maybe the wife could start contributing a little to the family income...
Posted on 02/16/2014 12:13:54 PM PST by Kaslin
Hi, I’m Dave.
Until recently I was a full-time employee and had a very good job.In fact most years we were so busy I worked some long hours and received some significant bonuses from my employer.But now I have been freed from having to spend so much time supporting my family.Because of some great new policies from our government, I am now working part-time and spending more time with my family.
It has been an adjustment.When I told my wife the exciting news that I would spending more time at home, initially she wasn’t delighted.She sure seemed like she did not want me around.She asked how we were going to put the money away for the kids’ college educations.I was a little surprised she was not more focused on the time we could spend together, working on our relationship.She seemed like she thought having me at work was more beneficial for us.Then I told her about all the neat government programs that would help the kids pay for college.Plus, I am confident we will grow closer as we have more quality time together.I did point out we may have less money to spend, but sharing time was what life was all about.
The kids were really excited to hear about me being around a lot more.Kinda.Madison asked if I really was not going to work.When I told her it would give us more time to get to know each other, she said “Dad, get real.I’m like really busy with school and my friends.Maybe soon.”And then she stared at her phone and said she was having a conversation with a friend.Buddy Boy was a lot more receptive.I told him I could now learn how to play those video games and we could play together.He said, “Hey, don’t you think it would be geekish for me to be playing video games with my old man?”When I told him no, he turned and closed the door to his room.I am sure once he warms up to the idea we will have a blast together.
I went on HealthCare.gov and found out that my income is now going to be lower so I qualify for some really big subsidies.As long as I don’t go back to working full-time, the government will pay for over half of my family’s health insurance.All I have to do is just keep my work at the current reduced level and we will have some great coverage.I can even pick up some work on the side (if you know what I mean) and not have it affect my ability to have the government pay for most all our health insurance.Once I figured it out, we are really better off with me working less and staying home more.
Then with my new free time I found a speech that Mrs. Obama gave to college students.She told them “Don’t leave money on the table.”This was regarding getting student aid that she told them did not have to be paid back.Pondering that I thought why not me?So I applied for Food Stamps -- thankfully now called SNAP -- and it makes me feel so much better.I was really surprised to find out that at my new income level that we qualify as a family.
The nice people at the SNAP office told me there are other state and federal programs I qualify for to help underwrite my new reduced income.For example, they will help pay for my utilities.While I was so busy working I never realized there were so many programs to help people.I have researched it and found there are over 100 programs to help pay for me.How stupid I feel working hard all these years when I could have been home and the government would pay for all these things.
As I begin my new less demanding life, I am really just beginning to explore the universe I am now part of each day.Who knew I could work so little and still get all this stuff from the government?President Obama, thank you for freeing me from the burden of having to work so hard to support my family.Now I just have to get my family used to having me around.And find something to do with my time.
I’m Dave, and I love this new America.
LOL! I am pretty old and ladies didn’t use naughty words when I was young.
lol the 50 yard toilet was an outhouse. Minimum distance from house (if you get my drift)
When that poem was written the toilet was probably in the little house behind the house.
Ah, how stupid of me!
We had an ice box and a coal furnace, but we also had a real live flush terlet! With 4 other kids and mom and dad, the wait made it seem like it was 50 yards away, though. Our yard was too small for an outhouse. We didn't even have room to park a car.
You do know that is the reason some of us still call them ice boxes don't you?
WE lived in an old Houston neighborhood called the Houston Heights.
Our daughter bought an old house in that neighborhood and she said she and several neighbors could not figure why they all had a small hill of dirt about 50 feet from the back door.
I figured that when the Heights got city sewage lines, they dumped the dirt where the outhouse had been. After that she referee to that spot as “sh** hill”.
Or she might learn of the additional (and substantial) largess available if only she would kick him out of the house and take on the State as her husband.
we also had a ice box with a horse drawn wagon delivering ice twice a week. Indoor plumbing, but we were city folk, rural areas still had outhouses. But when dad bought property on Lake Huron, that was our summer place....2 large army tents. One for eating and reading, the other for sleep in the summer. The first outhouse dad built was too close to the eating tent. Mom made him fill it in and he dug one over on the far side of the place. Grandma’s farm had an outhouse and chamber pots under each bed..I could give up quite a few modern things, but indoor plumbing is worth going to war for..
In days of olde
when knights were bold
and toilets yet invented
they laid their load
upon the road
and walked away contented.
funny....:O)
I married a gal just like you :)
geesh...it was tongue in cheek.
don’t want to start a fight or even a serious debate but wasn’t it “beans, beans, the MUSICAL fruit”? And I apologize for even getting that far-.
It was Mexican fruit at my house, we ate a lot of Mexican food (still do) but you can call it anything you want to. Musical works! :)
You must be one of them thar city slickers.
It was in the back of the house.
Waaaay in back of the house.
In my 20s, I often felt like a total retard. You do get tired of people laughing at your naivete. It was the 60s, after all.
Then, in my 50s, I thought it was charming when, on a family trip to Vegas, my DIL saw a hooker outside a hotel and in all seriousness said “I wonder why she thinks she has to do that? She’s pretty enough to get a boyfriend.”
We change with the times, I guess.
I’m going to go with satire.
maybe the wife could start contributing a little to the family income...
leftists will probably take it seriously and be nodding
More than tongue and cheek, I read sarcasm and deep regret
Yeah, when I was a kid we lived on a 30x116 city lot. I thought it was huge. We had one big maple tree. Fun neighborhood in the 50s with nice people and kids running all over the place. Current value with house, $13,000.
Neighborhood is crap now. I drove through on a bitter cold Sunday a few weeks ago during NFL season. That’s the only safe time. One of the old stores from my childhood was still standing. The side wall was painted with a mural showing obama and the words, “Free obama phones! E-Z Cellular.”
Spent a lot of time on my brother’s farm in my late teens, early twenties and got a feel for open space and hard outdoor work. Never had that much land.
Now Mrs. RWA and I got a nice little retirement place for a great price on an acre, which is enough for the two of us and the dog right now. Not country but not city. The kids are out on their own.
Plenty of work to do on the neglected property. Got a nice big storage building for my toys. Maples, oaks, pines in the back, a huge oak and spruce out front, and still have some young elms hanging in there, grapes, pears. Some dying ash, too, darn it. Borers.
Lot of critters around and nice neighbors, just like us. Grow some food and plants. Quiet. Simple pleasures. People help each other and are able to keep an eye on things, if you know what I mean. Mrs. RWA, I, and the dog, like to walk around in the pines when the snow is on them. About 14” of packed snow back there now with some more on the way tomorrow. Dog sinks in a bit but he loves it. Tries to dig down to the dirt, but there’s a layer of ice down there.
No outhouse. The dog doesn’t need one and we have a nice flush toilet. The septic got replaced with real live sewers before we bought the place.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.