I just
want to say this once: We should lock the legislators together in a
small room with only a bathroom until they have solved Minnesota’s budget to
avoid a disastrous governmental shutdown. Both Ashley and I have
health insurance through the state, what in the hell are we going to do if the
government shuts down? What if we get sick or sustain an injury
which requires medical care? I guess we’ll be SOL, but that’s not
even the worst of the matter. What about the people who depend on
WIC or EBT to provide enough food for their families? What about the
people who need Section 8 just to afford safe housing? The
legislators have already made sure that they will get a paycheck through a
shutdown, but what about the working poor within in the governmental
sector? Who is going to help the government workers who will be out
of a job and unable to pay their bills or buy groceries? I’m not
just talking about the secretaries and clerks either. You have to
consider the police, sheriff, correctional officers, parole officers, postal
workers, sanitary workers, and county courthouses are all government run
entities which will be negatively impacted by a shutdown. My biggest
fear surrounding the budget standoff here in Minnesota is what will happen to
our criminal proceedings if the government experiences a shutdown?
This was
brought on by an email I received from Brian just a few hours ago. It
was a forward from the County Attorney’s office which stated that the Discovery
was available for pick up on our case. The Discovery is a process of
obtaining and exchanging information between the prosecutor and the defendant
both before and during a trial. In our case, the Discovery will tell
us about the strength of the case the prosecutor has built against Alberto and
will help us to make a decision as to which path we should take. After
the Discovery has been reviewed is typically when the defendant will attempt a
plea agreement to obtain a reduced sentence for the crime they have been
accused of. I am praying with all my might that Alberto will not
have to plead guilty for a reduced sentence and conviction just to avoid the
dire consequences of a guilty verdict from a trial. Alberto did not
in any way, shape, or form commit a crime let alone what he is being accused of
so having to plead guilty to save himself would be demoralizing in the
extreme. We’ve talked about this hundreds of times and he is
prepared to do whatever the best option is. He has turned to God in
this hour of need and his renewed faith has brought him peace. If
Alberto is found guilty of a felony, he may never be able to obtain legal
status within the United States and in fact be barred from reentry for LIFE. Está
gacho te digo…
Friday I was struck by a raging case of tonta. I swear I’m not sure how I made it through the day without inadvertently frying the computer system or something equally dire. I asked every dumb question known to data processing, such as any question I managed to answer myself the very second I verbalized the problem. My personal favorite was when I spent several minutes looking for a ‘check’ that would have been attached to a registration form had they not provided their credit card number. Since I had a similar problem a few weeks ago with the same solution, I didn’t say anything about it so only my dear readers here know about it. I felt like I needed to write ‘I’m stupid’ on a post-it note and tape it to my forehead so that people would stop asking me questions. Luckily with Judy there for the morning and Kristy for the rest of the day hardly anyone came up to me anyway. I’m just a lowly data processing peon in the hierarchy of the non-profit world. Woe is me. I’m still gearing up for an actual job search which I plan on beginning on or shortly after July 1st. I still feel like I need to stay with this company for as long as possible so I don’t leave them high and dry during the busiest season of the year, but I also can’t leave the job pursuit to the last second. Apparently, since I am currently employed, I am a much more attractive job candidate. I have deduced this for the sheer number of phone calls and emails I get on a weekly basis in response to my resume at various websites.
Well this
week has turned out to be more interesting than advertised. I haven’t
gotten anything that I planned on doing started, and even managed up put myself
a little up the creek in the process. I am completely out of my
medication as of tomorrow and it is only by a stroke of luck that I know
someone who is on the same medication as me. My dear Lizzy, bless
her soul, is taking Wellbutrin at half the dose I take. She gave me
two of her pills which should keep the head splitting migraines and other
withdrawal symptoms at bay until I can get a refill from my doctor on
Monday. I love how the Wellbutrin has helped me move past the
debilitating sadness and overwhelming anxiety I felt before I started
medicating again. I still get sad and anxious at times, but I am
better able to control how I handle these emotions. The emotional rollercoaster
I have dealt with for years has calmed down considerably and I have to give the
credit to my doctor who had to convince me to try medicating again. After
my previous experience with Celexa which robbed me of my ability to feel
emotions and my motivation to do anything, it took a lot of research and
presentation to convince me to give it a shot. I feel alive and
capable again for the first time in years. That is, when I don’t
forget to take the pill in the morning which causes migraines within hours of
missing a dose.
I need to
figure out how I am going to send the money to Noemi and Agustin in Cuidad
Juarez. I don’t feel comfortable with sending the money to their
bank account by Western Union since they offer no guarantees of any sort. When
I called the bank in an attempt to verify I had the correct routing number,
they told me that they couldn’t help me if the account holder wasn’t also on
the line. I think I’ll call Agustin tomorrow and see if he can
manage to get to a Western Union or a Money Gram so we can do it that
way. I want to get Alberto’s suitcase up here as soon as possible so
that I can take him clothes at the jail so he has something appropriate to wear
for the trial instead of his jumpsuit.
I’m still
hoping to hear from Lance about the situation with immigration. I
wonder if we can arrange Alberto to be seen by an immigration judge to be
granted parole while the criminal case is pending. They were going
to do it for us back in 2008, so I don’t see why they would deny it this time
around. I still have to send an email out to the Senator’s office
and see if he can help us out a little this time. Maybe I’ll compose
something right now. At least immigration is a Federal institution
so a state shutdown would have no effect on them.
"Not
everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is
faced."
-James
Baldwin
Ciao
Spanish
words/phrases from this post:
Está
gacho te digo: It’s (bad/nasty/ugly/horrible) I tell you
Tonta: silly,
foolish, stupid (not vulgar or overly strong)
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