Yesterday afternoon I got to K9 Tailshakers, and sat in my van in the lot and slept for awhile. Then I went in and saw Nietzsche. I gave him one of the toys I made, but he didn’t want to play – he wanted to bounce. So he bounced and I petted and he bounced and I pulled out clumps of hair and he bounced.
I had 2 awesome Nose Work classes last night. Unfortunately, one of my advanced students withdrew for this session, leaving 2 teams in the earlier class – the two yellow Labs, Sandy and Rudy. They are hilarious. Sandy is 10, and Rudy is not. But both are enthusiastic, happy puppies. They love to search – when they get around to it.
The second class is an Intro to K9 Nose Work® class. One dog is an Australian Cattle dog and the other a Jack Russell Terrier. The JRT is a new rescue, and is displaying some dog reactivity. But when she approached the entrance to the search area for her last search, she forgot to growl at the other dog.
So, I declared a new goal: To make Poppy so thrilled by the anticipation of the search that she won’t care that there’s another dog in view on the approach to the search.
We all had fun. And I got a sleeping pad at St. Isidore’s in Bloomingdale, as had been happening for the past few Mondays that I worked. I slept really well – woke up at 5 and went to the bathroom, but then fell right back to sleep for another hour. It was lovely.
I drove over to the PADS center in Wheaton – mostly to mark time and to get close to a Credit Union that “coops” with my CU. Then I learned that there was going to be a group meeting for Planning Ahead (my favorite group.) So, I stayed there. It was about Conflict Resolution. It was kind of funny – the lady who always breaks in to tell her story/ies did that again, several times, with examples of how she’s tried to stop conflict at sites.
Thing is this: I nearly (nearly) always stay out of those on site conflicts, if I can. Because – even when the intent is a good one – stepping in nearly always escalates the problem, and whoever steps in is now part of the problem. So, I generally don’t. There are some exceptions, and some times you can’t avoid it (like someone is screaming, “You’re on my pad! You’re on my pad!” and you freeze.) But in general, I just try avoidance and rolling my eyes.
After 3 or 4 of the other person’s examples, I started to discuss the morning that Candy lost it (no names in my example, of course.) I described how I’d seen her confront others in the past, how she confronted my friend Cheryl, and then how I saw her march/walk and how she stood next to my vehicle (too close, but that could have been forced a bit by the curb behind her). The PADS caseworker really liked my description of reading the physical cues, before even discussing what was said. And she applauded what I’d said to Candy (even the, “just throw out the knitting, it’s not that important...” which in retrospect was probably fairly passive aggressive, though not intended that way.)
Anyway, we finished the meeting and then Jen the caseworker went into the basement to see whether she could find me a pair of shoes. I might get the goo or gloo or whatever, but I need a replacement pair whether new or lightly used. She didn’t find any – there were LOTS of men’s shoes in larger sizes, but none in my size. Which was fine, except I didn’t have time to waste: I needed to get to the CU to get cash, then drive to Itasca to meet the windshield guy.
I made it to Itasca just at noon as promised. I noticed that the windshield people had called before 9, but since they’d left no message (when I was inside the PADS center), I didn’t call back. Then they called at 12:15 – and even though I THOUGHT the ringer was on, it wasn’t.
I hate cell phones. I constantly miss calls.
So, they’d called at 12:15, and I returned the call at 12:18. The guy had all ready given away my appointment because I’d missed his call three minutes earlier. REALLY??????!!!! What kind of crap is that?!
He asked for a different phone number, too. I said, “This is it. But the ringer is definitely on.” He said he’d call back if he could get another person assigned soon.
While at the center, I’d picked up my mail. Two of the envelopes were from work net, and were tests you take to see what types of jobs you might like. And two were from DHS, asking for proof of my paychecks from October. I just picked up my last October paycheck last night. So, I drove over to a UPS Store a couple of miles away, and faxed the letter and the copies of the pay stubs to DHS.
I think that means that everything will be good, and I should be approved. I’m hoping for my Link card next week with November’s credits on it. (If that’s how it works. Fingers crossed.)
Then the glass place called back and said that that someone would be there in 15-20 minutes, and sure enough, he was. So there I was, sitting on my folding chair in the lot of the Presbyterian church, and there was Luis, replacing my windshield. He did one hell of a job. Then I drove over to the Itasca Library – I’ve never been here before.
I learned a few interesting things in the Planning Ahead meeting. The other participant (the lady who tends not to let me speak, who got a bit of her own medicine today) has stayed at the family sites, including the one that will be closed on Thanksgiving Night, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.
She spoke to one of the volunteers in charge at that site and learned that they decided to close on those nights because in past years, the facility has been nearly empty on those nights – because of holiday schedules for the busses.
That surprises me a lot – yes, when the site was not assigned as a family site (in September), there was a decent amount of the clients who used Public Transportation, but I’m surprised that the majority of the families don’t have vehicles.
The other thing I learned is that the older son of that family that is coming to Individual sites has been accused by one of the PADS coordinators of threats and intimidation. (Which, if you re-read my recent comments is NOT a huge surprise to me.) Apparently he behaved inappropriately, the case worker tried to address the issue, and the son got – at the least – mouthy.
The mom went to Will – the guy in charge of the sites – before anything got reported, and turned him to her side of how things went (which is exactly what I watched happen, after the same son was accused of stealing an iPhone.) Will backed her up… until the coordinator discussed it with him, ready to quit because she was worried for her own safety.
I stand by my belief that if the family chooses to depart the family site, rather than letting the 22 year old deal with the issue that he created – the family should then be treated as individuals. It will be interesting to see what happens… The caseworker supervisor had something click and said, “Oh, I think I know who you are talking about” when the other woman was discussing this family, and implied that she planned to discuss the issue with Will.
The other thing that same woman and I discussed was the Friday night Medical Group. I missed night 2 (I was in Ohio), but was at the group on week 1 and 3 (last Friday.) I was trying to explain how much the facilitator turned me off with her repetitious “our bodies are all incredible creations by God” and her insistence that depression can be fixed by putting up post its with positive sayings.
I agree that trying to be positive is a good thing, but pretending that it’s The Answer for Everything is small minded, and makes those of us who need more help than that look weak. Why add to that feeling of, “I can’t do anything right” by yammering on like that?
According to the woman at the center, the facilitator actually jumped up on a chair at the meeting I’d missed, and declared God’s creation of the human body to be an incredible miracle. So, I’m glad I missed THAT week – but that doesn’t make this past week ok. The woman at the center disagrees with me because she really likes the facilitator. Which is fine and dandy – but I still feel that if I’m asked to participate in a group that is NOT religious, I should be able to feel comfortable in that group.
Cheryl has joined me at the library – she keeps talking to me, which would be ok if I didn’t have a soundtrack playing on my headphones… I’m starting to feel like that one night when I was reading a book, and Candy kept talking to me. Except that Cheryl’s telling me interesting stuff.
For example, last night at St Isidore’s, the guy who has been nicknamed “Spanky” for his antics in Lombard took offense to a gentleman who walked in to give his ID card. He mocked the guys looks, and the guy just kept walking – after the guy was back outside, “Spanky” grabbed a pen out of his pocket, followed the guy, and stabbed him in the back with the pen, then took off in his vehicle. Cheryl hopes he gets kicked out – I’ll bet he doesn’t, though he MAY be sent to the hospital for a visit.
That’s the news from the homeless at the Itasca Community Library – one who really has a craving for an omelet. With asparagus. And mushrooms.
Homeless is a series of diaries I have been writing since August 20, 2015, several weeks after I became homeless. PADS is the organization that is in charge of the homeless shelters where I stay nearly every night, and provides assistance signing up for available services, job searches, etc.
Homeless 50 is a compilation of information that might make understanding various acronyms and recognize some of the people a little better. You are welcome to start with Homeless Now and work through the other diaries, but starting with Homeless 50 may give you a jump start.
© 2015 sheddhead – not to be used without written consent of the author, unless quoting portions of this diary on DailyKos, with links back to the original quotation