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Military Spouse Business Association Quarterly Newsletter
Features Rikki Winters & All In One Desktops
Military Spouses Residency Relief Act
H.R. 6070 Thoughts from MSBA co-founder, Navy Wife and owner of AttaGirlGifts, Joanna Williamson:
I don¹t know if you can remember the last time you stood in line at the DMV to get a new driver’s license, vehicle registration, or to change your vehicle’s title. Invariably there was some piece of paper you were missing, some signature you weren’t authorized to give but you dutifully did the best you could under the circumstances. And if all your planets were aligned, all of God’s blessings were upon you, you actually managed to leave relatively unscathed. Now imagine you have to go through that again, in two years time. And again for say, oh, the next 20 - 30 years of your military life. Overly dramatic? A bit, I suppose, but moving every two years of one’s life (sometimes even more frequently) is the common bond all military families share. Now let’s add the fact that we have to change our voter registration every time we move. We vote in states for which we may never see the benefit of our actions. We vote for candidates we barely know. But given our high sense of civic duty, we vote.
Then there are the taxes. I’ll leave the exact numbers to the experts but given our modern lives and the necessity for two incomes, many military spouses work only to receive less than their civilian counterparts due to being overqualified for their position or because of the net effect of moving from job to job, place to place. |
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In the 1940’s Congress recognized the need to protect servicemembers from the ‘small’ hassles of relocation due to federal orders and allow them to choose a permanent state of residency – driver’s licenses, vehicle registration, voter registration, property rights and taxes could all remain in one state. That was then, when military families didn’t own two vehicles let alone property in the wife’s name. In today’s military families, I dare say that even if a military spouse knows she (or he) is required by law to change their state of residency, many do not. After all, if our servicemember is allowed to keep a permanent state of residency, and, if by law, when two people marry they become one, then why shouldn’t the spouse be able to do the same? But we can’t, so the irony is that while our servicemembers literally put their lives on the line to uphold and protect, we are the ones who must either be out of compliance with the law or be subject to the hassles from which our own spouses were freed decades ago.
One way military families have eased the burden of each move is to register property and vehicles in the servicemember’s name only. Given that an estimated 92% of military spouses are women, this also becomes an important issue of women’s rights. I am deeply troubled by the potential risk military wives expose themselves to when they have nothing to their name yet have worked equally as hard to earn it.
I speak for myself, a military wife who sees that the residency relief we ask for already exists for our husbands. Our service members have had over 60 years to test out the merits of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and all we ask is that Congress kindly extends that relief to us, the military spouse. Driver’s |
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licenses, the DMV, voter registration and taxes may seem trivial in the grand scheme of our current world events, but in the life of a military spouse, they can be monumental. Our lives and the lives of our children revolve around our next move. The burden of each move falls predominantly on the shoulders of the military wife. Mentally preparing ourselves and our families, and then its physical execution consumes much of our existence. Allowing us to alleviate the burden, as has already been done for our husbands, is a huge measure toward concretely thanking a military family. I am always grateful for the kind words when I am thanked for my service, but Congress now faces the opportunity to put something much more behind those words. What you can do to show support:
- Pass this along to your military spouse network.
- Contact your Congressman (and your spouse’s) and make them aware of HR 6070 Military Spouses Residency Relief Act and ask them to be co-sponsor. Tell them your story about fees, hassles or loss of income associated with residency and a military move. You can check http://www.military.com/military-report/spouse-residency-relief-act by clicking on H.R. 6070 to see which Congressional representatives are sponsors and the progress of the bill.
- Contact Congressman John Carter’s office to say thank you. |
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Rikki Winters married into the Navy in 2002 after graduating from Norwich University with an Electrical Engineering Degree. She soon found out how difficult
it was to find a job as a military spouse because of
the frequent moves. Few companies are willing to
invest time and money on a transient employee.
Rikki finally reached her limit in 2006 after five moves
and four jobs she was laid off while her husband was deployed. She was frustrated from not being able to
utilize her degree and having to settle for any work
that was available. She still had not landed an
engineering related job. She then decided that she
didn’t want to work for others and would rather set
her own working hours.
Starting All In One Desktops in 2007 has given her a chance to utilize her degree. It has also taught her
about business management, networking and customer service. Even though starting her own business has been hard work she admits that she enjoys it.
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Rikki started All In One Desktops to give one on one assistance to senior citizens new to computers. This idea stemmed from Rikki’s grandparents desire to stay in touch with family and friends via the Internet. But they were intimated by the new technology. Her companies’ solution was to sell an all in one computer package that included basic setup and training for senior citizens. Their mission has since expanded to help anyone, no matter the experience, setup and connect to the Internet so they can stay in touch with family and friends.
Rikki’s all in one computer eliminates the need for a computer tower. All the components that were in the tower are now located in the all-in-one's monitor. These space saving and low energy computers consist of only a monitor, keyboard and mouse. To learn more about All In One Desktops visit
http://allinonedesktops.com
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In this deeply personal collection of stories, 48 wives share their total embarrassments, tragic experiences, and tender emotions as they tackle the daily dramas of military life. By turns touching and hilarious, Household Baggage Handlers opens the door on an often overlooked world, one requiring the independence and survival skills to:
? Move overseas while six months pregnant? Manage labor, delivery, and a newborn … without a spouse
? Nurse a critically injured husband back to health
? Confront the sight of someone in uniform at the front door
? Shelter five children alone during a tornado
? Cope with bats, blizzards, and broken cars during long deployments
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Read all about it in their own words. With anecdotes from WWII to the present, these compelling stories capture a sisterhood forged by extraordinary circumstances.
Marna Krajeski grew up an Air Force brat, served 5 years on active duty as an Army helicopter pilot, and has been an Army wife for 19 years. She attended the College of William and Mary and earned an MA in English at Austin Peay State University while they were stationed at Fort Campbell, KY. A former college writing instructor, she’s mother to two teenagers and a regular contributor to Military Spouse magazine. Her articles and essays have been published in Off Duty, Married to the Military, American Baby, The Military Times, SO Rhode Island, and the Providence Journal. |
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Strengthen your business credibility with one of MSBA’s downloadable logos. Logos are available online at milspousebiz.org. Click on “Logos” on the home navigation bar.
 
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Gain instant access to other military spouse businesses, as well as register your own business for free!
We know firsthand how difficult it is to advertise your own business to your best market. By unleashing the power of the web, we’re gathering a comprehensive list
off all military spouse owned businesses.
Register today at milspousebiz.org then click on “Add to Red, White and Blue Pages TM” in the USER MENU section.
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Founding Members:
Lanette Lepper Rebecca Poynter Joanna Williamson
You have received this e-mail because you are either a member of MSBA or you have indicated interest in receiving updated information from milspousebiz.org.
Should you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, please reply to the email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
July2008 www.MilSpouseBiz.org
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Thank you All In One Desktops for
an awesome gift idea. All that and
the price was very competitive.
Daniel Ward
Note: All prices in US Dollars
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