3% Minus 7% Equals Negative Cost of Living Adjustment

One more related item and it's not good, either. My dad's share of cost for Medi-Cal went up after the recent "re-determination" (why don't they just say review?). It is now 90% of his gross income. Let me repeat that because it seems so ridiculously wrong: My dad's Medi-Cal share of cost is ninety percent of his income! My parents, who along with millions of other retired Americans receive Social Security, got a cost-of-living raise of less than 3%. This caused their shares of cost for Medi-Cal, based on income level, to increase 7%! As ridiculous as that probably sounds, something tells me my parents have it easy compared to some people out there. How can this unfairness be allowed? It's insanity.

IHSS Derails Celebration Again

I finally received backpay that IHSS has owed me since last April. That was a big relief. The process required new timesheets for the months affected. But there was a hitch; payroll mailed timesheets for me to fill out and mail back, but the one for April was missing. I had to call and request it twice and it took 2 weeks to finally get it in the mail (postal delivery time is usually 1 or 2 days). The good news I alluded to in my last post is that I was also given an extra 10 hours of pay for some of the other months last year. But my celebration was cut short.

When my paychecks arrived I found a rather large error to my detriment. Once again, IHSS over withheld the share of cost from my wages by $800!! I was fuming. I only just got reimbursed last month for a similar screw-up that happened 10 months ago, and now they've done it again! I phoned payroll immediately and was told they'd inform the social worker and get back to me. Days later I hadn't heard from anyone so I called again. This time they said it would take "a little bit of time". The social worker was not in the office, so I left a message and still haven't got a callback. I seriously hope they're not gonna make me wait 9 months for reimbursement again. This is beyond unbelievable!

It's a good thing I was cautiously optimistic. Experience with this agency taught me to be wary of errors and delays, so I put off some of my plans (like paying down my student loan), and had saved up just in case. I'm very lucky to have done this 'cause it could have been a financial disaster otherwise. Once again, my plans have to wait.

I'm beginning to think maybe this is just how things go when you're dealing with government agencies. I gotta wonder though, how much damage is done to other IHSS recipients and their families who don't have the capacity to fight for a correction or even know they've been cheated. Something more has got to be done to protect people from ongoing abuse for which there are currently no consequences.

Partial Vindication Afoot?

My Medi-Cal/IHSS battle has been brutal. it has been a road of sharp rocks and deep mud, thorns and rotting carcasses, and I have traveled it almost entirely alone since literally no person or advocate I have contacted has actually done anything to help, save for a couple. It added pressure and stress to an already overwhelming responsiblity to my parents, obliterated important financial and career goals, and it's been hell.

But there is something of possible good that may be starting to emerge from the stench of it all. If I am correct there will be a (small) degree of vindication, or relief greater than what the original "best case" outcome was expected to be. It won't make up for the abuse I've been subjected to, but it's a little extra which helps. I'll take it! And this will be in addition to the deal mentioned in my previous post.

I don't mean to be cryptic about it, I just don't want to celebrate prematurely. Nothing is yet confirmed. I received some new information in the post today that could be great if it goes through as it appears. I've been wrong before, since the government tends to work in senseless, illogical ways sometimes, so I'm just "cautiously optimistic" about it. It's nothing "huge" but then, coming out of this at all positive is huge.

Then maybe this can be the start of getting on with things and it won't be so long that I can return to animating!

Stay tuned.

I'm 1 and 9

1 out of 9 is mostly good news. If you've read past posts you may know I have been struggling with some seriously troublesome bureaucracy that has to do with services my parents receive from the state and county; earned wages the county refuses to pay, entitlements arbitrarily denied and other stuff that I've been trying to fix for more than a year.

When there are problems with these things, the law allows the recipient to request a "fair hearing" within 90 days to try to resolve the problems before an administrative judge. As my parents' representative I had requested hearings last August for 2 of the issues and never got a response. I even re-requested one of them, but it seems all my requests were ignored, misdirected or lost until well after the 90-day limit had expired. Seems like just more bs to me. At stake were more than 500 hours of earned wages from last year which IHSS has refused to pay, citing various ambiguous "regulations".

Months later I finally got a hearing scheduled. Then a few days prior to the hearing I got a call from a representative of the county (which runs IHSS) to propose what basically amounts to a settlement in lieu of proceeding with the hearing. I was offered about 85% of the unpaid wages I was requesting. Though I believe I have a solid case, there's no way of telling how the judge would have ruled, but the county's offer was guaranteed. I've not had good luck with these things before so rather than risk losing it all I had to accept the offer of 85%.

Settling does leave one of the issues uncorrected, which could negatively affect me (and other caregivers) in the future. And even though 85% is a lot better than zero, I still feel I've been cheated out of wages I've earned through blood, sweat and tears. And I've still got about 7 other problems to try to get fixed before it's all over. The upside is that the money will be put to good use and will help with some of my short term goals. 1 for 9 is much better than 0 for 9.

No WONDER!

Now I know why stuff has been so screwy in the past year! From now on it's all gonna be great! All thanks to this best-selling DVD/book! According to The Secret, all the crap I've been going through is because I've been thinking about crap! It all makes perfect sense! All I have to do is stop thinking of all that poo and start thinking of, I dunno, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and sunshine and going on holiday! Oh, plus world peace. Then my mental rays (or something) will "vibe" out into the universe like specially tuned magnets and very soon I will be enjoying peanut butter cup heaven. Or maybe I'll receive an advertisement with the newspaper that has a picture of like Hawaii on it!

Ridiculing a DVD I have not watched aside, I did think about sunshine one time and the next day the sun was out, so I can't say it doesn't work.

Might the reason I'm often thinking of/stressing over/scrambling to fix a bunch of BSes be that's what I've been experiencing? Maybe if I can get that stuff to go away I'll have room in my melon to focus intently on tranquility, bliss and my dream animation career that got t-boned at the intersection of Broke Street and Family Obligations Way.

Lotto

I admit to playing lotto occasionally, despite ridiculously bad odds. Everyone always points out you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning a lotto jackpot. True, but most people don't actively seek out lightning. Besides, the ping-pong balls don't know the odds.

Read The Fine Print

I've never been great at asking for things, sometimes I don't know what to ask for. That is not the case when a company has tried to rip me off and I want a correction.

I've been a T-Mobile customer for as long as I've had a cell phone. Last summer I upgraded my phone, which seemed to be defective. The phone was still under warranty (less than 2 months old) and I called to arrange for a replacement, which had to be mailed to me. The person on the phone said they will charge me $9.95 to ship the phone. I griped. Later I read the details of the warranty which specifically state T-Mobile will not charge for shipping for replacement parts or phones. I called back and was put on 2-6 minute hold at least three times (!!) during the call. The customer service agent tried every angle to weasel out of what the warranty clearly said. Frustrated and insulted, I ended the call. When the bill arrived they added an extra 78-cents to the $9.95 for "tax"!! Later I wrote a dispute letter and included a photocopy of the warranty with the related text hi-lighted. The next bill showed a credit, but annoyingly, only for $9.95; they did not credit the tax.

I know this is a long boring story but the point is I read the fine print, then asked for them to remove the shipping charge and they did. I had to send a letter, but it worked. Most of the time when I phone in to ask for something like this it's handled right there on the phone. Sometimes it pays to ask for what you want. It would be great if the county and state were so cooperative.

Mantra at 2 AM

At this point in my dad's illness, I am pretty much awake 24-hours a day. I have to remember a certain mantra not only at 2:00 am but also 3:00, 4:00, 6:00 am, and any other moment day or night: People with Alzheimer's sometimes have no control over their behavior. Trying to reason with them is futile.

My mom has been living in a care home for nine months now. I think I am still not over the trauma of making that choice (actually, there was no other choice), and though her mood finally seemed to improve in the past 3 months she is still very unhappy there and wants to come home. It's heartbreaking over and over again when I have to leave her there when I visit. At least she's feeling a bit better overall now.

The time will soon arrive for my dad to move there as well, in fact, it kinda already has. But thanks to the BS with Medi-Cal and IHSS, I'm in a conundrum. My dad needs to go into long-term care, but my income and health benefits come from taking care of him at home. Not only will I lose my job, in that situation all of my dad's current income will go to the care home. I do have a plan for all that, and through careful budgeting I am surviving okay on the partial* wages I get through IHSS. However, the fiasco I'm having with IHSS has forced me to more than double the time it will take to reach certain goals. If it worked the way it's supposed to I could go forward with my plan now. Not all is lost, I'll get there it will just take much longer.

*I am paid for about 4 hours out of the 12-20 I am "on the job" each day...I'm not kidding.

These Kind of Thoughts

I was just pondering some nonsense recently.

Shouldn't octopus' legs be called octacles instead of tentacles since there's eight of them? And how do we know they're legs and not arms, anyway?

Would a ten-legged octopus be called a tentopus?

These are the kinds of thoughts you get in the wee hours of the morning with little sleep.

That's More Like It!

The tv commercial I worked on in May has been on air for a while so now I can finally post the red bag animation I did for SureWest! The most fun part of this freelance job was animating the floppy handles. I think I got them a bit too "rubber bandy" in spots, but that's okay. Client liked it. I was so excited because this was my first ever freelance character job. Woo! I'm only showing what I worked on here, which was used for the intro and outro of the spot. It's not perfect, so let me know your notes for the next time I do a paper sack!

I totally lucked out with the bike. It was a big bummer the mountain bike I wanted was out of stock, but I convinced the guy at the bike shop to give me the same deal on a better one, with components that are quite a few steps higher than my original choice. I'm still recovering from my crash, so I can't ride for reals yet, but I did get on (with helmet) and spin around the court in front of my house. I noticed the pain in my right wrist after only a few minutes with my weight on the handlebars, so it will be a while before I can go for a serious ride (plus I have to work up to it). I have never owned a "real" bike before, so this is a serious upgrade, and will probably last years (if dogs stay out from under my wheels!). After the let down with the other bike this is more like it!

Same Luck

Got a postcard saying the bike I ordered is not happening. Same luck as everything else, I suppose. I keep trying though. I haven't found another one in my price range. Maybe the sign says Don't get a bike. We'll see.

I'm officially not going to return right away to AnimationMentor to re-take Class 6. Nothing has improved in the past month and there's just not a way for me to focus on that right now. It will be lucky if I can get some things ironed out enough to return for the Winter session in January. Meanwhile, it would be great to get some practice in, but my mouse/pen hand is still killin'. It's getting better but seems to have hit a plateau. Should be alright soon, though.

LED Toys

For some reason I am crazy about LED stuff. Don't know why. Blinky lights. LEDs use very little power, almost zero heat, and last an eternity compared to incandescent bulbs. Many cities have switched the lights in traffic signal fixtures to LEDs. Eventually LEDs may replace most of the lighting in our homes.

Some LED novelties are kinda dumb. I found this "lighted Pen Fan" on clearance the other day. I think it's silly to combine a fan and pen, but I got this thing because I've been using LEDs with my Nikon to make "art". I figured the LEDs on the fan might look cool for that.

Here's one of my older LED pix.

And here's one with the new Fan/Pen.

Holding Pattern

Workers in Sacramento County have been on strike for the past week, so I was really relieved I got my paycheck last week. I had wondered if IHSS staff were also striking. With no response from any of the people I've called or written about my IHSS mess, I phoned my case worker's supervisor yesterday. On her voicemail greeting she said, "I will be out of the office on strike...until we have a contract." Nice. Plus convenient.

I wish I could go on strike whenever my employer subjects me to BS. But can you imagine what would happen if caregivers went on stike? A lot of elderly and disabled people would go hungry, get sick, or hurt. Some of them would die. Most caregivers, however, are taking care of family members, and I doubt any would leave the person they take care of. The state and county know this, and it's one of their pocket aces that allows them to get away with crap. I/we fully have reasons to strike, but it's just not an option.

So instead of getting results I just have to wait around until the county workers' contract is settled, extending even further the already long, drawn-out ordeal of getting IHSS to pay wages they owe me back to April. It's been about 5 months, what's another 3 weeks?

A Little "Yay!" Helps A Lot

In the middle of all this crazy stuff going on, I got a nice surprise last week! Local AnimationMentor AMigos Konrad and Justin stopped by with some goodies from them and other buddies at school! Konrad made a nice card and every-buddy signed wishing me a speedy recovery from my bike smash. Just the day before I got an surprise box delivered to my door. It was from Alison, and inside a really nice book with amazing illustrations by Shaun Tan. Since then I've been getting email from other classmates wishing me well as they hear about my mishap, also cool, since I'm not on campus anymore (waa). Thanks everyone, it felt great to have a bit of "yay!"

Saturday I finally got my first "full" paycheck from IHSS, which was for work in August. The July one was screwed up and they only paid me half, and April through June I didn't get any pay at all! Grr. At least the August check was right. As if that wasn't enough, I finally got the final payment for a freelance job I did in May! Yay! I almost felt like I won the lottery or something. Okay, it wasn't nearly like that, but it was a good week, anyway.

The bike I wiped out on wasn't damaged in the crash, but it's not a very good bike. I've been planning for some time to upgrade and for a while I was very interested in these chainless bikes. Trouble is, practically nobody has ever heard of them and guys at nearly all the bike shops I went to seemed to hate the idea of a bike with no chain, less maintenance, no grease, and smoother shifting. You would think it's cuz they make their living fixing standard chain-driven bikes...oh wait, they do. Hmm. Well, since I couldn't dig up enough key info, not to mention my own concerns about the bikes, I decided to order a regular mountain bike from IronHorse. I didn't go crazy with one of their pricier bikes, but the bike I'm getting has fairly decent components and it's going to be a gigantic step up in quality from my department-store bike. By the time the shop gets the bike in and built (about 2 weeks) I should be healed enough to start riding again.

First Hand

I've never been this badly injured. Even doing bike stunts as a kid I was careful...-ish. I always saw friends or relatives slam into the pavement or fall out of a tree and break a, uh...limb (I know, puns hurt) and I didn't like how it sorta cancelled playtime. Not to mention the sudden, overwhelming sensation of ow. I fell off my bike a lot, and skateboard too, but the worst I ever got was a chipped tooth. Shamefully, I can't even boast this bash was the result of catching some air or blazing down challenging terrain. I wasn't doing a cool trick or anything, just running over a dog (which was unhurt).

Having limited use of both hands has sorta given me a direct--you could say first hand (hahaha)--experience of what people with permenant disabilities or arthritis (like my parents) go through all the time. Just doing normal things has been a big challenge. I've been trying to be careful because of the pain, but the other day I re-ouched my right wrist. It was beginning to feel a bit better but I put a little too much pressure on it one time, and OWW! Then I did it again last night, when I turned and bumped a table with the Sharpie I was holding. I've gone back to my rx pain reliever, but taking much less than the original dose, and it is working better giving some relief without side effects. Still takin' it easy, trying to be careful but healing seems on track.

The Sign Says Stop

The handlebars on my cheap Target bike are sideways after a nasty wipeout I had while on a leisurely ride last Sunday. I was on my way home pondering which shot of my AM short film to work on when a dog suddenly jumped out under my wheel right as I was passing a parked car. With no chance to react I flew over the handlebars and landed in a bad way. I severely sprained both hands, scraped my palms, knuckles, right arm, right shoulder, and banged my head. Luckily my head was the last thing to hit the ground so it was just a light bump. I don't wear a helmet when I'm riding so slow on flat residential streets. Now that I know this can happen, I will. Less luckily, I somehow cracked a rib. Sitting upright with one leg stretched out and the other tucked, I collected my thoughts. After a few minutes I decided I was okay to walk my home. Later, a friend drove me to ER.

Typing hurts, but it's tolerable depending on the keys. My hand, though, is gonna be "unmouseable" for a while. I can do a few clicks at a time but anything more ain't happenin'. My right hand is the worst, but both hands are screwy; I am having a hard time doing simple things like opening doors, windows, and taking lids off meds!

So this pretty much is the final hit to my struggle to stay with the program at Animation Mentor. I'll be out of commish for at least a week, and there's no chance at this point. I've made arrangements with the school to take a leave of absence and return later, though I'm not sure when I can retake Class 6. Even when my injuries heal the other things that got me behind in the first place are not gonna be all tidily wrapped up within the next few weeks. You gotta wonder if this is one of those signs from the universe or Jesus or something, like I shouldn't be trying to start an animation career right now; I've already had to put it off for years, but maybe now's not good either. Who knows? If so, the message is clear: I want to go but the sign says stop. At least for the moment.

No Good Deed

Everyone hates taxes. But how much more suck would it be if you were taxed on double the wages you actually get paid?

That's exactly what my situation was for my 2005 taxes and this year will likely be the same unless I can find a way to do something about it! Tax experts I've talked to about it can't give me a solution (even one with 20 years of experience with the IRS!!). I'm sure other caregivers are in a similar predicament, as well. All because of a nasty little piece of crap called "share of cost". It's sort of like a deductible for Medi-Cal and other services elderly and disabled people (like my parents) qualify for. The job of taking care of a family member (or two in my case) is extremely difficult, even without a bunch of government bs. All I'm trying to do is make my parents' lives better, but I get hit will problems left and right thanks to bs like this.

The tax thing is just one of about a half-dozen headaches the government has stuck me with. To illustrate the lunacy of this situation I made up the following interview. While fictional, it's based on a true story...

Interviewer: So, you are a care provider through the IHSS program in Sacramento.
Provider: Yes, uhuh.
I: So IHSS pays you on behalf of the person you take care of because they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford the care they need, is that right?
P: Yes. IHSS refers to that person as the recipient.
I: If a recipient's income is even $1 over a certain amount, they immediately have a large "share of cost". This is the amount the State of California requires them to pay before the State covers any of the cost, correct?
P: yes.
I. Does your recipient have a share of cost (soc)?
P:Yes.
I: How much is the soc?
P: $749
I: Can the recipient afford to pay the soc?
P: no. It's equal to about 50% her social security. If she actually paid me she would not be left with enough to live off of.
I: So you're not getting all the pay that you've actually earned?
P: no.
I: Really? But you still take care of her anyway. Why would you do that?
P: The recipient is my mother. If I didn't do it, she'd be alone, and she's unable to properly care for her self.
I: So she can't live on her own?
P: No, not safely. She's disabled and with her age it's easy for her to forget her medicine. Or fall.
I: So you work the hours, and only get part of the wages you earn.
P: Yes.
I: Are taxes deducted from your check every month?
P: Yes. Federal and State, plus deductions for Medicare, disability insurance, health benefits and union dues.
I: And the deductions are based on your entire gross wages?
P: Yes.
I: including the $749 you don't actually receive?
P: Yes.
I: Wow. And what does IHSS say about that?
P: Nothing. They say they have to go by policy and government regulations.
I: Sure seems unfair to you.
P: yes it is.
I: you mentioned union dues. What is your union's reaction to this?
P: Well my union is United Healthcare Workers (UHW). They've never been any assistance to me at all with any problems I've had.
I: Really?
P: No. They always start going on and on about all the great things they have already done for me and other members, but when it comes to my individual issue, they're not interested.
I: Wow. How far have you pursued this?
P: Not far. I've already spent a lot of hours on the phone, on hold, getting the runaround with IHSS and the union. I'm a caregiver for my mom plus I have a part-time job to make up the $750 I don't get from IHSS. I don't have time or the energy to spend being sent in circles.
I: So what happens come tax time? What happens on your income tax retrun?
P: The $749 per month that I never see translates to $8,988 per year and is included in my gross wages listed on my W2. I have to claim that as income even though I don't get it.
I: And IHSS doesn't offer any help with that?
P: No. And they have a rule that if the recipient doesn't pay the share of cost they will be taken off IHSS altogether. Whether or not they can't afford to pay it is irrelevant to IHSS.
I: So, it's a program to help people who need care and can't afford to pay for it on their own, but if they can't afford to pay their soc they don't get any assistance at all?
P: No. None.
I: Freak! That's ridiculous. That's kinda like telling your 5 year old child you're going to take her to Disneyland, but she has to pay for half. What? nothing in the piggy bank? Well, she can't go at all then.
P: Yeah, I guess it is. It's exactly like that. And pretty much just as senseless and unfair.
I: So what do you do then?
P: What can I do? I just work hard, get only about half of what I earn, pay taxes on almost double what I'm actually paid, and try to help my mom have a safer, more comfortable life at home.
I: What would happen if you weren't able to take care of your mom?
P: Well, since my dad is no longer living, and my other relatives don't help out, I think my mom would have to live in a nursing home.
I: That would be expensive. Can she afford to do that?
P: Well, she is on Medi-Cal. She will still have a high share of cost but Medi-Cal would cover the difference.
I: Do you know how much that would be, total for her to live in a nursing home?
P: What I've learned is that the average cost for a disabled patient to stay in a nursing home is more than $60,000 a year.
I: That's a lot. And how much would the state be paying for you to take care of your mom in her own home, if they also paid the share of cost?
P: About $1600 a month, so $19,200.00. But since they require my mom to pay the first $749 every month, the State is only paying $10,212 per year.
I: So, IHSS is a program designed specifically to allow a person in your mother's condition to live more comfortably by being taken care of in her own home rather than in a nursing home, and by doing so you are also saving the State at least $50,000 a year?
P: Yes.
I: And yet they won't help you with the share of cost problem?
P: So far no.
I: And you've explained to them what it's costing you in taxes? You've explained the circumstances?
P: Yes. Actually, they say they can't help because of the way policies and laws are written.
I: You're saving the State more than $50,000 a year and they won't give you any relief from paying taxes on $8,988 of wages that you never actually get in the first place?
P: No.
I: That's really not reasonable or sensible at all.
P: No. It's not right. It's wrong any way you look at it.

You'd Think It Would Work Better

I ended up having to go to ER last week. Luckily nothing seems to be seriously wrong, but further testing and orders to watch for key symptoms means I'm not 100% in the clear yet. If I hadn't had that benefits termination fiasco of the past 3 months, I would have set up a regular appointment earlier in the week and it would have cost zero (no copay). My copay for ER was $100!! Someone at IHSS owes me a reimbursement. Okay, pissedness aside, there was some good news: Apparently, my benefits are either already reinstated or were never actually terminated to begin with. ER could have cost way more. I go back for some tests this week and hopefully a) I'm fine and b) benefits are still in effect then.

I've been way, way, WAY out of the right headspace to animate and it's been a real drag. Every key I've set has seemed like garbage and I've been downright unproductive any session I've tried to work. I've got far too much on my shoulders right now and it doesn't put me in the best mood nor motivate me to create. I'm not ready to be the head of the family beast, but I'm responsible for every last thing, and there's no comittee of two (or more), just me trying to choose smart. It's all making my head spin. But tonight I took out some time for my AM short film, even though there are other more urgent things I need to work on.

One thing that irks me is, since I know 3ds max, but not Maya very well (except animating) I have to build parts for the car in my film in max and go through an elaborate process to get it all into Maya. Over and over. Even though I figured out the one and only workable solution for my sitch (save out to .3ds, then import to Maya 6.5 using bonus tools), it's kind of a pain. The interior of the car model doesn't have key features that I need for my short and each time I add new parts I have to re-export/import the car to Maya. Things don't always go well. In this latest version the windshield wipers flipped the wrong way and somehow I attached them to part of the window, which is now floating a bit to the left. (I've been trying to fix the wipers since the first export). You'd think it would work better than this since Autodesk owns both programs now.

There are things I can't animate w/out putting these props in. Luckily some of the shots are very quick cuts where the props just get bumped with a hook. But all this exporting and importing business slows me down, and is delaying my actually animating even more. I'm already so far behind.

They told us at the start of AnimationMentor it was not necessary that we know Maya, and they did show us how to animate in Maya. But on a short film where you work solo, so many things come up and you really need to know the program inside and out. I haven't had any chance to go through tutorials other than the ones AM provided, so I am pretty much clueless about everything in Maya except animating! My advice to any Maya noobs considering AM is you'd better learn the program well by the time you get to Class 6. It is an extreme handicap not being proficient in all aspect of the software you're using. Unless you have a lot of friends who know those things and owe you favors (I don't), you're on your own. I'd love to start animating, but now I have to go work on my hearing.

I Just Don't Know

I've had to all but abandon anything to do with animation assignments nearly the entire past six weeks of class. I'm not even able to watch the lectures anymore. It's no longer just a time thing (maybe I said that already, can't keep track). It's become practically impossible for me to do anything with my animated short 'cause of all kinds of poo that's going on in other areas. For example:

• I am preparing for a hearing next week to ask that my dad's "share of cost", which turns up as a deduction that cuts my paycheck by half (and which I still get taxed on!) be eliminated or reduced.
• I only received 1/4 the wages I earned in July because of a government error. Still have not received a call-back about when I can expect a correction.
• I've been alerted to a problem at the nursing home my where my mom is staying. Trying to get it resolved. This by itself is pretty stressful.
• I have been planning to schedule a checkup with my doctor, and finally got the time to do so. But last week my health benefits were terminated because my dad's case worker at IHSS and Kaiser took too much time getting forms handled. This was after I spent numerous hours and miles of driving to do my part to meet a deadline. Looking into the issue, I have learned no one can be held accountable for causing me so much grief.
• I had to write a letter requesting a Board Appeal after I received an unfavorable decision ten days earlier in an appeal in which I was denied unemployment benefits because I take care of my dad 24/7.
• I did not receive any of my wages for April through June because of an oversight by my dad's IHSS caseworker. Still have not got a call-back regarding the snafu.

This is just a small sample. There is some good news at least. My dad's meds seem to be helping him. My mom had some visitors recently--besides me and my dad--which cheered her up at least at the time.

Shot in the Arm

This is it! AnimationMentor Class 6! We're on the final stretch. I've decided, while waiting to decide (hehe) that it's really not practical to stop between Classes 5&6, cuz really it's more like just one big Class 5. While it's not ideal to try continuing, knowing I can't put in the minimum required time some weeks, stopping now is too much of a bummer. It's better to die trying than to never make an attempt.

There's no sound, but here is the animatic for my short (4.3MB, QT Sorensen3). Some of the camera angles are confusing and I definitely have changes to make for layout.

Sidetracked by cargiving responsibilities and behind on assignments I was about as discouraged as I've been since starting AnimationMentor. The emotional component of never being able to do enough for my+ mom and dad, and ongoing hassles with government "regulations" that deny them services they qualify for has been getting to me. So when I got a chance to see Cars a few weeks back, I got an amazing reminder of why I decided to be an animator. For a while it spurred me on. A zillion thanks to all the AM mentors, other animators and everyone involved in making Cars.

During the break after Class 5 I finally had a moment to go see Over the Hedge, too. Like Cars, Hedge had also been very high on my to see list because the animation style in the trailers looked extremely fun and amazing. I loved both movies immensely, but I must mention Hedge is definitely the funnier of the two.

Since my mentor works at PDI, I unintentionally hijacked my group's last Q&A when I mentioned Hedge in the discussion. Sorry. I have other questions for Jason, but they can wait for another time. And again, a zillion thanks to Jason and all the animators and others involved in making Over the Hedge. It was definitely inspiring and fun. Both movies looked like the characters were challenging and a lot of fun to work with, and it made me say, as I've said before many times, "This is what I want to do!"