Ugh...yeah...we actually have to do that a lot in my work too. :(

Same thing with Social Security or Unemployment in the US.

When you are retired (>62) and getting SS and die, the friendly folk at SS go straight into your bank account and withdraw that month's payment.
They argue that SS payments are made in advance, and since you died during that month you were not entitled to that month's payment !

Darling Hector's Goalie Stick broke. He is sad. More so because he's tired, but it still sucks. Big welling up tears that he tries to hold back in big blue eyes.

He set his heart on playing hockey in December, when he could barely skate. He spent 4 months in an instructional program. He worked hard. Then he joined a spring league for which he had to learn to check. He worked hard. He spent six weeks playing hockey 3-4 times a week. At the end of the season, he set his heart on being a goalie. He started by moving to goal in soccer. Now he spends all his spare time out on his roller blades with a stick and ball or watching goalie vids on youtube. He works hard.

I found some cheap but good condition goalie leg pads. He rollerblades in those, and practices the butterfly. Not an easy move on rollerblades. Last week, I found an ice hockey goalie stick the right hand and right size for $3. And a couple of street hockey goalie sticks and helmets. He was made up. He practiced with the street stuff and loved the ice stick.

Summer clinics started this week. The powers that be arranged for him to practice with the one for the age group below his as well as his own -as a goalie. On Tuesday, they kitted him out and approved his stick as in suitable condition etc. Tonight was his second time out. In a clinic with kids up to 4 years older. The biggest and bestest kid took a slapshot, which Hector saved with the end of his stick. Alas,"Woody" was KIA.

RIP Woody.

He has a replacement loaner stick, but I suspect it's like writing off your first car.

Awww, poor kid. This was so nicely written, though, monster. It must be hard to see your kids disappointed and sad, especially when they've worked hard for something.

I will raise a toast to Woody tonight. :)

This morning the sadness is mostly replaced with a quiet pride in a valiant sacrifice :lol: he's carrying it around like a trophy.

Wonderful! Thats coo'. Look how tough I am, I broke this stick...
I tried to reply about 3 times earlier... never came out right.

Good for him!

It wasn't the notification that took so long, it was probably reviewing the paperwork. The letter itself was dated 13 July, so it only took two days to reach me - pretty good for the Benefits office.
No, the review is to ensure whether you are eligible, no mention of the fact that is might take two months to reach a decision and you might get four days notice. Last time I got my decision through within a week. To be honest, if I'd realised the criteria I would be judged on I would have answered accordingly - it would still have been the truth, but I'd have been aware of what the triggers are.

I am appealing the decision, and while the appeal is going through they will pay me at the Appraisal rate (a lot lower, but still something). But they can't start that until they receive the appeal form. Which I have to fill in and send back along with evidence. It hasn't arrived yet.

I am tempted to just give it up and apply for Job Seekers' Allowance. It will help my self-worth to be back on the jobs market. Especially over the summer when I won't be at school. I do feel I am able to get up in the mornings now, and commit to a working day. I have grown in confidence during the time of volunterring and have never felt the paralysing dread I used to feel on a workday when I was in the NHS. It was more the shock of finding myself not only penniless but actually in debt which hit me yesterday. Especially as I've taken control over all my debts and am now only paying back two out of the original six.

It's a setback. Not a disaster. I've bounced back in trickier circumstances. At least I have a goal in mind now - getting to do the job I volunteer for and getting paid for it! I'll admit I so could have done without it though.

Mum and I were going to a bonding meal at the local catering college the week after next. Three course set meal for £10.
The best laid plans of mice and men, eh?

Summer “Credit Crunch” Menu

Starters
Cream of Tomato and Basil Soup
Crab, Avocado and Pink Grapefruit Salad

Main Courses
Pan-Fried Supreme of Salmon with wilted Spinach and herb Butter
Escalope of Breaded Pork with Boulangere Potato and Sauce Provençal
Tatin of Roasted Shallot, Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese with Tomato Coulis
Section of new potatoes and vegetables

Desserts
White Chocolate Mousse with Passion Fruit Coulis
Fresh Fruit Salad

Tea, Coffee or Fruit Infusions - £1.00

Yumyum :sniff:

Sundae; you'll still be able to volunteer whilst you are claiming Job seekers Allowance (if they decide to dismiss you appeal). You can only do 16 hours per week (I believe) and you have to be able to show that you're actively seeking work, as well as understand that if they suddenly decide to send you on a jobseeker course, or you find a job, you'll go with that.

This sort of sudden notice is unfortunately very common. Don;t be too put out by the money they are saying you owe them. If worse comes to worst, and you do end up with that debt, they usually accept ridiculously low repayments, which you can have taken directly out of your JSA benefits. You can probably argue no more than £5 a fortnight.

Still, a kick in the teeth :(

The problem with the medical assessments that they do for this is that it is not the doctor's job to assess if you have medical problems. It is the doctor's job to assess whether or not you are capable of work. That means any work, of any kind, for any amount of hours. They absolutely do not take into account the fact that a lot of things that render someone incapable of work aren't constant, they come and go. This means they are particularly bad at assessing any kind of mental health issues such as depression.

What this all means is actually, the worst possible thing you can do in these assessments is answer their questions truthfully and without attempting to actively skew their decision. Their default setting is to try and prove that you are capable of work. Your default setting needs therefore to be trying to prove incapacity. Every time you give an answer that might suggest that at some level they can expect you to go to work; you need to include sufficient caveats to that to give them pause for thought.

I 'played' that system for a couple of years. I genuinely was not able to cope with a workplace environment at the time. I had to play up elements of the depression I was going through and play down my capacity to cope, because otherwise they'd have thrown me in at a deep end in whch i would have drowned. At the same time, having to try and give the impression that i actually wanted to go to work (less difficult for you I'd imagine).

It's a shit way of assessing people. The more honest you are, the less likely you are to get the help you need.

Dana is wise grasshopper.

Update: my friend's daughter is now speaking maybe half as much as she was 6 weeks ago. My friend says she's "going through a shy phase." Of what she does say, about a third is now unintelligible. My friend says that "her speech is advancing so rapidly, she's saying all these new phrases and I can't keep up with what she's telling me." She is also "going through a phase" where she is terrified of moderately loud noises, and her arms are suddenly hyper-sensitive to touch, to the point that she will throw tantrums when, say, a bath towel is used to dry them off.

For those of you who still think I'm pulling this stuff out of my ass, keep in mind that I should have a less than 1% chance of correctly predicting a random child's diagnosis.

Surprisingly nothing.

I am soooo sick of coming home to no one to talk to. There's too much stuff in my head for this right now. I can't wait until he's somewhere that I can go too.

Not exactly "upsetting", but sad... MIL is here right now, and just received an email that the second of our cats that we left behind in the UK with her died peacefully earlier today. She was 17, so it was a good age, and she wasn't suffering like her brother who was euthenised a year or so ago. RIP Artemis (Temi)

Today on the phone my father asked if I'd "taken any trips, gone anywhere interesting" recently. I mean, I know he's a little oblivious to the realities of my daily life, but come on. Christ on a cracker.

Seems like everyone around us is divorcing right now... family included... I know I shouldn't take it personally... Flint and I are great, but I am deeply saddned... and confused... I feel a deep loss. Even the family we had designated to get our kids gawd forbid something happen to us... getting divorced... I just don't know what to do... it really fucks things up for us... we thought long and hard before deciding on them and there is literally no one else I can imagine filling their shoes.

Perhaps they can each take one?

J and I'll raise the Pookaflintsters, if you give us a dowry of some insurance money. We won't need much, just enough for some vittles and sunday dress.

Money will not be an issue for them... we have a niiiiice trust fund for them. ITs the right family with similar values and financially stable set up that is going to be hard to replace... they wouldn't have needed to touch the trust... and if they did... I trust that she would have had no other choice. She is still willing to take them... he is not a viable option at the moment... but we both agree it should be a couple... with a child close in age to ours... only one with no intention of having more kids, well off, musically inclined, and a long time friend of the family... they were it... we don't have any one else... it makes me feel a little uncomfortable... not that I think we are going to die tomorrow... but you never know. Plus... they were our closest couple friends.

my lack of emotional self control is upsetting me lately.

is that redundant?

recursive

Sorry dude, chin up.

At least 1 and 1/3

Dad fell out of bed, injured his shoulder, in the hospital.:(

Sorry, Spex.

In about 10 minutes they'll pull the plug on my aunt. We haven't talked, written, or anything with her for decades, but recently my father has been calling and talking to her. He couldn't get there (health issues himself) and he is very upset that when someone finally called to tell him where she has been (he was leaving messages) he finds out she's on life support and wouldn't know if he was there or not. So now he knows at 10 AM his last sister is going to die. Wait - probably gone by now, different time zone, I forgot 'bout that. (I'm OK, but he won't be, which means nobody will be who is in that same state.)

Sorry sweetwater. :( This is a good reminder for me to keep in touch with my own brother. Life isn't forever.

LL has been awesome all summer. Really since about February. We got his medication sorted enough that while there are still some obvious issues, we had decided we were at a "good enough" level of control. He is now on his 5th day of fourth grade and all progress is erased, or at least hidden. I hope it is temporary because there aren't many alternative treatments so if it turns out this med has stopped working we're pretty well screwed.

I am hoping that it is just a settling in period for being back to school, but that seems unlikely. His schedule all summer was basically the same because of the camp program he was involved in.

ugghhh - sorry - Still hoping for the best. I'm sure you guys will figure something out.

Dang, lookout. Any chance there is a particular problem with the teacher, or a specific kid in the class who is setting him off?

Loves his teacher. Loves the school. Loves all the kids in his class except for one but that is already handled. * Today he is tired and edgy, but I gave him a 30 minute window to just chill out on his own. He may just be overstimulated and having a hard time transitioning from school to home. I know that sounds lame, but it is the best way to describe it. I'm going to give him another full week before I become officially worried.

* The first day LL came home complaining that there was a bully who elbowed him in the face, so LL told the teacher. The child was scolded so the kid punched LL and elbowed his friend. he complained to me and mrs L and we just reminded him that he already has groundrules on how to deal with bullies.

Apparently, the bullying continued on the second day. The teacher talked to me about it because she was concerned I might be upset. I let her know I'm sure that she and the children would figure it out.

The 3rd day it continued until gym class where LL flattened the kid on the soccer field and then screamed in his face that it would get worse unless the kid stayed away from him and his friend. The gym teacher and his regular teacher both saw the incident. They officially asked me to talk to LL about letting the teachers handle inappropriate behavior. Unofficially, they said the kid had it coming and he hasn't bothered anyone since he got up off the ground.

So effectively the first three days were taken up with a problem with a specific kid, then he's had two more days and now he's tired and edgy. i wouldn't give up hope yet -I'd be tired and edgy too, if that were my first week back at school.

Yeah, given what little I know about LL, I'd guess that he's still watching the other kid like a hawk, waiting to see if he makes another move. He's not going to trust that this problem is really over for at least another week, would be my estimate, but then if the kid stays in his place I imagine LL will be able to relax a little more.

Probably tired of sitting still, after tearing around all summer.

Ah, LilLookout... just like his pop, only without the concealed carry. Yet.

Ha ha. Hence LL's admonishment, "It will get worse."

The network of social bonds that surround and support us are being severed, and it is highly disturbing.

There is a disturbance in the force.

And all these disturbances have one thing in common... you. :lol2:

:lol:

Pooka & Flint - that sucks. I'm guessing you guys are in your mid to late 30's. That's when I remember many people I knew started getting divorced.

Unhappy because holidays are finished : As of today, it's back to the salt mines...

It is like that burst of weddings in your twenties only sucky.

Sucky is most certainly an understatement.

The up side is, you don't have to get dressed up and buy a gift.

Well that is a break. :)

Upset: People who whine about unfair taxes after getting their education paid for by taxpayers and are finally in a position to pay. :mad2:

:notworthy

[dexter]STUUUUUUUUUUPID [/dexter] Coworkers that Don't Understand what is going on ,
Argue with you have you Have a simple Straight forward Plan to solve the Problem ,
Stand around like DOT Workers( watching and Not helping) as You work to Solve Their Problem ,

Oh and stand Physically in your way as you scurry about trying to do Their Job too

Kick 'em in the cunt, zip.

Those people are breeding faster and faster.

The trend for many of these folks is becoming "go to school". Not the homework and the footwork and the paperwork part, or the problem-solving or the comparing and contrasting or the thirst for knowledge part, just the "go to school" part.

:p:

I just took a shower but I didn't wait long enough after my run and I'm just as wet as I was in the shower, despite the air conditioning

Ut-oh, you know what happens when you get your monster wet.

monster got very wet very many times today. run -wet. shower -wet. stil not recovered from run -wet. shower -wet. vacuum car in a hurry -wet. swim -wet. Now I'm wetting my throat with a well earned beer ;)

Near Collision
 

While driving to work in the right lane of two in my direction, a driver in the left lane two car lengths ahead of me slowed down abruptly to turn left onto a side street. The driver of a SUV behind it was following too closely to stop in time; so, he jerked his vehicle over into my lane. Unfortunately, my car occupied the space he was headed into and I had to brake, swerve off the road and over a curb to avoid the collision. My vehicle came to rest with the front half in somebody's front yard. I had slowed down enough that going over the curb didn't cause any damage and there wasn't anything else in my path.

Fortunately, the driver of the SUV pulled over on the next side street and waited for me to get back on the road and to pull up next to him. That action and the fact that the first words out of his twenty-something year old mouth were to ask if I was OK saved him a lot of grief. If I would have had to chase him down, he would have gotten more than just a defensive driving lecture.

In late 2007 we got a LG dishwasher but didn't install it until the past January.
Now the motor has gone out... along with the 2-yr warranty.
The repairman says he's installed several motors on this model.
A $300 repair on an appliance that was actually used for only 7 months.
Grrrrrrap !

My last child leaves for college in the am.

I think you posted that in the wrong thread.

She posted it in every fucking thread. Is there a wrong thread for an attention ho?

She? She who?

It's nearly 2 in the fucking morning and it's still fucking hot.

Lookout, be grateful that LL's school either doesn't have that zero-tolerance bullshit, or the teachers understand when to look the other way.

What's upsetting me today?

My freaking children.

I have three going very cheap right now!

Going very cheap? Is that an Aussie thing?