You will NOT believe the story on Ella's social security card. I found it last night and the exuberance hasn't worn off yet!
I was helping Tim with his homework which, on Mondays, involves cutting pictures out of magazines that begin with the letter of the week. I reached into our junk mail recycling bin and pulled out a couple of magazines, one featuring upscale home furnishings ("Frontgate") and the other, a Lands End Kids clothing catalog.
I flipped through the latter flat and ripped out three or four pages for Tim to cut. I told him, "That's enough."
But, fidgety, I turned my attention to the Frontgate catalog. I didn't find any pictures there, so I went back to the Lands End catalog.
Tim said that he wanted more pictures but, thumbing mindlessly through the catalog, I repeated myself, "That's enough pictures."
And the catalog just kinda plopped itself open in the middle and something stiff like a business reply subscription card stuck up. Except it wasn't. It was a junk mortgage refinance envelope made to look important and ... Ella's social security card, in an unassuming envelope! I nearly fainted ... at the thought of how close I came to NOT finding it.
And I asked myself, "How many other important documents, stuffed unawares inside hefty clothing catalogues, have I thrown away?"
I mean, you never know when mail goes missing. Like two summers ago when our mail was stolen, we didn't know, except our neighbor returned the empty envelopes he'd found on his lawn several days later. What if he hadn't? What if the crooks didn't toss it so close?
So, I'll be shaking my catalogs from now on. And I might call them and ask them to cut back on my mailings. Christmas is long over but I'm still getting a catalog a week. I need to talk to my postman1 and find out whether he is intentionally stuffing my mail into magazines. He might be!
But, I got a certified letter from one of the medical practices involved in Ella's care. I mean, the letter was a bill. And I wondered, "Why can't the SSA send cards certified?" How much more does it cost? And what price privacy and security?
Jeff says, "All's well that ends well."
I can't be so sure. The emotional toll was huge.
And this was the very eve of my going over to the Neptune office for a replacement card. Which, you know, also comes through the USPS.
Proof of age, no problem. I have her birth certificate. But, proof of identity? I had planned on bringing some of her medical bills, we have plenty of those. I'm not sure if that would have been accepted. When this happened with Chris, I had his baptismal certificate already. But Ella will be baptized on Tax Day. And you know Jeff wants the tax deduction already without the hassle of refiling or getting an extension.
Well, now that I've found the card, he has to get to work, setting up her bank account and finishing the taxes.
1 Update: I just spoke with the postmaster. He said that they've been training a new carrier since the middle of last week. He didn't acknowledge that stuffing mail inside magazines was deliberate. Instead, he admitted that, due to how the mail is cased, mail and magazines could occasionally get interspersed. "It doesn't happen very often, but it can happen," he said. That's even worse, isn't it? I mean, I'll be shaking magazines for my mail with little potential payoff.
I mean, you never know when mail goes missing. Like two summers ago when our mail was stolen, we didn't know, except our neighbor returned the empty envelopes he'd found on his lawn several days later. What if he hadn't? What if the crooks didn't toss it so close?
So, I'll be shaking my catalogs from now on. And I might call them and ask them to cut back on my mailings. Christmas is long over but I'm still getting a catalog a week. I need to talk to my postman1 and find out whether he is intentionally stuffing my mail into magazines. He might be!
But, I got a certified letter from one of the medical practices involved in Ella's care. I mean, the letter was a bill. And I wondered, "Why can't the SSA send cards certified?" How much more does it cost? And what price privacy and security?
Jeff says, "All's well that ends well."
I can't be so sure. The emotional toll was huge.
And this was the very eve of my going over to the Neptune office for a replacement card. Which, you know, also comes through the USPS.
Proof of age, no problem. I have her birth certificate. But, proof of identity? I had planned on bringing some of her medical bills, we have plenty of those. I'm not sure if that would have been accepted. When this happened with Chris, I had his baptismal certificate already. But Ella will be baptized on Tax Day. And you know Jeff wants the tax deduction already without the hassle of refiling or getting an extension.
Well, now that I've found the card, he has to get to work, setting up her bank account and finishing the taxes.
1 Update: I just spoke with the postmaster. He said that they've been training a new carrier since the middle of last week. He didn't acknowledge that stuffing mail inside magazines was deliberate. Instead, he admitted that, due to how the mail is cased, mail and magazines could occasionally get interspersed. "It doesn't happen very often, but it can happen," he said. That's even worse, isn't it? I mean, I'll be shaking magazines for my mail with little potential payoff.
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