Hallo again GN friends and supporters. Many thanks for all your kind and supportive comments. I am now into a better frame of mind. The most important medication for me each morning is a beautifully made fresh coffee in my china mug and Bach before 7. Whatever is happening, that combination raises my spirits and shows there are still some lovely things to enjoy in the world. I am still struggling with pain and the swelled and red shiny leg, and after yesterday feel like I have done 10 rounds with Mohammed Ali! However, after my restorative coffee and Bach, I hobbled into the bedroom to get dressed and wearily start to think what I need to do first today. I put the tv on to see the local news, and had left it on a channel - cant remember which - but joy oh joy - never mind the news , that will be repeated endlessly during the day - it was English National Opera singing G and S HMS Pinafore.
Whilst I love a lot of more serious operas G and S have been part of my life since a child. I usually take part in one about every two years. Every time I am in one, I wonder why I dont do more, but by the end of rehearsals and performances , I am happy to wait for the next time. So have sung over the years different roles from the heroine to Buttercup and it was the perfect pick me up for this morning. I am now dressed and into "sort out "mode. For me, I think rather than be given antibiotics for things, I should be prescribed a Rosenkavalier or Cosi Fan Tutti, and as an added bonus of a Mikado to add joy!!
So , seriously, I now am slowly putting things into some sort of order, collecting together paperwork for different things, and writing a list of things I need to get to today. Only last week I had given a card into Upfront, thanking all the staff for their constant help to me and to everyone else. Every town could do with a place like this, and it actually must save a great deal of money for things like NHS too. It is a community action group, where there are a few paid members of staff, who really know their job, and many volunteers too. So you can be both a client and a volunteer at the same time, as they have club meetings, run a pantry where you can buy various things and some of the local supermarkets give them short dated food, which works very well. Decent quality food is used , so providing some variety and a guaranteed meal for those who are struggling. Then there is a womans group and a Mind group, you can borrow from the jigsaw and book pile etc. The staff have appointments to see people and other work they do running the community car scheme etc, but it is the ability to go there 5 days a week in a crisis or stressful situation and know that you will either be helped by them to deal with whatever, or they will point you in the right direction.
So in particular, those endless forms that people have to fill in for benefits or whatever. They then change the form or some small thing chances and there are people whose skills at reading dense gobblydgook forms are poor and that is again the sort of panic moment when they receive a 10 page document that they now have to fill in again. The majority of people have no intention of being dishonest, but the way questions are worded, it is easy to misunderstand what you should be writing. That is something I can shine at , as English is my degree and am used to running departments and advanced classes and TEFL, so besides reading through something complicated and giving my view as to its meaning, I have also been able to speak on their behalf to the dup or whoever and explain in icy tones that even with my level of english I could read point 2 in 3 different ways and what exactly do they mean!!
They also have information about whatever is going on locally and support a womens refuge and much more. So , while I am fiercely independant and dont want to have to ask for help, on occasions like this they are a godsend. The added stress of knowing you are being treated unfairly and should not have to be sorting it out, and what really enrages me is , when I contact them and state categorically that this is wrong, I am an honest person, and can actually prove that I was in a meeting in North Yorkshire on the day they insisted I was doing whatever in Ealing!! To call me or imply that I am a liar is definitely "red rag to a bull" and the steam can be seen rising from my ears. But of course, they say that everyone says it isnt them or whatever, and no doubt there are people who do try and con their way. But in my case, surely commonsense would prevail, and if you owed money genuinely, the quicker you pay the better so that it doesnt get these huge amounts added on and on.
Anyway enough of that. I know that now I am calm enough and organised enough to check on the progress and see what happens. The fact that Nichola works for the community group, tends to hold more sway than me saying the exact same thing. Well I love the autumn time and as an ex teacher this is the time for a sense of action and order, so with the help of G and S and of course GN's support too, I shall weather this storm .
Very grey outside and quite misty too so just the day to be going in offices and ringing up departments et etc. By the way, despite what was going on, when I spoke to the wretched man on the phone, after Nichola had spoken to him, and he said he wasnt interested in anything than getting the money, and if he didnt get a phone call from the people he worked for , he would be coming to either clamp or take the car. I was so incensed by his attitude that at least I was able to very coldly, (and hopefully with menace) tell him that I had taken photos of my car etc etc. that I may need it to go to hospital if a problem I had did not improve. If I came out and found my car either gone or clamped, or the slightest scratch on it , I would not only be sorting out the mistakes made by them, but I would then definitely be suing him, for unlawfully causing problems when I had told him the situation. Once it is sorted out I definitely will be writing a letter - sent recorded delivery- an email and intend to write to local papers and on local radio, about not just the actions but the deliberately menacing tone of the letters and the stress caused. Who knows I may have found myself a new hobby - sorting out jobsworth types who obviously chose the job as they think that gives them power over people. Well in the long run , you will not beat me mate! I am not small or slim enough to be called a yorkshire terrier, but "by gum" I definitely wont let go , when I know I am in the right!!
It has gone 9am now and lovely Hummel concerto to add to the pleasure of the morning, and I need to get out and do a bit because it looks as though we might have rain soon. The yellow peril can rest in peace , I will go in the car, get the local paper, do as much to ing and fro ing and probably come back make something to eat and fall asleep.
Ah ha . Have just seen my squirrel friend run along the fence and is now darting about on the grass, starting to think where he is going to hide nuts. Two pigeons are walking sedately around pecking at fallen leaves. It really looks as though it should be the first day at school
Wishing you all a successful and pleasant day. Oh to finish on a mad note, I did see en passant that the demented D Trump has decided that he is going to rename a lake and take it over from the canadians. So I am following his example and I now pronounce the place he lives in as the "Oval Lunatic Asylum" and could suggest that his sidekick Farage could join him there!
Hope that by tomorrow all I have to tell you is going down the market.
