Saturday 16 April 2016

Its Been A Funny Old Week

Not a single thrift shop have I visited this week , I was very busy work wise , then i got my wage slip and realised i've been wasting my time on the new work stream that came in ..ho hum it would appear that once again the wage stream quoted bears no resemblance to the wage produced , way below minimum wage im afraid , after expenses it barely breaks even . Perfectly legal we are all classed as self employed on a zero hours contract . As i was told its not there concern that the work they provide  has travelling time of over 30 minutes between jobs, being rural the jobs can have well over an hour between , the jobs are supposed to take 10 minutes and its the 10 minutes they pay for , there is the chance to earn £12 an hour in commission at each job , the reality is you may earn £12 per week if your lucky ..lol they pay the 10 minutes at £1 a job , im good at my job and i can clear 20 jobs a day in town maybe 5 if the jobs are rural . Plus you spend at least £20 a day on fuel !
I rang complained and they promptly removed the work from my computer ..lol...
They're manager rang and asked what was going on , i told him my work had gone and not to bother sending anymore because it didnt pay . I then found out that all the office staff had been made redundant along with most of the management , so quite where i stand at the moment with the outstanding wages owed , I have no idea .
This is a porridge thought. If your poor how much can you grow to hate porridge? Im afraid ive reached porridge saturation levels over the winter , no amount of adding fruit , jam or syrups is making it any less revolting, ive reached the level of baulking while i eat it . Is there a cure?
Mr Bah Humbug is now officially morbidly obese but hes still not diabetic the nice lady doctor apologised to him because theres little that he can do about it , the drugs he takes on a daily basis cause an average weight gain of 20-30 pounds a year , he will need them for life . He also had a pain clinic appointment where they told him theres nothing more they can do . So hes very down .
Best laugh of the week he got till 3pm yesterday before he remembered it was his birthday . He always says not to bother , so we didnt . Really we had bothered, so now he keeps calling us names , his other thought was, we could stick a candle on a ryvita instead of birthday cake . Or perhaps dip it in Chinese 5 spice for old times sake .
His weight always gets him down, hes very self conscious that hes perceived as a fat idle benefit scrounger by those who see him .
Helpful comments about getting a free gym membership , or getting a gastric band arent helpful, there is so little he can do safely, once he gets to the stage where he is wheelchair bound he will be in a better situation , theres not many people can say that is there ?


11 comments:

  1. I'm sorry about these recent complications, drugs have so many unwanted side effects; I know that from my own transplant medication.

    I've followed your benefit problems. We have been lifetime carer's for our son who is now 42 (my husband is now retired) From the age of three our son became disabled through a brain tumour. Two more surgeries for more brain tumours plus a stroke six years ago have left him far more disabled and visually impaired. All we have been given over the years is a side to a toilet, physio exercise sheets, a plastic board with two sides which they said he could cut a sandwich on using his one good hand; and a long handled back scrubber! Wheelchair and everything else has been bought out of his benefits.

    He got no benefits until he was 19 when he got income support. Turned down for DLA initially, applied again and had to appeal. Just prior to Christmas they changed income support to ESA and the stress of getting all the letters etc was awful. He is about to start dialysis, so now I will have to report to DLA who will tell him (it will be me doing it) to apply for PIP. As for m ental health problems - what ever level they are - are, as you know, awfully difficult to present.

    People don't always realise how difficult it is for genuinely ill and disabled people to claim benefits as so much publicity is given to those who probably don't deserve it.

    I wish you well.

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    1. THe disabled situation has been rather thrust upon us in the last 18 months, we knew all the pins and plates in his neck were a gamble and the loss of use and feeling would give him problems in the longer term but it was the fact that he's now got discs that have died at the base of his spine that can't be operated on that is the big problem, pain is apparently of no consequence according to the DWP, he was told he could take tablets for that . SAdly the pain clinic say that for the pain to be made bearable he would be drugged to unconciousness.

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  2. Happy Birthday Mr Bah Humbug for yesterday. My birthday twin :)

    I'm so sorry about your work problems. It sounds a dreadful company to work for though-x-

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    1. I currently work for 2 companies , one is the dreadful one mentioned ,the other is run by a pair of retired coppers who dont employ anyone under 45 even in the office , positive age discrimination at its best , but sadly they dont have much work up north"

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  3. Our local radio often highlights the work regime you have experienced and campaigns for change. It is a ridiculous system. Hope you find something more suitable soon.

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    1. Ive reached the age where your like the invisible woman as far as the job market is concerned, plenty of stuff i can do well but i dont fit the "demographic" that they wish to employ , which is basically age discrimination by another name

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  4. We've been there pain management and all. Tom was told that there was some kind of job out there that he could do but nobody wanted him. His was disc problems.
    Other people didn't see him crawling to the toilet or in agony with the pain. I completely sympathise with you.
    We are now both retired and so do not have the daily stress of it all but for years we were looked on as scroungers of society. Pleased to say that some of the people who condemned us are now in the same situation. As they say, what goes around comes around.
    Hope things get better for you.
    Briony
    x

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    1. he had a job interview last week, he could do the job , they were glad to have him , but there insurers wouldnt entertain him . He does want to work , its just the insurance aspect every time

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  5. Kate could you do surveys like valued opinions to bring in extra money, ok not a lot averages £10 a week for 15 to 20 mins every night, vouchers for supermarkets.
    Print out hundreds of flyers offering your services,deliver everywhere you can think of nearby?. perhaps cooking, cleaning for elderly , on above minimum wage?. There is a real need for that service in community?.
    Families hate the fact social services send different people all the time, lots are willing to pay for a friendly face to do little chores and keep an eye on mum at same time.
    Please don,t be offended just a thought.
    Regards Kirrie.

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  6. I have always done the surveys , the only one that ever pays is YouGov , the others im not of the demographic they require so never get offered surveys beyond the initial sign up ones . Living in a very rural area all the usual extra income jobs have been snapped up already , Avon , catalogue delivery etc all have people in the area . Gardening is all done by Graham the gardner . There is a huge demand for carers in the area , without the correct qualifications , insurance etc you will rapidly be reported to the Local Council by the care agencies provided by the council . I have friends this has happened to and the fines you are threatened with are in the thousands. You cant even provide a couple of hours childcare with being a registered childminder. Plus we are in Council Housing which makes it worse as you cant run a business from home in our area . I have been caught and threatened with eviction for selling on ebay !!
    Its all a bit of a viscous circle , we are fortunate in that we have a huge garden and i can grow a lot of the food we use

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  7. re porridge fatigue - would 'converting rolled oats' to granola or flapjacks help? my standby flapjacks are 4oz or less sugar, 4 marg, 6-8 oats. Melt marg & sugar, add oats about 20 mins or so in 375 ish oven, mark squares while warm, but don't cut till cool. good luck! Sine

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