OK, here’s the latest that I’ve heard on Chuck. On Thursday I emailed my sister, Susan. I asked her where her son, Mitch is living. Mitch had stayed with Chuck for, I’m guessing 4 or 5 years after Mitch moved down to Sacramento. Mitch was married about 3 or 4 years ago. I thought he they had moved to Reno, but no, he was still in Sacramento. Because of the email to Susan or just happenstance, Mitch went over to see Chuck on Friday. He too was surprised at the difference since the last time he had seen Chuck. The last time Mitch had seen Chuck was about six weeks ago when Mitch had dropped by. At that point everything appeared to be pretty normal. Chuck was Chuck, quick with a response and had his views on things.
This time when Mitch visited Chuck didn’t have electricity or phone to the house. He was much quieter and Mitch said he was taking longer in his responses and appeared to be very forgetful. He was also unsure about Mitch’s questions. Of course this alarmed Mitch because it was very much unlike Chuck and after living with Chuck for all those years Mitch has a pretty good read on Chuck. Mitch was wondering if Chuck may have stopped taking a medicine that had been prescribed for him while was working at the prison. Mitch said that he had been treated while at the prison for a manic-depression “type” of illness, but he wasn’t sure what it was. This was one of the contributing factors to being released from the CDC.
Anyway, Mitch is taking the day off today and is going to go see Chuck and see if he can get more medical information from him. He does want to try to convince him to let him take him to a hospital for a medical evaluation. Of course in a situation like this, a person’s mind runs the gamut of possibilities; nervous breakdown brought on by stress or lack of prescribed medication, thyroid imbalance, who knows what else. It’s all supposition at this point.
Mitch and Forrest (Susan’s other son) have been talking and both are in agreement at what needs to be done based on Mitch’s visit. Both feel a real sense of duty to Chuck as he helped them and Susan’s family quite often with financial and emotional support. The first thing Mitch wants to do is get him to the hospital for an evaluation.
The second thing is to stop this foreclosure process but find out exactly how much is owed. Through talking with Chuck, Mitch did find out that Chuck made his last house payment in Nov. or Dec. of 2007. That means he owes somewhere between $6,500-$10,000. Mitch thinks that includes mortgage payment, taxes, and insurance. Chuck has been living in his house for, I think Mitch said, 18 years. So that means he has a lot of equity in it and it would be a shame to walk away from. He owes about $115,000 on it and the payments are around $1,000 per month. He doesn’t know how much he is behind in his power bill or if he has car insurance at the time. If he was paying for some type of medication and let it slide, that could be the reason for the lapse in everything else. This is just my subjective opinion though based on what Mitch told me last night, but Mitch did tell me that Chuck has always been VERY protective of his credit and very responsible for his bills. So, as you can see, it is a very complex situation.
Depending on what Mitch can find out today will dictate the next step. One option that Forrest mentioned is that he will contact the mortgage company and buy the house himself and let Chuck live in it while he gets on his feet again. That way the house will not be sold at auction. Maybe when things get better again, Chuck will be able to buy the house back from Forrest.
Jim
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Jim, thanx for the info., if he was prescribed pills he might have be able to get a medical retirement.Even this late.
Needs checked with the union. A medical condition they might yet be able to help. A medical gets 75% ( or close to it) tax free. I will talk with you more on the phone.
Jim; thanks for the update. Sounds like Chuck has got some angels watching over him. Body chemicals, hormones and such can go awry and all of a sudden you find your self really out of whack. The Garcia/Rouzaud clan is a stubborn lot, let's pray Mitch is effective to get him the help he needs.
Jim: If Chuck had medical problems, he should have been able to retire medically at 50%. It could be taken to court against the State that if Chuck had medical problems then his medication could have been an underlying cause of anything that might have gone wrong at work causing him to be let go. Just how long ago was it?? He would have 2 years to file an action for the Whistle Blower thing which should have protected him. Now if it comes out that he had medical problems and the medication was a factor in it, he could file for work comp or even for medical retirement and would have 2 years from the date of finding out that the medication or medical condition could have been a factor in his being released.
See what you can find out about that from him and really press for the medical evaluation. He really needs it to progress in anything. 50% of retirement is better than nothing and he could also be permanently disabled with the manic-depression thing. Try to get across to him that there is a light at the end of the tunnel but he needs to fight for it.
Call me if you want and I can tell you about some of what needs to be done. Illa
I called Mitch tonight and he was a Chuck's house. Chuck was there so I couldn't really ask Mitch much of what he found out today. I did ask Chuck if he has car insurance and he wasn't really sure which leads me to believe, no, he doesn't.
Also, I asked Chuck if he's taking any medication now, and he said, no, he isn't. He did say that he had been taking 4 or 5 types of medications, but right now he wasn't, for whatever reason.
I told Mitch that I would forward the address to the blog so he was apprised on what Ben and Illa know about the CDC retirement, prescriptions issues. I did tell Chuck to allow Mitch to take him for a medical evaluation as I had noticed a change in him since the last time I talked to him. Also, I affirmed to him that Mitch and Forrest have a plan to allow him to keep his house so do not deal with anyone that wants to offer a 'short sale.'
Jim
Mitch called again after Jim was asleep. I spoke with him for a couple of minutes and he said that after spending all day yesterday with Chuck, he feels that Chuck is more depressed than ill. He said that Chuck did agree to seek medical attention, but prefers to go by himself and not have Mitch there.
This all complicates the already murky waters:
* doesn't Chuck have any retirement for the decades of service to the Air Force?
* what was the exact situation under which he was realeased from CDC--did he quit, or was his position terminated?
* what Rx has he been taking all this time and is he self-medicating?
* does anyone really KNOW what Chuck's been up to all these years?
Jim has a lot of faith in Mitch and after talking with him last night, so do I. He's a very articulate, intelligent man.
He said he'll call Jim this morning, so I'm sure Jim will be updating you all shortly. He's still asleep right now: he swears he IS a morning person, just morning doesn't start at 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday for him!
Also I think he had a pretty bad headache in the night...
Ben, Jim got your message, but we had company until 8:30, then he was on the phone with Mitch and Jack and updating this blog. Please call today if you want, and I'll be hounding him on this end. We've got a lot of issues going on with our surgeries and the kids situations etc.
Andrew and Rachael both got pink slipped this year and they are very discouraged. We spend a lot of time with them, trying to keep their courage up, helping them through this first big blow to their careers.
Randy and Claudia are moving and have a ton of stuff going on in their lives too.
Winston Churchill quote again: The history of mankind is one damn thing after another!!!
Sheesh! I tell you what: we sure can't wait to see you all this summer. And have a good laugh and a good cry over this all. Now, who gets the straw to drive down and get Chuck and FORCE him to this thing???
I have to tell you, I'm feeling much like Glenda expressed, sad/happy. When I hear of the goodness and help demonstrated by family, even in a this time of sadness, it brings joy to my old cynical heart.
Post a Comment