That's the PPI and CO sorted

Phoned the PPI bods this morning and paid what I owed, which made me proud of myself, then I went to get me hair cut and I no longer have a fringe then I came home and cleared one of my credit cards and closed the account, then the debt management bods to let them know too.

That's saved me £25 a month that I'm going to move over to BC then I'll be able to pay another £200 a month extra too and still have £20 left over for myself!

I can so do this!!

Just had a letter from the DWP about PIP

I'll get the backdated amount tomorrow then every 4 weeks on a Friday until September 2019, so assuming the money appears in my account tomorrow I'll pay Citizen for the PPI dooberry, arrange for an eye test and totally pay off CO which will free up £25 a month which I'll pay BC so that it's paid off sooner 'cos it'll be £100 a month instead of £75 so it won't make a huge difference in terms of paying it off sooner, but it's one less thing to worry about.

I can so do this!!

For easier calculations...

I've just decided that I'll start counting from 1 on each of the levels of Open Learn courses that I do so that I don't get too confused over the numbers of courses I've done, so...

Beginner (Level 1) courses:  57 in 29 days
Intermediate (Level 2) courses:  4 in 1 day so far

Supplements taken

It wasn't too bad today, thankfully!

Got a book to read and review so I'm gonna have the day off studying for the first time in a month so that I can do it, then I'm getting me hair cut on Thursday, so I'll start studying again on Friday and spend all weekend on it too.  Think I deserve a break for a few days!

I've found where the modules are again on the OU site too, so I'll add those to my study plan tomorrow too... you watch me forget where they are by this afternoon though!  lol

61 in 30

Really can't understand science courses... didn't understand most of the course I've just done, so glad there weren't any quizzes on it or I would have failed dismally!!

Really not enjoying this course :-(

Way too scientific and medical for my liking!  The first section was OKish, but when it started talking about science and the brain and hypnotic camels or whatever it was, it totally lost me unfortunately!

👎

Missed out one of the completed courses, so... (60 in 30)

I've already done 3 and started on my fourth, but for some reason I missed out one of the 3 courses and I don't know which one or why!  😐

59 in 30

Just finished my second Intermediate course and that was definitely a level 2 course.

More specialised than the level 1 courses but I'm enjoying it so far!

58 in 30

Just finished the Level 3 course and, like the unexpected Level 2 courses, it was a lot better than I was dreading... it got me thinking more about the stories I write for children and how I can improve them before sending the manuscripts off next time!

Oh dear! lol

Just enrolled on a level 2 course 'cos I'd finished all the Level 1 courses that I want to do...

It's an extract from a level 3 course!!

I took a couple of level 1 courses that were extracts from level 2 and they were OK but a level 3 course is the last year of undergraduate study!!

😨

57 in 29

Just finished the last course of the ones I 'saved' 29 days ago and I've done 5 courses just today!  That equals my record doesn't it?  Or is that 7 in a day??

Either way, I'm going to go back to looking at all the courses and 'save' all the intermediate ones I want to do ready for making a start on them tomorrow!

I could be wrong, but I think the 'beginner' courses I've done this month are tasters of Level 1 undergraduate courses, in which case, if they are, I can cope with Level 1 courses at the Open University as long as there isn't an exam and I'm genuinely interested in what I'm studying.

The pup's just had a bath

Steve's just bathed Mitzi 'cos she was dirty and smelly... she was reluctant to start with but she got lots of praise and a biscuit when she'd come back into the living room and had a bit of a roll around, bless her tiny furry paws!

56 in 29

Just finished me 4th course of the day and enrolled on the last one on my list!!

I'm on a roll!  lol

55 in 29

Just finished my 3rd course of the day!

55 down, just 2 more to go in less than a month!

54 in 29

In 5 hours I've completed two OpenLearn courses and I'm about to start on my third of the day too!

Yay me!
 

53 in 29

Just finished the first course of the day about writing essays, so I'll do the other essay-writing one now!

Supplements taken!

The Calcium crumbs went everywhere, the Iron was a PITA and the multi was reluctant to go down this morning  😒

52 in 28

Such a dull course!  Thankfully there weren't any quizzes to do on this one!

51 in 28

The first half was OK but I'm glad it's over and done with now!  Scored 87% so I got the badge too, but it was a struggle today.

👍

100% on the week 6 quiz

Just taken the week 6 quiz and it was all fine and dandy until the last question, but with Steve's help on the first of the two parts I scored 100%!!

😁

Supplements taken

All 3 of 'em went down without a problem this morning!  Yay!  👌👍

96% for the first week's quiz!!

Just finished studying the first week of my next course and scored a huge 96% in the end of week quiz... how awesome is that!!  Got 100% for the first 4 questions and got one question wrong on the last one... not bad going!

That's me prescription delivered, but...

Me AP has just been delivered and they delivered the ones I was on before, so what was the point of changing the flippin' prescription two months ago??

I give up!

Ooh! It's a badged course!

Just enrolled on my next OpenLearn course and it's another badged one!  That'll mean there are quizes to do at the end of every week and I need to score at least 50% on the two compulsory quizzes at the end of weeks 4 and 8... I just need to remember that I can check the answers in a separate tab if I need to so that I'm not totally reliant on my memory.

I can so do this!

Supplements taken

The Iron disintegrated again, but other than that everything was fine and dandy!

Virus scan started

Just started me weekly virus scan... hopefully my machine will wake up tomorrow morning instead of forcing me to do a hard reboot like the last 2 weeks.

We shall see what happens!

50 in 26

Just finished my 50th course with OpenLearn and I know for sure now that I need to avoid maths and technology courses like the plague.  There's nothing wrong with the courses or anything, they just don't work well with my damaged brain is all.

Gonna unsave the other technology and maths courses I've currently got saved in my profile so that I'm not tempted to try them any more!

I was wrong about the phishing thing

I was wrong in my phishing post... it was a genuine email, just not done as well as I was expecting is all - if it had been Google Mail sending it then it would have had my name and email address in it, but it was a separate part of Google that the message came from so they wouldn't have had access to my name and email address unless they logged in as me which they would need my password for and there are flip knows how many millions of accounts so someone just got lazy is all.  lol

Phishing

Been working on a cyber security course with OpenLearn for the last couple of days and I've just put what I've learnt on that course to use on a phishing email apparently from Google Analytics!

From first look, it seems to be a genuine email from Google... technical words used, perfect spelling and grammar etc, but it wasn't addressed to me personally so the alarm bells started ringing, it used an address I don't use for Google Analytics, so the alarm bells carried on ringing, then there was a link at the bottom of the email asking me to go to a page to update my settings, so I hovered over it and it wasn't a Google address so there's no way I'm clicking on it.

Even a week ago I would have done and I would have been victim to a phishing scam, but thanks to the course telling me what checks to make, I'm free and safe from a phishing scam!  Yaaaaay!

Thank you OpenLearn!!

Taken me supplements

Just taken me supplements and had a nightmare getting them down today!!  The Calcium crumbs went everywhere in my mouth, the Iron disintegrated and the multi refused to go down!  😞

Not good  👎

Just taken me supplements...

Just got back from seeing C and we were talking about vitamins and stuff so I've just taken my three for the first time in forever and the multi is kicking in quick so the cold that Steve's passed on to me has obviously been depleting my vitamin stores again.

Feeling a little bit more human already so I just need to keep taking 'em now!  lol

Gonna have...

It's not even 10pm and I'm going to bed!

Steve registered with OpenLearn this afternoon and enrolled on a course that took his interest... it's an Advanced level course though which is the equivalent to the last year of an Undergraduate course!!

49 in 23

Just finished another course - just waiting for the statement so that I can put it on the page and upload it then I can go to bed.

48 in 23

Considering how much I was struggling with the course last night, I'm really proud of myself not only for getting through the course, but getting a great score on the final quiz too!

Just finished the week 8 quiz and I scored...

43.67 out of 47  👍👍👍

I'm really proud of myself for scoring so well considering I struggled with the week 4 quiz and I got a "very well done" for my score too which has made it all worthwhile!

I'm gonna crack open a bottle of J2O in celebration now!

The week 4 compulsory quiz was...

Just taken the mid-course quiz and it was tough going but I got over 50% that I needed to score on that and another 50% in week 8 so I'm not too worried about it!

Book Review: Between you and me by Priyanka Chatterjee

☆☆☆☆ out of 5

This is a good book, but other than the introduction, the author hadn't been talking to her younger self at all, she's talking to the reader of the book, so the title of the book is very misleading! The only hint that it's written to someone else is just two words at the start of each section ("Dear P,") then immediately goes back into talking directly to the reader! Seems pointless to say that it's written to the younger you when the author barely mentions her younger self!

It's worth having a read of, just don't expect to find out too much from the notes that don't actually make an appearance in the book!

Been a loooong day today

Woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep.  It's now almost 10pm and I can barely keep my eyes open!

🕙

47 in 21

Finished my second Level 2 course of the day so I know, from a very brief glimpse at what Level 2 courses are like, that I can definitely cope with the level, I just need to work on my memory so that I can get through the exams too!

Just about to start on my next course and...

Just enrolled on my second course of the day and this one is an extract from a level 2 course as well!

Basically, 100% of the courses I've enrolled on today have been for level 2 (out of 3) courses even though they are on OpenLearn as being introductory courses!  Assuming I get through this course reasonably OK, I'll know that I can handle level 2 as well as level 1 courses at University level... it really was just the exam that I didn't pass because of my brain damage when I tried it the first time, so I'll keep working on improving my memory knowing that, in theory, I can cope with a level 2 course at the OU!

I never thought I'd say that!!

👍👍👍

46 in 21

Had yesterday off cos I was feeling so yucky with this dratted cold but I've just completed the next course and I'm back into the studying mood again now, thankfully!

Blimmin' typical innit!

I've been taking an AP for at least 18 years.

In that time, it's changed twice.

The first time was to change it from a brand name to a generic one.

The second time was because the brand I'd been getting had changed their recipe and it now had lactose in it.

No other changes in 18 years.

So why are they suddenly finding it so difficult to get hold of it?

This is the second month the pharmacy have had problems and it's only because I've got some left over that I'm reasonably sane still!

When my GP phoned me about the recipe changing he said he'd get on to the pharmacy about a different generic brand that was lactose free.

12 pills arrived a few days later with an IOU from the pharmacy for another 16 pills.

I phoned the pharmacy and asked them to keep these in stock for me.

I was told it'd take up to 4 days for the first lot because it wasn't named and I didn't have a repeat naming it but it'd be with me within the normal 5 days after that.

No probs says I.

Logged on to the GP prescription thing and put in another repeat which was sorted and sent to the pharmacy 10 days ago.


I've been waiting ever since.

In theory I'll be getting 44 pills 'cos of the 16 that the pharmacy owe me and 28 for the repeat I put in.

That won't happen though!  I can almost guarantee it!

I'm just glad that I've got most of my previous prescription left before they changed the recipe otherwise I'd have gone totally nuts again by now!

👎

Don't suppose anyone has got some...

I'm well and truly under the weather with Steve's cold... I look like Rudolf and can only breathe through my mouth!

😷

45 in 19

Just finished my latest OpenLearn course and I'm gonna catch up on other stuff for the rest of the afternoon now - got 2 books to read and review at the very least!  lol

On the end of course quiz, I scored...

88%!!!

I would have been happy with 60% 'cos I really didn't enjoy this course, but I'm really proud of the final result!

Yaaaaay!!!!

😃

Blimey Charlie!!

I'm seriously not liking this course, but I've just finished session 4 and scored 90% on it!

That's my best score on the entire course yet!!

Other than question 8 that I got wrong, I got the other 10 questions right first time!!

👍👍👍

44 in 18

Just whizzed through the third course of the day!

The fourth course is really tough going!

42 and 43 in 18

Just completed my first and second courses of the day and I'm about to enrol on my third.

41 in 17

Just finished me seventh course of the day - an interesting change from the previous one!

40 in 17

Just finished my sixth course of the day... talk about dull!

👎

38 and 39 in 17

Just done another couple of courses and enrolled on my sixth of the day!!

37 in 17

Just finished the third course of the day!  Seemingly a productive day for me!

35 and 36 in 17

Already completed two courses this morning and I've just started on the third of the day... pretty good going considering it's only lunchtime!

34 in 16

Not bad going, I've been home for 4 hours and managed to do 3 courses.  The one I've just done didn't teach me anything I didn't already know unfortunately.

33 in 16

Just finished a philosophy course... not as interesting as I'd hoped unfortunately!

😔

32 in 16

Just finished my first course of the day... it was very much teaching granny to boil eggs for me though!  lol

Another 7 hours today

Andrew came over 2 weeks ago and there were 10 hours left to be equal to how long I'd seen my mum since 2010.

Steve sees his dad for 5 of those hours a week and his sister for a couple of hours a week as standard, then we spent 7 hours with his entire family today, so 5+2+7=14 so Steve's seen his family more in 2 weeks than I've seen my mum in almost 9 years!!

No, that's not a typo.  Steve's seen his family more in a fortnight that I've seen my mum in getting on for 9 years.  

So much for going to see her regularly eh?

31 in 15

Just finished the second course of the day... found this one interesting and got 100% on the end-of-course quiz too!

30 in 15

Just finished the first course of the day... interesting stuff!

29 in 14

Just finished me third course of the day and I've taken me pill so I'm gonna read and review a book then head to bed.

28 in 14

Just finished my second course of the day, gonna take me pill and aim for one more course then I'll have an early night, I reckon.

27 in 14

Just finished the first course of the day and enrolled on the second one.  Both childcare so far today... might see what other childcare ones I can do today too.

26 in 13

Studied 5 courses today and heard back from the OU about the email I sent last night (or whenever it was)... apparently the Access courses are what have replaced the Openings courses and they've got all sorts of things in place to help with exams which is awesome... just gotta be able to afford it now!  lol

25 in 13

Just finished my fourth course of the day and it's not even 6pm yet so I'm gonna squeeze a fifth course in too!

24 in 13

Just finished another course... I'm thinking one more then I'll head to bed for an early night for a change!

23 in 13

Just finished my second course of the day and enrolled on my third!

Just heard back from the tribunal

I've been awarded standard rate daily living but nothing for mobility but that's £200 a month more than I'm getting now and I don't want to risk losing it so I won't be taking my life after all  👌

22 in 13

Just finished my first OpenLearn course of the day and I'm about to start my second.

After I've done all the OpenLearn courses I wanna study, I'm gonna look into modules instead of full courses, just while I'm re-training my brain to remember again!

21 in 12

Just finished me 4th course of the day and I'm wiped out now, so I'm gonna wait until I get the statement, add it to my navigation page, upload it then head to bed  👌

20 in 12

Just finished my third course of the day and enrolled on my fourth.

19 in 12

Just finished me 19th OpenLearn course in 12 days and enrolled on my 20th course.

18 in 12

Just finished me 18th OpenLearn course and enrolled on my 19th.

Book review: How To Live: To Live is Hard; Never Give-up by Trina Jordan

☆☆ out of 5

I had high hopes for this book, given the title.

I thought it'd give me ideas of how to improve my life and inspire me to make my life better than it had ever been before.

Nope.

It's full of lecturing and made me constantly feel that the author was talking down to me. Made me feel like she knew me personally and knew what was best for me so kept going on about how you can do this and you can do that, which sounds inspirational but after the first few times it gets to be really annoying.

There's all sorts of spelling and grammar mistakes, on top of hypenating random words that have never been hypenated outside this book.

There are small bits that are kinda OK, but the content of the book isn't anything like the title promises.

There's a title image at the top of every page that takes up at least a quarter of each page and the font is huge as well as being double line spaced so it's more like 75 pages than 209 if you take the image and double line spacing out!

There are way too many characters who make an appearance for a couple of pages then are never mentioned again.

I appreciate that the author put a lot of herself into the book, but it needs oneheckuva lot of proof-reading and editing as well as a lot less lecturing in the content of the book.

Save your money on this book. Sorry.

17 in 11

Just finished another OpenLearn course... this one was really tough for me because of all the maths in it and the paragraph about PUFin at the start of each week was incredibly annoying!

It's done and dusted now though, thankfully, and I know for sure that I can't handle University level maths so I'm not even going to try unless it's a necessary part of a different course... no more maths only courses though!

Just had the telephone tribunal

Talk about intense!!

I very much doubt I've been awarded PIP 'cos I couldn't answer a lot of the questions and the doctor said that Korsakov is mainly Dementia instead of physical and I need to ask my GP about why my mobility problems aren't in my notes either.

Ho hum.  If I don't get re-awarded the ESA in November then I know exactly how I'm going to take my life at the start of 2019.  I'm not suicidal but if I don't get the ESA then I will have exactly £0.00 a month to live on, which isn't realistic, so it's better all round for me not to be here.

16 in 10

Just done another course which inspired me to organise my Chrome bookmarks better!  lol

Facebook data

Steve said he's downloaded the data that Facebook have on him and he was happy that there weren't any phone numbers or addresses or anything, so that encouraged me to download my own.

I refuse to open the zip file with my info in it though, 'cos it's got malware in it!!

If it weren't for AVG's constant vigilence, I'd have opened it without a thought!

Thank you for protecting me, AVG!

15 in 9

Just finished my third course of the day, just waiting for the statement to appear in my profile so that I can add it to my site.

14 in 9

Finished another course... just waiting for the statements and I'll upload both of today's courses to my navigation page!

13 in 9

Just finished another course that had obviously copied and pasted almost the entire contents of one of the courses I did a couple of days ago!

There were little bits of new information, but most of it was word for word the same as one of the other courses!

12 in 8

What an interesting course!

Just finished studying the child psychology course and it was totally fascinating!

I was dreading it being pages full of theories and I was imagining a child psychologist sitting in a room with a child and their parent/carer/adult sitting next to them just talking and talking but it's not like that at all!  There are so many settings a child psychologist can work in that I never realised before!

It's reignited my love of childcare and it's something I want to study more of for definite!

Child psychology course next

I've got rid of all the "key skills" courses now and decided to enrol on the child psychology course instead!

The key skills courses

I put 3 key skills courses into "my saved items" bit, but you seem to need to already be on an OU course to do them and instead of doing them as a block of study, you need to do it over at least 3 months so that you can build a portfolio and show your progress.

I'll take the key skills courses off and find a different course to do instead.

😕

50 hour course next

Just about to start me next course, the longest one so far at 50 hours and I won't be able to do much on Tuesday 'cos of the phone tribunal, but hopefully I'll have it finished by then... not gonna rush it, it'll take as long as it takes!

11 in 8 - that was a hard course!!

Just finished the science course - interesting studying it but definitely the hardest one so far!

The first page, the introduction of all things, had maths as well as science in it and a few of the activities involved maths as well - if there had been marked quizes like the previous 10, I would definitely have failed the course!

If you enjoy science and maths then definitely enrol on the course, but if they freak you out then take things really slowly and make lots of notes!

Next course is a science course!

I've avoided science since I took my GCSE's, so why have I just enrolled in a university level science course?

Just to see what it's like!

It's about nutrition, vitamins and minerals and it's only an introductory (level 1) course so I'm not expecting to get anywhere near passing it, it's just to see what biology course at university level are like is all!

You watch, I'll be doing a history or geography course next!  ROFL

😨

No I won't!  lol

10 in 8

Just finished another course, which means I've studied and passed 10 courses in the last 8 days which ain't bad going!

9 in 8

Just finished another OpenLearn course... just waiting for the statement then I'll make a start on the next one!

Virus scan and backup done and dusted

Totally virus free and completely backed up for another week!  Only 2 minor bursts of anger this week too, so the wooziness is reducing slowly too!

8 in 7 now!

The eighth course was my third long one that took 2 days instead of a few hours but it's done and dusted now!

Another hour

Steve's just seen his dad for another hour, so that's 7 hours since Sunday which is 9 hours short of me seeing my mum since Summer 2010.

If my maths is right, he sees his family the same amount in just over 2 weeks as I've seen my mum in almost 8 years.

So much for seeing me mum regularly eh?

Hopefully, from now on...

I'm liking my new AP that was partly delivered yesterday!

I took the first one at 7pm yesterday to see if it sent me to sleep as well as keeping the psychosis at bay.

I was still awake at 10pm and didn't wake up until 7am this morning so it keeps me asleep for 12 hours since I took it.

It's lactose free so I didn't get an allergic reaction which was awesome.

The pill was teeny tiny so was easy peasy to swallow even for me.

I feel more awake and energetic this morning and there isn't even a hint of a psychotic episode which is fabulous!

Just phoned the pharmacy and asked for them to order in yesterday's pills and they said that was no problem, but it would need to be named on the prescription, so I phoned my GP and explained what the pharmacy had said.  She made a note of the name I was requesting and said she'd ask a doctor to update my records so hopefully it's sorted now! 

The pharmacist said that it'd take 3 days to get it from the manufacturer after they'd got the prescription, then they'll deliver it as soon as they get it, so, in theory, my next lot will take slightly longer because it'll be the first named prescription, so I'll order it 2 weeks before I run out, but after that it'll be back to getting my prescription 5 working days after requesting it from my GP. 

The pills are generic instead of brand name, so they can't complain about the cost any more, but hopefully, starting from my May prescription, I'll be having my pills within a week again!

We shall see!
 

Just had a...

Just been blue-screened for the second time in my life which made me panic 'cos the first time it happened was in 2016, almost to the day, which made me lose everything.  Thankfully this laptop had been delivered literally a few days earlier and I'd moved everything between laptops when it happened but if I hadn't been able to afford this laptop I would have been in deep poo!

It seems to have been more like the Windows ME blue screens that happened several times a day though, 'cos I haven't lost anything other than the time it took to report the blue screen to Microsoft and log back in, thankfully!

Even if I *had* lost everything with this blue screen, I would only have lost the stuff that I've used and saved in the last 5 days 'cos I back everything up every Saturday as routine "just in case" paranoia is all.  Things like this make me grateful for my paranoia... it's why I run a deep virus scan of my entire laptop every Friday too!

Part of my prescription has just been delivered

When I first found out about the pharmacy being able to deliver prescriptions, I was told it took 5 working days which was awesome.

A few months later, because of my dairy allergy, I was told it'd be 7 working days for delivery because they had to order them in from the manufacturer because they were lactose free.

That was fine too, I just phoned through the order a few days sooner.

This time though, I was waiting for two weeks with no updates so Steve phoned them last week to find out what was going on.  The pharmacy had "lost the script" and were waiting for a new one from my GP so that they could contact the manufacturer but I'd definitely have them on Tuesday.

It got to 4pm on Tuesday and they still hadn't been delivered so Steve phoned the pharmacy who said they were waiting for the prescription from my surgery but that they "had the pills waiting" for me and they would try and get them out on Wednesday if they could, or definitely Thursday.

They've just been delivered.

But only 10 days worth.

The pharmacy put an IOU form on the front saying that they owe me 16 days so I hope they arrive in the next 12 days.

I'll order my next lot when I've got 14 days left instead of the 5 I was promised when I signed up to get them delivered.

Not a happy bunny.

Almost forgot

Steve spent another hour with his family today, so that's 7 hours since Saturday that he's had RL contact with his family.  Only 6 hours to go this week and he'll have spent the same amount of time with his family in 7 days as I have with my mum since early Summer 2010 and it's only Wednesday today.

Not a happy bunny.

7 in 5 now

Just finished my seventh course in five days. Start writing fiction is entirely about grown-up fiction though, so I didn't get much benefit from it unfortunately  😑

6 courses in 4 days now

Done another 3 OpenLearn courses today, so I'm now at a total of 6 courses in 4 days which is pretty good going I reckon!

Updates on Steve's contact

His brother was here for 3 hours on Sunday.
His sister was here for an hour yesterday.
He saw his dad for 2 hours today.

That's 6 hours in 3 days, so he's 10 hours short of seeing his family more in a week than I've seen my mum since 2010.

No, that's not a typo.  Steve sees his family the same amount in 7 days as I've seen my mum in 7 years!!

Hardly fair, is it?

That's the third course finished

Three courses done and dusted in 4 days.

Just gotta upload my badge to my navigation page then I can go to bed!

2 in 3 days

Just finished another OpenLearn course... my second completed course in three days!  Yaaaay!

Andrew left at 5ish, so...

Andrew was here for about 3 hours which was how long we spent with my mum when we went over between my father's funeral and when we got Mitzi.

Spent about 10 hours with her for the funeral, 3 hours for the betweeny visit and about 3 hours when we went over with Mitzi so a grand total of about 16ish hours in 2010 and nothing since.  Steve's spent part of that with his brother today so there's about 13 hours to go this week and he'll have spent the same amount of time in one week with his family as I have with my mum since 2010.

The only reason I agreed to move to Gloucester was Steve promising that we could go and see my mum regularly... I don't call 16 hours in getting on for 8 years regular visits, do you?

Andrew's just arrived, so...

2pm on day one and I've been up here for an hour already.  Steve's already done more for Andrew, in under 5 minutes, than he does for me in an entire day... he's more Andrew's carer than mine, obviously!

PPI and Citizen Financial

Just got another letter from Citizen Financial Advisory, threatening me with court action again.

I've already paid them £875 which is over £250 more than I got from the claim (£616) so Steve's going to call them on Monday and say that I'll pay £50 a month for the next 7 months 'cos there's no way I can afford it all in one go.

I've had to reduce my payments to BC from £75 a month to £25 to be able to afford that £50 and if I get any more PPI awards the entire amount will go to Citizen as soon as it reaches my account.

I'm so fucking fed up of them.  I've had 2 PPI payments and this is the second time they've said I haven't paid when I have - 100% of the time they've done it and I'm fed up to the back teeth of it!

If you think you've been mis-sold PPI then do it yourself instead of going through a PPI company!  Especially not Citizen Financial Advisory!!

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements again.  Nothing more than that lol.

The next 7 days

I was told, literally 10 minutes ago, that Andrew is coming over this afternoon, so I'll be recording for the next 7 days how often and for how long Steve sees his family.

I've seen my mum for less than 24 hours since 2010 and Steve was with me each time.

I'm relegated upstairs to the bedroom when Andrew comes over and I'm stuck in the living room while Marie's here.  The only time I come into contact with Steve' family is when I open the front door for Steve and his dad waves at me from the car and when we get our hair's cut is when I see his mum.

Hardly fair, is it?

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements again.

I ordered me AP 9 days ago and I still haven't got it and I've had to take one every other day for the last week.  I've got 2 left which means that I've got enough to last me until Monday evening then that's it.

If I don't have the prescription by Monday I'm gonna go nuts and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me going totally fruitloop again.

If I go fruitloop I'll become suicidal because of the paranoia.

If I get paranoid I just won't see any reason not to take my life and I've got enough supplements to succeed this time too.

I'm not suicidal and won't be until the middle of next week, but I'll not be responsible or sensible come Wednesday.

I'm safe right now, but come Tuesday I'll have been waiting for my prescription for 2 weeks instead of the 5 days I was promised.

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements again and we're having jacket tatties for lunch today... yumsk!

Chips for tea and no pills tonight

The pharmacy have screwed up with my prescription again... they were supposed to have been delivered yesterday but they weren't, so yet again I'm doing 1 day taking them, 1 day without.  Tonight is a without night.

Steve saw a programme about fish being caught and offered to get us chips for tea, so we're waiting for them to be delivered then I'll eat 'em and be forced to have a late night and early morning.

I really don't like missing doses, but better that than taking the full 28 days, going fruitloop while I'm waiting for the manufacturer and pharmacy to get the pills to me then have to start the cycle again... yadda yadda yadda.

I'm gonna phone the pharmacy next week and give them a 3 week window instead of the 2 weeks they've been having for the last decade or so... they promised 5 working days and everything was fine and dandy for years and I wrongly got used to it, then things started going tits up and haven't got any better *sigh*

Supplements taken

Haven't taken my supplements for a few days and I've really been feeling it so I've just taken them and the multi is making me feel better already... hate that I keep forgetting though!  *sigh*

So tired tonight!

Taken me AP then Steve made me a mug of coffee so I'll be going to bed now and waking up late tomorrow!

Tsk!

Just want to apologise in advance, in case...

I came off my AD last month because the new recipe had lactose in it, which I'm allergic to, so I suddenly came off the Citalopram and my GP warned me that because the withdrawl was so sudden, instead of being slowly weaned off it, I might feel woozy for a while as my body readjusts.

My wooziness is coming out as sudden bouts of anger and I go from placid to full of rage then back to placid literally within seconds, so I just want to apologise in advance for any sudden bursts of anger for seemingly little or no reason.

For example, I've just had a bath and was fine until I went to get a towel, a couple of things in the pile started to slip off and my rage went from zero to 10 immediately and back to zero just as quickly.  I yelled at the top of my lungs in anger as soon as the clothes started slipping down, the hubby called through to find out what was going on and by the time he'd finished his sentence, my anger had disappeared again.

The way that Steve described my wooziness was by saying I'm like a steam train at the hands of someone with no training... I plod along fine until the coal is thrown into the firebox in just the wrong place and the safety valve thingies start blowing off steam.  Everything is about steam trains with Steve!  lol 

Apparently I'm like a cartoon character... walking along fine and dandy one minute and the next there's steam coming out of my ears!  lol

Anyway, I just want to apologise in advance for any posts I make that seem rude or angry or like I'm having a go at you... that's really not my intention at all, I just can't control my anger for a while is all... it'll get better and I do still care, I just need you to be patient with me for a while is all.

Stop apologising

Money differences between me and Steve

After all the bills have been paid and I've paid for the groceries at about £50 a week, I'm left with a grand total of £4 a month.

I asked Steve how much he had left after all his bills have been paid every month.

"Barely anything" says he.

"How much is that though?" I asked.

"About 20 quid" says he.

"That's 5 times the amount that I'm left with" says I.

Steve sighs and shakes his head in frustration.

"See why I don't want you to spend more than £50 a week on shopping?  Even if you spend £51 a week, I'm left with precisly nothing.

He's left with the same amount in one month as I am in five yet he says he struggles to pay for things and have any money left for himself.

What about me then??  I wanna see how you cope with having £4 a month to survive on instead of your current £20!

See why I buy very little for myself with the weekly groceries?  It's because you've already spent most of it on cake and crisps and drinks!

Monday's shopping is exactly £48.  I've got 3 bottles of pop on it, costing a grand total of £2.10.  The rest of it is Steve's stuff.  I'm trying to save money and Steve goes and adds more cake "because we've got more money to play with this week"... erm, no we haven't!!

If you think we've got more money to spend on the shopping, how about moving £16 a month over for the shopping?  Then and only then will we have "more money to play with" and it'll put us on a more even monthly budget too.

Doubt that'll happen though.

Steve can afford take aways and books and stuff every month that it takes literally months for me to be able to afford, assuming that none of the shopping has cost over £50 a week for the entire five months!  The only way that would happen is if I got 3 bottles of pop a week for myself and literally nothing else.

That'll never happen though.

*sigh*

8 years, compared to 1 week

I last saw my mum in 2010.

Three times to be exact.

Once at my dad's funeral, once when we got Mitzi and the last time was December so that we could exchange Christmas gifts.

I haven't seen her since.

Last week Steve saw his family four times and next week it'll be three.

In 8 years I've seen my mum less than Steve saw his family last week.

Hardly fair, is it?!
 

31 months and counting

Just had a statements from one of my two credit cards and it'll be totally paid off in 31 months!

Totally awesomesauce!

In less than 3 years I'll be totally debt free for the first time since I was 18!  I can count down the months now for the first time in over 20 years!

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements.  They went down fine this morning, thankfully!

Family walkies this morning!

Just got back from Mitzi's walk... I joined them to the end of the street today!

The pup poo'd in the road right outside the house so Steve picked it up and carried on walking the pup with me following them on the way and them following me on the way back.

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements again.

That's all  😉

How's your maths?

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements again!

If you're looking for an amazing online company to get supplements from, I definitely recommend Simply Supplements and you can get a discount off your first order if you use my name in the referrer thingy too... I've been buying off them for years and wouldn't go anywhere else now!

O2 yet again

O2 have been leading me a merry dance since the middle of May 2017.

I've cancelled the contract I never wanted 5 times so far, so why is my credit score still showing a default?

Why are they still saying I owe money on a contract I cancelled within 24 hours?

I've just spoken to someone at O2 yet again and she said she's going to email the credit reference agency, equifax and the O2 accounts bods to say that because I cancelled within the cooling off period, the defaults are wrong and she's refunded the missed payment that caused the default.

This evening is the fifth time I've contacted them in less than a year and each of those 5 times I've been told that the contract is cancelled and I don't owe them anything.

Apparently it can take 60 days to show up, so I'm giving them until the first week of May to get it sorted, when it'll be a year of when I cancelled the contract and if it's still not sorted by then, I'll want to speak to a manager at O2... my credit rating was only poor before this default and because of O2 it's back to being very poor now, so I'm not a happy bunny.

They've got 60 days from today to sort it out then I'll take it as high as it needs to go and move my number over to 3 and strongly discourage anyone and everyone from using O2.

They were an amazing company until a year ago... I couldn't recommend them highly enough - not any more though!

Supplements taken again

I'm sure you're all getting bored of these "supplements taken" posts, but I need to make them so that I know if I've taken them or not!

The navigation is more organised now, thankfully

Been working on my homepage for the last 8ish hours.

The navigation is more organised now and I've given up on the slidey outy navigation for now... caused too many problems this morning, so I'll just stick with what I know works for my personal site.

Means that I can concentrate on other things now that the navigation is sorted on both sites!

See what I mean?

We had a take-away last week which would've cost £15-£20 and he's just spent another £10 on two boxes of pens from Amazon, so that's £25-£30 in less than a week that Steve can afford but it's 7 months before I can afford that, yet he still says he hasn't got enough to live on.

He's looking at post-it notes too now!

If he can afford pens, post-it notes and take-aways in less than a week then he can afford to pay for the electricity I reckon!

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements again.

The affect isn't as noticeable as yesterday yet, but it'll happen I'm sure... I just need to do it every day to get the most benefit!

3 years and counting

In 2.5 years I'll be free of another credit card debt and in 3 years I'll be totally debt free!  Yay!

Just gotta keep up the payments to CO and BC for those 3 years then I can work on improving my credit score!

Right now, after all my bills and the shopping have come out, I'm left with £4 a month.  We spent £50 on this week's shopping and £45 of it is Steve's stuff... literally the only things of mine on the entire order are 7 bottles of pop, the rest is for Steve.

I'm paying for the electricity too at £50 a month that I'm moving over to Steve, yet he can afford take-aways and things we don't need... I survive on £4 a month so why can Steve afford more than that?  He buys stuff from Amazon too... I haven't bought anything from Amazon since Christmas when I had to get gifts for both families and Steve didn't put a penny towards it.

Not this year though.  As of next week, Steve can spend exactly half the weekly grocery budget on food for him (£25) and half the electricity payment too... that'll save me £125 a month that I can put aside for gifts for my mum, C, H and D.

I'm fed up of getting £460 a month and being left with £4 yet Steve gets more than that and he can still afford take-aways!

Hardly fair, is it!

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements and the multi is kicking in nice and quickly... haven't taken them for a few days 'cos I didn't remember but the effect is really quick when that happens!

Wanna try and remember to take them every morning but the brain damage has really affected my memory unfortunately  😟

Creative afternoon today!

Went head-to-head with me Stories site this morning but eventually managed to get my blog embedded into the site, then I put this blog on my domain and did a bit of house-keeping with all the communities I'm no longer with and sorted out my webrings.

I've taken me AP already, so just waiting for it to kick in then I'll head to bed, feeling really proud of myself.

Well that were simple enough, even for me!

Since upgrading to Windows 10, I've been getting an error whenever I've tried to email someone from a link on a site... copying and pasteing the email address worked, but every time I tried to click the email link on a webpage, I got an error message.

Not any more though!

I just had to find, copy and paste a couple of dll's from one folder to 3 others, et voila!  Sorted!  I can now send emails straight from websites instead of going 'round the houses!

Yaay!  😀

The little voices take on huge companies

In the 2 full months of 2018, Joe Public and the little voices have taken on 3 huge companies and won.

In January and February, thousands of little voices took on Google and Apple and got them to remove an anonymous pro-bullying app from their stores.

In February we took on PG Tips about removing plastic from their teabags so that they could be used then composted.  They've agreed to remove the plastic.

In 2 months, the consumers have spoken to 3 huge companies and made requests of them... and won!

I emailed my MP about privatising our NHS too and he backed himself into a corner... the email he sent me was talking about his personal life and what he'd achieved as a person as well as telling me how many emails he replies to a year without even mentioning the NHS and without any prompting from me.  I just hope he takes his constituents concerns into Parliment and fights for every one of us... that's his job after all!

Apparently Sainsbury's have our custom for another 3 months.

Steve's just said that he's happy to stay with Sainsbury's for our weekly groceries, so I'll let the delivery thing auto renew at the end of March for another 3 months... I like that you have the option of 3, 6 or 12 months delivery saver too, instead of being forced into a 6 month committment like you are with Tesco.

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements and other than the Calcium being quite hard to crunch up, they all went down fine again.

Sainsbury's delivery pass

Had an email from Sainsbury's overnight to say that the delivery pass will run out on 29th March.

I said that to Steve, then added "wanna renew the delivery pass with Sainsburys or do you wanna go back to Tesco?"

His reply, and I quote, was "see how they do throughout March and decide later, but they're doing OK right now aren't they so we can stay with them if you like?"

Never thought Steve would agree to that... he's been a Tesco boy the entire time I've known him, so Sainsbury's must have impressed him over the last couple of months!

I've always been a Sainsbury's gal because I've had a Nectar card for decades, but I've got a Tesco loyalty card now too so I'm genuinely not bothered either way!  I like that you pay in advance with Sainsbury's then you don't need to worry about it, but you pay monthly at Tesco but that's all!

Just taken me supplements again

All went down nice and easily today, which was a relief!

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements again... the calcium took a bit of effort to crunch up, but other than that they all went down fine and dandy.

This'll piss Americans off! lol

I live in Gloucester and Steve did a bit of research this morning after I asked him how many people live in Gloucester for a survey I was filling in.

Apparently Gloucester has been around since 97AD!!  That means that just the city I live in is older than most of America! lol

Only Native Americans even start to approach the oldness of where I live and even then it's a close-run thing!

Apparently...

There's a postbox that Steve walks the pup to every morning and he's just told me that it's a Victorian one 'cos it's got VR embossed on it so it's quite a decent age!

Supplements taken

All 3 of 'em went down without a single problem this morning!

Yay!

👍     😁

Supplements taken

Remembered to take them this morning!  lol

Steve's already achieved a lot this morning!

He's taken the pup out for her walk, cleared her poo up that she did on the walk, cleared up and binned her poo from the yard,  put all our rubbish into the bag ready for it to be emptied tomorrow, took the recycling out then made us both a mug of coffee!

I took the pup's lead off, folded it up and took it into the kitchen then fed her.  Came back in here to get the mugs and took them out to Steve after I'd backed up my hard drive.

My laptop has been on non-stop for 3 days now, because I forgot to set the virus scan going on Friday!

Our NHS

Jeremy Hunt, MP, wants to slip something through Parliament in April that will sell off the NHS to the highest bidder and it'll become a private company that we have to pay for.

I don't know about you, but there's no way I can afford to fork out hundreds a month just to get my prescription!  I don't want to have to decide between eating or taking a prescription that I need, but that's what could happen!

After all my bills, the electricity and groceries have come out, I'm left with a grand total of £4 a month!!  I don't know where they're expecting me to find an extra £750 a month just for a single prescription, then another £1000 to see my GP, £500 for a blood test and even more for smears and jabs and things like that!

Our NHS isn't perfect, but it's free at the point of service and there are millions of people who use it to help to keep them healthy every day.

In all seriousness, if the Accountable Care thingy goes through in April, I'll have to stop taking my prescription and I'd prolly jump under the nearest bus within a month 'cos I just couldn't cope!

For those that *could* cope and survive without their prescription, they may end up homeless just so that they could pay for the insurance.  We've already got way too many homeless people on the street who can't afford to eat but Mr Hunt doesn't seem to care about that!

Come on, Mr Hunt... take a pay cut and put the money into the NHS!  Same with all the MPs and especially our PM... take a 10% pay cut and use the money that suddenly appears to invest in our NHS.

You earn more in a week than I do in an entire year!  Be human and think about the whole country instead of lining your pockets with money that could be better used elsewhere!

Supplements taken

This time it was the multi I had difficulty swallowing instead of the iron!

Didn't gag, like I do with the iron, but it took two mouthfuls of squash to get it down!

This morning

Steve took the pup out for her walk just after I came downstairs and left me a note which our clever little pup had signed.

I'm cream crackered now though, so I'm heading to bed now.

Nite nite!

Joint walkies this morning

I took the pup for the first part of her walk and Steve walked with us in case she poo'd then he took over the second part of her walk, she poo'd, Steve picked it up and we all came home!

Just checked me bank balance

After a quick bit of maffs, I'll have £19 left in me account as long as Monday's shopping doesn't come to any more than £50 I'll be able to afford the membership to the Dogs Trust on the 15th March and I'll be paid again on Monday as well, so as long as I don't spend anything I'll be able to afford Melanie's SCBWI fee of about £60...

Hold on, let's start again.

I've got £19 left in my account after all my bills have come out.

I've got £50 for Monday's shopping but I'll be paid on Monday, so the shopping will come out of Monday's pay day, so I've got £69 left, yeah?
I bought something on Amazon for £30 so add that to the £69 makes £99 spare in March, right?

Take off Melanie's SCBWI subscription of £60 leaves me with £39 yeah?

Take off the membership to the Dog's Trust at £25 leaves me with £14 in March, yeah?

July and August are going to be expensive months 'cos I've got £87 coming out in July for Patrick's insurance then £60 in August for *my* membership to SCBWI, but as long as I keep the money in the bank and don't spend it on things I don't need as well as using the money in B as a back-up if I need it, things will be OK I reckon.

It'll be a really tight few months, but as long as I'm a tight-wad with me money and we don't spend any more than £50 a week on shopping, it's just about do-able I reckon.

Had me hair cut yesterday

Was almost 3 months since we last had it done so it needed doing!

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements for the first time in a few days and the iron didn't come back up so it was definitely that I was swallowing too much squash for my body to cope with.

I know now though, so smaller mouthfuls of squash to take me supplements from now on.

My message to you M:

Hair cutting tomorrow

Had a shower and washed me hair at lunch time then had pasta bake for me lunch 'cos I'm getting me hair cut tomorrow!  Seems like forever since I last had it done!

We've just had a small earthquake!

Apparently there was a small earthquake in the Channel or summat a couple of hours ago!

Just a bit of a rumble for a few seconds but it's not a normal kinda occurrance for us and apparently it was felt up in Scotland too!!

4.4 on the bigness scale!!

Added my 3 sites to Bing this morning too

Apparently Google and Bing are the most used search engines.

I added my sites to Google a couple of days ago but couldn't work out how to add it to Bing.

I had to use my Hotmail account that I'd totally forgotten even existed but that means I've also changed the password on my lock screen now!

You watch me forget tomorrow morning and get stressed out about what it is!  lol

Joint walkies today

Steve wanted to rest his legs for his appointment this morning so he offered to be on "poo patrol" so I walked the pup for 100% then Steve took her up to the end of the street, picked up her poo and brought her home, where I fed her and took me supplements.

Just remembered that I need to kick me virus scan off too, so as soon as it's updated I'll set it going and be sorted for the rest of the day!

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements and it was because I was drinking too much squash at once 'cos the iron went down without a problem this morning!

American's ain't gonna like this post!

There was another mass shooting in America yesterday.

I saw this on my Facebook wall this afternoon and I've just gotta rant about it:

Yes, I am going to be talking about gun ownership.  If you don't want to read my opinions about it, navigate away now 'cos I'm not gonna hold back this time.

Last chance.

OK, so Dunblane happened 20 years ago.  A gunman burst into a school and murdered 17 innocent people who weren't expecting it.

The UK was like America with gun control at the time, but that shooting was the one and only time that needed to happen to totally stop gun ownership for the general public.

In the 20 years since Dunblane there hasn't been a single school shooting.

In 2 days there has been more deaths from a school shooting in America than there has been in those 20 years since Dunblane.

The difference?

The UK put a gun law through, stopping the general public from owning a gun.

Yes, there was outrage and violence and disagreements for a while after that but not a single school shooting in 20 years.  No more innocent lives lost.

Today is 15th February 2018.

In the month and a half since the start of 2018 there have already been 18 school shootings in America.

That's 3 a fucking week.

There have been more school shootings in 6 weeks in America than there have been in more than 20 years over here in the UK.

Yes, I know that it's in the American constitution that everyone has a right to bear arms.

I also know that the UK used to have a similar right.

It took 17 innocent lives lost to change that here in the UK.

Yes, there were all kinds of riots and violence when the law denying our right to bear arms was changed.

Yes, there are still shootings and murders and other gun crimes.

No, the UK isn't perfect, but we've lost 17 lives to change the law and we've all learnt to deal with it and act like humans now.

 The difference is that the UK said enough is enough and did something about it.

America on the other hand?

Guns are still allowed over here in the UK but they are very tightly controlled and has saved so many lives since Dunblane.  America have lost more lives in 6 fucking weeks than the UK has lost in the last 20 years combined.

Let me put it simply.

Change the constitution.

 If you don't like it then you are part of the problem.

The UK went through it 20 years ago.  There were angry people, demonstrations, violence in the streets... but no more deaths.

Not a single school shooting in 20 years.

Certain professions are still allowed to have guns, but they have to go through all kinds of checks and the guns have to be locked away. 

Yes, there are still illegal guns on the street.
Yes, there are still gun crimes.
Yes, there are still shots fired.

We know we're not perfect and we've never claimed to be, but stopping Joe Public from owning a gun and opening fire whenever and wherever he likes is onehelluva lot better than in America!

Have a gun amnesty for a month where everyone who hands in their gun gets a free 3 month membership to a shooting range or whatever, then bring in much tighter controls when it comes to getting a new gun, then make it illegal for anyone other than specially trained police to carry a gun unless they have a permit.

Make it so that anyone can hand in a gun to any police station, at any time, with no questions asked and no kind of punishment.

Give the American public a reason to hand in their guns and introduce tighter controls. 

Be prepared for outrage amongst the masses and offer support to those who feel they need it, all free of charge and totally anonymously. 

Give the American people a reason to give up their guns and the support they need to give them the security they may feel they need.

Offer self-defence lessons instead of gun control lessons.

Introduce free counselling and therapy whenever anybody needs it as they get used to a life without having a gun in their pocket.

There will be a rough while after the new controls come in, but surely saving countless lives a year is worth it?  If you had to choose between saving children's lives or owning a gun, what would you choose?  I would choose the children every time.

Come on America, time to wake up and smell life without fear now.

Let's make 2018 the year of no more gunfire in America... no more school shootings and a nationwide gun amnesty.

It won't be easy, but there will be so many innocent lives saved.

Isn't that worth it?

What a surprising change!

I regularly take online surveys and the one I've just taken has been like a breath of fresh air!

It was about food.

Usually I'm screened out within the first few questions because I'm vegan... not this time though!

Not only did it go beyond giving vegetarianism an option to choose in the very first question, it also, for possibly the first time ever, gave veganism a choice too.

I chose the vegan option, expecting to be screened out.

Nope.

It then asked if my veganism was a choice or medical need.

My mouth dropped open in shock!

On the following pages it asked about the choices available for vegans in shops, bars, cafe's and restaurant.

I still wasn't screened out!

Maybe someone genuinely cared about the lack of variety of available foods and drinks available to vegans?

Throughout the survey they referred to it as a need or a choice which was so refreshing 'cos most people (on and offline) automatically assume that my veganism is a choice as opposed to a need.

I just wish there had been an opportunity to leave feedback at the end of that survey... I would have willingly given it the full 5 stars and a glowing review!

Supplements taken

The mouthful of squash that I swallowed with the iron came up again, so I'm wondering if maybe I swallow too much squash with the iron so I'll try and remember not to drink so much tomorrow and we'll see what happens then!

400% again today

Apparently they went to the post box and back again which is 400%, but apparently it was painfully cold out there, so Steve was glad to be home.

Achieved oneheckuva lot today!

Not only did I walk the pup, take my supplements, doing the stuff on my sites, have lunch, doing all the surveys as well as reading and reviewing a book, I've just taken me AP and downed a drinking chocolate too!

That means that tomorrow I'll just have surveys to do and that's it for the whole day!

I'm gonna get bored out of me tree!  lol

Achieved so much already today!

I've already put my Stories 4 Children site, my navigation page and my homepage in Google analytics which was... erm... interesting!  It's more complicated than it needs to be, but it's sorted now.

After the analytics thing, I put the meta tag thingies into the pages and uploaded them.

Then I submitted them all to the Google search engine.

I've had me lunch too (2 mugs of soup), so I can spend the rest of the day reading and reviewing a book!

I can so do this!

Supplements taken

The iron took a couple of attempts, but other than that everything went down OK today.

The multi isn't kicking in yet though, bizarrely.  It usually does!

Only 250% today

Steve wanted the day off from walking the pup, to rest his legs ready for later so we only went on 250% today.

Gonna try and remember to take me supplements now... you watch me forget though!  lol

400% today

Steve took the pup on her walk this morning and they did about 400% today 'cos apparently there was ice on the puddles and it was so cold, as well as Steve getting tired really quickly today.

He wanted to have a day off walking her and whined like a baby when I said I'd do it, but by the time I'd got the pup's lead off the side, he went to put his trousers and "pretend shoes" on.

They went to the postbox and back which is further than I can go and it's more interesting than just walking up and down to our neighbours and back a few times... better than nothing though!

Just had the tribunal bloke on the phone again

Just heard from the tribunal service.

The judge has agreed to a phone hearing, thankfully, so same time and date as the letter they sent with the hearing details on it, someone will call 15 minutes before to go through identity checks and stuff then the hearing and it'll go from there.

I asked about using Skype but the tribunal bloke said it was "too expensive" to use right now, so it's all being done over the phone.

Fine by me!

Gotta go and print off the documents with the bullet points now, so we're all sorted and ready for the call.

Keep yer fingers and toes crossed for me!

800% today!

Steve's just got back with the pup.  Apparently they did their longest walk yet!

Up until this morning the most that Mitzi had walked was 400% but apparently they did that in just one direction today!

The pup is wiped out and Steve's puffing and panting, but he's recovering quicker than he ever has in the entire time I've known him!  His belly has noticeably shrunk too... it used to flop out over his waistband but not any more!

There's a long long way to go for him still, but if he keeps at it he'll keep losing the weight and be a lot healthier which will be brilliant... he'll get there in the end, I'm sure!

I believe in you Steve!  Keep going!

20.8GB

The virus scan has just finished and it quarantined 9 pieces of malware, most of which was in my recycle bin, so I deleted the malware then emptied my recycle bin.

Almost 1,500 files in it that took up 20.8GB of my hard drive but it's all been deleted now.

That'll hopefully make next week's virus scan a bit quicker too... 24 hours this week!!

I'll keep doing it though, just for my own peace of mind!  I'd rather leave my laptop on for 24 hours and be able to get rid of viruses and malware then back my machine up once a week than not do it and get a virus that totally wipes my hard drive and sends itself to all my friends!

Steve's taking the pup out on her wander this morning!

"It looks a bit wet out there today" says Steve when I ask him if he wants to join us on our wander.

I know what's coming next.

"So it'll just be me and her again then?" I ask.

"Lemme go for a wee and I'll look out the back" says Steve.

I went to get Mitzi's lead on her and Steve comes out of the bathroom saying "the ground is a bit wet, but it's not raining so I'll take her"

They've just got home and Steve says "it's bitterly cold out there and it's started to rain so we cut it short, but the pup was bloodhounding it all the way there, so I don't know if it was the smells of Friday night or a fox or something, but she had her nose to the ground the whole time!"

Bless her cute little paws!

Steve is ace! Steve is ace! Steve is ace!

He's just sent me his carer bullet points ready for whenever we get the call about the PIP!

Other than a couple of minor things it looks good to me!  Just gotta convince the judge that I need this much help now!  lol

Keep yer fingers and toes crossed for me!

That's twice...

Had a phone call from the tribunal for my PIP appeal while Steve was at his appointment.

The man said that if the judge agreed, we could do the hearing over the phone instead of in person which sounds good to me!

I asked Steve to write a list of bullet points he wanted to cover as my carer and he said he would so I sent him some examples of things he might want to say in his own time to talk to the tribunal bods about the care he provides for me.

No problem.

I just reminded him and I got the "stop nagging me and I'll do it" speech.  That's it now - no more reminders or anything about it... if it's not done by the time I head to bed I'll make it public on Facebook that my carer doesn't care and I'll repeat it every time it happens.  I'm fed up of him getting credit and support for things he doesn't do!

He's got time to watch a 3 hour film but can't find 10 minutes to write out the list and potentially stop me getting the PIP!

Supplements taken

Just my normal blog post about taking me supplements as the reminder that I need every day!

The multi is kicking in nice and quickly again... I love it!

400% again

Took the pup out for her walk just in time 'cos it started peeing down with rain a few minutes after we got home.

I was happy with 100%, same as always, but the pup kept walking and walking and walking!

Our next door neighbours came out of their house and got into their car.  Mitzi's little tail was wagging like mad and she wanted to go and say hello to them all and one of the kids started off by pointing out Mitzi was, undeniably, a doggy.  Mitzi's little tail was wagging but I think they must have been running late or something because the mum just bundled them all into the car and strapped them in.

Mitzi was a good girl and we stayed out of their way... maybe next time they can say hello to each other?

So tired!

Haven't posted anything all day 'cos I've been looking for jobs for Steve.

Apparently he's applied for 2 today so we'll see what happens tomorrow!

Apparently we've been black-listed by a taxi company because of Steve's size... it's up to them if they want to lose £20 a week from him - we've found another place now that have to come out to assess if Patrick will fit in their wheelchair accessible buses so we've called HMCTS to rearrange the hearing 'cos there weren't any available on Thursday, so we've got to fill in the registration form, they will assess Patrick's size and hopefully agree to take us whenever we need to go anywhere!

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements again.

The calcium bits went everywhere in my mouth and I've still got crumbs floating around but other than that, everything was fine and dandy.

The wooziness has started then!

I wasn't awarded PIP when I updated my DLA claim to a different GP so I went through the mandatory reconsideration, the face-to-face assessment, the paper appeal and now I've got an oral appeal hearing on Wednesday.

Everything has been fine and dandy all day, except for the last hour or so.

I asked HMCTS if I needed to take my medical records with me and if the court was wheelchair accessible.

Someone wrote back saying that the court was wheelchair accessible and that I'd just need to take a copy of everything I'd sent for the appeal.

Thankfully I kept a copy of it all so tried to print it off.

The printer decided to go offline and not print anything so my blood pressure went through the roof and poor Steve and Mitzi bore the brunt of my anger.

I rebooted the laptop and tried to print it all off again.

The printer ran out of paper.

I reloaded the paper tray and my anger was starting to bubble over when the printer decided the paper tray wasn't in properly.

My anger hit boiling point.

When I eventually got everything printed off and tried to put it in the envelope, Steve said to count to 10.

I hit the roof at him.

Mitzi's little ears disappeared in sadness or fear or shock or something.

Steve asked if it was the wooziness from suddenly stopping the Citalopram that my GP warned me might happen.

Just as quickly as I got angry, I calmed down too!

Just hope it doesn't happen again while I'm at the court!

I just wanna kill meself and be done with it right now  😔

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements for the first time in a couple of days again and I can already feel the multivitamin kicking in - I'm talking less than a minute which is impressive for anything!

400%

Just got back from walking the pup and me legs are weak and sore now because we did 400% of our walking distance this morning!!

I was happy to come home after our usual 100% but the pup kept on walking, so I was thinking she wanted to double the distance this morning but nope, she kept walking and walking and walking until she'd walked 400%!

There's no way I can do anything else for the rest of the day now though 'cos there's no way my legs will hold me up any more!

Steve came out with us even though he said yesterday that he wanted to rest his legs today so yesterday's promises lasted less than 24 hours, as predicted.  He's got control of the remote again and yours truly had to deal with the landline phone again last night and this morning, so technically it was only 12 hours, despite him saying in reply to my Facebook memory yesterday morning that all I had to do was ask.

I asked him about phoning to arrange the taxi yesterday afternoon and he huffed angrilly and blamed me but eventually emailed them.  By the time the shopping had been and gone, it was back to his normal "I'll do it when you stop nagging me about it!" again.

As predicted.

Steve's just too predictable, so every time I ask him to do something I'll record it on my blog along with his response and see how long it takes to get done.

He said I only had to ask 22 hours ago and I've just asked him to email me his CV so that I can look over it and give him some feedback about it.  He's got a medical appointment at lunchtime today so I'll give it until he comes back then I'll ask him again and I bet he won't!  I'm trying to help him FFS, so why doesn't he keep his promises to me that he made 22 hours ago?

3 years

Assuming I'm allowed to keep getting the ESA for the next 3 years, I'll be totally debt free in less than 3 years.  If I'm awarded PIP at the appeal next week I'll be able to use the back payment to pay the last 2 credit cards off even quicker.

I've cancelled all my non essential direct debits to give Steve an extra £50 for the electricity a month on top of the council tax and shopping.  I said that he had to apply for more than 1 job a week or I'd stop the direct debit.

He applied for one job this morning and then fell asleep.

He's still asleep now!

I that's on top of the £50 a week I pay for the shopping... about £7.50 of that is drinks for me and the rest of it is cake and food and drink for Steve.  Hardly fair, is it?

I left literally everything behind for Steve in 1998 on the condition that we go back and see my mum regularly.  We haven't been over since 2010 for my dad's funeral, we saw her once soon after we rehomed Mitzi but nothing since.

OTOH, Steve sees his sister every Monday, his dad twice a week his brother whenever there is sport on the telly that they want to see and his mum every 6 weeks when we have our hair cut.  He sees his family more in a week than I've seen my family since 2010!

A year ago today, I spent the whole day sorting out and tidying up the kitchen.  Less than 24 hours later and it was a mess again.  I posted the memory that came up for me to Facebook and Steve had a go at me about it so yet again I'm at fault again.

Well not any more.

As of this morning we're swapping places.  I'm doing what Steve does around the house and he can do what I do.  He won't even last for 24 hours but I don't care any more... I don't see why I should have to keep the house tidy when Steve spends 20 hours a day asleep and the other 4 hours eating.

I've just had it now.

Steve and I are going to swap places just for one week and Steve can get the blame for a change.  Bet he doesn't though!  Bet it'll be my fault again.  Everything always is.

I've got my appeal hearing next week and Steve said when I got the letter 2 weeks ago that he'd arrange for the taxi to pick me up in my wheelchair to take me there.  He's called 2 taxi's to see if they've got wheelchair accessible taxi's.  They haven't but they suggested the company Steve refuses to use because of his size.

So, yet again, it's left up to me.  He's supposed to be my carer FFS!  He said he'll get the wheelchair taxi for me and get another company to take him to the court instead.

I can just see how that's gonna look to the court... my carer doesn't care!

I'm seriously considering moving out and getting a wheelchair accessible house and carer for myself for a few months.  He's decided that if I get PIP he'll get Carers Allowance because he cares for me for over 30 hours a week when in reality he does bugger all to help me.  He spends 4 hours a day awake and watching the telly instead of doing anything that would entitle him to the title of carer!

I've had enough.

I'm gonna see what the outcome is with my PIP appeal then look for my own little place closer to my mum, apply for more benefits to help with the rent and employ a live-in carer to actually care for me, like it says in his/her job description!

I'm not gonna put up with Steve's crap any more.  He either becomes my carer and earns the money he's determined to get from the Benefits Agency or I bugger off on my own.

It always becomes my fault when something goes wrong, but not any more.  I've had as much as I can take now!

Wanna save literally hundreds of pounds on jewellery right now?

 If you're looking for some jewellery, get yourself over to Amazon right now 'cos they're having onehelluva sale right now!

I've just bought meself a ring for £30 instead of the £199 that it usually is!  A saving of £169 which is 85%!!!

I dunno if it's all jewellery or just rings or whatever, but get thee over to Amazon for huge savings like I've just made!

You can thank me later!  lol

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements and they all went down easily this morning!

The multi is kicking in now and Steve's taking the pup out for her morning stroll so I'm gonna read the book I downloaded last night now!

Backed up for another week now

Not going to take me supplements 'cos it's almost bed time!  Wondered why I was so tired today!  lol

No viruses, pup walked and fed

Just need to remember to take me supplements and back up my hard drive now!

Virus scan started, supplements taken

Almost forgot to say that I started my weekly virus scan and it's already 24% done and it's protected me from loads of malware according to the quarantine part so that alone is worth the money!  Just got rid of the 4 malware/virus dooberries that were in quarantine now, so don't need to worry about that any more.

Taken me supplements as well... the iron was a bit of a PITA to swallow this morning, but it's only once a day so that's it until tomorrow morning now!

Pup walked and fed

Took the pup out for her stroll this morning and we managed 150% of the walk today.

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements again... remembered this morning!  lol

So cold!

Had a bath and I'm so cold now!  😦

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements and they are kicking in nice and quickly... just need to remember to take 'em every day is all!

Pup walked 250% this morning

Last time Steve went to see the nurse, she said to not walk the pup the morning he goes to see her, just to see what happens, so I walked the pup this morning and she did 250% of the walk.

I was wondering if she'd want to do 300% but she didn't want to so I didn't force her.

That's a relief then!

BC haven't taken a payment since September, so I've just phoned them and they said I defaulted for some reason.

Soooo, I've made my first payment of the year and set up a standing order for the money to come out on the 28th of every month starting in February.

Means that it's one less thing to worry about now and I know that the money is going out for sure now.

Also know my account number now too lol

If your internet suddenly goes down and it doesn't usually...

It's because there's another Windows update!

Steve took the pup out for her walkies this morning

It wasn't wet out there this morning, so Steve took Mitzi out for her walk this morning.

He's feeding her too, I might be getting him trained!  lol

Apparently they went just past the postbox this morning and the pup poo'd so Steve was responsible by picking up after her then came home and was tempted to leave it in our neighbours bin like they leave dirty nappies in ours!

48 hours

Steve took Mitzi out for her walkies yesterday, but not this morning "because it's a bit wet out there" to quote him.

So as soon as I've finished my cough supressing drink I'll take her out again.

Never lasts!

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements again.

Quick question about Vitamin C though:  is it OK to take more vit C than the RDA like with vit B or is it dangerous like with vit D please?

He's taken the pup out for her walk now

Apparently Mitzi was making him feel guilty so he took her out this morning anyway.

I suggested that he makes his nurse appointments as early in the day as possible then take the pup out after he gets back if his nurse is worried about his legs.

Can't remember now what he said, but if he does do it like that then he really doesn't need to worry about me nagging him any more and I can hopefully spend time recovering from my cold for a while too!

Thank you Steve!

Less than 12 hours

As predicted in last night's post, "it's looking a touch wet out there this morning so I'm gonna jip out of Mitzi's walk today.  I've fed her though!" says Steve.

So, as normal, either I go out, in the wet, with a cold and a hacking cough to walk the pup or she doesn't get walked.

"Besides" he continues, "the nurse wants me to try not walking Mitzi on the day I see her to see if it affects my legs being treated".

Strange that he's had problems with his legs for longer than we've had the pup but the nurse has, conveniently, only mentioned it on Monday.

"I'll definitely walk her tomorrow though" he says.

Yeah.  Right.  Of course.

😡

Mitzi's supposed to be on a diet, but...

Mitzi has been on a diet for 2-3 years now and she is *this close* to being her ideal weight.

She's just been outside for a wee and Steve gave her 2 treats as a reward.  He also gave her a couple of quarters of his slices of ham that he had for his tea.  He also lets her lick the crumbs off his plate whenever he eats anything.

Why?

"It's our little routine!" according to Steve.  "Besides, we went on a hike this morning so she'll walk it off in no time!"

That's not the point of a diet though!

She gets very occasional treats when she poo's in the back yard from me and she very occasionally licks pasta sauce or rice off my plate, but that's it.

Every time Steve eats (twice a day) she licks his plate.  Everytime she asks to go outside she gets a treat.  If she poo's in the yard she gets 2 treats as well as getting human biscuits off him.

He only takes her out for walks when it's dry out there and then expects to be knighted every time.  If it's raining or snowing or hailing or even looking like it's going to rain, it's down to me to take her or she won't be walked at all then he wonders why I catch so many colds and he doesn't!

He gets the credit if she loses weight or she walks a little bit further, yet it's all my fault that her poo isn't cleared up or that she's put on weight or that we haven't arranged this or that.

I've been asking Steve for weeks to help me to get the pup into the bath to make her white again instead of her current grey.  "Yeah, maybe later or tomorrow or something" says Steve.

Every.

Flippin'.

Time.

Well I've had it now.  Starting tomorrow I'll do exactly what Steve does for a week with the pup so that he can get the blame for the first time since we've had her if something goes wrong!

Bet he'll turn it around and make it my fault for not looking after her properly though!

Review: Rowse honey

✰✰ out of 5

Definitely not worth the money! :-(

I've got a cold right now and I'd read online that honey was a good way to ease colds.

We already had some runny honey in the house so I tried it with that first and it was a miracle! Within minutes of taking my first taste of it I'd stopped coughing for the first time in 4 days!

Maybe there really was something to the natural cough easer after all?

I finished off the first bottle of honey yesterday and couldn't wait to try this Rowse honey... more expensive and bigger bottle so faster results, right?

Wrong.

I've been coughing all day and the Rowse honey drink hasn't stopped it at all!

Didn't do anything different to the previous mugs of hot honey I'd had all weekend but I couldn't taste the honey at all. Even double the amount of honey in the second mug was barely detectable!

I've used up a third of the bottle just in one day and I've given myself a headache because I've been coughing so much.

I've learnt my lesson though... gonna put Sainsbury's own brand squeezy honey on next weeks order.

Better value, better taste and it actually stopped me coughing all day after only 2 mugs, but I've had 4 or 5 mugs using the Rowse honey today and haven't stopped coughing at all!

I've used almost triple the amount of Rowse honey in 10 hours without any kind of ease.

If you've got money to burn and you like tasteless honey, then get this one... if not, avoid it! I was hoping for too much after reading the 5 star review!

I won't be buying it again, it's a total waste of money!