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The last leg... heh
08 May 2009
Nov 13th Well, I knew it might happen but I finally got a letter from the insurance saying that my accident is going down as my fault
Am a bit pissed off tbh because I feel I've been royally shafted on this one - from the copper who didn't do his job properly (measuring skid marks etc) and just closed the case with vague info in it (I know this cos my mate works for Sussex Police and she took a look at the report for me) because he was going on paternity leave at the end of the week - to the statement of the people in the car my bike hit after I was shunted into them. He now claims his wife was driving the car - funny, unless it's a left hand drive or his wife has a full beard - it was a bloke I saw looking at me out of the drivers side. They also claim I was going too fast and sped in front of the car that hit me - I was doing about 5 mph. The fact that he hit to the rear of the bike and there were skid marks from way beyond the mini roundabout (commented on by the fireman whilst he was holding my thigh) count for nothing.
Hey ho - not much I can do about it apart from put it down to experience, I haven't the energy nor the inclination to argue any more anyway. Can't wait to see how my premiums will be affected - tho it was minimal damage to both the cars involved.
Nov 14th Bobbi drove up from Dorset today and stayed at mine overnight so she can take me to the BLS forum meet in Epsom. I’m so excited to be going “out” socially!
Nov 16th What a fantastic night! Met some jolly fine peeps and had a reet laugh – especially when Yoda did his “you knocked me out of my wheelchair” routine on the barman. Haven’t laughed so much in ages. Big up to Bobbi for picking me up and bringing me home –it’s done me the world of good.
Nov 19th Decided today that I am going to get Mikey an XBox for Xmas cos he's been a real star this year and he's had a pretty crap time of it with his mum making him do washing, cleaning and basically looking after me and the cat, and he's desperate for one - he asked me if he could sell his PS2 and games to raise money for one cos he knew I couldn't afford one - bless
So, even if it bankrupts me (the fools haven't taken away my credit cards - yet) I'm going to get him one.
Nov 23rd spent a lot of the last few days sorting out Nicky’s wireless network for her. Jeez that was a job and a half but finally got all 4 puters talking to each other. It didn’t help that 2 were Macs but got there in the end. Huzzah!
Nov 27th – I went on a bus today! Just the local bus mind but it was scary enough for the first venture on one for years. Getting there was ok, it was the coming back that was the problem - the driver liked to slam the brakes on - hard. One poor old dear nearly went out the front window
I pressed the bell and waited for him to stop before I even attempted to stand up .
What's worse is that I have to do it again tomorrow for an appointment with nursey
Nov 28th Anyone want my life?
To go on top of the decision that the insurance is viewing my accident as my fault, the "Jobcentre" in their wisdom have decided not to backdate my claim for Income Support. I only applied for it 2 weeks ago as I had been told previously that it would only be a case of a couple of quid more a week and the thought of filling out more forms really didn't appeal to me at the time (I had just come out of hospital and tried to claim incapacity benefit - a 52 page form and a 45 minute phone call which resulted in them saying "You're not entitled to it"). Having never claimed a benefit before, I had no idea that if I claimed Income Support then the council would pay all of my rent and Council Tax, so have been struggling for the last 7 months to find the £200 odd quid that the council wouldn't pay. I also (wrongly, as it would now appear) thought that because I was self-employed, I wasn't entitled to Income Support anyway. A nice lady at the council explained this all to me last week after I received a bill for Council Tax - she said if I can backdate the claim then they will pay me the rent from May - which would have been nice with Christmas coming up. This decision means that I have to now find the C. Tax that I haven't paid, plus I have to find all the rent for Monday as the I. Support hasn't been sorted yet, so my new claim won't be honoured with the Council until it has. I have got the option to appeal which I fully intended to this morning, but I seem to have phone phobia today. I'm not sleeping at all at the moment so I'm not in the right frame of mind to do it and I'm concerned that depression might be rearing it's ugly head again (one of the main symptoms I had before was a fear of making/receiving phone calls).
I think I have now hit rock bottom, so I suppose the only way to go is up. Sorry to lay this on you guys - and I'm not after sympathy (it's in the dictionary between shit and syphilis) but I just need somewhere to get it off my chest.
Dec 5th Well, the Xbox arrived today - quick delivery from Game
It does have the ethernet cable and the headset so that's another thing to cross off the list
Bloody heavy tho - I feel like I've run a marathon just putting the thing in the cupboard under the stairs so he doesn't see it. Mind you, it is one of those cartoon cupboards.... you know the type - you shove it all in and when you next open the door, everything falls out onto yer head!
Feeling a little more upbeat about things today - have written a long letter to Jobcentre Plus appealing their decision and also a letter to my local MP about the council tax problem (they want to wait until they get a summons then add the court charges on top of what I already owe them) and also filling him in on the Income Support gripe. I doubt he can do much but it's made me feel better just thinking I've done something positive.
Maybe I should get a job writing letters…
Dec 10th I got a gold star from the physio today - managed to walk around the department using only one stick She was dead chuffed with me - I was too - so I thought I'd share
Hopefully it won't be too long til I can upgrade to one stick all the time and get rid of the ferking crutches
And, even better - I've just been down the town (on the bus again) to see nursey and the wounds are healing nicely - apart from the new one that came up on Friday and burst :sick:
She did say that it's possible that I may have these things forever as there are so many little shards of bone floating around the leg and they make their way to the surface and a bid for freedom - but at least they will heal eventually
Well snotty letter 1 of 3 worked. This is the one I wrote to the council asking them why they are so stupid.... they have extended the time I have to pay until March which is good.
So - no baking cakes with files in until March now
Dec 15th I've gone off red wine
Over the past few weeks I've tried various red wines that have been given to me or I've bought - and not the cheapy ones either. I've gone right off it. I thought it was the cold weather cos I don't like cold red wine, so I tried putting the bottle in the airing cupboard/next to a radiator or fire before opening and I still don't like it.
The end of the world is nigh I tell ya
Dec 21st Bumped into an ex from 20 years ago.
Weird one - was madly in love with him - short relationship for various reasons, he moved abroad - came back a few years later and it went on a bit then we both moved abroad to different countries and hadn't seen each other since. Walked into the con club tonight on a jolly with my mate and who walked in?
We had a bit of a chat - couldn't stop for long cos we both had things to do but managed to swap email addys.
very odd feeling
Dec 23rd Am dragging taking Mikey down the town after physio today so i can get the veggies and odds and sods that I need - once I am home this afternoon then, and only then can Christmas begin
I went for my physio review this morning. Leg's coming along nicely so they're knocking the sessions down to one every two or three weeks (as long as I carry on doing the exercises at home of course ) reckon to be walking a la one stick in about 2 weeks - none in a couple of months
Dec 24th The menu for tomorrow:
Full English breakfast about 9'ish (Mikey still gets up at the crack of sparrow fart for Xmas )
For dinner at 4pm (still work on pub times even tho I don't live in one anymore)
Tomato soup with vodka and cream & fresh homemade bread
Roast Turkey
Roast Tatties
Brussel sprouts, carrots and green beans
Pigs in blankets
Stuffing balls
Gravy & cranberry sauce
Xmas pud & mince pies with double cream
All interspersed with lots of glasses of soave
Present wise - don't care really - might get the 2 books I asked for. It's only me and Mikey - just want to see his face when he gets his present tomorrow really. That will make Christmas
Dec 25th Yay! got the 2 Wilbur Smith books I wanted plus 4 Aggie Christie books I hadn't got (I collect em) a book on 50 ways to kill a slug (private joke - will explain it another day) Mock the Week dvd, Harry Hill dvd and a dvd of The Young Ones (Peoples poet not Cliff soddin Richard ) and 2 gifts of mugs... feck knows why - I have millions in the cupboard cos i can't fit them on the side with the other 10 oh and 5 BIG packs of Golden Virginia 
Dec 27th Well, we've just got the bus into Eastbourne - to exchange COD4 PC game (
) for COD World at War XBox. That was fun... not. It was manic over there and long bus journeys on crutches is not fun.
Dec 31st /Jan 1st midnight and Mikey insisted on opening the bottle of champagne my bro gave me for my 40th - then he decided after one sip he didn't like it - so I'm having to finish it on my own It's ok, I'd only drunk one bottle of soave before
I played Trivial Pursuit with Mikey (he provided a class answer to the question asked "who did Larry Grayson take over from on the Generation Game?" Answer = Clint Eastwood) Then played charades for an hour, then watched Jools Holland's Hootenanny but flicked over to BBC1 for the fireworks at 12. He then went on his puter and I got pissed 
Am a bit pissed off tbh because I feel I've been royally shafted on this one - from the copper who didn't do his job properly (measuring skid marks etc) and just closed the case with vague info in it (I know this cos my mate works for Sussex Police and she took a look at the report for me) because he was going on paternity leave at the end of the week - to the statement of the people in the car my bike hit after I was shunted into them. He now claims his wife was driving the car - funny, unless it's a left hand drive or his wife has a full beard - it was a bloke I saw looking at me out of the drivers side. They also claim I was going too fast and sped in front of the car that hit me - I was doing about 5 mph. The fact that he hit to the rear of the bike and there were skid marks from way beyond the mini roundabout (commented on by the fireman whilst he was holding my thigh) count for nothing.
Hey ho - not much I can do about it apart from put it down to experience, I haven't the energy nor the inclination to argue any more anyway. Can't wait to see how my premiums will be affected - tho it was minimal damage to both the cars involved.
Nov 14th Bobbi drove up from Dorset today and stayed at mine overnight so she can take me to the BLS forum meet in Epsom. I’m so excited to be going “out” socially!
Nov 16th What a fantastic night! Met some jolly fine peeps and had a reet laugh – especially when Yoda did his “you knocked me out of my wheelchair” routine on the barman. Haven’t laughed so much in ages. Big up to Bobbi for picking me up and bringing me home –it’s done me the world of good.
Nov 19th Decided today that I am going to get Mikey an XBox for Xmas cos he's been a real star this year and he's had a pretty crap time of it with his mum making him do washing, cleaning and basically looking after me and the cat, and he's desperate for one - he asked me if he could sell his PS2 and games to raise money for one cos he knew I couldn't afford one - bless
So, even if it bankrupts me (the fools haven't taken away my credit cards - yet) I'm going to get him one.
Nov 23rd spent a lot of the last few days sorting out Nicky’s wireless network for her. Jeez that was a job and a half but finally got all 4 puters talking to each other. It didn’t help that 2 were Macs but got there in the end. Huzzah!
Nov 27th – I went on a bus today! Just the local bus mind but it was scary enough for the first venture on one for years. Getting there was ok, it was the coming back that was the problem - the driver liked to slam the brakes on - hard. One poor old dear nearly went out the front window
I pressed the bell and waited for him to stop before I even attempted to stand up .What's worse is that I have to do it again tomorrow for an appointment with nursey
Nov 28th Anyone want my life?
To go on top of the decision that the insurance is viewing my accident as my fault, the "Jobcentre" in their wisdom have decided not to backdate my claim for Income Support. I only applied for it 2 weeks ago as I had been told previously that it would only be a case of a couple of quid more a week and the thought of filling out more forms really didn't appeal to me at the time (I had just come out of hospital and tried to claim incapacity benefit - a 52 page form and a 45 minute phone call which resulted in them saying "You're not entitled to it"). Having never claimed a benefit before, I had no idea that if I claimed Income Support then the council would pay all of my rent and Council Tax, so have been struggling for the last 7 months to find the £200 odd quid that the council wouldn't pay. I also (wrongly, as it would now appear) thought that because I was self-employed, I wasn't entitled to Income Support anyway. A nice lady at the council explained this all to me last week after I received a bill for Council Tax - she said if I can backdate the claim then they will pay me the rent from May - which would have been nice with Christmas coming up. This decision means that I have to now find the C. Tax that I haven't paid, plus I have to find all the rent for Monday as the I. Support hasn't been sorted yet, so my new claim won't be honoured with the Council until it has. I have got the option to appeal which I fully intended to this morning, but I seem to have phone phobia today. I'm not sleeping at all at the moment so I'm not in the right frame of mind to do it and I'm concerned that depression might be rearing it's ugly head again (one of the main symptoms I had before was a fear of making/receiving phone calls).
I think I have now hit rock bottom, so I suppose the only way to go is up. Sorry to lay this on you guys - and I'm not after sympathy (it's in the dictionary between shit and syphilis) but I just need somewhere to get it off my chest.
Dec 5th Well, the Xbox arrived today - quick delivery from Game
It does have the ethernet cable and the headset so that's another thing to cross off the list
Bloody heavy tho - I feel like I've run a marathon just putting the thing in the cupboard under the stairs so he doesn't see it. Mind you, it is one of those cartoon cupboards.... you know the type - you shove it all in and when you next open the door, everything falls out onto yer head!
Feeling a little more upbeat about things today - have written a long letter to Jobcentre Plus appealing their decision and also a letter to my local MP about the council tax problem (they want to wait until they get a summons then add the court charges on top of what I already owe them) and also filling him in on the Income Support gripe. I doubt he can do much but it's made me feel better just thinking I've done something positive.
Maybe I should get a job writing letters…
Dec 10th I got a gold star from the physio today - managed to walk around the department using only one stick She was dead chuffed with me - I was too - so I thought I'd share
Hopefully it won't be too long til I can upgrade to one stick all the time and get rid of the ferking crutches
And, even better - I've just been down the town (on the bus again) to see nursey and the wounds are healing nicely - apart from the new one that came up on Friday and burst :sick:
She did say that it's possible that I may have these things forever as there are so many little shards of bone floating around the leg and they make their way to the surface and a bid for freedom - but at least they will heal eventually
Well snotty letter 1 of 3 worked. This is the one I wrote to the council asking them why they are so stupid.... they have extended the time I have to pay until March which is good.
So - no baking cakes with files in until March now
Dec 15th I've gone off red wine
Over the past few weeks I've tried various red wines that have been given to me or I've bought - and not the cheapy ones either. I've gone right off it. I thought it was the cold weather cos I don't like cold red wine, so I tried putting the bottle in the airing cupboard/next to a radiator or fire before opening and I still don't like it.
The end of the world is nigh I tell ya
Dec 21st Bumped into an ex from 20 years ago.
Weird one - was madly in love with him - short relationship for various reasons, he moved abroad - came back a few years later and it went on a bit then we both moved abroad to different countries and hadn't seen each other since. Walked into the con club tonight on a jolly with my mate and who walked in?
We had a bit of a chat - couldn't stop for long cos we both had things to do but managed to swap email addys.
very odd feeling
Dec 23rd Am
I went for my physio review this morning. Leg's coming along nicely so they're knocking the sessions down to one every two or three weeks (as long as I carry on doing the exercises at home of course ) reckon to be walking a la one stick in about 2 weeks - none in a couple of months
Dec 24th The menu for tomorrow:
Full English breakfast about 9'ish (Mikey still gets up at the crack of sparrow fart for Xmas )
For dinner at 4pm (still work on pub times even tho I don't live in one anymore
)Tomato soup with vodka and cream & fresh homemade bread
Roast Turkey
Roast Tatties
Brussel sprouts, carrots and green beans
Pigs in blankets
Stuffing balls
Gravy & cranberry sauce
Xmas pud & mince pies with double cream
All interspersed with lots of glasses of soave
Present wise - don't care really - might get the 2 books I asked for. It's only me and Mikey - just want to see his face when he gets his present tomorrow really. That will make Christmas
Dec 25th Yay! got the 2 Wilbur Smith books I wanted plus 4 Aggie Christie books I hadn't got (I collect em) a book on 50 ways to kill a slug (private joke - will explain it another day
) Mock the Week dvd, Harry Hill dvd and a dvd of The Young Ones (Peoples poet not Cliff soddin Richard ) and 2 gifts of mugs... feck knows why - I have millions in the cupboard cos i can't fit them on the side with the other 10 oh and 5 BIG packs of Golden Virginia Dec 27th Well, we've just got the bus into Eastbourne - to exchange COD4 PC game (
) for COD World at War XBox. That was fun... not. It was manic over there and long bus journeys on crutches is not fun.Dec 31st /Jan 1st midnight and Mikey insisted on opening the bottle of champagne my bro gave me for my 40th - then he decided after one sip he didn't like it - so I'm having to finish it on my own
It's ok, I'd only drunk one bottle of soave before I played Trivial Pursuit with Mikey (he provided a class answer to the question asked "who did Larry Grayson take over from on the Generation Game?" Answer = Clint Eastwood
) Then played charades for an hour, then watched Jools Holland's Hootenanny but flicked over to BBC1 for the fireworks at 12. He then went on his puter and I got pissed 
