. I'm off to pick up a check from the art gallery, drop off some stuff at the dump, stop at BJs because they incorrectly charged me for something and then to the bank.
This afternoon I need to focus on drumming up some freelance work. I may also take pix of some returned art items from the one gallery to pitch to one of the others galleries.
The CT Dept of Labor CT is horribly understaffed and under-resourced.
The week before last, I tried to file my weekly claim as usual, online. I answered the 7 or 8 questions but when i hit the Submit button, it froze up and remained depressed. On the 4th try, it "appeared" to go through, and that was that.
Except it wasn't. I only discovered late last week that I wasn't paid for that week and thus the system prevented me from filing last week.
I tried calling DOL yesterday, but the recorded message said that due to an unusually high call volume, they couldn't take my call, wouldn't let me wait on hold and actually disconnected the call.
I called again this morning at 7:30 a.m., as soon as they opened, and the calls did not even go through. I would dial the number and then, nothing happened. After about 10 minutes of trying, the call connected, but I heard a recorded message entirely in Spanish. I tried calling back several times and got the Spanish message, until finally I got the English version, went thru the whole automated system again and the system gives you the option of getting a callback in an hour to an hour and a half, so that's what i did.
When i got the automatic callback, I still had to wait on hold until an operator came on. Geez. I recognize that as an unemployed individual, I am the low man on the totem poll and I guess I'm not entitled to any better service, but c'mon.
Tuesday to do list, and a gripe
October 4th, 2016 at 01:19 pm
October 4th, 2016 at 02:54 pm 1475592875
October 4th, 2016 at 05:27 pm 1475602040
October 4th, 2016 at 07:09 pm 1475608181
October 5th, 2016 at 12:33 am 1475627612
October 5th, 2016 at 01:32 am 1475631137
Can you do freelance work and still collect in CT? PA is very strict--any freelance (1099-MISC) income and you are considered self-employed and ineligible to collect, and if you do collect and then they discover it was freelance, they come after you to repay. Which to my mind is a perverse incentive: they should be rewarding rather than punishing personal industry.
October 5th, 2016 at 12:13 pm 1475669612
October 5th, 2016 at 12:14 pm 1475669684
October 5th, 2016 at 02:54 pm 1475679249
October 5th, 2016 at 03:56 pm 1475682991
October 11th, 2016 at 09:03 pm 1476219826
October 11th, 2016 at 10:18 pm 1476224335
Thanks for asking, LAL.
Do I really want to go back? No, not at all.
Do I have to? I think so. I did look again at my Social Security benefits under the assumption that for the next 3 yrs i would earn just $15,000 of reportable income. The bare minimum, in other words, at some kind of low-paying job. Under that worst case scenario, and assuming, again worst case, I began collecting SS at age 62, it indicated I would get $1511 a month in benefits. (But I don't plan on beginning SS at age 62.)
I do think i need to continue working a bit longer, if only becus having to pay escalating health care costs via ACA would be pretty costly. I would still have to pay that way from age 60 to 65, but shaving off the additional 3 years would no doubt be helpful to my balance sheet. And I would like to work p/t somewhere at age 60 and hopefully for a few years, so by that point, my p/t work could be fully dedicated to paying for my healthcare.