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Prom?
Isn't that what we used to call the School Disco? Where we used to listen to what our parents called "what passes for 'music' these days" ? :)
Isn't that what we used to call the School Disco? Where we used to listen to what our parents called "what passes for 'music' these days" ? :)
We never had any kind of socialising or celebratory event at Secondary School. It was a very rough and 'orrible place and almost all of the Teachers had really bad attitudes that were just as bad and as challenging to deal with as those of all of the Kids! ;oOSeriously, it sounds daft I know, but I still have the odd nightmare about that place! ... waking up with such a disorientatingly dreadful feeling that I have to get up and get myself ready to go!
The only thing that we did (and were allowed to do) on our last few days there was for the Girls to tie thick Red Ribbons in our Hair that hung down our Backs to our Shoes and for the Boys to take their Blazers and Jumpers off - and then everyone would write all kinds of good luck and farewell poems and wishes in Marker Pens all over the Ribbons and the Shirts.
I committed all of the nice things to heart that were written on my Ribbons and then I burnt them on a Bonfire in the Back Garden with all of my old Exercise Books - and it felt SO good! - a very symbolic and such a cathartic thing to do ;o>
Grizzlygrump wrote: "Prom?Isn't that what we used to call the School Disco? Where we used to listen to what our parents called "what passes for 'music' these days" ? :)"
I don't recall girls wearing £200 dresses or boys wearing dinner jackets & bow ties at any of my school discos. I do remember quite a lot of vodka being smuggled onto school premises and hidden in niches just outside the fire exits, though. And the music was mostly crap then, too. Our DJs generally had a rule of one safe punk record (usually Tommy Gun and two headbangers (Rush's Bastille Day was as out-there as it got): the rest had to be straight-down-the-middle chart fodder.
suzysunshine7 wrote: "a Bonfire in the Back Garden with all of my old Exercise Books..."But... But... What did you do if you wanted to look up how glaciers produced terminal moraines or how to multiply matrices? Surely you needed these things early in your career?
Ohhh yes! - everything I learnt in School so often helped me out with the Bed-bathing of Patients or the emptying out of Bottles and the disposing of Bedpans in the Sluice Room ;o>
;o> ... Some expert advice for everyone to take note of ... ;o>
If anyone ever needs any help with this then I'm your Girl! ;o>
The DWP car crash of a sabotage system just keeps on rolling along ;o<I've recently been sent yet another 44 pages of a Form to fill in as it turns out that the DWP made some very serious mistakes during the process of moving people from Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disability Allowance to ESA between 2011 and 2015 which resulted in many thousands of ESA claimants being underpaid. Why it went un-noticed for SO long and has then taken SO long to start resolving though is simply just beyond me?
Because the DWP have got in so much trouble over this they are now sending out these Forms - to confirm details and apply for recompense of this owed money - and in my case it is for the specific period of time of between September 2012 and September 2013.
So Mum and me have spent almost 2 hours today, carefully going through it all - with her filling out as much of it as she can for me, before the penny suddenly dropped, that I AM entirely eligible but I can't apply because I no longer have any records of some of the most essential financial information that they need to validate and process the claim ...
ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!! ;oO
I could swear now that what the DWP is deliberately trying to do is to drive us disabled folk completely insane by doing this to us?!! They want for everyone to remember Bank Accounts and Building Society Accounts and write it all up in little boxes right down to the very last £ and p - and I only keep financial records going back 3 to 4 years and not ones going back 7 ! ;o<
I have had several Accounts over the last 10 to 15 years, all with only small but still significant amounts of money in them - but they all, bar two, have been emptied and shut-down for at least 5 years now so I can't even apply to them for help on providing old Statements because I no longer hold Accounts with them anymore!
What a frustrating, stressful, and utterly wasted afternoon! - and now I know too that I have been underpaid by what might possibly be up to a couple of hundred pounds ... but I can't claim it ... and, to be honest, I'd so much rather just have been left in complete ignorance than in getting to now find out about this ;o<
It could always be worse ... I could still be being made to jump through flaming hoops for my Benefits and I haven't lost out on anything from my current Benefits either ... but it has really upset me that the DWP been found to be responsible for yet another shocking and serious screw-up like this - and I'm pretty sure too that I can't be the only person who can't provide them with any actual Proofs going back so many years either?
You can't ignore the Form? - if you don't fill it out to claim then you have to ring them up to explain why it is that you are choosing not to do so. My Mum is going to do it for me though because I feel like I'll break down in tears, start smacking my Head against a Wall, and lose the plot completely if I have to try to deal with anyone from the DWP ever again right now!
Apparently the DWP is in the process of reviewing around 570,000 ESA cases that may have been underpaid. It is estimated that around 180,000 people have been affected and each person that was underpaid could be due a payment of up to around £5,000.
In total, they are expecting to have to pay out £970 million ... ! ! ! ;oO
The National living wage in the UK is £8.21 an hour. I presume this to mean that this is an acceptable amount of money in which we can live on, and when I was working I found it an ok amount. You could pay your bills, afford the odd treat, and have a fairly happy existence. However, I was made redundant at the end of Feburary this year and also had an injury, (rotator cuff shoulder), that limited my ability to work. The Universal Credit for someone who is unemployed equates to roughly £64 a week or approx £300 a month. You can only receive this if you have worked full time in the past 3 years, which thankfully I had. My question is simple, if the government think that a wage of approx £300 a week is a living wage, going by the £8.21 an hour, how the f*^k is somebody supposed to live on £64 a week?! It's not even a quarter of the living wage ffs!
Ohhh Poppet?! - how awful for you ... x ;o<It's no wonder there are SO many Food Banks and all of them struggling to meet such an urgent need in Society now, is there? I never ever thought I'd get to see so much deprivation and poverty in this Country and in this modern and technological day and age as well?
Thankfully I have the safety cushion of living with M&D that I can always fall back on if ever I need too - which makes life so much less stressful, far easier, and more affordable as we can share all of the Bills and living expenses between us. I still long for a little Home somewhere that I can get to call my own but I can't really see it happening anytime soon, if ever now.
Thanks Suzy. Of course this is coupled with the fact that I'm still smarting from Liverpool beating Spurs last night. Also ironic that the people who are making me and a lot of others feel like this, are the ones earning the big money. Gotta laugh! :-)
Damn and blast those Spurs! - how dare they let you down?!! ;o>
suzysunshine7 wrote: "Damn and blast those Spurs! - how dare they let you down?!! ;o>"Yeah..spurs will do that....get jabbed in the thigh..and gosh...it smarts! :)
suzysunshine7 wrote: "The DWP car crash of a sabotage system just keeps on rolling along ;o<I've recently been sent yet another 44 pages of a Form to fill in as it turns out that the DWP made some very serious mistake..."
Interesting Suzy. I've not recieved such form yet...but should they do...i have got everything they've ever sent me.....the file is enormous! :)
Hard luck in your case...maybe you should extend your cut off date for disposing old paperwork, just incase another DWP screw up is discovered! They're pretty good at doing that!!!
TheFoe wrote: "The National living wage in the UK is £8.21 an hour. I presume this to mean that this is an acceptable amount of money in which we can live on, and when I was working I found it an ok amount. You c..."I've never earnt £300 a week in my life Nick! That's a luxurious wage where i come from!! But 64 squids a week..on the other hand...is shite!
I presume your financial circumstances have now improved somewhat since then, Nick? Are you still working at the brewery?
The Postman has delivered a Parcel from Holland & Barrett ;o>Breakfast was Fruit Salad & Yoghurt ... and 'Choccy Nuts & Raisins' ... !
theDuke wrote: "TheFoe wrote: "The National living wage in the UK is £8.21 an hour. I presume this to mean that this is an acceptable amount of money in which we can live on, and when I was working I found it an o..."Worked there for 2 days last week Duke, as an agency worker. There was an old guy working there, also on agency, 75 years old, crazy!
£300+ per week only equates if the working week is forty hours, very few jobs these days, if any, fall into this category. Employers recruit mostly part time, employment agencies cover their backsides by using zero hour contracts. The enormous pool of an unskilled labour force exist only to be exploited. With so many companies and businesses struggling to survive jobs are usually the first target for cost cutting excercises. Overstretched Government budgets for the unemployed, disabled etc are badly hit especially under the new Universal Credit system which is an absolute shambles and disgrace leaving so many individuals and families sinking further and further into poverty.Having undergone several months of unemployment a few years back I found it hard going just trying to keep my entitlement week in week out. Compulsory attendance to various job clubs designed to "improve" your skills in interview techniques, composing cv's, hours spent n the laptop looking over streams of jobs, agencies in a fruitless endeavour to find work. It would have been easier searching for the Holy Grail. During this time it was actually suggested that I take up voluntary work "just to gain experience", obviosly the previous forty odd years of continuous employment wasn't sufficent. Eventually though I did manage to obtain a position as a care worker with Mencap about two and a half years ago so things began to look up. However having recently received this years letter to renew my FIS I have been informed that I have been overpaid about £1200 over the past couple of years and have to repay it by the end of this month. Wonderful!
Martin, I've always found this "national living wage" thing a bit ridiculous. It doesn't matter how much you earn per hour (assuming it's not CEO or professional footballer level): if you can only get 6 hours work a week you're not going to be able to live on it.
theDuke wrote: "Hard luck in your case...maybe you should extend your cut off date for disposing old paperwork, just incase another DWP screw up is discovered! They're pretty good at doing that!!!"There simply wouldn't be enough room in the House if I kept hoarding decades worth of old Paperwork that is no longer valid or in any other way relevant to me. The DWP must surely be able to call up all of my original details that were registered with them on their Database, and could-of just printed it off as a single sheet of Paper and sent it to me instead of this 44 paged Form.
I could have simply confirmed everything by signing and dating the enclosed Declaration and that would have been that?! ... Job done!
Well?!! ... so my Mum rang the DWP and was put on hold for almost 45 minutes before getting through ... and then she had a very interesting conversation with the friendly lady who took the Call.Apparently, all you do is just put a tick in each of the boxes on the Form to confirm that you had a Bank, Building Society, Post Office, etc Account at the time ... BUT? ... you just leave the rest of the page blank where it asks you to put the amount in plus any further details - and you go over to Page 39 and write in the Comments Box that the DWP should refer to the details at the time in question that they already have registered on you.
Typical! - first they send you a Form that you can't fill in - but tell you that you have to or they'll contact you to find out why you haven't done so ... and then, when you ring them up to explain why you can't fill it in, they tell you that you don't need to fill it in the way that it specifically says on the Form that it has to be! ;oO
They really ARE trying their very best to drive me completely crackers!!! ;o>
I'd be very tempted to ring again and speak to another advisor, just to see if they recommend the same. Knowing our services at the moment this is just as likely a ruse to deny you any more money as it is accurate advice :(
When my sister started to try and apply for the appropriate benefits package after her husband had a stroke the DWP sent her all the forms she needed, but in Welsh. They live in Leeds and have connection with Wales whatsoever!
I know it may sound daft but I don't particularly even want the money?It would be nice, obviously, but I wouldn't be surprised if they try to say that, once paid out, it all adds up to being too much in personal Assets and Savings for that year and then charge me a Penalty Fine!
But I HAVE to fill this Form out or explain to them why I am not doing so - and I don't want them trying to make any assumptions about me not needing it and wondering if that means that they can also re-review and then reduce my current Benefits.
I always feel damned if I do and damned if I don't whenever it comes to the DWP.
Anyways, Mum has filled in the rest of the Form as directed and has just headed off to the Post Office to get a dated Receipt of Posting for it.
Derek wrote: "When my sister started to try and apply for the appropriate benefits package after her husband had a stroke the DWP sent her all the forms she needed, but in Welsh. They live in Leeds and have ..."I would like to say that I'm surprised by that, Derek, but I've also had a couple of Letters in the Welsh Language sent to me and there was even one last year that might possibly have been Urdu?!! ... and I absolutely HATE ringing them because they have the most awful annoying Music that plays on and on and on for ages whenever they put you on Hold! ;oO
🎶"We'll keep a welcome in the hillside....."🎶Bore da!
Unexpectedly crashed out for a few hours and I've just woke up to find two little hairy woofers also fast asleep and in Bed with me!!! ... HA HA HA HA HA!!!A very late Tea of a Veg Pizza is currently in the Oven ;o>
None for me, thanks - just had breakfast :)
That's okay ... Mum 'helped' me to finish it ;o>I'm off to Bed and so it's ... x NN x ST x SD x ... from me
And ... x have a good Shift x and safe journeys x ... to you
"So Mum and me have spent almost 2 hours today, carefully going through it all - with her filling out as much of it as she can for me, before the penny suddenly dropped, that I AM entirely eligible but I can't apply because I no longer have any records of some of the most essential financial information that they need to validate and process the claim ... ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!! ;oO"
Suzie - you simply MUST stop having those garden bonfires to de-clutter!
;0)
I can't quite remember the last time we had a Bonfire in the Back Garden? - but it must be at least 30 years ago now. I love the smell of wood smoke and we used to wrap Potatoes in Foil and bury them in the embers ... ohhh, they were good! - seriously yummy! ;o>I spend at least a couple of minutes almost every day putting things through the CrossCut Shredder these days which is obviously far quicker, and convenient, and much less messy ... but, sadly, it can't also be used to bake a Potato ;o<
It's raining ... and it's been raining ALL day long ;o<
That was the weather, now here's the travel :)
suzysunshine7 wrote: "Derek wrote: "When my sister started to try and apply for the appropriate benefits package after her husband had a stroke the DWP sent her all the forms she needed, but in Welsh. They live in Leeds..."They send me Welsh ones too....cos i live there...but me no speaky the lingo, innit! Thank goodness for Google's translation engines!
suzysunshine7 wrote: "I can't quite remember the last time we had a Bonfire in the Back Garden? - but it must be at least 30 years ago now. I love the smell of wood smoke and we used to wrap Potatoes in Foil and bury th..."We have burn up once a week in our garden, to completely destroy any paperwork that has any personal info on them, and we burn it in? An upturned washing machine drum! :) They last so much longer than the shitty thin galvanised garden incinerators, one can typically find in any DIY or garden centres. They rot out within a year.
It's a bit of joke galvanising these things..cos the first time one has a burn up in one those incinators..pretty much renders the zinc protection, useless! It burns off! And oxidised zinc is toxic!
So....some 12 years ago, we had an old washing machine go bandit on us. So i stripped it down, got the drum out....and plonked that outside, and stuck the chimney lid off the manky incinerator we did have, & bingo! No more wasting money on cheap zinc'd crap, cos those drums, they're made of Stainless Steel, ain't they! Last effin' years! And rather handily....it even comes with it's own built in stand, in the form of the belt pulley attached at back of the drum. Looks really pretty when ya got a fire going at night, as you see the flames licking away inside, via the perforations in the side wall, it pretty cool looking too...or should i say...hot!
Our one is getting a bit brittle now..but it's still in use..that is until our current washing machine decides to give up the ghost, then have a new one...of each! :)
Grizzlygrump wrote: "That was the weather, now here's the travel :)"Let's be careful out there because, guess what folks? ... it's STILL raining!
I have dug out the Blueprints for the Ark that I was contemplating building last year ;o>
Just stuck my head out the front door and it's not raining here, though the ground is wet so it must have rained at some point.
I'm more bothered by all the overnight road closures - having to take a longer route just to get to work for the next two weeks. Found myself unwittingly leading a convoy through Bedford last night due to the main bypass being closed. Running down towards the town, I saw two trucks circling a roundabout obviously unsure of which way to go (diversion signs? - no chance!) so when I went straight on, they tagged along behind me and followed me all the way through and back to the bypass.
Good job I wasn't actually delivering to one of the Bedford stores until later :)
I'm more bothered by all the overnight road closures - having to take a longer route just to get to work for the next two weeks. Found myself unwittingly leading a convoy through Bedford last night due to the main bypass being closed. Running down towards the town, I saw two trucks circling a roundabout obviously unsure of which way to go (diversion signs? - no chance!) so when I went straight on, they tagged along behind me and followed me all the way through and back to the bypass.
Good job I wasn't actually delivering to one of the Bedford stores until later :)
Awww, I bet they were glad to see you! - and play Follow My Leader ;o>
It's been light rain but it's been almost non-stop from dawn to dusk.Bedtime for me ... x safe journeys out there x
A slow start to the day today - and I've woken up to having a Black Eye?!! ;oOMy Mum pointed it out to me over Breakfast and all that I can think is that, when I had one of my falls yesterday, I must have hit my Cheekbone against a Wall as I went down? My Eye did feel a bit sore last night and even more so first thing this morning but I never thought to take a look at it in the Mirror until just now - and it is quite spectacular to behold all swollen and coming out in various shades of red, blue and dark purple!
I don't do anything by halves, me, do I? Anyone can easily enough develop a Black Eye - but it seems I always have to go one better and look just like I've done several Rounds with Mike Tyson?!! ;oO
I had some Breakfast ... Fruit Salad & Yoghurt ... at around 6.30 'ish this morning so I'm onto having Lunch now - and I've decided on having a Baked Potato with my usual filling ... Cheese, Bacon, and Beans ;o>I don't think I'll be answering the Front Door though, looking like this, as I don't want to scare the lovely Delivery Lady off! - I'll ask Grumpy Dad to do it instead! - LOL!!! ;o>
"look just like I've done several Rounds with Mike Tyson?!!"nah, yer eye would be fine! might need to do an ear count tho'! biff bang boom!
suzysunshine7 wrote: "A slow start to the day today - and I've woken up to having a Black Eye?!! ;oO"
That'll be your Birthday present sorted then - one pair of sunglasses large enough to cover the black eye :)
That'll be your Birthday present sorted then - one pair of sunglasses large enough to cover the black eye :)
Ohhh thanks a lot! ... HA HA HA HA HA!!! ;o>It's a good job that I don't get to go out anywhere, isn't it? I'm definitely not a proud or a vain person, but still, I don't want to be seen by anyone while I'm looking like this.
It looks like it's spreading so I've been using a bag of Peas wrapped in a Towel as an Ice Pack on and off for last couple of hours. I can't hold things very well or hold them up for long so I'm having to keep lying down to do it and both Moo and Tee are obviously finding all this to be fascinating and great fun ... as they keep jumping up beside me, trying to paw the Pack off so they can see me underneath it, and play Peek-A-Boo with me?!!!!! ... ;oO ... ;o>
How is Bob Zombie today? ... still enjoying Room Service in his new Home? ;o>
yeah, continues to live the life of a cruel unbending emperor! upon inspecting his kingdom whilst i took lux for a walk today, he used both the upstairs and downstairs litter trays within the space of a few minutes - thinks i've nothing else to do but clean up after the little bastid! but, yes, he's fine, using his bad leg much more often now.
Amazon exiles
Books mentioned in this topic
Ten Poems about Snow (other topics)And So This is Christmas: 51 Seasonally Adjusted Poems (other topics)
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (other topics)
The Quangle Wangle's Hat (other topics)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Christina Rossetti (other topics)John Keats (other topics)
Joan Aiken (other topics)
And all I can say on having little other choice but to listen to it over the last 4 hours is that da yoof of today must have absolutely appalling taste in Music, if that is what it is? ... mainly monotone, depressingly miserable, and almost immediately unmemorable rendering it impossible to recall once it is over?! ...
High time to crank up the old Ghettoblaster and bring back treasured memories all of the bright and bouncy colourful classics of 70's and 80's Pop, I reckon! Da yoof with all of their attitude these days won't know what the Hell has hit 'em! - LOL!!! ;oO