and financial life. If they outlive me, they will need to deal with this stuff.

Several years ago someone close to me died, and I was involved in settling his estate. Late last year my brother died, and I've been involved in settling his estate, such as it is. I get enraged at people who say things like, "I'll be dead, why should I care?" They should have to settle an estate. Then they'd care.

Similarly, when discussing things like burial vs cremation, when someone says, "I'll be dead, why should I care?" I like to point out that your relatives can't just leave your body out with the garbage pickup. Some kind of a decision needs to be made. It would be very helpful if you offer an opinion here.

[c-rational]

48. What a wonderful outlook. You truly are wealthy!

[MLAA]

10. You are rolling in it, hurray !💕

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. Yes, I am.

Lucky me!

[orleans]

20. now, don't be telling everyone how rich you are

they'll all be hitting you up to buy girl scout cookies!

(and congratulations btw)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

22. I never have girl scouts show up where I live.

I LOVE the thin mints. I suppose I should see if I can order them on line.

I am old, 72. I can recall when I was maybe three or four years old, tagging along behind my older sister who had a small wagon full of girl scout cookies, selling them door to door. Oh, the good old days, yes?

[orleans]

23. i just googled girl scout cookies

this link is for the chicago area and apparently grub hub is delivering them thru march 21.
they also have a map where booths are going to be set up in the area.
if you really want some thin mints just google and see if you can find something. but do it soon b/c their season is almost over i guess
good luck!
https://www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/en/cookies/find.html

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. I must google girl scout cookies where I am,

which is Santa Fe, NM.


I LOVE the thin mints. They freeze wonderfully.

Added on edit: Looks like I can purchase then at an Albertsons near me on the 20th.

[orleans]

35. great. (glad i gave you the inspiration to go in search of cookies! LOL)

i ordered a box from someone at work--i'll be picking them up this week. i haven't had thin mints in years.

cheers to our cookies

[cannabis_flower]

55. Here is a link

Where you put in your zip code.

https://www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/share-joy.html?utm_campaign=CookieFY21&utm_medium=Search_Paid_GSUSA&utm_source=Google_CPC_2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuOednq247wIVa_DjBx0jpQjWEAAYASAAEgIWsvD_BwE#buy-cookies

[mvd]

24. That's a great stress relief!

And less stress is good for your heart. So glad you recovered. Take care of yourself!

I hope my mom gets her stimulus soon. She didn’t do taxes, so that may be why she has a payment status of Not Available. Her $1831 Social Security doesn’t come until 3/24.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. I do hope your mom gets her stimulus soon.

I happen to file taxes every year, which may well be the difference.

Given what's happened with the stimulus this year and last, I might well be inclined to file even if it seems I don't need to. Right now, I do need to file, and I'll say: Lucky Me. I got last year's stimulus checks at the very beginning of each distribution, and got this most recent one today.

I do understand, that if I didn't need to file taxes I most likely wouldn't. But then something like this happens and the ones who don't file are somewhat left out in the cold. Surely there's a better way.

[vercetti2021]

27. That's awesome

Just curious is your name a mixture of Poindexter from Revenge of the Nerds and Ogie Oglethorpe from Slapshot?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. Actually, my name comes from a long ago high school friend,

who was originally from southern Virginia. At the time we both lived in Tucson, Arizona. I think she kind of created "Poindexter Oglethorpe" as a bit of a tribute to her origins. I've never forgotten the name, and took it on here on DU.

And even though the name seems masculine, I am a female. 72 years old (gasp!) but feisty as ever.

More to the point, I have never come across either of your Poindexter and Oglethorpe references. Which says a whole lot about how old I am as compared to those who would get your references.

[vercetti2021]

30. Oh cool

Actually i like that story a lot more than mine lol the movies are quite old. 70s and 80s. And not so much masculine! But from one sister to another. 30 transgender woman

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

32. You are a transgender woman?

I'm honored.

I know a transgendered woman through my science fiction world. Oh, and don't get me wrong. I often describe myself as a boring heterosexual woman, although I think the correct name these days is cis something or another.

Right now I know exactly one transgendered woman, although I'm sure it's highly probable I've actually met others who don't find it necessary (and honestly, they shouldn't) to inform me of their status. The particular person I'm thinking of is someone I've met in the science fiction world. Recently I was reading an s-f novel, and after a bit I looked at the dedication page. It was to this transgendered women I know. What a delight! When I'm in the same room with her, she knows me, although I honestly doubt she knows my name. That's not important.

Okay, so I'm old enough to remember when anything outside of normal male/female everyone must get married was the norm. I am so glad I'm well past that. Even though I'm one of those normal women who got married and had kids. I long ago figured out that wasn't the only way to be.

[vercetti2021]

37. That's two you know now!

I've been on hormonal replacement therapy for only a month. I got a very long way to go. Usually about half a year to a year is when results show. Softer skin, hair growth, curving and shaping, breasts. You name it. And then facial surgey if I have to shape my face more feminine.

Then I'll have to get my stuff changed from M to F. Change my middle name. I'm keeping my first name because its unisex.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

38. Hooray! Lucky me to know you.

I realize I cannot begin to appreciate your journey. Thank you for sharing this with me. I am honestly honored.

[vercetti2021]

39. You're welcome

It was the only positive thing during my quarantine. I had time to look at others. See their transformations. I started thinking back to my childhood and how I enjoyed being dressed up by my cousins. I denied myself a ton during my teenage years and early twenties. It wasn't until my mid twenties that I started to do some roleplaying as a female and I really really enjoyed it. I feel more like myself. Last year I finally let myself go and came out.

Only to my closest friends and family. My mom had a hard time at first but she just wanted me to be happy. One of my friends was upset since he is more misogynistic and didn't like I was gonna change. I told him so so many times it will still be me. Just my appearance will be different and I'm not gonna be like every female that ever hurt you. Like give me some damn credit...

But my dad? I haven't told him and I have no plans to. He's extremely homophobic. Like very very homophobic. Like to the point he physically assaulted a gay coworker homophobic

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

40. I am so sorry about your dad.

I cannot begin to imagine. I have never dealt with these kinds of issues. Just stuff like my son getting into drugs. While that was tough, it wasn't even remotely the kind of global identity things you're talking about.

That said, in recent years I have met several people who have transgender children. Oh, my. Again, I can't begin to imagine.

I had two sons. No gender issues at all.

Hang on here, because this is important. I was an airline employee at Washington National Airport from 1969 to 1979. Many of the men I worked with were gay. That opened my eyes. Again, I am (as I put it) a boring heterosexual woman. But I had what turns out to be the good fortune to know many gay men. And this was back before the Aids crisis. So I had a number of gay men friends. It opened my eyes. So now, all these many years later, I can transfer that knowing to the vastly broader field of trans gender and I'm probably leaving out far too many other choices.

Recently I was reading a novel, and partway through looked at the dedication. It was to a transgender woman I've met several times. I was utterly charmed and happy to read the dedication.

I don't understand why parents don't always support their children. I've been through my kid not being on the same page, so to speak. But I always supported my kid. Maybe I'm lucky. But I cannot imagine abandoning your child the way I see some parents doing so. That is so sad.

[vercetti2021]

41. It's a huge reason why LGBT teenagers commit suicide

Once their parents disown them or send them to a camp or some sick conversion therapy. They'll end their lives. I tried to kill myself twice in my life and each time I obviously lived.

But my mom is scared for me because of how transgender people are huge targets for hate crimes. Especially when a man's sexuality comes into question when they find out the girl they took out was once a guy. Trans panic kicks in and they'll kill the girl. I hate those stipulations.

I plan on prewarning anyone I meet that I'm a transgender woman. My dad will find out. I wasn't the son he loved sadly. He did a lot of emotional damage to me. Which is a reason why most of my right wing relatives say me transitioning is a mental illness that shouldn't be encouraged. I told them all collectively to go fuck themselves and since they voted for Trump they have no right to judge my life choices.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

29. I don't start very many threads, and this is the very first time

a thread of mine has shown up on the "Trending Now" thing. Oh, my.

[TexasTowelie]

31. Congratulations!

I'm aware that you give to your local food bank so I hope that you will make a generous contribution. However, I won't blame you if you do treat yourself also.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

33. Actually, I need to look at my money and give some to the food bank

and to the homeless shelter that I also volunteer at. Thank you for reminding me.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. Thank you for reminding me about this.

Perhaps as soon as I get my federal tax refund I should give my stimulus money to the local food bank and to the homeless shelter. I have done volunteer work at the homeless shelter for several years now, and it's one of the very best things in my life.

Some years ago, a couple of friends approached me cautiously, saying We want to ask you, but you don't have to agree, but we hope you'll do this, somewhat on and on. I finally said, "What are you asking?" It turned out that their church (this was First Presbyterian in Santa Fe, NM) had a summer Hot Water Ministry, where they served a hot lunch, offered showers, and a clothes closet, to the homeless. Well. This was EXACTLY the kind of thing I was eager to be involved in. I'm not religious, not a joiner, and connecting with someone connected to a faith group was perfect. So I helped out the next two or three summers. After that things switched over to Pete's Pets, formerly a pet supply store, that the city took over after the pet supply store closed. The kitchen was renovated and the space for the homeless was also renovated. Different faith groups prepared meals during the winter. I helped out with the Presbyterians, but trust me, every faith group you might name was involved, including an atheist group. How cool is that? I love working at the homeless shelter. I don't really need it to remind me how fortunate I am. But it does remind me. Our clients are very appreciative of what we do. I feel as if what I do is easy. I have a good and stable life. I have enough money/income to support myself. I've been very poor in my past, although never that close to homelessness. But simply being poor gives me insight to the homeless.

[FreepFryer]

42. Any interest in a resort time share in Mar-a-Lago? Going for a steal, but bad neighbors (Nt)

[Lucinda]

43. ❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️

[Martin Eden]

44. Must be the luck of the Irish

But in a good way.

[BobTheSubgenius]

45. I hope there is a little room in that total for a little indulgence to celebrate.

Most of all, though, I hope for a quick and complete recovery.

[twodogsbarking]

46. I am happy for you

but you shouldn't have to worry so much about medical expenses.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

47. So far they aren't onerous.

But I'm used to have absolutely no medical expenses, thanks to being very healthy.

[PTWB]

49. Congratulations

[Upthevibe]

50. PoindexterOglethorpe .....

I'm so happy for you! I hope you're feeling better.

[keithsw]

51. Groovy!

I hope even more finds it way to you

[bucolic_frolic]

52. Don't spend it all in the same doctor's office /nt

[peggysue2]

53. Save a little of that windfall to treat yourself

After your recent medical crisis, I'm sure you deserve it.

Congrats!

[Aussie105]

54. Life is great, isn't it?

When money worries are one less thing to worry about!

Go easy on it though. It's not a bottomless well of goodness you can dip into, as it may seem at first.