My nephew is blind. He's been blind since birth. Every doctor, every specialist, every bit of paper says so. For nearly 30 years, he has been deemed sightless. It's important that you know this, so you can appreciate the miracle I am about to unfold.
He recently went to have an employment support allowance assessment. On arrival they said "But what are you doing here: you're blind!" Assessment was done and nephew taken home (he has local guides and a friendly taxi driver).
Some point during that assessment, a miracle occurred. ATOS have found nephew to be partially sighted! Not blind at all! How could we all have been so blind! He's partially sighted! And as such not eligible for ESA. But of course they stopped the payment before he received notification of the miracle. He, foolish boy, hasn't even noticed his sight had been partially restored. It must be quite a shock to see FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.
Alas tis no miracle but what we in the trade call a Cock Up. He has 28 days to appeal and the RNIB are providing legal advice. But no one can help my niece who is beside herself with financial worry now.
This is your tax pennies at work here. Paying for a private company to make erroneous judgements. Causing extra work at additional cost. To you.
So I ask you, dear reader, to share this tale with anyone you see fit, call your MP. Ask them where your money is going. And what is being done to put right these sorts of mistakes? We can only get things changed if we speak up. Together.
Friday 22 February 2013
Saturday 16 February 2013
Sold! eBay netiquette
Now I love eBay*. I love browsing to see what bizarre things people have to sell. I love buying clothes, furniture and stuff at great prices. I love selling my unwanted clothes, furniture and stuff and trying to get a little cash rather than throwing it away. I also think its a pretty green way of disposing of unwanted kit. But I am noticing more and more eBayers not playing by the rules. Not just ebay's own regulations but the rules of being, well, PLU.
Firstly don't bid if you don't intend to buy. May sound obvious but nothing is more annoying than a message from your winning bidder stating that they "didn't really want it" or "can't afford it". Now you have to go through the whole selling rigmarole again and you might not even get the same bids. Never bid more than you can afford and, a little tip for some of my chums, never EVER bid drunk. Especially not on Ugg boots. You Know Who You Are.
Conversely, don't list if you don't intend to sell. I was delighted to have won a Poirot box set (this was before they were on every 2 hours on ITV2) for the princely sum of 99p plus P&P. I paid in full and waited. And waited. And waited. Several unanswered emails later my money was refunded but I never got to have the joy of multiple Poirots sans advertisements. If you have no intention of selling your item for less than £50, then either start your listing at that price, or put a reserve on it. Yes, it might cost you a few extra pennies in listing fees, but at least you will know that your minimum price will be reached before you sell. Which bring me on to...
No shill bidding. For those of you not in the know this is when a seller asks a chum to bid on an item in order to make the price go up. Sometimes the seller creates dummy accounts to do the same. Not only is this against eBay regulations, it's also a pretty stinky thing to do. You'd be cheesed off if you thought someone had done it to you. So don't.
Leave feedback. Both buyers and sellers can be guilty of this. eBay runs on customer feedback so it's only fair that if you have had a good, or bad, experience, you rate them. As a seller, feedback is the only way I can be certain you received the item and as a buyer, it is just good manners to rate me! It takes 30 seconds of your day and can make a world of difference to the recipient.
In short, don't do anything to others that you wouldn't like to be done to you. Which is a pretty good tenet for any occasion, don't you think?
*Other online auction sites are available, but lets face it, we all use eBay, don't we?
Firstly don't bid if you don't intend to buy. May sound obvious but nothing is more annoying than a message from your winning bidder stating that they "didn't really want it" or "can't afford it". Now you have to go through the whole selling rigmarole again and you might not even get the same bids. Never bid more than you can afford and, a little tip for some of my chums, never EVER bid drunk. Especially not on Ugg boots. You Know Who You Are.
Conversely, don't list if you don't intend to sell. I was delighted to have won a Poirot box set (this was before they were on every 2 hours on ITV2) for the princely sum of 99p plus P&P. I paid in full and waited. And waited. And waited. Several unanswered emails later my money was refunded but I never got to have the joy of multiple Poirots sans advertisements. If you have no intention of selling your item for less than £50, then either start your listing at that price, or put a reserve on it. Yes, it might cost you a few extra pennies in listing fees, but at least you will know that your minimum price will be reached before you sell. Which bring me on to...
No shill bidding. For those of you not in the know this is when a seller asks a chum to bid on an item in order to make the price go up. Sometimes the seller creates dummy accounts to do the same. Not only is this against eBay regulations, it's also a pretty stinky thing to do. You'd be cheesed off if you thought someone had done it to you. So don't.
Leave feedback. Both buyers and sellers can be guilty of this. eBay runs on customer feedback so it's only fair that if you have had a good, or bad, experience, you rate them. As a seller, feedback is the only way I can be certain you received the item and as a buyer, it is just good manners to rate me! It takes 30 seconds of your day and can make a world of difference to the recipient.
In short, don't do anything to others that you wouldn't like to be done to you. Which is a pretty good tenet for any occasion, don't you think?
*Other online auction sites are available, but lets face it, we all use eBay, don't we?
Friday 1 February 2013
Can't you just pull yourself together?
I've had a mini episode this week, blessedly short but quite acute which, I suppose, is better than long and chronic. Now I'm coming out of the low, I find myself plagued with guilt and shame. How could I have allowed this to happen? Surely I could have got my shit together enough to go to work? To get through. Couldn't I, in fact, as my father used to say, pull myself together a bit?
It is extraordinarily difficult for a non sufferer to understand what a depressive episode can mean. For me, just getting out of bed is a trial, I'm always so tired. Getting dressed is nigh on impossible. The desire to wash, cook, clean, talk all gone. As is my attention span. I find I cannot concentrate on anything for more than 10 minutes, if that. Coupled with feelings of worthlessness and despair and topped off with the unfortunate tendancy to cry all the time, it is not easy to do anything, let alone buck up enough to simulate normality.
I have spent days in my pyjamas, shaking with fear at the sound of the windw cleaner, dreading a knock at the door, a telephone call. Even texts and are frightening. Who is it? What do they want and what must they think of me? I have promised the Bear that I will never turn my phone off as he wants to check on me. But I do go to Do Not Disturb mode and hide notifications so tht I can psych myself up to check.
And now I'm crawling back to normality, although I still shake when sending a text to anyone but my nearest and dearest. I still feel like I've let everyone down. Could this have been prevented? Possibly. It was most likely a combination of a delayed response to something that happened at work, added into other work issues and us taking on a hugely stressful house/mortgage combo. I probably could have dealt with one, maybe even two but all three did for me. But do I avoid potentially stressful situations on the offchance my psyche might kick me in the head? If that is the suggested option I say pffftt to it. I will continue to live, to love, to be passionate about what I do and the things or people I love, to be utterly bonkers in every way. Yes I run the risk of horrible weeks like the one just gone (and it was horrible) but I have an excellent doctor and a wonderful man who take good care of me. I think I'll just try and keep the mega stresses to one or two in future.
It is extraordinarily difficult for a non sufferer to understand what a depressive episode can mean. For me, just getting out of bed is a trial, I'm always so tired. Getting dressed is nigh on impossible. The desire to wash, cook, clean, talk all gone. As is my attention span. I find I cannot concentrate on anything for more than 10 minutes, if that. Coupled with feelings of worthlessness and despair and topped off with the unfortunate tendancy to cry all the time, it is not easy to do anything, let alone buck up enough to simulate normality.
I have spent days in my pyjamas, shaking with fear at the sound of the windw cleaner, dreading a knock at the door, a telephone call. Even texts and are frightening. Who is it? What do they want and what must they think of me? I have promised the Bear that I will never turn my phone off as he wants to check on me. But I do go to Do Not Disturb mode and hide notifications so tht I can psych myself up to check.
And now I'm crawling back to normality, although I still shake when sending a text to anyone but my nearest and dearest. I still feel like I've let everyone down. Could this have been prevented? Possibly. It was most likely a combination of a delayed response to something that happened at work, added into other work issues and us taking on a hugely stressful house/mortgage combo. I probably could have dealt with one, maybe even two but all three did for me. But do I avoid potentially stressful situations on the offchance my psyche might kick me in the head? If that is the suggested option I say pffftt to it. I will continue to live, to love, to be passionate about what I do and the things or people I love, to be utterly bonkers in every way. Yes I run the risk of horrible weeks like the one just gone (and it was horrible) but I have an excellent doctor and a wonderful man who take good care of me. I think I'll just try and keep the mega stresses to one or two in future.
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