Well

I never had a chance to get back and report on my daughters exams results, so here they are now.

A art, B RE, C English language, literature Sciences, D History, ICT, French, E Maths.

I think she's a bit like me, arty but I don't understand how she can do so well in science and not maths. I suppose it doesn't matter too much as she's got what she needed for the school to let her do A level Art, Photography, Sociology and Philosophy and Ethics in 6th form. Considering her middle school struggled to get her to read and write she's done extremely well. It really pisses me off when the media go on about how exams are dumbed down. the level of work and analysis that went into the work she has done was far deeper and expansive than anything I did at school.

Its the same with work, to the media everyone on benefits is a scrounger, I suppose it harks back to the Elizabethan concept of the undeserving poor- after all, disaster or terminal disease never strikes the deserving. I've met some very distressed sick people whose life has fallen apart because of the lack of a social security net. For example, the lady with life threatening bowel cancer, sacked from work because the employer doesn't want to pay sick pay (perfectly legal to sack someone in this circumstance), repeatedly asked to attend work focused interviews by the DWP, has to wait weeks to get help with her mortgage from the state, it a race between the money coming in and the bank taking repossession. Meanwhile, the credit card chases her with phone calls five to ten times a day, and the council sends the bailiffs in because there is a bit of a shortfall in her council tax payments. Its a good job she doesn't have to pay for her prescriptions now, cause she hasn't got the money for food- most people wouldn't know how to manage on £64.30 a week to cover the bills and food.

Yes there are some people who lie to get benefits, but they are far fewer than those who have no choice but to rely on the mercy of the state.

I'm glad I'm still on holiday

Daughters birthday

It was her 16th yesterday, it seemed to go well, shopping with a friend in primark and new look and a film- the time travellers wife. the presents seemed to be well accepted so and all round happy day finished off with a dvd-twilight, and Spanish cava.

anyway today is gcse results she says she isn't nervous, but I'm having butterflies as the time approaches to go to school to get them!

Holiday time

I'm on holiday, and its not before time.
The stress at work has been horrendous, with the bitch who has been bullying us appealing her sacking and her trying to muck rake. all her crap is refutable and shes made a fatal mistake in producing clients case records as evidence as its instant dismissal to have these records outside the office, but she does go on and the investigation seems to require a line by line refutation of all her allegations.
This was oddly satisfying , but vastly time consuming and took most of two days last week to do.
One thing that has disturbed me was the letters she got some colleagues to write in her support- what a poisonous bunch they are- fortunately one was leaving and the other has gone off on along trip, so I won't have to pretend I don't know what they think of me

if anything happens in my staycation appeart from housework i may be back later

Wednesday half way thru the week

I'm sitting her at work, waiting for the last adviser to finish with a client, its been a very variable day. Ranging from a very ill person needing help with an appeal against refusal of benefits, a person wanting to know if they need planning permission to live in a caravan in their garden (yes), to finalising a draft financial statement for the client approval. There were many other clients as well, I am frequently amazed how many people come through our doors and how few are turned away. This is completely due to the gereousity of our volunteers and the amount of time they are giving for free- thats not to say that the paid workers don't work hard too, just that the people working for free are wonderful.

Still experimenting

bear with me i'm just starting to get to grips with this blogging stuff, it will get more interesting i promise.

So, we have swine flu in the family, me and my scarey daughter have just been to the late night chemist to get tamiflu- for the daddy, he ticked all the swine lines boxes so, the pharmasist says, the drugs will cause dihorreha and vomiting, so wots different from pig flu?
I'm sleeping on the sofa tonight, would be happier if they gave out oxygen masks and clean rooms.
will we survive?

I don't like Mondays

Today I was assessing learning, looking at caserecords etc, well its sometimes difficult to understand the complex mix of what people ask and what my colleagues tell them.

If what i was reading today is anything to go by, either the people size up their adviser and ask questions accordingly, or the colleague has no *competance/memory/heard a different question/can't be arsed/forgot to write up more than half the interview (*delete one or more according to taste).

The mystery deepens when i take into account the fact that many people come back repeatedly for more from the same colleague, indeed, get quite put out if they can't see that one!

Of course, there are those who record everything in minute anal detail, these ones I can assess as competant, however they re also more likely to a. piss off the person, b. have a complaint made against them, c. have frequent visits from those who feel they can't shit without checking out if they have to inform someone.

I ask you, do people want accurate advice or their ego's pandered too? My assessment is - both, but not everytime and it depends on the colleague.