Sallie Mae is a Psycho-B**** (Kvetch with me!)

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Sunday March 11, 2012 · 9:09 AM PDT

2012/03/11 · 09:09

Hey Everybody!
It's a good thing Sallie Mae is closed today because I have some DMV type anger going on here. So I owe a gazillion dollars in student loans, which is another conversation altogether. The payments come out to over $1500 monthly. About $450 of that goes to Sallie Mae. I have a problem making the payment each and every month, but usually it has nothing to do with my checking account.

makettle

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Monday December 26, 2011 · 4:39 PM PST

2011/12/26 · 16:39

Hello Friends! Welcome to the Depressed Kitchen, which describes not only the economy in general, but specifically as it applies to me. I have a huge stash of Depression era cookbooks, and what's left of Grandma Kettle's memories of her childhood in that time.

In this edition, I will out line either how to do a pretty good brunch on the cheap, or how to keep your in-laws visit happy and short. Pa's mom isn't liberal friendly, much younger than my mom and lives in AZ. You can imagine how she feels about me. Let's just say we both like the living arrangements. It's unfortunate she takes her peevish crap out on my kids, but whatever. If they don't get to know her, it's really her fault, IMHO. She avoids them, me, even her own son like the plague. Like I said, whatever.

Poll

16 votes Show Results

How do you deal with conservative relatives?

16 votes Vote Now!

How do you deal with conservative relatives?

Keep feeding them

4 votes

Keep them liquored up

4 votes

Invite them to volunteer with you this season

2 votes

Fight it out

2 votes

Pie

4 votes

Can't stop thinking about it

makettle

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Tuesday October 18, 2011 · 2:32 PM PDT

2011/10/18 · 14:32

Ok, so I can't stop thinking about it. Every day when I get up that's one of the first thing that runs through my mind as I mull over my ever-expanding day. Those thoughts rattle around until about 10 or so every morning.

makettle

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Thursday May 12, 2011 · 3:02 PM PDT

2011/05/12 · 15:02

There isn't much left of me. I am tired. I can't remember being this tired before. Sure, I was pretty beat when each of the babies came, but I knew it would end. I knew that they would grow, and one day hold their own bottle, not need diapers, walk on their own. I don't know when this will end. My grandparents lived through the Great Depression, with no health care, and 4 kids. They were homeless for a good portion of it. Maybe they were just made of sterner stuff. My mom says that she didn't remember it as hard times, rather one big adventure. She doesn't remember being hungry, or shoeless, or living in shanty towns. I am not there yet; if I get there will my kids think it's just a great adventure? Somehow I don't think so. I'll keep working.

makettle

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Saturday December 26, 2009 · 8:57 AM PST

2009/12/26 · 08:57

Happy Holidays! May whichever deity you choose bless whichever holiday you observe. (Do you hear me Bachus?)

Pa and I were talking about the abortion caveats in the bills that were developed in the House and the Senate. Pa was very upset and animated about the prospect of the rights of women becoming abridged. He is such a feminist; which is probably why I have kept him around for the last 20 years. He was more than a little disappointed in my almost apathetic response to his outrage. "Ma, why doesn't this make you angry?"

I tried to explain, and he looked at me as if I had two heads. "Write it," was the only thing he would say.

makettle

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Sunday July 12, 2009 · 9:14 AM PDT

2009/07/12 · 09:14

Hello Friends and acquaintances, Happy Weekend! I hope your grills have been hot, you beer cold, your children occupied, and your refrigerators full. Welcome to another edition of the Depressed Kitchen where I try, (sometimes in futility), to feed a family of 4 on about $100 a week with the aid of my collection of classic cookbooks and Grandma Kettle, a child of the Great Depression.

This week the healthcare debate continues to rage, although I still haven't heard any good arguments against the public option. Also, some information came out from the AG's office that brings hope, and another poster tries to school me on the torture debate, which got me thinking. So come on in, grab yourself some coffee, I got some iced tea, or if your here in the afternoon I've always got cold beer. We'll talk. Maybe you guys can help me shove this whole torture issue back in its box so it will quit eating at my psyche. Or maybe we will just have a few beers, chat, and swap some recipes. That would be good too.

makettle

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Sunday July 05, 2009 · 9:21 AM PDT

2009/07/05 · 09:21

HEY! Happy holiday weekend everybody. What is everybody cookin' today? I just got to know. It is going to be hot here so I'll be grilling for sure. Why don't you come on in for some coffee while I set up the grill. I'll show you how I get that tri-tip so tender. Actually Pa started grilling this way before he gave up his grillin' duties. Pa can't help it he is a really white guy, and he just gets burnt to a crisp in the back yard. Me on the other hand, well my lineage hails from the Middle East, er at least that's what Grandma Kettle says, so maybe that's why the heat doesn't bother me as much.

Anywho, come on in, we will chat about this week in politics, have some good cheap eats, and have a nice visit.

makettle

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Sunday June 28, 2009 · 11:39 AM PDT

2009/06/28 · 11:39

Hello my friends. Welcome to another edition of the Depression Kitchen where I try my best to feed a family of four on $100 a week employing my collection of old cookbooks dating as far back as 1916, and of course Grandma Kettle, a bona fide child of the Great Depression.

I have been MIA for a few weeks I know. Truly, the situation at the Kettle house has required my full attention. First I had to deal with my own deteriorating mental attitude. Turns out that little lecture on torture I gave to my college class did indeed cost me most of what was left of my second job: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Boy, was I distraught.

Sigh Oh well, it had to be said, and those kids had to hear it. So Ma's name made it to the lips of the college president, and now I do not teach there anymore. They stuffed me into a reading lab with drastically reduced pay and hours. I had to go find other work to tread water, so now I am teaching for 2 online schools, running a reading lab, and oh don't forget teaching high school history and working on my doctoral degree. I have had to undergo training out the wazoo. Would former President Bush call me "industrious" I wonder?

makettle

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Sunday May 17, 2009 · 10:24 AM PDT

2009/05/17 · 10:24

Hail and well met my friends. Welcome to another edition of the Depression Kitchen where I try my best to feed a family of four on $100 a week employing my collection of old cookbooks dating as far back as 1916, and of course Grandma Kettle, a bona fide child of the Great Depression.

During Mother's Day weekend I found little on sale. I did find a bottle limoncello and splurged on that. Pa made me a spice cake with cream cheese frosting. We pulled out a whole grain loaf and sliced it, we had some soft cheese, a small jar of really good pate, a few cooked shrimp and a plate of sliced melon. I was in heaven. That and some fresh flowers and nice cards and overall it was a pretty nice day. I hope all of the mothers out there had nice days too. I hope all of you men out there did something nice for your mothers.

This week I fought my own small battle for transparency and the rule of law. I don't think I may have changed any minds, but it had to be done. Let me tell you the story.So come on in, have some coffee, maybe some lunch, while I get what happened off my chest. Be warned, I have linked to VERY GRAPHIC IMAGES!

makettle

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Saturday May 02, 2009 · 11:19 AM PDT

2009/05/02 · 11:19

There has been much discussion these past few days about Arlen Specter, torture, and the loss of cramdown in the latest housing bill. Strange goings on that is for sure. What is also sure is we have not heard the last on any of those topics. So come on in to the Kettle kitchen, have a bit to eat and some tea, and discuss all of this falderal with me.

makettle

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Sunday April 19, 2009 · 3:02 PM PDT

2009/04/19 · 15:02

Hola Kossacks and friends! Welcome to another edition of the Depressed Kitchen where your friend MaKettle tries to do more with less, utilizing my huge collection of cook books which dates back as far as 1916, and of course Grandma Kettle, a bonfide child of the Great Depression.

This week was no different than any other week for the Kettle's and most Americans. We are all still fighting against fear and ambiguity in an effort to provide stability for our families and our future. I think it would be best if I just quit reading Krugman, I usually come away from his articles feeling pretty low, and this week was no exception. Basically he told us that the economy is still going down the toilet, we are just circling the bowl a little more slowly. Everybody raise your arms and yell YIPPEE! Does it feel like a rollercoaster yet?

makettle

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Sunday April 12, 2009 · 11:40 AM PDT

2009/04/12 · 11:40

Hail and well met my friends. Welcome to another edition of the Depressed Kitchen, where I work to make a little bit of money go a long way in my kitchen with the help and guidance of a very large collection of old cook books ranging in dates from 1916-today, along with the help of Grandma Kettle who is a child of the Great Depression.

Those of you following the diaries will know that it takes 3 incomes to keep the Kettles above water due to my house burning down a couple of years back. This week I was let go from my part time job. We knew it was coming, and I thought I had cried it all off already, but when the Dean was on the phone explaining that it really wasn't her fault, (not that it matters), I began to blubber all over again. How much can one person cry!? Sometimes I am just a big fat baby. So, I have enough work to keep the family fed up until Fall. I am looking for more work, but PoliSci/History instructors truly are a dime a dozen. I have a suspicion I was let go less for monetary concerns and more for my progressive voice in all things, but it is only a suspicion. Pa says I should call HR and find out; I told him that when I stop crying about it I might.

Poll

56 votes Show Results

Are you thrifty, low-cost, moderate, or liberal?

56 votes Vote Now!

Are you thrifty, low-cost, moderate, or liberal?

thrifty

27 votes

low-cost

11 votes

moderate

8 votes

liberal

6 votes

pie is yummy

1 vote

Hooray for no suckage!

3 votes

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Sallie Mae is a Psycho-B**** (Kvetch with me!)

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Can't stop thinking about it

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The Depressed Kitchen: Women's Rights = Cooked Goose

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