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	<title>Prepper&#039;s Blind Alley</title>
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	<link>http://preppersblindalley.com</link>
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		<title>I&#8217;m back</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/12/11/im-back/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/12/11/im-back/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:50:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/?p=44</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, hello. It sure has been a long haul folks. Talk about being prepared.
I am not saying this can happen to anybody, as I seem to have a particular
knack for getting into trouble like some nineteen-year old boy.. well you
who have those know what I mean. On November 4th, I was out of my mother&#8217;s
house [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well, hello. It sure has been a long haul folks. Talk about being prepared.<br />
I am not saying this can happen to anybody, as I seem to have a particular<br />
knack for getting into trouble like some nineteen-year old boy.. well you<br />
who have those know what I mean. On November 4th, I was out of my mother&#8217;s<br />
house not realizing quite that I was about to journey somewhere totally<br />
different. I spent one week in the Holiday Inn as far as my funds would take<br />
me, and   a friend kindly paid my phone bill as I desperately searched for a<br />
solution not quite resolved that I was leaving the state. This is the second<br />
time Massachusetts has done its best to kick me out. Life seems to have many<br />
strange turns doesn&#8217;t it? I thought I was prepared for anything except this<br />
circumstance. The last Sunday, I spent the last weekend really, with<br />
friends. One who came to see me the other who took me to dinner&#8230;.actually<br />
both took me out. I almost don&#8217;t recall what I had as all thoughts were on<br />
my situation. On the sixteenth I went to Logan airport and took a flight to<br />
Indiana where some of our kind preppers took me in with my guide dog Harpo<br />
who is with me. It is an adventure, and I suppose I have to view this in<br />
that way since the alternative would have been that our country would have<br />
seen the first blind beach bum in Florida. If you think you are prepped for<br />
everything, think again. I have some things in storage in Massachusetts, and<br />
some here, and hope to get all here soon via other friends bailing me<br />
out&#8230;a couple of good cab drivers rented a u-haul to get my stuff and<br />
mother&#8217;s here in Indiana, and still, there is stuff left in Mass. for them<br />
to ship, so again worry about cash&#8230;. I am not sure where I go from here<br />
except there is one appointment with the local rehabilitation agency to see<br />
if I can either get work or housing of my own&#8230;meanwhile, it is here on the<br />
farm where there are kind folks and loads of animals here&#8230;It really came<br />
to the point I had few choices as I looked for six hundred apartments on the<br />
weekend before I left which were supposed to be subsidized, but there were<br />
no openings anywhere. I also went to five agencies in Boston where they all<br />
passed the buck&#8230;.three agencies for the disabled, and two housing<br />
agencies. This took all day, but no results that were favorable were to be<br />
had. I was really quite discouraged to think that all that cash I spent to<br />
go in was for absolutely nothing and nobody cared that I was going to be<br />
homeless including the shiftless trustee for my mother&#8217;s accounts. She is no<br />
good, and currently holds all our mail&#8230;.and I reported her to mailing<br />
inspectors this week. I wish I could have done more done something to the<br />
lawyer who appointed this incompetent. Anyway, we are safe, and much thanks<br />
goes to my prepper friends in Indiana, and all of you for supporting us.<br />
Also special Thanks big to Steve Quayle who told me years ago to save with<br />
gold which I cashed in to get me out of my situation and here to<br />
Indiana&#8230;.If Steve hadn&#8217;t said that I should for worse times, then I would<br />
now be out on the streets. Also big thanks to tom who found this farm and<br />
the folks who have been kind to me&#8230;Thanks again to all. Alleycat on my<br />
camp cot with Harpo at my feet.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>last post for a while</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/11/03/last-post-for-a-while/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/11/03/last-post-for-a-while/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:33:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/11/03/last-post-for-a-while/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[sad today. I am coming to the end. I found out that the trustee wanted to
put me in home next to hers, and wrote finally, told her what I think how
she has destroyed my life&#8230;and possibly my valued relationship with my
beloved guide dog school. She has done this and they know what trouble I
have had [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>sad today. I am coming to the end. I found out that the trustee wanted to<br />
put me in home next to hers, and wrote finally, told her what I think how<br />
she has destroyed my life&#8230;and possibly my valued relationship with my<br />
beloved guide dog school. She has done this and they know what trouble I<br />
have had with housing here. So folks have offered to take me in, and I leave<br />
November 16 for a new life&#8230; I am so upset wrote to the school begged for<br />
support. I am hopeful this will happen but don&#8217;t know. I told the trustee<br />
she has destroyed my life, and things she has done to me. I told her unless<br />
she intends to cooperate and buy  me land and put a nice home on it, forget<br />
it. I said how this is not my best interests and the worst thing any person<br />
has ever done to me. Folks, thank you for listening. I have never been in so<br />
much trouble, and have had thirteen lawyers to try to get rid of the<br />
problem, to no avail. Guess whatever time we have left will be spent on my<br />
part trying to get laws changed more in favor of the disabled who are<br />
powerless against lawyers and trustees who get to do what they please. I<br />
lose over two hundred thousand dollars to them. best to all, and keep<br />
prepping. Karen &#8220;Alleycat&#8221; and Harpo who doesn&#8217;t know if he can retire now<br />
that this witch has loused our lives.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>for real preps</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/10/26/for-real-preps/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/10/26/for-real-preps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:10:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/10/26/for-real-preps/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This weekend was thinking how we all put things away for some distant future
event that may or may not happen. This weekend, I spent doing it for
real&#8230;.got out my best pack&#8230;took all kitchen equipment I thought I could
use and put into the pockets&#8230;got out my tent and lashed my sleeping bag to
the pack along with [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This weekend was thinking how we all put things away for some distant future<br />
event that may or may not happen. This weekend, I spent doing it for<br />
real&#8230;.got out my best pack&#8230;took all kitchen equipment I thought I could<br />
use and put into the pockets&#8230;got out my tent and lashed my sleeping bag to<br />
the pack along with the tent. And then, I stood back and thought some<br />
more&#8230;my new sleeping pad, mattress got folded and tried ahead to make sure<br />
it inflated and put into the pack. Here is my bug out packs&#8230;my medical<br />
pack, my kitchen pack with tiny stoves and necessary matches etc. pots pans,<br />
my knives, compass, etc. my sleeping bag, tent, and self-inflating mattress.<br />
Next, here is my food packs with food for Harpo good for a month, mine a<br />
week or two, and one pack of clothing for the winter.. worry about summer<br />
when it comes. Make sure you have hats, gloves, socks goes with you&#8230;not to<br />
forget as our winter is cruel here. I think hey if can&#8217;t stand it may become<br />
the first blind beach bum&#8230; But at least my bug out bags are ready. Got one<br />
suitcase ready in case I do get the chance to train with another guide<br />
dog&#8230; Other stuff camp furniture goes into storage if I get apartment, or<br />
maybe if I don&#8217;t can haul just so much around and with packing Harpo&#8217;s stuff<br />
and mine, need four wheels to drag away, a car. His stuff consists of:<br />
medication heartworm meds, mosquito meds. towels, a couple of toys&#8230;bones<br />
for chewing, his food in another pack, his grooming equipment&#8230; God knows<br />
like packing for a kid. He has his own bags besides mine. Of course his<br />
metal dishes too two barrels of food&#8230;small ones to fit someplace. That is<br />
all&#8230;enough can&#8217;t cart all out in one pack impossible. Other stuff for<br />
storage are footlockers if I can&#8217;t find someplace to live here. Well, that<br />
is all&#8230;everybody get ready&#8230;soon something big comes our way&#8230;many<br />
choices as to what will be, but feel it in my bones&#8230;.Karen and Harpo the<br />
great dog who sits through ten dental surgeries last two years!!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>before I move</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/10/26/before-i-move/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/10/26/before-i-move/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:36:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/10/26/before-i-move/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Having trouble finding apartments folks. The first cottage looked at was
okay, but the kids of the owner didn&#8217;t want to rent at all. Their father
wanted to rent. So an argument ensued. The second cottage we are still
waiting since two doctors own it having reservations about rental to a blind
woman&#8230;and they are in Asia still waiting [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Having trouble finding apartments folks. The first cottage looked at was<br />
okay, but the kids of the owner didn&#8217;t want to rent at all. Their father<br />
wanted to rent. So an argument ensued. The second cottage we are still<br />
waiting since two doctors own it having reservations about rental to a blind<br />
woman&#8230;and they are in Asia still waiting for replies. Third apartment, not<br />
suitable since was a basement apartment, too narrow stairs for working my<br />
dog in harness a quick exit to take him out in the morning would be<br />
impossible. I am not crazy about renting forced by the scuzzy trustee who<br />
wouldn&#8217;t purchase land I had picked up north. I am not sure where I am going<br />
from here if all doesn&#8217;t work except possible media campaign, and also the<br />
court. This is the worst situation I have ever been involved with the lawyer<br />
and trustee no good. I&#8217;d love to can them both, and have control of cash<br />
almost $200 thousand dollars of my mother&#8217;s money at their disposal!! They<br />
took that away from me when she went on Medicaid&#8230;great. So, I have<br />
nothing&#8230;.just social security nothing&#8230;. If all doesn&#8217;t work maybe just<br />
don&#8217;t know what should be done&#8230;. Offers to go out west but said I&#8217;d try<br />
this first see if court can decide, and I was also advised by a housing<br />
agency not to leave the premises until an eviction, which I will do if<br />
apartments don&#8217;t work make sure I get evicted so can bring in the media to<br />
witness a blind woman getting evicted from the house should stir up<br />
something&#8230;. Wish me luck. I only have until November sixth until all hell<br />
gets lose. Karen and Harpo &#8220;Alleycat&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>and for tonight, what is it like to be homeless for a fifth time?</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/09/27/and-for-tonight-what-is-it-like-to-be-homeless-for-a-fifth-time/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/09/27/and-for-tonight-what-is-it-like-to-be-homeless-for-a-fifth-time/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:42:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/09/27/and-for-tonight-what-is-it-like-to-be-homeless-for-a-fifth-time/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Good evening..or morning, afternoon to all. This is Alleycat here with some
final comments maybe until the fine day when I become homeless for a fifth
time in my life. Would you love to know why people like me become homeless?
Well, read on, be entertained, involved, or disgusted, curious, or whatever
the feeling is after I finish explaining [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Good evening..or morning, afternoon to all. This is Alleycat here with some<br />
final comments maybe until the fine day when I become homeless for a fifth<br />
time in my life. Would you love to know why people like me become homeless?<br />
Well, read on, be entertained, involved, or disgusted, curious, or whatever<br />
the feeling is after I finish explaining my current predicament. It all<br />
started several years ago when my x-husband kicked me out of our apartment,<br />
and my mother got me out of a hotel to come back to the east coast,<br />
thankfully. but little did I know I would be at the stage I am at right now.<br />
In 2007, I noticed some strange things going on with my mother. She was 82<br />
at that time, and she was doing some things I did not understand. My mother<br />
was always a down-to-earth person but very artistically gifted. She was<br />
initially trained as a bookkeeper and worked when she was young as a banker,<br />
and also for a brokerage firm. Then she married my Dad and they settled into<br />
domestic bliss and had us kids. My brother is out of the picture now, as he<br />
decided to rob me a year ago, and we had to kick him out, the cops and a<br />
trustee that was here. We will get to this. In December of 2007 and before<br />
this, my mother had forgotten some of her great gourmet skills in the<br />
kitchen, and that stumped me for a time. Then she began to get lost in the<br />
car, and I realized what I was dealing with. Finally she stripped the brakes<br />
and steering in the car after being lost one more time, and I quietly took<br />
the keys away and we got rid of the car. It was shortly after this that she<br />
was having falls in the house, and I had to call the Emt&#8217;s to take care and<br />
pick her up for me. She was falling everywhere&#8230;in the house. On the fourth<br />
fall, she needed rehabilitation as I found out it was the same arm she fell<br />
on all the time and she was getting to the point she couldn&#8217;t use it any<br />
more. While in there a very good friend whose father had Alzheimer&#8217;s while<br />
he was alive, said this was my time to get my mother permanently installed<br />
into the nursing home, and I worked at this for a while handing papers to<br />
the lawyers. In the meantime, the lawyers decided to make me and my mother<br />
sign these trust papers. I read them, and somehow it didn&#8217;t occur to me I<br />
could get stuck with a witch to take the trust money which was a substantial<br />
amount in her care. Until that moment, I had been doing all my mother&#8217;s<br />
stuff, like cooking, cleaning, and yes doing her bills for her making out<br />
the checks as I have machinery to help me do paperwork with the vision<br />
problem. This trustee which now has this account, was supposed to account to<br />
me how the cash was spent but unethically, she hasn&#8217;t accounted in writing<br />
for one penny of it. When I had the account, I knew every penny and kept<br />
track of it for those two years. So this lawyer took it away from me and my<br />
mother, and she went into the home on Medicaid and her social security and<br />
there is nothing left for either one of us. The house here has been sold,<br />
but I don&#8217;t have access to that account left by the trustee to rot and she<br />
sits on it as if it will lay an egg. I mean it. I don&#8217;t get much out of her<br />
at all and have to beg for  cash for groceries. The cash from the house will<br />
be minus the realtor fee and any taxes etc after the sale is complete but<br />
again I say, I will not have access to that account, and the lawyer has put<br />
the trustee&#8217;s name on my mother&#8217;s house so I never got to own anything. This<br />
isn&#8217;t what my mother wanted to see me in poverty and it isn&#8217;t ethical that<br />
is my view. Sure, maybe they were trying to keep the house to be taken by<br />
the nursing home, I really don&#8217;t know as these people don&#8217;t make an<br />
accounting of anything or answer any of my questions I have had for two<br />
years about this whole affair. I once handed the trustee 20 questions on<br />
e-mail for her to answer and she ignored me her attitude all these two years<br />
she has been doing this. I feel, and the &#8220;good&#8221; lawyer I now have feels that<br />
the third lawyer the troublemaker, doesn&#8217;t want to deal with my disability.<br />
This is the tip of a large looming iceberg. The first lawyer my mother&#8217;s<br />
after twenty years said he didn&#8217;t want the responsibility so he left. The<br />
second lawyer I hired made weird remarks about my disability so I canned<br />
her, the third lawyer said after we got the new septic in if that didn&#8217;t go<br />
well the house would be condemned and I would only have ninety days to get<br />
out and she doesn&#8217;t care where I go. How nice she is!! Then, the fourth<br />
lawyer I hired to see if he could do anything about the third lawyer and the<br />
nasty cold icy trustee who is very controlling of my life&#8230;so there is the<br />
story. If all cannot be resolved, and I meet with the fourth lawyer tomorrow<br />
and asked him to see if the trust could be dissolved, which I don&#8217;t think it<br />
can, then folks I must find right away a place to go by November 1st with<br />
this house being sold and no provisions for where I should go or end up by<br />
the trustee. On my tiny Social Security check which is half of today&#8217;s rents<br />
for apartments I am not sure what to do. I have spent the last few weeks on<br />
the web until I drop from exhaustion looking for very cheap apartments which<br />
still exist. I bet they&#8217;re not in good neighborhoods as the rent is also<br />
small with today&#8217;s inflationary prices. Wish me luck, and if you believe in<br />
God, say a few prayers for me. I am in turmoil as I also gave up some dear<br />
pets this weekend to foster care which I must pay for each month for their<br />
care and don&#8217;t know if I will ever see them again. This is my story. If<br />
anybody wants to help me in any way, please feel free contact me at<br />
karenb74@comcast.net. I shall say goodbye for now. Perhaps there will be<br />
other posts for a month as I continue my battles until it is the last day<br />
and I must leave my mother&#8217;s old house for good. Alleycat wishes you all<br />
well&#8230;.she is sneaking down the dark alley again as another alleycat has<br />
kicked her out of her usual spot just inside the old warehouse she likes to<br />
haunt&#8230;The gray alleycat rushes down the dark alley until she cannot be<br />
seen any more&#8230;..meow!!! as she catches a mouse since her cat food ran<br />
out!! Dinner has arrived&#8230;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>weeks alone and preparation mentally</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/09/06/weeks-alone-and-preparation-mentally/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/09/06/weeks-alone-and-preparation-mentally/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:22:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/09/06/weeks-alone-and-preparation-mentally/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello, have you been considering what it will be like once things go
downhill, and you are spending more time in your home alone? Hey, is it like
the movie &#8220;Home Alone&#8221; or will you have enough to occupy your mind? Will you
deal with being alone all the time and take pleasure in it? Those are part
of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello, have you been considering what it will be like once things go<br />
downhill, and you are spending more time in your home alone? Hey, is it like<br />
the movie &#8220;Home Alone&#8221; or will you have enough to occupy your mind? Will you<br />
deal with being alone all the time and take pleasure in it? Those are part<br />
of preparation too as well as physical preps we all are familiar with. As<br />
for me, since many people ignore me anyway, I am again becoming used to<br />
being alone all the time. There are only two people I see once a week, and<br />
when I leave this place there will be even fewer probably. I am on the<br />
computer a lot, typing e-mail, but even this probably won&#8217;t be happening as<br />
I have no income to pay for it basically. In a space of about three to six<br />
months I am sure once funds are gone, then I also will have nothing to pay<br />
utilities. I am not sure what I will do, but the prospect of being alone<br />
used to loom large with me because I had my Mom for so long. But I look back<br />
to a time when I had apartments and I was alone all the time then too. It<br />
isn&#8217;t that I&#8217;m not social, haven&#8217;t tried with sighted people, on the<br />
contrary. Many blind folks stick to other blind people and don&#8217;t bother with<br />
the sighted for social activities. I belonged to clubs, and took classes at<br />
adult education groups for ages, and found no good friends. I went sailing<br />
at a club on the Charles River, and hoped people would adjust to my being<br />
there, but nope that just never happened. It is one thing for a blind person<br />
to try, and it is another whether sighted people get by their morbid<br />
curiosity to think of you as a real friend. That is the way it is.<br />
Therefore, I am used to being alone again, after my mother went into the<br />
nursing home I mourned, and I was lonely. Now I am used to it again and it<br />
has taken that two years to adjust. I am searching for land to put a cabin<br />
or trailer on, and when I find it, it will be time for me to go. I am<br />
constantly looking, and this will mean more isolation for me&#8230;but it is<br />
okay. I have a plan. I stick to routines in the morning, feed my animals and<br />
me, and do things around the house&#8230;then if I move will start my gardens<br />
again too, and that takes time and effort as we all know. After that since I<br />
am always getting older I won&#8217;t have to worry if I have too much energy to<br />
expend. I have always listened to radio while I work, and will continue as<br />
long as it can be heard. I have some books I can read if bored, and that is<br />
enough I guess. There are always chores to be done to keep me busy. It would<br />
be good if you had a plan things to keep you busy as the time may come when<br />
you too will be alone. Sighted people don&#8217;t have to worry about being alone<br />
as much as the disabled who are ignored, but in this case as society breaks<br />
down, guess what? I think we now will have the advantage, and not lose our<br />
minds over it. Sighted people are so used to being out and around others. I<br />
tried for twenty years to fit in, and I am about done with that. I send mail<br />
out to other blind people and I write here. But when I find land, I will not<br />
be able to afford the mail access on the computer, and I won&#8217;t be going to<br />
the library to get it or anywhere else for that matter often. I have<br />
appreciated the fact that I was allowed to have this blog, and the great<br />
effort put into that. I am letting you know that, and I am looking forward<br />
to a time when my own name is on a piece of land will give me<br />
satisfaction&#8230;In the meantime, think about what your plan will be when you<br />
can&#8217;t socialize as much as you do now, if we have a war, or breakdown of our<br />
country and you are out there in your retreat by yourself. Hey, keep a pack<br />
of cards around or things to do to occupy your time. Solitaire is an option<br />
when bored. Alleycat and furry friends.</p>
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		<title>hello back from the reunion not high school</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/29/hello-back-from-the-reunion-not-high-school/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/29/hello-back-from-the-reunion-not-high-school/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:06:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/29/hello-back-from-the-reunion-not-high-school/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I went to the reunion of our guide dog school, the Seeing Eye of Morristown,
New Jersey which was our eightieth. It went well and the grads I think all
in all had a good time. The hotel was difficult to get around, but there was
plenty of staff help from both the volunteers and the Seeing eye [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I went to the reunion of our guide dog school, the Seeing Eye of Morristown,<br />
New Jersey which was our eightieth. It went well and the grads I think all<br />
in all had a good time. The hotel was difficult to get around, but there was<br />
plenty of staff help from both the volunteers and the Seeing eye staff.<br />
Friday was the banquet and we had plenty of workshops plus a catered lunch<br />
under a large tent Friday afternoon. The weather was sort of bad with the<br />
hurricane going by but we survived. There were 170 dogs present. During the<br />
banquet we had awards given to trainers who had been with the school for<br />
twenty to forty-two years and the history of those awards was told to us.<br />
After that dinner and each grad could introduce themselves and their dogs<br />
and where they came from what state they were from. The third segment was a<br />
country singer who had witnessed one of our classes as a special favor and<br />
then written two songs about the relationship between us and our dogs which<br />
appears on a new CD&#8230;and her name is Sarah Boch. Or last name forget how to<br />
spell that. She is from Nashville and had met our president, his wife, and a<br />
friend of mine who has a company that makes gps for the blind and he&#8217;s been<br />
appointed to our board too so he was at the head table with our president<br />
and his wife. That ended Friday. Saturday was trivia games about the history<br />
of the school, and other workshops and a walking tour I didn&#8217;t do as the<br />
weather was getting nasty. Sunday I came home. This week we have realtors<br />
again in this house which is a pain, and I think I have the weekend to<br />
myself. I&#8217;m still searching for somewhere to go, and that is hard with low<br />
income. Almost found a mobile but found lot rental was too much for the<br />
lowered social security thing we&#8217;re subjected to in other states other than<br />
Massachusetts or other states getting good checks. I wouldn&#8217;t care except no<br />
job. Anyway, I spent most of the afternoon trying to teach Harpo about a new<br />
carrier I bought for him and beginning to train him to it so he has<br />
somewhere to go when strangers are in the house&#8230;this consists of trying to<br />
make it pleasant such as throwing toys, and treats into the carrier and<br />
praising him like crazy. If this is done over time, he will think it&#8217;s a<br />
good place to be&#8230;He already volunteered to go in himself looking for<br />
treats and tried his new bed a cushioned thing in there so it is off to a<br />
good start. I don&#8217;t think it will be hard after a week or two to ask him to<br />
go into his new &#8220;bed&#8221;. I have also taken him to my vet, and speaking of<br />
survival, got another lump looked at and tested on him. But it turned out to<br />
be benign, thank goodness. Meanwhile, I am considering an early retirement<br />
for my boy and will keep him as a pet since this trip was very stressful for<br />
him, other dogs did better than him since he&#8217;s not used to other dogs and<br />
barked some. The trainers were on his neck all weekend and that was<br />
stressful for me too. He doesn&#8217;t like long trips away from here apparently,<br />
something I didn&#8217;t know about him before&#8230;and besides that I would be<br />
retiring him as a kindness to him at age eleven and hope he gets time to<br />
just be a dog before he goes. I&#8217;d like it if I were accepted for a class at<br />
the school soon so this could happen but one never knows as there is a huge<br />
waiting list and they are already scheduled for January but was told if I<br />
hurried maybe get accepted for the January class. I won&#8217;t know until the<br />
paperwork is done, need to get a medical off to the school once the<br />
paperwork arrives to fill out. The new Seeing Eye class will soon begin for<br />
September after a couple of weeks off for the staff down there and continue<br />
until a brief break at Christmas and then January class begins and onward<br />
through the winter into spring, and summer again.Then, will I have two dogs<br />
in this house plus sixteen pigs. Stay tuned to find out. After the medical<br />
reports go to the school on me, then I hold my breath and await to see if<br />
I&#8217;m going to be accepted for class. This will be my fifth dog&#8230;.if this<br />
happens. Karen and Harpo who may retire soon and become a couch potato being<br />
spoiled. with the piggies!!  (the gray alley cat curls up on the bed, and<br />
looks at two dogs lying on the floor beside the bed) &#8220;Gee, a cat is<br />
outnumbered around here&#8221; she says with a sigh.</p>
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		<title>away for a short vacation soon</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/16/away-for-a-short-vacation-soon/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/16/away-for-a-short-vacation-soon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:59:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/16/away-for-a-short-vacation-soon/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m going away for a few days to celebrate my guide dog school&#8217;s eightieth
year in business&#8230;since 1929. This is a great affair, and there are about
three hundred registered&#8230;and registration closed on July 31st. So this is
the final count, with about 150 guide dogs in attendance. There will be
several workshops for us to attend, plus city [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m going away for a few days to celebrate my guide dog school&#8217;s eightieth<br />
year in business&#8230;since 1929. This is a great affair, and there are about<br />
three hundred registered&#8230;and registration closed on July 31st. So this is<br />
the final count, with about 150 guide dogs in attendance. There will be<br />
several workshops for us to attend, plus city tours. Friday we all go to the<br />
banquet where there will be entertainment, a musician has written songs<br />
about our school. There will be demonstrations in the front parking lot of<br />
hybrid cars used to train our dogs due to the silence of those and that is a<br />
concern for the blind community, bills going through Congress about adding<br />
noise not just for the blind, but for other pedestrians as well. Then<br />
workshops for hints for travel from a friend of mine who runs the computer<br />
company who writes software for our gps for the blind, and he has been all<br />
over the world with his guide dog. . Another meeting is a trivia game for<br />
questions about our guide dog school and we will be divided onto teams.<br />
Wonder if there is a prize. Saturday night is karaoke. That session is<br />
called, &#8220;howling hounds&#8221;. It all sounds like a blast&#8230;and this is my second<br />
family since I have been a grad for over thirty years.  I&#8217;m looking forward<br />
to the whole thing and meeting some people I have corresponded with for the<br />
last months on a list. The hiking pack is all packed, and heavy as I didn&#8217;t<br />
have cash to pre-order dog food so that adds weight, but will get Red Caps<br />
in Amtrack stations to help me. After that going to take couple of limos to<br />
get me to and from the school and from where I live&#8230;been saving for months<br />
for this whole thing. So hope my transportation works well. Finally, there<br />
has been one bite on the present house, and that was too low in cash, so<br />
figure maybe if this lady wants it, there will be some negotiating. If not,<br />
well, the market is slow, but the realtor feels it will sell sooner or<br />
later. And I haven&#8217;t found a place to go yet, and continuously looking for<br />
that even if it&#8217;s a mobile home. The problem my own limited income makes it<br />
hard. Well that is all until my return since I&#8217;m not dragging this computer<br />
down there although it would be fun&#8230;not going to do it&#8230;the pack is<br />
enough on a train and through stations since my left hand is occupied by the<br />
harness handle while walking around. I like to have my right hand free for<br />
doors and so forth so the pack is the perfect thing&#8230;used to use this one a<br />
large pack, for carrying groceries a couple of miles, or for carrying<br />
laundry back and forth to Laundromat&#8230;very handy but heavy once packed for<br />
me.. Well wish us luck&#8230;It will take us about six hours to get from here to<br />
New Jersey where the reunion will take place. Bye for now, friends, and keep<br />
cool&#8230;.(picture of Alleycat packing a hiking pack in front of an air<br />
conditioner, and a wolf looking on sitting by looking on) P. S. put Harpo as<br />
the wolf since all German shepherds are descended from wolves and I call<br />
them my little wolves joking of course since all of mine have been gentle<br />
souls.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>another update and welcome to August</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/09/another-update-and-welcome-to-august/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/09/another-update-and-welcome-to-august/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:04:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/08/09/another-update-and-welcome-to-august/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello friends. This is  not my favorite month..August the curse of my life
usually. This means, having plenty of cold drinks in my house, no time on
the beach, and plenty of time in front of my air conditioner. It also
explains partially, why I have not posted for a week or more much. Several
crisis rule my [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello friends. This is  not my favorite month..August the curse of my life<br />
usually. This means, having plenty of cold drinks in my house, no time on<br />
the beach, and plenty of time in front of my air conditioner. It also<br />
explains partially, why I have not posted for a week or more much. Several<br />
crisis rule my life right now. I am still in search of my next residence,<br />
which is an ongoing battle. I practically spend 24/7 looking on the web for<br />
somewhere to go. The battle began when my dear mother went into the nursing<br />
home due to Alzheimer&#8217;s disease, and I got involved with some lousy lawyers<br />
and a trustee I can&#8217;t get along with, (we always disagree on everything),<br />
which is why I&#8217;m just begging to leave this place&#8230;or at least part of it.<br />
The other part is, the lawyers involved have let my mother&#8217;s house<br />
deteriorate giving me no cash to renovate anything, so repairs remain undone<br />
as I have no money at all to do it&#8230;and I just about make it through every<br />
month due to the fact Medicaid laws will not allow me to have my mother&#8217;s<br />
money, a crock as far as I&#8217;m concerned. But anyway, I remain grateful I have<br />
done some preparation here for my own disaster, but what I will do when<br />
these preps run out? That is the question isn&#8217;t it. I can tell you, I will<br />
never go to a government camp&#8230;they can chase me all across the globe until<br />
I drop before this happens. Anyway, what have you done to prepare for the<br />
oncoming problems? I was reading a site earlier today, where folks seem to<br />
be calling for a revolution&#8230;what will happen especially to the elderly and<br />
disabled?? I don&#8217;t know, except I do know that the worst can happen to the<br />
most vulnerable in our population. At one  point, my friend and I discussed<br />
seriously, getting out of the country, but recently, I was advised that<br />
maybe it was better to remain here due to the fact that as an American I<br />
might receive worse treatment abroad if things break down. I don&#8217;t know if<br />
this was the correct analysis or not&#8230;as I haven&#8217;t had cash to travel<br />
outside the U. S., although many blind friends have done this with their<br />
Seeing Eye dogs who make all possible. Well, in case you decide to stay<br />
here, I am not sure it will make a difference as I have seen that the<br />
government is using gps to mark residences here. What happened to the old<br />
concept of privacy?? Gone forever?? Who knows. Unless folks jump up finally,<br />
and say, &#8220;I have had enough&#8221; we will head down the road in the same<br />
direction I fear. Meanwhile, back to my six bottles of Gator Aid, my<br />
lemonade, my tall ice cream soda&#8230;so much for nutrition in a month I just<br />
can&#8217;t tolerate. I used to live in California, Sacramento, where the temps<br />
range from thirty or less to 120 degrees, and this is why I don&#8217;t live there<br />
any more. When August goes, for us in the northeast, there is another worry<br />
on the front of our battles, the hurricane season which, in the past has<br />
done us no favors beginning in September until November, and then winter. So<br />
for those in the northeast, prepare. Remember just because we haven&#8217;t<br />
experienced a real hurricane for a good while, it can still happen again.<br />
Then, those on the site, if you will and everyone out there, pray for me.<br />
This old house with no repairs can sustain nothing if it gets worse. What is<br />
the answer to my current circumstances? Perhaps to wax philosophical,<br />
religious, I need the Lord to come. That is the answer these days I believe<br />
as a Christian. Otherwise, I have no answers as this is the worst situation<br />
I have ever had the displeasure to be involved in after many conflicts<br />
throughout my life. I have always been able to get myself out of a fix, but<br />
not this time. The other time I couldn&#8217;t happened when I was a kid. The<br />
teacher I had in public school was a hired Braille teacher, and her pleasure<br />
was to constantly scream at her class and verbally abuse us daily. I got to<br />
the point, I wondered if I really was stupid which she spared no words, each<br />
and every day. This time of entrapment, lasted from age nine to twelve, when<br />
this witch was discovered by someone I think, because one day she was there,<br />
and the next, she was placed with a nondisabled classroom, who she continued<br />
to similarly torture&#8230;I was next door and heard her yelling. I received<br />
thankfully, a new teacher after years of torture, but by that time, it was<br />
too late, the damage was done. I went for years afraid of adult correction<br />
of any kind, and had completely shut down talking to teachers&#8230;but slowly<br />
over a year&#8217;s time, she did improve on my circumstances, and I finally<br />
learned to read&#8230;something the former witch didn&#8217;t teach me. You will be<br />
glad to know, I went on to become a high honor student in my public high<br />
school, and on the Dean&#8217;s list for my college career&#8230;so I had conquered<br />
that early battle. Honestly, I cannot see an end to my present battles. That<br />
is unfortunate as if I could just jump into a car, and drive away?? Believe<br />
me, if I could do that, it would have happened a year ago or more leaving<br />
this old house and estate in the trustee&#8217;s lap since  her name remains on<br />
the property not mine. Well friends, back to that nice tall lemonade&#8230;Until<br />
then realtors keep coming into this house keeping me busy cleaning up the<br />
place on a daily basis. Also we have the battle of the realtors&#8217; complaints<br />
about my pets, something I told them to &#8220;shove it&#8221; and &#8220;Don&#8217;t talk about me,<br />
my dog, or my pets any more&#8221;. So wish me luck. It is time to clear the deck<br />
of medical problems my small friends have as two guinea pig boys had a nasty<br />
fight this weekend, and are on meds for the next two weeks&#8230;wish us luck.<br />
My dog has been on meds for itchy problems for the last two weeks, and I&#8217;m<br />
climbing further into debt with these things going on. I also have few<br />
groceries for this month too&#8230;is this the end times? You bet&#8230;but if I get<br />
hungry I can break into those supplies I was   hoping to have for<br />
awhile&#8230;hey didn&#8217;t I say, &#8220;the disabled get it in the mouth first?&#8221; see the<br />
current plans the government has for us, health plan?? Okay bye for<br />
now&#8230;and I&#8217;m yours, the sleepy Alleycat who gets no rest over the keyboard<br />
in search of new digs&#8221; The alley isn&#8217;t enough&#8230;there must be a place<br />
somewhere?? Right?? Take care until my next blog&#8230;and prep on.</p>
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		<title>just a quick reminder for those on east coast and elsewhere</title>
		<link>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/07/30/just-a-quick-reminder-for-those-on-east-coast-and-elsewhere/</link>
		<comments>http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/07/30/just-a-quick-reminder-for-those-on-east-coast-and-elsewhere/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:38:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alleycat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://preppersblindalley.com/2009/07/30/just-a-quick-reminder-for-those-on-east-coast-and-elsewhere/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, have you done your hurricane preps yet? OOps, don&#8217;t you think it is a
little late to just be getting started? This is not an issue if you don&#8217;t
live in the regions where this will happen, but then, other sections of the
country get tornadoes, and that isn&#8217;t fun. I didn&#8217;t prepare years ago for
hurricanes. And, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well, have you done your hurricane preps yet? OOps, don&#8217;t you think it is a<br />
little late to just be getting started? This is not an issue if you don&#8217;t<br />
live in the regions where this will happen, but then, other sections of the<br />
country get tornadoes, and that isn&#8217;t fun. I didn&#8217;t prepare years ago for<br />
hurricanes. And, I am sad to say, I paid for that. I recall one that came by<br />
our coast in the mid eighties, and although I did the thing and had water in<br />
the bath didn&#8217;t understand why. I just sat in front of the TV like some kind<br />
of nut, and watched it until the wind came along and knocked our electricity<br />
out. Hope you aren&#8217;t doing that by any means. It is time to not<br />
procrastinate, and get to the store to get those preps going. I won&#8217;t go<br />
through those necessaries here unless somebody asks, because I think I may<br />
be preaching to the choir. Needless to say, I evaluate where all things are<br />
that I will need for the season at the beginning of it in June. This year<br />
bought another led lantern for the house which is more long-lasting than<br />
ones I already have. And, sprung for a couple of small flashlights should I<br />
need sighted help during some disaster. Other than this all other cooking<br />
and communications gear is in place.  Every year that goes by without a<br />
hurricane here is a good one since the house isn&#8217;t in good shape in the<br />
first place. Well, the cat is sitting on the windowsill of the old house<br />
looking into the cloudy skies, while her wolf is at her feet on his bed.<br />
Stay safe all this hurricane season..Alleycat signing off.</p>
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