Prior Lake, MN -- This morning I phoned one of the repair places Monaco had referred me to and was able to take the motorhome in to Lakeland Coach in Burnsville, MN. After checking out the systems, they told me it was, in fact, the inverter that got fried and will have to be replaced. The good news is, they can get a replacement inverter shipped in the next couple of days and get the coach right in. So in a couple days and $1,200 later I'll probably be good to go. I guess it could have been worse. I could have spent alot more money; some of the appliances might have needed to be replaced, but looks like they're all okay. And it might have taken weeks to get in to have the coach repaired. So in spite of this creating some difficulties, I am feeling much better about all of this.
What I am NOT feeling better about is my sister's situation. After working 11 years teaching in the Catholic school system here in the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis, she was laid off this spring because the school she has been teaching at the last two years has a reduction in enrollment. Turns out the wonderful Archdiocese seems to think it is above justice for its employees. Seems they think it's okay to push other employers to provide just working conditions, going so far as to support and encourage unionization and writing encyclicals about justice for workers, but they themselves don't think it's important to pay into the state's unemployment system. Since they don't pay into it, laid off employees have no protection, no safety net. Isn't that just so hypocritical?!? And on top of that, since she has her Master's in Education, she is having a difficult time finding someone who will hire her because that means they will have to pay her more than someone right out of college with just a Bachelor's degree. And she is "overqualified" for other jobs she has applied for. I am a Catholic and always have been and always will be, but that doesn't mean that I agree with or even like certain bureaucratic/hierarchical decisions that get made by the church leaders. It is easy for me to see why people turn away from organized religion! I am so angry but don't know that there is really much I can do to help my sister.
Sometimes life is so unfair and it makes me so angry, but I don't know what to do with all of that. I don't understand why some people have such difficult lives, through no fault of their own. My sister is smart and kind and good and hardworking and competent; she deserves the best things life has to offer. She doesn't deserve to worry about not having any income, not having health insurance. These are things I just don't understand. Where is God in this kind of stuff? So if you are reading this, please say a prayer for my sister Shirley that she finds rewarding, fulfilling employment OUTSIDE of the church!!
Since it looks like the Mo will be ready to go Wednesday or Thursday at the latest, I will probably head east to visit my friends in Green Bay. I have reservations for four nights in Door County, which is supposed to be a pretty cool place. It's the peninsula that sticks out into Lake Michigan just below Green Bay. From there, I don't know. I am still planning on Maine in mid-September and am on track with the Habitat for Humanity people for at least a week there. Having a destination and ETA are helpful to me because that provides framework for my travel planning.
It has been nice having access to the library here in Prior Lake. They have little study rooms with doors and a desk that allows me privacy when using my computer. It would be nicer if I had wifi at "home" because I always need what I don't have with me. But that's kind of the story of my life.
So looks like after just two weeks here I will be moving on. If I had to have these electrical problems, I'm glad I had them here where I have at least one family member to hang out with and share meals with and use her bathroom. Still, if I hadn't plugged into 220 volts, possibly this would never have happened. It's another example of trying to save money and ending up spending way more. Kind of like that shortcut through the Boundary Waters. Maybe there's a lesson in this somewhere. If I figure it out, I'll share it with you but it's likely this is the kind of thing we all have to work out for ourselves anyway.
travelinlady
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment