Social Security

Another late posting... I got involved with a project last night that kept me up late, but more on that later.

I woke yesterday to the sound of the phone--my Grandpop calling. I was supposed to pick him up at noon to take him to the local Social Security office. He called to say that if I wanted to take him earlier, that would be okay. This was actually a better idea, that way it wouldn't take up more of my day. So I got up, got dressed, had breakfast, and then went over there to pick up him.

Here's the background on this story. Recently, when my Grandpop tried to file an insurance claim, he was denied coverage, because the birthday he reported didn't match the one they had in the Social Security system. Go figure. He got that claim straightened out, but discovered that the federal government thought he was born on 10/28/28, instead of 10/26/28 (very obviously a typing mistake). So, he wrote a letter to them, explaining that his birth date was wrong, and it needed to be fixed. He also sent copies of his birth certificate, driver's license, and pension documentation, all proof of his real birthday. He received back a very terse letter explaining that their was nothing that could be done because the computer won't let them change the date, and that he was going to just have to use his 'new' birth date! Insane!

So, last week, he called me to get directions to the local SS office. I Googled it, to find that it was in Cherry Hill, in a very high-traffic area. In my effort to help my Grandpop (and keep another senior citizen off the road), I told my him that I would take him myself. So, I picked him up, briefly stopping at my parent's house on the say, since I left my phone there on Sunday, and then proceeded to SS Office in Cherry Hill.

I had never been to the SS Office before, but I just pictured a small office complex with some desks and maybe a few people there... WRONG!! It looked more like the DMV at the end of the month, only with scarier looking people waiting, and less deodorant. When I saw the crowd waiting to be helped, I was like (OH NO, we'll be here all day!). When you got there, you had to go to this kiosk and select from a list of 5 choices why you were there (changing your name, getting a new SS card, etc.). Obviously "wrong birth date," was not a choice, so I told Grandpop to push 'Other.' The machine printed out a ticket, and we sat down to wait. While waiting, we witnessed a woman coming out of the back office area, screaming "Give me my papers! Give me my papers! That' my information" and going after the SS clerk. Security had to restrain her, and then kick her out. I turned to Grandpop and joked, "What ever happens back there, please don't do that!"

I discovered by reading signs that you were taken in order of other people there who needed similar services (hence, choosing the number on the he kiosk). This was good news, because I don't think too many people selected 'Other,' so after not very long, we were called in. We went to the back office. My Grandpop was so cute. He had this briefcase, and was so nervous, and very politely explain his problem to the clerk. Just a nice old man whose birthday has been October 26 for almost 78 years, and now was being told it was October 28. The clerk was very nice and helpful. She mad e a copy of his driver's license and birth certificate, and said he would receive a letter in 3 - 4 weeks for confirmation, and we were on our way out.

I was very happy that everything worked out, but what really burns me up is the letter he received in the mail prior to this visit. It was obviously bull. The computer made the change no problem. It's just another example of big corporations (or in this case, the federal government) preying on the elderly. They figure, "Hey, he's only got so many years left, he can go on using the new birthday we accidentally created for him, this way, we don't have to do any work!" What if my Grandpop couldn't drive? What if there was no one to take him there? Should he really just sit around with the wrong birthday? Absolutely not! I'm just glad he was able to get it fixed.

If the SS office, I took Grandpop home, and Grandmom had made us breakfast (it was afternoon though), eggs and sausage. As all Italian grandmother's do, I was practically force-fed until I my stomach would explode, but I didn't complain. After all, it was a yummy lunch, and other people being full really makes my grandparents happy.

On the way home, I stopped at Produce Junction to get some, well, PRODUCE, and then finally arrived home. Of course, I had my new toy awaiting at home, and my I made my first playlist called "Bob's Favorite 80's," consisting mostly of the stuff I downloaded this past weekend.

Then, with my Zen attached to my belt, got to housework. My first job was to caulk the shower. There is the seam around the shower that constantly gets all grimy, so I caulked it up to keep the dirt out. I also recaulked where the tub meets the floor, because it looked gross and grimy. The only bad thing about this is it means we can't shower today, since you have to wait 24 hours for the caulk to cure before getting it wet.

Then, I headed outside to do yardwork. My plan was to weed the front and back gardens, and mow the back yard. I got as far as weeding the front gardens. This took a while, and I had to call my mom three times to ask if a plant was a weed, or was supposed to be there. I was never in to gardening, and I still am not really. But, I also am obsessed with having the house look nice, so I willingly crawl around on my hands and knees, and work in the garden (after first, making sure there is no evidence of spiders or spider webs). Next season, I would actually like to do something with the garden, since I ignored it this spring/summer. I should get a gardening book or something, and learn how to do it right.

In the meantime, I set up the pool vacuum, and Meg vacuumed the pool for me, a big help! Then, we made chicken fajitas for dinner. This time, I did the chicken and peppers on the grill. This turned out to make the best fajitas I have ever had, and that includes ones I've eaten at restaurants. I love grilling. I will miss it when the weather gets cold.

After dinner, I got involved in a project that took me to 3 PM to finish. This is one of those completely anal things that was really bothering me, and only I would take the time to fix it. I had to do with the "ID3" tags on our music. A lot of them were wrong. Also, there were times were CD's we burned, and the information was not verified, and there were a bunch of tracks just tabled "Unknown Album," so I went through our entire MP3 collection (all 3,500 of them), and made sure each one had an accurate tag. The other problem is that we have the same collection on MP3s duplicated in four locations: my laptop, Meg's laptop, our 'file server,' (Meg's old laptop, which the screen doesn't work anymore--we just use it to backup and sync data between our laptops), and my new Zen. Well, since most of the MP3s had been modified, I now have to recopy them to the other 3 locations, a process that takes the computer hours to do. So, I set it up to run while I was sleeping, only to discover that 10 minutes after I went to bed, Windows Update restarted my computer. So, as I blog right now, the copying continues.

Today, we are going to the shore. We are going to leave around 3 or so, so we get to the beach later, and can avoid the beach tag fee. Before we go, I will finish up he yardwork that I didn't get to yesterday.