November 29 to December 05, 2009 Milestones in the life of Charlie Knight

Church, Greek Orthodox, Orthodox Colleges Orthodox Seminaries, Orthodox the True Church,

Charlie Knight
and
his milestones for

November 29 - December 05, 2009

contact him by
email at ni_ck@ymail.com or ceknight@student.stcc.edu or
U.S. mail at 32 Byers Street, Apt. # 101, Springfield, MA 01105
if you can offer help or assistance in any way.

Tony Lalikos was to sick to pick me up so I walked to Church at (St. George Greek Orthodox Church). I left after church and coffe hour, to go shopping but George called me and offered me aride back to my apartment. I accepted as I had gotten weak all of a sudden. Maybe I was thinking about the Memorial for Austin Miller two weeks ago, the one for Mark Hall last week, and my concerns about Wesley Carr this week. They were to discharge him, but could not find a bed in a skilled nursing facility, so it was back to this apartment.

I heard from Wesley many times in the week with ups and downs, most notably Friday night when he thought he might bleed to death (many nose bleeds) if he went to sleep. Wes has many, many physical troubles that have manefested themselves. On top of that a hospital may say he has one thing, and the follow up by the primary care physician can not find that, but indicates something else. Regardless of what you think about Wes in the past, please pray for him and that God will heal him in many ways and show him a happy life.

I used up almost all of the food stamps (don't know how to check how much is left) and went to the Cancer Concert rehersal Tuesday night. Marsha is a very encouraging lady at the 360 Bernie Ave. rehab. center. Hence I acheved all my goals that day and was discharged. I just happened to have slept before, could not do the same by Thursday, but the appointments were over with now. As I may have said before, I had to apply for medicare parts A and B and I could not do that without applying for Social Security Benefits. However, since I could not get employed with any of the degrees I had, my check would be about 90 dollars a mongth. It would have been $195 or so but $98 needs to go to the part B medicare payment. So, reluctanly, and since I need to pay for money I borrowed after the accident, I have reluctantly applied for SSI, federal welfare. The amounts I can earn on this have apparently been raise. All I know is that social security said they have made a decision on my case, Well I found out I will be getting $1.10 in December for November as that is what is left after the insurance payments are made for Nov. and Dec. But I have received this week no less than 7 communications from Social Security. I need to contact HAP and report my new earnings, but I do not really know what they will be. The insurance payments were goinig to be $91 a month and no Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). Yet then the amounts are to be $98 a month for premiums. I got the letter saying what things would be and went on line. There I found out my premiums were up to $110.50 a month. If Mr. Obama wants to pass his healthcare plan, well all of government has to "get on board" and work with him. As it is, the Social Security people are doing by actions what the opponents of "ObamaCare" said would happen. They are raising the insurance rates. $91 when applications were made at the end of October and when I got to sit down with the Social Secuity people "face to face" (as I wanted to do it that way) then the payments had risen 7 dollars to $98 a month. Some of the documents they said about me were wrong and so I went to see them on that, they took my papers and changed things. Then, a few weeks later and when I am committed to this thing I go online and find the payments will be $110.50.

The most confusing thing is I get one letter saying what will happen, then another one comes saying no something else will happen. I will contact Sue Godwin of HAP and promise to tell her how things actually "shake down". I assume that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will pay some of my fees and that will give me more Social Security money. BUT I fully expect that this rise will be ofset by a DECREASE of the SSI payments. I still do NOT understand why I had to apply for SSI in October/November and WHY if I did not apply then I was told I could NOT apply for SSI if I did not do so before January 4th. I was pushed into this welfare system and I do not like it.

Like I said the last few weeks; I have had "electric shocks" go through my body, and a tingling like you get when a portin of your body has "gone to sleep", which for me is almost all the time. I am scared. Please pray for me. Nerves like electric shocks. I am afraid that these things will be with me the rest of my natural life. My Doctor let me cut medicins and that helped some. I had x-rays taken, and the report came back that nothing was broken after my 2am fall when the legs gave out.

Wednesday night I went to the Amity Lodge # 172 Christmas Dinner at the Cavalier Resturant. I wanted to ask a lady that had been so helpful to me in the rehab. hosptial to escort me, but I could not get her name and ask her early enough.

Thursday I did almost nothing but just as I was going to go out to the Beat Team Sector E Crime Watch meeting, I was given a paper saying the new rules that we are to sign and give back to them. I was astounded and enraged. This attempts to change the rules again, change the lease agreements, and do so in a represive way. I think the property management company has missed the point. This is a rental housing unit, not a program. They are to manage the inaniment portions of the property, NOT try to micromanage the lives of the tenants. Some tenants want to see the contract with Home City Housing spelling out what they will do and what they are responsable for. Others are thinking it might be good for the US Housing and Urban Development office to investigate their usage of Federal Funds sent down through the State. Others are concerned about the working conditions at the office and the capricious manner in which Home City Housing seems to hire and fire its employees. We asked for a protocol regarding suspected "Medical Emergencies" so it does not take 6 hours to finally get into a room to see if a person was OK. When they finally allowed medical personell into Mark Hall's room he had been DEAD for hours. What if his life could have been saved by appropriate medical intervention. But for lack of a procedure agreed to in advance all of this could not happen for hours. We want a protocol in place and some of us will not stop until something is in place citywide and no one has to go through the HELL that those of us that cared about Mark had to go through when we knew he had not made his daily phone call and something was wrong. BUT we got none of that, just a rehashing and restrictive set of overnight rules with some threats of people being evicted if they did not agree to these and follow them. It was just an attempt to put down the tenants and we will not lay down and play dead any more, we are not scum, we are people, regardless if we were homeless once or not. We are not Bernie Nadoff's stealling millions of dollars and causing people to have ruined lives and even committ suicide. We are instead people that have had a rough time in life and are attempting to build a new life.

I recently bought a book by President Obama called "the Audacity of HOPE" and that pretty much states where the Tenants Union stands, audaciously having hope that the property management people will "get a clue" on how life works and become a bit more humane in reallity, not just "for show" appearances at events and some token expenses given. I was irritated and finished the emails and all at about 11PM.

Friday night I was to go to the "Semi-Formal" dance at my college. But I got back from purchasing a food processor, and missing a connecting bus and being taken in the wrong direction to rest for a bit and then check my email before going up to the college. WRONG MOVE, there was a reply letter from the President of the Board of Directors of the corporation that owns this building, I had sent a copy of the new "overnight rules". She was also astounded at the heavy-handedness of the management letter. So I replied to her, showed the email to our Parlimaterian who would tell our Secretary. I also conferred with our Vice President and we agreed to set up a meeting Sunday night after the Cancer Concerta at St. George Greek Orthodox Church (I am sining in the Coimmunity Choral) . So, by the time all this was done and emails sent out it was again near midnight, so much for the semi-formal dance, my people needed whatever assistance I could give.

Also my friend in the Berkshires was denied Meals-on-Wheels in Berkshire County that might be able to have helped a disabled fellow through Elder Services which is 35 years old. The links at thier main website at http://www.esbci.org/default.asp, I assume will be changed soon to reflect that cost-cutting decisions that have cut out needed help to the disabled. My friend called many times into Saturday morning, finally letting up after 2AM when he did finally go to sleep with his head proped up so he would not bleed to death. This man is alone and should not be treated as badly as he has been. But they did the same with me. A home health aid got afraid of my neighborhood due to rumors from a time over 20 years before and because of her "report" two of the major health systems declaired my building "unsafe" without any additional review. I was also left without the services they had promised. I got along, but psychologically and physically I was damaged for weeks.

I am concerned about my back and during this week my arms, hands, and such seem to be "buzzing" all the time. Don't mind telling you I am scared. I go to see the NeuroSurgeon next Wednesday to see if I must have another operation on my neck, that could leave me unable to swallow. Please Pray that God's will be done in this. And that I clearly know what HIS (God's) will is.

Thank you for your prayers. The neuro surgeon still wants to do surgery on my neck and take ot the intervertebral items and put something else in and fuse/screw these vertebrae in my neck, and there is a chance that if they do this, I will loose my ability to swallow.

Also Friday night I heard of the guilty sentence for Amanda Knox. I view it as a guilty and possibly worthless evaluation of the Italian system. I have my comments but here suffice it to say I will not knowingly buy or use any Italian wine, food or anything that would bring revenew to Italy. I might even refuse to buy or use any services from any entity that still does business with or invests in Italy for the next 26 years, or until Amanda Knox is released. My own feeling from what I saw in the case was that they found the killer, but the Italian mind in 1972 when I was there could not accept the reality of such a thing as murder without adding in some fantasy world involved in sex and other weird things that are not where most people live. It is a very repressive society and not one that takes kindly to people that do not conform to its own warped sense of what is the "correct" thing to do. I set up a page on this website for comments about this unjust perversion of justice.

Saturday I went caroling with the youth of our church and then the priest dropped me off at a company where I had bought a food processor second hand but did not find the tube that goes into the "shoot" when I got home. They could not find it there but did have a non-electric unit that I had had once before. I bought that for $6 or so and a microphone for the computer and some jacks as I could use the plastic food preparer when I finally get a place established at the family home so I could use it without any electricty usage. Have printed out signs about the meeting tomorrow and my friend from the Berkshires called and I am listening to "Celtic Women" on PBS.

Tomorrow is the Cancer Concert, hope those that can come do so. It is only $10 and students $5 and all the money goes to fight cancer.

I have made a tri-fold resume like a brochure, saved it as a PDF file,and gave it to the Food Stamp people in case they know of a job when I am able to work . I am looking for some work as soon as I can find some.

It has been almost two months since Sunday, October 18th and the Western Massachusetts Arthritis Foundation Walk. BUT YOU CAN STILL DONATE. I was/am Captain of a team called the "3 linkers" (click on the name "three linkers" to see a card that can be printed to show the website address) and hope people reading this will come to the website at http://wmaw.kintera.org/ioof and join our team or donate to the cause and preferably both. More information is at this link, click on the image (or this link) to see and print it. If they want to they can send donations to me and I will put them on the website, all I ask is tell me if you want this to be made as a donation in the name of someone or some organization. Arthritis does not just cripple old folks, it hits hard also the young, like the 2 year old. Let's all get behind this and put Arthritis out of business in this country as we did Polio.

Donate to the team today, help us reach our goal. We would like to raise over 500 dollars, but set our goal at $200 because not that many folks have joined us yet. Be a help to your community, join or give to the Arathritis Foundation through our team, the "3 linkers", it is NOT o late to donate.