I’ve not been blogging because I have been busy! I have been meeting with three people from DMH so far, meeting with my representative and emailing my state senator, and keeping my hands to the ground about what’s going on in Jefferson City. Now that it’s the weekend, I am wiped out. Unfortunately, I have no car so I won’t be able to show my face in the Capitol on Monday and I wasn’t able to go on last Wednesday either, when a strong deaf presence would have made an impact. I am also upset with my fellow deaf in this area for lying to me.
The investigator of my case has informed me that I am the only one with an active open case against Burrell Behavioral Center. This means all those other deaf people are all big talk, no bite. They complain and grumble about the injustice served to them from Burrell, yet they have not taken any action to change that. I am mad at them. They should be standing WITH me, not behind me. I am not going to name names, but you know who you are! How dare you tell me and others about the rotten things Burrell did to you and how they screwed your family all to hell, but you did NOTHING about it. So does that mean you are glad to bend over and take it up the butt from them and just moaning about it? Jeff prail is right. YOU BROUGHT THIS ON YOURSELVES. Stop whining, you reap what you sow.
I don’t play like that. When I get screwed over, I turn around and grab them by their balls and bite them right in the ass where it hurts the most. I take action and proactive action at that. IT is not that hard to take action. All three of the interviewers from DMH are very nice people. The state needs to know your stories in order to be able to do something about it. It may be easier to just talk among yourselves, but your fellow deafies has no power to change anything. When you keep your story to only among the deaf and the signers, it becomes only mere gossip- a cheap five minute entertainment. But YOU have the power to use your story to bring the service for the deaf that you so desperately want to your area. Here’s how. Contact DMH and file a complaint. That’s it.
All I did was email DMH. I didn’t have to go through the whole red tape paperwork thing that you all seem to think it involves, that is their job. The reason it takes so long is because of procedure. They have to give each person involved six weeks to go over the case and turn it over to the next one. Right now, my case is now at active status and on Wednesday, it is being sent to the big guy of DMH to look over before sending to Burrell. Burrell is required to respond, but they have six weeks to form a response. That means by approximately February 1st, I will know what Burrell has to say about how they treated me. Not all the other deaf, but just me. And what they can do about it. That’s it. An email, a few meetings, and then time.
What’s stopping you? Do you want your story to be the cheap dirt of town or the catalyst of change? Which? I can’t tell you what you should do, but you can decide how you feel about your story.
No car? Neither do I- I take the bus. No time. So how would you have time to talk to a counselor anyway? Nobody will listen? Contact me, Jeff prail, or Barry Critchfield and we will point you to the right people to talk to.
That’s not the only thing that’s been keeping me busy. I gave myself a deadline of New Year’s Day to be finished with my full synopsis so I’ve been typing away whenever I can shake off the little rugrats for a few minutes. I have also been busy decluttering and listing things for sale to make a few dollars here and there and I’ve been shopping online for tiny clothes for my brand new grandniece!
Yes! My nephew and his girlfriend had their baby a little bit too early- Her name is so cute, but I’m not sharing it on the Internet. I’ll therefore hereby christen this tiny girl the internet alias of “Ruby Robin” which is inspired by the famous musician she is named after. Little Ruby Robin was born on December 3rd and she was 16 inches long and just hitting 3 pounds with losing and gaining ounces throughout the week. She is doing very well for being a micropreemie and is now taking a bottle. Her mother had preecclampsia and then the placental abruption so they had to hurry and do a C-section to save both mama and baby. My nephew is taking it all in stride and getting a taste of what he put his own mother through with his birth. His birth and little Ruby Robin’s birth are so similar it’s eerie to my sister-in-law, my husband, and everyone else who was around for his birth. They had to dress him in doll clothes so I’ve taken it on as a challenge to see to it that they don’t have to do that with her! I’ve been scouring the internet for clothes and butt covers for a baby this small. Let me tell you, it was NOT EASY! But I found several adorable outfits and they’re being shipped as I type. I don’t know if my nephew reads this blog, but if he does, oh well, surprise! Merry Christmas! Congratulations on being a brand new young daddy! I know he will be a wonderful father. I’ve seen him with my children. He is so good with children and that surprises others who have seen him. They judge by appearances and think of him and his friends as a group of punks to steer clear of. Half his friends have kids and are great with them.
I still have not seen Ruby Robin, but I won’t go see her until I am specifically invited to see her. I don’t want to intrude on their privacy at this delicate time of getting to know their new daughter. This must be so difficult for them. This was a surprise pregnancy and I was thrilled my daughter would have a cousin just a year younger than her. Now with how early she came, they are months apart in age. I wonder if Snicklebritches and Ruby Robin will fight all the time or be those two tight pair of cousins that always want to sleepover at the other houses. We’ll see. She will have several other cousins and we rarely see our nephew because we simply run in different circles and different communities, getting together for holidays and special events. It’s a shame we don’t see our family more often, but we all have our lives to live.
The last thing I have been busy with is trying to figure out how to adjust to life without a car. I am now having my groceries delivered, I send my husband to the library on the city bus, and I can cash my check at the supermarket a block away. I’m down to the dilemma of the post office and getting my children to their appointments without breaking the bank. We had to cancel the rent-a-car and reschedule the appointment because we were unaware of the new rule that we had to leave a deposit plus the rental fee. We were renting a car for $80 a day. Ouch! But do-able. Then they shocked us with asking about the deposit of $350. Uhhh, we can’t do that, I don’t have $500 sitting around. Even though when I brought the car back in one piece, I would be given the $350 back, I didn’t have that on hand. Now that we know about the rule for renting a car, we will plan better for our next trip to Wigglebutt’s neurologist.
Any tips for getting a better deal on a rental car?
And if you are in Missouri and deaf- I mean it! Write DMH!
