THURSDAY, FEB. 14TH, DAY 5 - HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I'd laugh, if it weren't so painful - my tooth broke (today's challenge). The irony is that I posted something yesterday about the issue of dental care for adults on welfare, so I will phone KDSB this morning to find out if that covers my broken tooth ..

Porridge for breakfast - bringing PB & J (yet again) to work for lunch .. eating the same thing day after day is something I never thought of ..

Not laughing now; I just phoned KDSB and it'll cost $150 to fix my broken tooth. I don't have $150.

So I phoned the dentist and was told that if you are on Ontario Works, you're allowed $600 per year for dental work to relieve pain, which is certainly different from what I heard from KDSB first thing this morning. The receptionist made it sound fairly straightforward, so I called KDSB again for clarification.

NOT straightforward: Apparently the process involves letting your case worker know about the problem, going to the dentist, having them fax a quote to your worker to approve (or not) the dental work that you need. There is no hard and fast rule to determine whether or not it may (or may not) be approved; it is done on a case by case basis, and there is no way of determining how long this might take.