Cranky and Sick
It's icky, overcast, windy and drizzly today... which kind of matches how I feel. Since yesterday I've been fighting one of those killer colds; y'know, the kind that defy medication and suck all of the energy right out of you? Bleh!! I didn't get to any of the homework I was hoping to complete before Tuesday, and probably won't be well enough to go to class on Tuesday anyway. *Sigh* One good thing, though: at least I didn't have to go to Shasta County for court today. Making that 3+ hour drive back and forth and testifying in court when I feel this crappy would NOT have been fun. So, some god-or-other was looking out for me.
The only things I accomplished since Friday was to finish another chapter of my Trek story (and sent it off to my betas for review and editing), send out five resumes and compose a letter to The Governator as a follow-up to my previous complaint against the EDD. My letter reads something like this:
Re: Follow-up on Complaint against the California Employment Development Department
Dear Mr. Schwarzenegger,
This letter is to follow up on my letter to your offices on March 23, 2010 in which I explained the deficiencies in the handling of my Unemployment Benefits claim by Employment Development Department (EDD), and to your response of April 15, 2010.
Sometime after your letter was received, I received a call from a man who identified himself as "Mr. Richardson" (916-654-7401) from the EDD. He told me he was in receipt of my complaint to you, and gave me two options: (1) I could wait another 12 to 14 weeks (!) for a response from the EDD on my follow-up appeal to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB), which acknowledged receipt of my appeal on March 22, 2010; or (2) I could transfer all of my classes at school to night courses and reapply for benefits through Mr. Richardson, and he would see to it that my benefits are begun from that point (but without any arrears for the benefits previously denied to me from October of 2009 when I started school).
I have thought long and hard on both of these options... and decided to, yet again, turn to you for action.
I see no reason whatsoever why my appeal, filed in March, should take another 12 to 14 weeks to be addressed by the CUIAB. I filed the appeal in a timely manner, and fully explained to the Board why I thought the EDD's handling of my case was completely erroneous. If I am expected to be "timely" with all of my letters and responses to the EDD, I think it only fair that the EDD be required to make SOME effort to respond in a timely manner themselves.
Second, I do not see any reason why I have should have to drop out of the classes I am currently taking when there is no job yet made available to me that would compel me to make such a drastic change to my schedule. When a job is offered to me that requires me to take nighttime or on-line classes, I will certainly do that; however, there is NO compelling reason given by the EDD why I should make such a change simply for them. They aren't offering me employment. Further, throughout this whole fiasco, it has been the EDD's continued assertion that because I was going to school I was not eligible for benefits "under the law"... Now, the EDD is changing its story, stating that I CAN go to school and get benefits, but ONLY if I go to school at night. It seems as though the EDD interprets "the law" to mean whatever they want it to mean at any given moment -- which means applicants for benefits, like me, are constantly put into the position of having to struggle against unclear and ever-changing criteria. Is there a law that specifically states that no student can get benefits or isn’t there? If there IS, then why is the EDD now "breaking" that law? And if there ISN'T, then why have I been constantly denied benefits since I started school in October of 2009?
The people of California should not be subjected to this kind of blatant duplicity!
Something HAS to be done about this situation, and the EDD has shown NO inclination whatsoever to correct the problem themselves. So, again, I appeal to your office to DO SOMETHING, and demand that my full Unemployment Benefits be forwarded to me immediately (retroactive to October 2009, and with a continuance throughout 2010) without any further delays or obfuscation by the EDD or anyone else.
Thank you, again, for your time and courteous attention to this issue.
How does that sound? Cranky and convincing enough? Don't mess with me when I have a cold, buddy!
::Achoo!:: Cough!::Hack!::
The only things I accomplished since Friday was to finish another chapter of my Trek story (and sent it off to my betas for review and editing), send out five resumes and compose a letter to The Governator as a follow-up to my previous complaint against the EDD. My letter reads something like this:
Re: Follow-up on Complaint against the California Employment Development Department
Dear Mr. Schwarzenegger,
This letter is to follow up on my letter to your offices on March 23, 2010 in which I explained the deficiencies in the handling of my Unemployment Benefits claim by Employment Development Department (EDD), and to your response of April 15, 2010.
Sometime after your letter was received, I received a call from a man who identified himself as "Mr. Richardson" (916-654-7401) from the EDD. He told me he was in receipt of my complaint to you, and gave me two options: (1) I could wait another 12 to 14 weeks (!) for a response from the EDD on my follow-up appeal to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB), which acknowledged receipt of my appeal on March 22, 2010; or (2) I could transfer all of my classes at school to night courses and reapply for benefits through Mr. Richardson, and he would see to it that my benefits are begun from that point (but without any arrears for the benefits previously denied to me from October of 2009 when I started school).
I have thought long and hard on both of these options... and decided to, yet again, turn to you for action.
I see no reason whatsoever why my appeal, filed in March, should take another 12 to 14 weeks to be addressed by the CUIAB. I filed the appeal in a timely manner, and fully explained to the Board why I thought the EDD's handling of my case was completely erroneous. If I am expected to be "timely" with all of my letters and responses to the EDD, I think it only fair that the EDD be required to make SOME effort to respond in a timely manner themselves.
Second, I do not see any reason why I have should have to drop out of the classes I am currently taking when there is no job yet made available to me that would compel me to make such a drastic change to my schedule. When a job is offered to me that requires me to take nighttime or on-line classes, I will certainly do that; however, there is NO compelling reason given by the EDD why I should make such a change simply for them. They aren't offering me employment. Further, throughout this whole fiasco, it has been the EDD's continued assertion that because I was going to school I was not eligible for benefits "under the law"... Now, the EDD is changing its story, stating that I CAN go to school and get benefits, but ONLY if I go to school at night. It seems as though the EDD interprets "the law" to mean whatever they want it to mean at any given moment -- which means applicants for benefits, like me, are constantly put into the position of having to struggle against unclear and ever-changing criteria. Is there a law that specifically states that no student can get benefits or isn’t there? If there IS, then why is the EDD now "breaking" that law? And if there ISN'T, then why have I been constantly denied benefits since I started school in October of 2009?
The people of California should not be subjected to this kind of blatant duplicity!
Something HAS to be done about this situation, and the EDD has shown NO inclination whatsoever to correct the problem themselves. So, again, I appeal to your office to DO SOMETHING, and demand that my full Unemployment Benefits be forwarded to me immediately (retroactive to October 2009, and with a continuance throughout 2010) without any further delays or obfuscation by the EDD or anyone else.
Thank you, again, for your time and courteous attention to this issue.
How does that sound? Cranky and convincing enough? Don't mess with me when I have a cold, buddy!
::Achoo!:: Cough!::Hack!::
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