Distribution of...

I have been thinking a lot about money; so what else is new?

Recently I have mentioned having some extra money. That is due to a small amount of life insurance that my father had.

Two of the really big purchases for me were a new utensil basket for the dishwasher and some pants.

I was at the point where I was running out of pants before it was time to do laundry. I was alternating skirts more and having to plan very carefully so that I would have the preferred attire for when I was going somewhere.

The previous dishwasher basket has gradually been getting holes in the bottom. We got it in 2017, so I am not complaining about that. (Otherwise, we did need to replace the heat coil pretty recently, but it runs great and we are glad to have it.)

The basket was built as a grid because water needs to be able to flow in and out. The downside to that is the lattice work is thin and eventually break down. That led to there being sections we could only use by putting tablespoons face-down. 

The new one is bigger, but also it is not at all worn down. Loading utensils is easier. One of my sisters said -- and it was only kind of joking -- "This is so luxurious!"

My point is that the 1% (maybe even as much as the 5%) don't get that level of satisfaction out of additional money. They already have more than they need or use, so it is just ego and the numbers can be pretty abstract.

We are doing so much better than so many people. We have the things we really need and we get to have fun pretty often. I could have asked my sisters to give me some pants, and we would have gotten the new basket eventually. 

At the same time, a little boost made a noticeable difference. 

I am thinking about it more because of some fundraisers that were going on.

One friend's daughter was raising money for a seizure dog. Another's is raising money for a dance intensive:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-seizure-dog-for-gracie-ohair 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-hazelle-attend-ruth-page-dance-intensive 

When I was first on Twitter there were a lot of crowdsourcing things going on. I gave to a lot and retweeted and got really invested in seeing people achieve their goals with help from others. Those were mainly artistic projects.

Over the years it changed. Now it is mainly people just needing to live: medical bills, car troubles, needs to relocate, and sometimes just a ride to the doctor. 

I've had times where I could give more and times when I could give less (I did give away some of that insurance money), but still I would re-post and at least sometimes people got what they needed.

Now so many people have abandoned the platform that I re-post but I am not sure it matters. For these two, since Gracie needed more and had the closer due date I have only given to her so I could share that and was posting it daily. Tomorrow I will start with Hazelle.

It is frustrating feeling that as needs grow we are more cut off from each other.

I will keep posting because I don't know what else to do. I also pray for them. It would be so much better if instead there were equity in pay and health coverage. 

As it is, we are at a time of gross economic inequality and safety nets are being slashed.

You can argue that a seizure dog is more important than a dance intensive, but both should be so possible.

So I pray and retweet and share. As long as I am at it I am going to add two more people that I worry about and pray for here, even though the one was most recently retweeting another person's need, because there are always more people.

https://x.com/wordglass/status/1914709627125539197

https://x.com/TheOperaFanThem/status/1923008953664852451 

I know there are many other people that can use help.

Learning that and helping is among the most important things we can do.