Posts

It's a while since I've posted so here's an update

Dole life Once they've got you in the system they don't want you to leave. At least not until they've with you down and accepted your worthless existence. I could do with some more money, as could most people, so I looked into how earning some money would effect my benefits. I can earn £20 per week! Wow, a whole £20! Anymore than that would be deducted from my benefits. If I earn enough to replace that benefit then I'll be above the threshold for my carers allowance so would need enough to replace that as well. By then if probably be losing my other benefits as well. The way I work it out I'd need a starting wage of about £21k to be in the same financial situation I'm in now. But then I'd have to add on the costs of going to with (travel, meals, clothes, etc) and I'd be worse off. The chance of going into a new job at the same level as my old job after a break is pretty much non-existent. So this means I'm pretty much stuck on benefits. So is it

I hate Christmas

It's November and already I'm sick of Christmas. So, in no particular order, here's a list of things I hate about Christmas. It starts too soon. As soon as Bonfire Night is out the way the Christmas adverts start on the TV, Christmas stock starts appearing in shops, decorations start going up in shops and later in November in people's homes. It's just too much, too soon. Everyone wants your money. The shops want your money. New shops open up selling cheap junk to try to get more of your money. Charities want your money more than ever, t'is the season of goodwill to all men after all. Black Friday and other sales. Why do we even have Black Friday here in the UK? Again, it's just a way for shops to part fools with more of their money. The sales stock is all just junk they couldn't sell at full price so now they try to sell it for closer to what it's worth. New stock is also shipped in just for sales. This stuff might have the same brand on it but i

Bad moods

You know those days where you wish you could just go back to bed, have another's hours sleep then start again fresh? Well today has been one of those days. My day started at about half five when John woke up. As usual I changed him in bed before carrying him downstairs. He's usually quite active when he wakes up but while I was changing him this morning he managed to kick me in the face. Twice.  This set me up for the day in a bad mood. Once you're in a bad mood, if you don't get out of it, your day is just going to get worse.  I tried to cheer up, I really did. But I was just too tired to shake off my grump. The day was full of all the usual little things that normally wouldn't bother me. But today, thanks to my mood, they did bother me. I was overreacting and snapping at things, not thinking things through, acting before thinking. I even managed to launch poor Matthew down the back of the sofa, head first! Eventually the day came to an end. The ki

Photography Project pt2

Image
If you don't know what this is about it's probably best to get the background from the first post here:  https://sndad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/photography-project.html Ok, this is another image from the series. I like the concept but not sure about execution. You have to study the photo to see what's happening here, maybe that's a good thing. Anyway, in this photo I'm taking John for a walk with the dog. The dog doesn't want to stay on the lead walking the streets so I've got John in his off road wheelchair and we're going round a route I walk quite often. This could pass for an "other" road on an OS map and I've rode up and down here on my bike but pushing John up here isn't easy. The surface is scattered with large rocks and at the point I'm at it's very steep. However, John likes to be out and enjoys being out and has a good sense of adventure so as long as he's enjoying the ride then I'll take him anywhere I ca

The simple pleasure of a lie in

When you become a parent you pretty much forgo the opportunity to lie in bed undisturbed on a weekend. However, every now and then we have very little to do at the weekend. We use this time to lie in bed. Today I got up at about half five while my wife stayed in bed. By about nine she was up and it was my time to go back to bed. I quickly fell asleep. It was a beautiful sleep and lasted longer than expected. About half 11 I was woke by Matthew poking me in the eye.

Time to start thinking about a new car

When I say car, I mean van. When I say van I mean shed on wheels. I shouldn't really complain though. Whatever we get it will be bigger than the current car so we can fit more stuff in.