What do you get for 10 million pounds?
•177,777 job seekers’ allowance claims of £56.25 for one week
•Two years of foreign aid to Iraq
•152 MPs’ salaries
•The upkeep and maintenance of England’s cathedrals for one year
•1,999 students’ annual tuition fees
•25,773 household electricity and water bills for one year
•Double the UK’s funding for global human rights projects on sexual violence against women and girls
•Pay for the monarchy for three months
•Double the funding designed to boost innovation in offshore wind turbines.
•269 paramedics
•322 nurses for one year on £31,095 each
•Buy two tonnes of European white truffles (£2,300 a pound)
•A mortgage on Dracula’s Castle in Romania (full value £86 million).
Best spend it on a woman who is estimated to be worth 66million eh?
Typical bureaucracy
Right, today I went to Peterborough City hospital, to see a specialist regarding my foot, which is rolling inwards. The only way to correct my foot, is to perform surgery, it entails cutting tendons, fusing bones together etc. Now, I don ‘t like the sound of that, but I know it needs doing, without it, I will carry on being in pain.
This is my right foot, as you can see, I can not get it flat, all the weight goes to a spot just above my 5th metatarsal.
Of course with any surgery, after care is needed, how ever, I am not a typical case, I can’t walk. Normally, you get the surgery, then the next day, given a pair of sticks, sent home, told to stay off the foot and keep elevated. Problem for me is, I’m not good on my two legs, will never manage on one, even though I don’t walk, I need them for many, many things.
I explained this to the Doctor, who said he would refer me to an occupational therapist. The OT department at the hospital have said, they will not access me, until I have had the surgery. That is right, not until I have had the life changing surgery that would see me bed bound for 3 months. This to me, is not acceptable, I need to know in advance what will be put in place for me. I need to know how I am going to manage at home, things need putting into place.
The OT department then said, contact my local authority, fib a bit, pretend I’m not having surgery, tell them I am in a worse state than I really am. Yes, they want me to lie! Well that won’t work, for 2 reasons. 1: I will not lie about my disability or anything to do with it. 2: I had an OT here a few weeks ago, he knows what I can do, would look odd if i suddenly said I can’t do all those things.
We left the appointment feeling as though we have no real answers, the hospitals OT have said they will see what they can do, but insist they will not access my needs until after the op, I insist there will be no op, unless i know about the aftercare. Why would I have a painful op, only to be screwed after? They argue we won’t know what my needs will be, until after the op, I argue with do know, I won’t be able to use my right leg at all.
Why are they so unwilling to look into this? Why are they willing to get the expensive bit right (the surgery), but not prepared to get the arguably cheaper bit, the after care right?
I am most annoyed.
All quiet on the West front
What can I say? It has all been very quiet of late, been to a gig, a comedy show, few days out etc.
The best thing I’ve done in the last few weeks is going to see “Biffy Clyro”, at the o2 Arena. I went with Will and his two brothers, it was a great laugh to be honest, they are great company. I also went on the Cable Car at the the o2, it goes across the river (and back), you get some great views for only a few quid.
The gig was amazing, the set list was fantastic, one of the best gigs I’ve been too.
I’ve been up to other things, went to an antiques fair with Matt (@smegfirk), that was erm, cold and snowy, oh, did I say cold?
Here are some plebs from Bargin Hunt.
Good at my Job
Turns out, i am not bad at my job. Got all Blues and Greens, which are the top two grades, amber and Red, you don’t want those.
I’ve blacked out all names except my own, for obvious reasons.
Almost, but no, wait, maybe in a few weeks.
I almost won Al Murray tickets on Twitter, I say almost, I did win, but can’t use them. To twin two tickets to see Al in Leicester, you had to answer the following.
@ajhmurray steak and al pie?
— Rob (@GingerRob) February 23, 2013
@ajhmurray yes. But I will say, I am a wheelchair user, do don’t know if that has an impact on winning? — Rob (@GingerRob) February 23, 2013
@ajhmurray thank you
— Rob (@GingerRob) February 23, 2013
@ajhmurray ah, I can’t
thank you for asking though
— Rob (@GingerRob) February 23, 2013
@ajhmurray Northampton 15/03, MK, 10/06, if there is anything for either of those 2, that would be amazing, thank you!
— Rob (@GingerRob) February 23, 2013
@ajhmurray thank you.
— Rob (@GingerRob) February 23, 2013
Very kind of Al to look into other dates, specially as this was a twitter freebie, he is under no obligation to. I really hope I can go see him, missed him when he was in the area last.
What am I meant to say?
What am I meant to say when my mum starts crying about my dad? We were in the car today, returning from town, I looked over and she was crying. I asked what was up, she said she was thinking of dad. I asked if there was anything specific, she said she still can’t believe what he has done.
The moment she said that, I was stumped, what am I meant to say to this?
Nothing much to report
So I haven’t blogged for a few weeks, I seem to lack the drive to write anything at the moment. But maybe it is also in part because I have had very little going on, not nothing, just very little.
I suppose the biggest news is, we have a dog. His name is Sam, he is a Boarder Terrier, he is quite simply, lovely. We got him from Wood Green animal shelter, we saw him on their website, he wasn’t a breed we were looking at, but he just looked right. After a few visits, we knew he was the dog for us. He is two years old, he is very much a child, which is lovely.
His integration into our house was a little stressful, this is simply because we are novice dog owners. When we got Sam, Wood Green said they would provide support if and when needed. After only a few days, we decided we needed some help. The dog and our cat (who has lived in the home for 16 years) were not getting on, the cat was tormenting the dog, constantly winding him up, in return the dog would chase and bark.
On the second evening, the dog charged at the dog, we feared he was going to kill him. So in came W.G. they were fantastic, they explained this situation was normal, in fact it the right thing. The cat was informing the dog, I AM THE BOSS. W.G. explained the dog would learn to keep away from the cat, sure enough, two weeks on, they can be in the same room, happily ignoring each other.
The dog is bringing the three of us so much enjoyment, we also hope we are providing him with a better life than he was living. His previous owner neglected him, so much so he has a permanent ear problem. If his previous owner had looked after him properly, he would not have this lasting condition, SHAME ON YOU. Either way, he lives with us now, we love him. We love going on walks, we love the way he plays, he is just amazing!
Can’t say there is too much in the pipeline, other than I’ve entered a couple of Boccia competitions for next month. No idea what my chances are, really don’t care to be honest, just hope to have fun and do my best. I believe if I play my best, I have a chance of doing well, based on what I saw last year, but who knows. I’ve refused to be part of the league team this year, just going to take part in singles stuff. The coach thinks I’m throwing my toys out of the pram, he be right. I won’t be part of the clubs B team, the people in it are not people I enjoy hanging out with or chatting to. Boccia is all about fun for me, part of having fun is all about who you are playing with. I fail to see why I should travel hundreds of miles to be with people I don’t want to be with.
Over and out.
