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Are You Better Off This Thanksgiving Than You Were Last Thanksgiving?
Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
Are you in better shape financially than you were last Thanksgiving? If so, you should consider yourself to be very fortunate because most Americans are not. As you chow down on turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce this Thursday, please remember that there are millions of Americans that simply cannot afford to eat such a meal. According to a shocking new report that was just released by the National Center on Family Homelessness, the number of homeless children in the U.S. has reached a new all-time high of 2.5 million. And right now one out of every seven Americans rely on food banks to put food on the table. Yes, life is very good at the moment for Americans at the top end of the income spectrum. The stock market has been soaring and sales of homes worth at last a million dollars are up 16 percent so far this year. But most Americans live in a very different world. The percentage of Americans that are employed is about the same as it was during the depths of the last recession, the quality of our jobs continues to go down, the rate of homeownership in America has fallen for seven years in a row, and the cost of living is rising much faster than paychecks are. As a result, the middle class is smaller this Thanksgiving than it was last Thanksgiving, and most Americans have seen their standards of living go down over the past year.
In 2014, there are tens of millions of Americans that are anonymously leading lives of quiet desperation. They are desperately trying to hold on even though things just keep getting worse. For example, just consider the plight of 49-year-old Darrell Eberhardt. Once upon a time, his job in a Chevy factory paid him $18.50 an hour, but now he only makes $10.50 an hour and he knows that he probably would not be able to make as much in a new job if he decided to leave…
For nearly 20 years, Darrell Eberhardt worked in an Ohio factory putting together wheelchairs, earning $18.50 an hour, enough to gain a toehold in the middle class and feel respected at work.
He is still working with his hands, assembling seats for Chevrolet Cruze cars at the Camaco auto parts factory in Lorain, Ohio, but now he makes $10.50 an hour and is barely hanging on. “I’d like to earn more,” said Mr. Eberhardt, who is 49 and went back to school a few years ago to earn an associate’s degree. “But the chances of finding something like I used to have are slim to none.”
Of course you can’t support a family on $10.50 an hour.
You can barely support one person on $10.50 an hour.
But there are many men out there that would absolutely love to switch positions with Darrell Eberhardt. At this point, one out of every six men in their prime working years (25 to 54) does not have a job. That is an absolutely crazy number.
And of course just because you “have a job” does not mean that things are going well. The number of Americans that are “working part-time involuntarily” has risen by over 50 percent since the beginning of the last recession. There are millions of hard working Americans that would love to get a full-time job if they could land one. But these days “decent jobs” are in short supply.
For example, CNN recently profiled the story of college graduate Meghan Brachle…
Meghan would love to be a music teacher or play full-time in an orchestra. She studied music at Loyola University in New Orleans and plays the flute.
Instead, Meghan works a slew of part-time jobs and receives no benefits.
She is a cashier at Whole Foods, a substitute teacher, a flute tutor and an administrative assistant at a non-profit.
Even with all of her hard work, Brachle and her husband often really struggle to pay the bills…
With inconsistent hours, Meghan monthly income fluctuates between $1,000 and $3,000. Even with her husband’s teaching salary, the couple sometimes struggles to cover the $3,600 of monthly expenses they have.
“It’s very stressful,” Meghan, a college graduate, says. “I think about all the job applications I’ve turned in and all the interviews I’ve been on and all the other people who are in the same situation, looking for those same [full-time] jobs. It’s frustrating.”
Sadly, a lot of these part-time employers know that their employees desperately need these jobs and are using that leverage to treat them very poorly.
For example, it is being reported that any KMart employees that do not show up for work on Thanksgiving will be automatically fired.
What kind of nonsense is that?
And around the country at Wal-Mart stores, food drives are being held for “needy employees“.
So why wouldn’t Wal-Mart just pay their workers enough so that they could afford to take care of themselves in the first place?
Most people don’t realize this, but approximately one out of every four part-time workers in America is currently living below the poverty line. Many of them are working as hard as they can and still can’t make enough to take care of themselves.
Meanwhile, our paychecks are getting stretched further and further with each passing month.
When you don’t make much money, every dollar is precious. And when food prices go up substantially, it can be very painful. Unfortunately, that is precisely what is happening right now…
-From September to October, the price of a pound of Turkey rose from $1.58 to $1.66. That represents a 5.2 percent price increase in just one month.
-The price of a pound of ground beef has just risen to a brand new record high of $4.15 a pound, and more price increases are on the way. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting that U.S. beef production will drop by another 1 billion pounds next year due to a variety of factors including the horrific multi-year drought out west.
-The entire planet is bracing for a huge chocolate shortage, and this threatens to push the price of chocolate beyond the reach of many American families…
Start hoarding those Hershey’s Kisses and stockpile your Snickers: The world could soon experience a chocolate shortage.
Mars Inc. and Barry Callebaut, two of the world’s largest chocolate makers, say that’s the path we’re headed down. They cite a perfect storm of factors: Less cocoa is being produced as more and more people are devouring chocolate.
In 2013, consumers ate about 70,000 metric tons more cocoa than was produced, The Washington Post reports, and that deficit could go up to 1 million metric tons by 2020. The Ivory Coast and Ghana produce more than 70 percent of the world’s cacao beans, and both countries are experiencing dry weather that limits growth. To make things worse, a fungal disease called frosty pod has destroyed 30 to 40 percent of global cocoa production.
As a result of all of the things that I have just discussed above, more Americans than ever are being forced to turn to the government for assistance. Today, the number of Americans getting a check from the government each month is at an all-time high, and at this point Americans collectively get more money from the government than they pay in taxes. For much, much more on this, please see my recent article entitled “21 Facts That Prove That Dependence On The Government Is Out Of Control In America“.
So if things are going well for you this Thanksgiving, you should be truly thankful.
For most of the country, things just continue to get even worse. And if the next major wave of our economic crisis arrives next year like many are projecting, this may just be the beginning of our economic pain.
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Let them eat stawks.
Can I get that with some spicy iPad on the side, please?
Let them eat (paper) crude
I'm drinking better scotch this year
So yes I am!
Treading water. Same as last year. And the year before. And so on....
I'm handing out 1 oz silver eagles to the poor today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGYaFMFU63U
Do they accept them?
Do they try to unwrap them to eat the chocolate inside?
Citing month over month inflation in US turkey prices on Thanksgiving Day is a bit disingenuous, and lends credence to the otherwise BS BLS seasonality adjustments.
Those who really are struggling this holiday season deserve and need a stronger defense.
Poverty and civil-strife and begins at the FedRes, and ends with their violent partners in crime, governmnet.
Food cannot be "printed." Heat cannot be "printed." Shelter cannot be "printed." Dignity cannot be "printed."
An American, not US subject.
Guillotine the Fed!
No, but I'm fatter. Does that count?
Thank arrogant moron Obama. Schumer said that Obama should have tackled the economy rather than Obamacare as his first task in office. Obozo care more about a legacy rather than about his constituents. No surprise here. Most horrible President/human being in a long time.
Don't forget to thank all the Koolaid drinkers who voted for Dear Leader... Twice.
Forward (over the cliff)!
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Take your bullsht somewere else.
If you had a better attitude, you just might make it to the dayshiftsucks.
Happy Thanksgiving.
:)
I am not Christian, but when I meet folks who practice what they believe, they are warm, wonderful, and trust worthy. They judge not lest they be judged. They usually don't try to convert me but I enjoy listening to them discuss matters of faith, because when their faith comes out of an informed place, rather one that is ritual practiced by living robots, it is usually excellent social psychology and philosophy that I can benefit from.
The need to hurt them for their belief, your reactivity, is something you could benefit from reflecting upon. I used to feel as you do.
I can say this about most spiritual traditions that are practiced in an examined manner.
I am thankful for Zerohedge. I am rich because of it. Happy Holidays, most especially to nightshiftsucks. Peace.
MsCreant's most retarded post in the history of this blog.
Why? Unretard me.
I counter Psalm preaching with the classic Sadean credo:
I believe that if there were a god there would be less evil on this earth. I also believe that if evil exists in our world, then its disorders are necessitated by this God, or it is beyond his power to prevent them. I can’t be at all frightened of a god that is either weak or wicked.
Well, that's just silly.
If we are made of god’s image, one can’t hold humanity evil without being evil oneself.
Through a glass darkly? Maybe your engrish is not so good?
He gave us freedom of choice, we can't blame him because we make the wrong ones.
You have great understanding. Choose wisely, because you get what you want in the end.
Bumbu, if you're serious then you are a true moron.
Nope, you are. I can't help you understand reality. Good luck!
What if there was a God who let each human choose their own path: righeteousness or corruption?
What if that God were so powerful that the outcome would be unchanged irrespective of every human's individual decision?
What if God revealing his Presence to cancel out 'evil on this earth' eliminated each human's free choice or prevented that God from also being Just (in addtional to Merciful)?
Pain and suffering are indeed present in this temporal, flawed world. But what if that pain and suffering were the consequences of mankind choosing poorly?
Why place value in the temporal, when there may be an eternal existence to consider? Wouldn't a God outside of spacetime view pain and suffering in a temporal world as a pinprick relative to eternity?
The ability of current science to explain our universe begins at the moment the Big Bang occurred. Science cannot explain why the Big Bang happened. The best it can do is assert that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. But in the Big Bang, matter was ostensibly created. String theory might enable scientists to toddle a bit further into a world of 10 or 11 dimensions, and competing concepts inlcuding infinity expansion/quintessence and giant brane collision.
All this suggests to me is that religion is essential to understanding the human condition.
Sade failed to consider the notion that an eternal God can afford to be VERY patient.
Well said. I imagine it would be very difficult for God to have empathy in a human sense. Jesus not only was sent to save us from our own poor decisions, but I think was also an attempt for him to relate to us in our own situation. At any rate, without that freedom of choice, we would not have been individuals. In a way, he is engaging in supervenient evolution. Plus the best way for us to grow, learn, and evolve is through trial. We often fall into misunderstanding by thinking of things from our own perspective. We forget, he is eternal, things seem much different from that perspective. Take the big bang for instance, we might see it as an explosion, he may see it more as the growth of a tree. What is time on an eternal scale? This world is a forge for spiritual growth. I believe within this forge he created a natural duality specifically to evolve superveniently.
What a fargin' maroon you must be, bumbu. I really hope you're joking.
I'd love to have a real discussion, but I don't think you are up for it. Keep canoeing.
Use a modern translation; it's not 1647.
A melody of thanksgiving.
100 Shout in triumph to Jehovah, all the earth.
2?Serve Jehovah with rejoicing.
Come into his presence with joyful shouting.
3?Know that Jehovah is God.
He is the one who made us, and we belong to him.
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
4?Come into his gates with thanksgiving,
Into his courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to him; praise his name.
5?For Jehovah is good;
His loyal love endures forever,
And his faithfulness through all generations.
The ESV is a modern translation. Point?
Put in words people use today so they can understand it. It's a butcher shop, not a shambles.
The crash, not with a bang but with a whimper of middle class desperation.
<Help! I've fallen and I can't get up out.>
The key is the rate of the bleed. Too quickly and cardiac arrest occurs in a few moments. However, a slow trickle is barely noticed and gives the body time to adjust to the new normal.
As long as you ignore the constant feeling of exhaustion and never look at your lab results, everything seems ok. Especially if all around you are experiencing the same.
Miffed
Sow death by financial leeches. Lovely!
That works, until you all of a sudden realize that you have to jump out of the way of the oncoming bus, and are too sluggish to do so.
But yes, I am doing better this thanksgiving. Last year, the turkey was roasted in the oven. This year, I'm doing it, and the oak fire is heating my bbq pit up nicely. The nice thing about birds in a smoker is that you can run the temperature very high, and they still come out fine.
Bullsh*t article. A turkey on sale for $1.29 a pound is one of the cheapest meats you can buy and cook at home. Every store puts the trimmings on sale to lure you in. For the amount of food it is a cheap alternative that will feed a family for several meals!
And if you cannot afford even that, then go get foodstamps ($10.50 an hour for a family would qualify) - or go help at a community Turkey dinner at one of many churches who prepare and share such a meal.
If you are poor, you will not be able to eat steak, ground beef, bacon, etc.
Unfortunately for me, mine cost a bit more than that. My two female turkeys made a stab at freedom and flew out of their enclosure. Our Mesa coyotes had a very merry thanksgiving indeed ( I took their barking and howling as a sign of gratitude though Mr felt it was more jeering in nature). The two males remaining found more interest in strutting around drumming and calling to the local wild turkeys than in eating so are now of a size not worth butchering.
So ends my foray into heritage breeds. Next year I will return to the massive Bronze turkey who loves his food and is flight challenged. Sadly, a fitting bird to represent our country now. Ben Franklin was a visionary in so many ways.
Miffed
I'm going to try New Zealand rabbits this year. How are turkeys? Had a desire to harbor some but never went through with it. Rabbits I feel are easy, beyond keeping the huskies from them.
I'm sure rabbits are more economical than turkeys. I was hoping to get more foraging from the heirloom turkeys, the bronze will graze a bit but won't wander far from the food trough. I raise them more for fun ( their funny antics are quite entertaining, they love to follow people around) and I give one away to a friend who has 4 children and has struggled to find work the past few years ( in exchange for help in the butchering). The other plus is not having to cook it to such a high temp to kill the unsavory microbes now found in our modern food supply. Sadly, a dry bird drenched in gravy to choke it down is what the average American experiences.
Miffed
I am cooking a 14lb heirloom today. Worth the extra cost, and agreed, it took me years to learn how to cook well, but the skill of knowing how to raise, butcher, and cook things correctly is indespensable.
Have a wonderful holiday!
DD
Miffed, brine your bird*. Even the cheap Smith's/Albertson's birds will come out more juicy. I also reccomend smoking them. You can run your smoker at 325 on poultry and it'll come out just fine. Bring the temp up to 165 or 170 on the birds and they'll be nice and juicy.
(*Here I am saying brine it I didn't brine mine this year, nor did I brine the last two chickens that I smoked, and they turned out juicy. But if you're worried about it, brine them. They come out good that way.)
Actually I do that every year. We use a good apple cider, herbs and orange peels. So tender and flavorful!!! My bird is sending out divinely aromas right now. Finished my cranberry sauce with Cointreau, Yukon mashed potatoes. Giblet stock is simmering. Roux for the gravy with Madeira is waiting. My daughter made her signature dark chocolate tart with candied ginger to go with my pumpkin pie. Soon we will share our lists of gratitudes while we enjoy our meal.
I wish you most hearty happy thanksgiving to you and all here that have given me so much over the years. Of this I am so thankful and truly grateful.
Miffed
Harrumph! I'm just sitting here watching the temperature gauge read 273f, waiting for it to go back down so that I can go out and add some more wood. I'll start cooking the other stuff later.
You have to "brine" the carcase before cooking it. Rub 1/4 cup Kosher salt and your favorite seasonings on the bird, inside and out. Then cover it and place in the fridge for 6 or more hours. Rinse the salt off and stuff the bird, then cook it.
Buy whole cuts of beef and whole chickens. Learn to cut meat, and get a meat grinder if you have to have ground meats. Making this stuff fresh tastes way better. Learn how to butcher your own poultry. Whole roasted birds taste amazing and you get the added benefit of being able to prepare your own chicken stock. Great for freezing. Save $$$. Buy from the throw out pile. My local grocer marks last day meat off 50%.
Hole Prime sirloins at costco are 4.49 a pound at my local costco, whole chuck 349. Two best investments made recently were a decent cabelas grinder and a quality food slicer. Family knows what goes in the ground beef, and can buy buck cheese etc, for about half the deli counter.
NoWayJose A turkey on sale for $1.29 a pound is one of the cheapest meats you can buy and cook at home.
----
Deer balls are always a cheap meat. They are always under a buck.
I didn't get my deer this year, but a buddy on the same hunt as me got his. I'll let you guess what the first thing to get sliced off was when it came time to field dress it.
Lmao, but seriously my local food lion has this special for $.59/lb of turkey must have minimum of 10 or 20lbs purchase, not sure which.
I am exponentially better than i was last year. Last year I was trying to get unemployment after being fired from my job and was unable to garner it due to incompetence of the .gov. Almost ended up out on the streets, had to take a $10/hr job and make due with bills and food.
What made it better? I worked my fucking ass off to get the job I wanted, I stood out in a crowd, I never gave up.
No the .gov did not make it better, no support helped me, it's all about understanding your surroundings and making the best choices. It's a fucked playing field and you need to be a shark in every situation. Fuck everyone else. No one has your back.
Just my thoughts.
What made it better? I worked my fucking ass off to get the job I wanted, I stood out in a crowd, I never gave up.
Every year I earn more money than the last. Secret to my success? Luck and having the right contacts (a subset of luck).
Working hard is the baseline- not the difference maker.
I make more now but I was better off 10 years ago.
im doing fantastic here in Costa Rica on low income. Hope some of you can join us down here. Shorts right now and everyday.Weather is perfect and no heating or Ac bills.
Best to all of you on Tday and hope things get better.
I'm doing better now that Krugman finally got Yellen to go up my FAFSA.
Not as bad as in Russia, however.
Has anyone driven through Lorain or any of the Northern Ohio parts? $10.50/hr. would probably put you in the upper echelon. The entire South Shore of Lake Erie is an armpit of burnt out industrial/trailer parks and rail road that is near meters from the shoreline.
I have no pity for a state that defiles it's most scenic/valuable real estate for an ensemble of mobile homes (I shit you not, trailers right on the beach) and through industrial transit on the coastline. It’s no wonder why the Cuyahoga caught on fire, with the lack of forethought presented by modern day oHIo.
With that off my chest, Northern oHIo is a great place for some Sec. 8 income. You can pick up a house for about $8K in Lorain and with a little repair, rent it for a guaranteed $850/mo. Pick the low hanging fruit, you paid into it…
Certain regions of northeast Ohio still reside in 1970. That's to be understood since major industry lured workers from across the nation (and beyond) for labor that was very much needed. Now, as the dust has settled, major change is taking place at a snail's pace. What can you do? What can anyone do? Nothing is the only true answer.
Lorain County is dominated by old-school, backwards-leaning, low intelligence DEMOCRATS. Need I state more? These "citizens" are the same fools with Union bumper stickers on their GM truck that shop only one place: WAL MART.
STEEL was more important than beaches. The industry is gone now though. Nevertheless, that steel is scattered across this nation. It's in every bridge, building, manhole cover, etc. It was good steel. It created pretty good middle class wealth.
Greater Cleveland was once home to some great industry. They are now gone but it's still a decent place to be. Not many natural disasters. Plenty of fresh water.
The Cuyahoga River burning joke is kind of dated. Find something new because it was happening everywhere. We are rather proud of our boy mayor bankrupting the city though. (joke)
Anyway, your points are valid. The future may hold these regions of the "rust belt" and "snow belt" in higher stature though. Still plenty of hard workers.
Even the rioters are too smart to burn down their own city.
I'm doing splendidly. I'm still slowly digesting the first turkey to wander into my maw from the 1600s; let me tell you, the older vintages are superior to the GMO/hormonally altered varieties.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Death to the animals!
Better off financially, well how about a push. We are however at Defcon 1 for what sure looks like is comming. Job looks real shakey going into 2015, and the US engineering industry for power and industrial is largely dead. If its not an absoluete necessity its not getting bought. Gonna be a lean Christmas for the kids...
Never deal with population statistics in nominal values. Food stamp usage will always be hitting new all-time highs because of population growth. You have to look at %s to get a true depiction. Now, are food stamp and food bank dependence at their highest, %-wise?
Well, actually yes using percentage values.
However, I have not been able to find several sources that state the same figure. For example.
20% record
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/record-20-households-food-stam...
or 42-58% record
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/dec/11/barbara-l...
$3,600 of monthly expenses
I'd love to see that list. Meghan getting a full time job isn't going to help them manage their finances.
This is what I'm curious about as well. Even here in Australia I don't know of too many people, who manage their money correctly and spend within their means, who spend that much a month. Those that do spend that much (and more) a month are people who have $600K mortgages, leave heating and aircon on 24/7, purchase new items to store in their newly build "nook" every pay cheque, and get reminder notices that they're behind on their insurance or utilities bills.
I am better off than I was last Thanksgiving, but that is because of my own actions. I've reduced my monthly expenses, and have been buying silver with what I've saved, as it's not worth it to keep it in a savings account.
Well, last Thanksgiving I was warning of the impending doom coming in the Stock Market......and now, this year, I am the laughing stock of Thanksgiving Family Funday. Now that the booze is kicking in, the Stacking Jokes are flying with more freuency. Sucks to be me.
It has just been discovered that our turkey was pregnant. A certain female that I know managed to leave the turkey neck in the bird. Now the bird is not done and everything else is getting cold. I have prepared many thanksgiving meals myself for family in the past. I am really getting angry with that woman. Nothing like the holiday season to brng out the best of character in everyone. Not only that, once she fished out the neck she throw it in the garbage. That pissed me off because you can make soup from this along with the bones.
I hope that you all are having a good go today. I thank all of you for what you guys do. I have fight club going here and by far this the one I don't want to hurt. It all started over a good job offer I got and that we might have to move. I would have thought that this was a good thing. No, I guess it isn't.
So no, it is being a not being a good Thanksgiving so far. It's so bad though because that is what a microwave is for and there will plenty of leftovers. Right now, I really don't even care to sit down with her. I will do so for the children.
Ok, I am virtually putting my hand on your shoulder and gently stroking your arm. This always calms mr after he has put his fist through a wall or beaten a garbage can with a baseball bat over many frustrations. I do it until I feel the muscle relax and the jaw unclenches. No words, just empathy. He looks into my blue eyes and smiles.
Strangely enough the turkey I purchased due to the forementioned disaster had two necks and two hearts. They are simmering on the stove making a flavorful stock for my gravy. Had you had been a neighbor, I would have gladly given you one of mine.
I hope you have a wonderful dinner.
Miffed
Miffed Microbio... Ok, I am virtually putting my hand on your shoulder and gently stroking your arm.
---
That isn't his arm. Not with that expression on his face
Well, I must say I try to avoid such a region directly after such a burst of testosterone rage but in my experience such an experience coupled with a certain other makes for a deep relaxing sleep for a man. ;-)
Miffed;-)
It's all good Miffed. Everything turned out to be just fine after all. I just ate a second helping. Things sometimes get a little chaotic when you are making that much food and trying to coordinate with each other in amongst the children running around.
I hope you had a wonderful dinner too.
Of that I am truly happy! Having a 21 and a 24 year old has certainly made for a calmer thanksgiving but we do have such crazy memories. Like the one when Mr insisted our meal be completely raised ourselves to have an " authentic" thanksgiving. We raised pumpkins and a turkey ( took some liberty with a few of the side dishes) and the kids helped with everything including the slaughter ( I was concerned they were too young for this but mr wanted them to appreciate where food came from). There were some quivering of lips when we carved. "Mommy, Hank was a good turkey. I know he went to Heaven." Then we watched Christmas Story and Scrooge with Alastair Sim.
Those were happier and simpler times. Good memories.
Have a wonderful holiday and thanks for those posts to boattrash. You are a good man.
Miffed;-)
...and yet all the broke masses will head out in a short bit to max out their credit cards to buy depreciating electronics so that they can try to pretend they're not poor, until the credit card bill arrives.
Many references in this piece to "Americans", plus examples of how "poor" they are.
Are these "poor Americans" the homegrown variety
or
the 60+ million, 8 congressional amnesties, imported low-intelligence uneducated unskilled hyper-breeding latin peasant variety ???
Since the question was asked, i will answer, in a way.
Last year, I had Thanksgiving dinner with my sister, her husband and their relatives. It was OK.
This year, I spent the day discarding much of the trash left by my deceased father in his basement workspace (he passed in 2009). I've spent five years fighting with banks over this place, and have lived in it, but, when we got a "cash for keys" offer from said bank to move out, I thought now would be a good time (I found a new place in the country), but my sister goes and hires a lawyer, tries to get my brother to go along with her, and that lawyer has put the negotiations at a standstill.
What bothers me is that both brother and sister flatly refused to help in any way to keep the family home, wouldn't pay for a lawyer, wouldn't help in any manner. And, my sister said she wanted nothing to do with the house (she already took the silverware, jewelry, best furniture and other things of value). So, why does she hire a lawyer? Ostensibly, to protect her interests against those of the big, bad bank (I have them by the short hairs, mind you, and I'm the executor).
So, not having spoken to my sister for three weeks, I decided to basically skip Thanksgiving (and Christmas, and my Dec. 4 birthday) this year and focus on getting my ass out of here.
Financially, I'm better off. Emotionally, pissed off. But, I have a clear conscience and just purchased 50 oz of silver on Tuesday, due to arrive Saturday. And, within 3-4 weeks, I'll be settled into my new rural digs.
I am thankful that at nearly 61 years of age, I still learn new things almost every day and still have the energy of a person half my age (though I can't jump as high) most of the time.
In a weird, twisted kind of way, I'm glad my sister showed her true colors. The greedy bitch and her husband literally make ten times what I do, and yet, they'll try to screw me out of my share of the settlement, for which I did ALL of the work. All the money in the world cannot buy the satisfaction of discovering - in real time - that what you've thought all along about somebody was true. That they are deceitful, dishonest, disingenuous.
I am thankful for discovering the truth, no matter that it took most of my life.
I am trying not to be bitter, but justified in any future actions I may take.
Happy Holidays to all, and thanks for letting me vent.
I feel pity for you - I've seen the same thing happen within families time and time again. There's a guy I work with going through the same thing (his Fathers sister has been stalling the full execution of the will for 18 months now). It's such a shitty event to have to go through, but it does show the true colours of family members.
Be glad you didn't have an older sister that was never married( lived at home with parents until their death at 93 years old. And after spending roughly half of my life over the past 15 years helping take care of them at home. I then find out at their death that she had the entire family farm and all of their assets in her name via a Trust made up by a lawyer she knows. Watching an evil wench divide a family and seperate a sibling and grandchildren from them through deceit, lies, and jealousy. So now she has it all.....the farm, house, oil royalties, probably in excess of 6 million dollars....and lives alone, no friends, (except those who befriend for monetary gain). I'm sure she enjoyed Thanksgiving alone with 4 cats and a house that looks like something out of Hoarders, surrounded by all of her valuable stuff. Karma is a bitch. Reaping what you sow. Today, I am enjoying the Day surrounded by my daughers and their families and 3 beautiful grandchildren. That, is being truly something to be thankful for.
I have heard this same story from someone else. You are far richer then she will ever be and purer of heart. For her, the vultures will circle as they always eventually do.
My father had his company stolen from him by some business associates. It was his life, vision and creation. They were not satisfied with sharing but wanted it all. It is now a multibillion dollar business and they are all very rich. He died a few years later a very broken man. I learned from him not to become attached to things for wherever your treasure is, there is your heart. You seem to have discover this as well. Peace to you.
Miffed
my thanksgiving was working overtime and eating left over homemade bean soup at work, but I'm thankful.
I hate to point this out, but we are one year older. To steal from Braveheart: "you're fucked".
We are better off this year than last, because we were made aware that Tofurky is FauxTurkey, backwards. It still tastes lousy, just as it has for 19 years now, but it is more entertaining.
There are millions of people in the US that are simply unemployable for various reasons.
My father chatted for a couple of hours today at a Thanksgiving get-together (it was the extended family of some friends of him and my mom) with was a guy about 26. He is not stupid, but he did not go to college. He lives with his grandparents who raised him and his brother (their parents were worthless). He works part-time washing dishes, and earns very little; he doesn't get a lot of hours. He is not lazy, but he is not ambitious. He likes music and goes to hear local bands, but can't do much more due to lack of income. He has little interest in "current events," and doesn't seem to resent or feel angry at anyone.
My dad and I agreed that this kid is part of a very big group: the people who are living directly or indirectly on accumulated capital of former generations. In his case, he is living on his grandparents' - they own a very nice house and there is a pension. But his parents' generation does not have those nice things. And his generation has nothing. What will happen when his grandparents move to the great beyond? Things are fine now: he loves them and they love him, and he's a nice kid, but they can't support him from the next life. Even if he inherits something, the odds are against that working out long-term.
There is so much of this: people who are relying for housing and other necessities, on people who earned in the last generation (or the one before that). When that goes, what then? This really worries me. Whole areas that are still appearing to be upper middle class, are going to decay.
We are working hard to pass two properties to our son and encouraging him to keep them up when he comes of age, one for rental income, one for living, rather than buy a new house and go into debt to a bankster. Really, it may be his only chance to stay on our level, or maybe move ahead. Families will have to start supporting each other and try to stay out of debt. Screw the banksters!
We are doing much better, but no thanks to the government. We simply turned a liability into an asset by renting our nice house out and buying a smaller fixer upper outright during the downturn. We are very grateful and know we are also very lucky. Fuck the banksters!