On this mornings walk I was appalled at the amount of rubbish lying on the ground in the park beside the canal. It has become a teenage hangout of late, which does not really cause any problems, other than the large amount of litter which is left behind after every visit. Litter is something that I was brought up to take home with me - I can remember being expected to empty my pockets into the bin whenever we had been out, and if there was no rubbish in my pocket, my mum wanted to know what I had done with it. I guess I could understand the litter being left on the ground if there were no litter bins, but there are at least three. This morning it really got to me, and I decided that I had to do something about it, so I spent an hour and a half removing every bit of rubbish that had been left. Tomorrow morning the litter will have returned as the teenagers will again gather in the park this evening. What can be done about the reluctance to throw litter in the bins that have been provided? The imposition of fines does not work - there are signs everywhere warning that the fine for not clearing up after your dog is £1,000, yet dog mess is everywhere. It is the simple refusal to take responsibility for your own mess that baffles me, and I can only conclude that parenting has changed radically since I was growing up - I would not have dared to leave my rubbish lying all over a park for other people to suffer!
 

At long last my laptop is downloading photos from my camera again, not that Corel had anything to do with resolving the problem. I got so sick of the problem last week that I took the laptop and the software into the computer shop in Hythe, together with printouts of all the email correspondence between me and Corel, and asked the guy to sort it out for me. And guess what? Parts of the Corel software were corrupt, which was causing the problem. Corel were convinced that Windows had developed a problem rather than their software, but no. According to Andy (in the computer shop) the technical help guys at Corel and other programme manufacturers have a list of stock questions that they ask, and cannot deal with anything that does not fit into their list of questions, which doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence! Still, the main thing is that all is now working ok again, albeit it has cost me £30 to sort it out in four days, which, given that I have spent some eight or nine weeks trying to sort it out, cannot be grumbled at!
Needless to say, another bit of machinery has decide to bite the dust! This time it is my fridge/freezer, whose thermostat has stopped working properly. As it is around 15 years old the spare for it are no longer available, so a new one is in order. Having visited Comet, Currys, and Argos yesterday, I had eventually decided upon the one I wanted from Currys, only to be told that I couldn't buy it as they wee waithing for stock to be delivered. It is out of staock online as well, so I am just hoping that they do not decide that the particular model that I want is no longer going to be available! Sod's Law I call it!!!

 

I have spent weeks and weeks trying to sort out problems with my camera software, and have got nowhere. Corel, the manufacturers, ostensibly offer technical support via email, but in my experience, this does not actually mean anything. I have opened two separate cases with technical support, and after weeks of trying to get a resolution to the problems I am experiencing, have decide to send a snail mail letter of complaint to Corel's HQ in Maidenhead.
My problem is that after automatically downloading a series of updates (as is recommended by Corel) the software decided that it no longer recognised my camera, although the computer does. This means that the programme will not transfer photos from the camera to the programme, and therefore I cannot edit, print, email, or do anything else with them.
Technical support have had me perform a series of measures as an administrator, none of which have worked. Having emailed them to inform them of this, I have been met with silence. The first case I opened was closed because technical support claimed that they had heard nothing further from me, although they were sent several emails, and I have no doubt that exactly the same thing will happen with my current case, which is why I have decided to writ to HQ. Whether or not I will get a response of course is another matter!

I do have some good news on the benefit front however. I received a letter yesterday about my disability Living Allowance - I quote: "Thank you for filling in the enquiry form. We have looked at the information you gave us and decided that your current award of Disability Living Allowance is being paid at the correct rate and for the appropriate length of time. There will be no change in the amount of money that you get from us." All I can say is thank god for that - as I have said before, no-one would employ me, despite the fact that I would love to return to work.


 

Well, Easter is here, and so far we have avoided the snow, much to Byron's disgust, and although the temperatures have definitely dropped, so far it has been dry and sunny, though that is due to change tomorrow according to the forecasts. I have just spent a considerable sum on bedding plants for my window boxes, but at the moment they are nestling in the bath because of the heavy frosts! Having just walked Byron I can confirm that the predicted change in the weather has arrived a day early - it's warmer, but decidedly damp! - My boy is not what you could call happy!

Well, Dr Shalom arrived just before 11 am on Wednesday for my DLA assessment, and subjected me to a series of questions which he then followed with a medical examination. It is difficult to assess what the outcome will be, though I have heard people working in the benefits system say that they do not give much credence to reports from the medics, so I imagine that I will be refused, and will then have to go to appeal, which of course means a significant reduction in my benefit allowances whilst the process is underway. Dr Shalom himself was a pleasant man, who apologised for the type of questioning he was instructed to put me through - if it were down to him I think I would be okay, but of course he does not make the decisions. I would love to return to my previous career, but I am not aware of any local authorities who allow you to have a large dog in the office with you, which I would need having spent so long training Byron to pick up on falling blood sugar levels. I am also not aware of any employers willing to take the risk of employing someone with such a bad sickness record as mine - \i will just have to wait and see!
 

For the past 10 days I have not had either a working phone line, or the internet, so life has been rather frustrating! Talktalk who supply the service were kind enough to divert all incoming calls to my mobile, but it was not very helpful to receive text messages from them advising me that an engineer visit was necessary, and that I should call them on an 0870 number to arrange the visit! Even worse was the fact that when you did call them, you were then put on hold for upwards of 50 minutes- you can imagine how expensive the calls were from a mobile! Still, I suppose I should be grateful that I now have a fully restored service, but I do not feel like paying line rental for the period of time that I could not use my phone, and will be disputing the next bill!

Apart from the shenanigans with my phone line, precious little else has happened this week, other than I have received a letter informing me that a Health Care professional called Dr Shalom will be visiting me on Wednesday 4th April to determine whether or not I am entitled the benefits that I receive becauseof the instability of my diabetes, and the severity of pain that my back problems cause. I have no doubt that I will be expected to bend down and touch my toes, and manouevre into other impossible positions so that he can decide that I should return to work. I would dearly love to return to work, but do not know of any positions that would allow Byron to sit beside me so that he can alert me when my sugar levels are dropping, which I have spent some 4 years teaching him to do; or that would not tell me that I was not fit for work, which is precisely what happened with my last position. Several years ago I attempted to return to work, and drove to Bath to attend an interview for an Urban design position. Not only did I not get the position, I had a hypo whilst making the return journey, and crashed the car into someone else's. Fortunately,the police attending the scene had me rushed into Frenchay hospital in Bristol, where I remained for several hours, before having to then return to where my car had been moved by the Police, in order to drive back here - in all I was away from here for almost 22 hours, which was unfair on my dog at the time, and of course then had to find money in order to get my car repaired, as well as the person's car that I hit! Let's just say that I am not looking forward to my meeting with Dr Shalom!
 

Yet again I have to start with apologies for my absence - my computer is suffering from glitches that mean getting online is starting to become problematic - it probably needs a damn good service! You have heard me talk about Vinnie and her children on many an occasion - at the moment her second child Kayleigh is having a lot of problems. She is just 11 years old, and has just started senior school. Ever since she started the school, she has been picked on by several of the older boys, both in school, and on her way home. She has been attacked by one particular group of boys several times now, and last week was sexually assaulted by them. The police have had every attack reported to them, have several items of her clothing for DNA analysis, as well as a necklace that they ripped from her neck before Christmas, which is one of the last things that Vinnie gave her; and still they are no further forward. They do not respond to messages left on their answering machine, do not seem to be taking it seriously, and don't seem to give a damn. Right now Kayleigh is too scared to go to school, or in fact anywhere without an adult at her side, and I can't say that I blame her. Right now she does not want to live, yet what is happening about it? Nothing, other than Moira, Gemma, Joey and I are making sure that she is never on her own outside of school hours, but that doesn't help her when she is in school. A couple of her teachers have cast doubt over the fact that she has been assaulted in school by insisting that they never leave the classroom, yet there are many of pupils from the school who confirm that they do. So what are we supposed to do about it? If it carries on Kayleigh will take her own life - she has talked about it already!
 

Ye gods, it is nearing the end of February of this new year already - time is certainly flying past!

My ordeals with the dentist are now hopefully over as I had the offending tooth finally filled yesterday morning. Every time that I have been back before, the dentist has cleaned the inside of the root canal out, and applied antibiotics; with the result that the infection has returned, and as a result, he left the tooth open, as to fill it would have caused greater infection. This time, the infection having finally cleared, he applied yet more antibiotics to the root canal, and filled it. He is a painstaking man, who has spent more than 6 hours working on my tooth over the weeks, with the result that every time I see him I have jaw ache for days because of spending so long with my mouth wide open! Still, it is finally finished, and the relief I feel is enormous. Hopefully now I will be able to spend some quality time here on WDC!
 

I spoke too soon - the day after the dentist had continued with work on my ailing tooth, the infection was back with a vengeance! I have come to the conclusion that he doesn't have to do anything other than look in my mouth before another infection kicks in, which of course means that pulling the damn thing out is out of the question. I remember being told that elderly relatives had insisted on having all of their teeth pulled out and dentures fitted in order to avoid ever having to visit another dentist, and can remember thinking that they must have been mad, but now I am not so sure! If, and its a big if, this tooth ever gets sorted, I will open the biggest bottle of champagne in celebration, providing of course that I am not still on the antibiotics that mean alcohol is out of the question!!!
 

At long last my tooth finally seems to be ridding itself of infection - mind you, it has taken no fewer than three courses of antibiotic! I returned to the dentist on Thursday of last week with a badly swollen face and glands, and in so much pain I could not think straight. I was prescribed a different antibiotic called "Metronidazole" 400mg, and it has finally worked. The main disadvantage of this antibiotic is that you cannot consume any alcohol whatsoever, unless you want to be violently sick - you have to allow 48 hours after completing the course before you can even have a sip of alcohol. I pleaded with the dentist to rip the offending tooth out, but he said that he could not do anything until the infection had gone or I ran the risk of blood poisoning. I have to return to see him on Thursday, and I am not entirely sure what he is going to do, but I no longer care - the pain has finally gone - I don't think I've ever had toothache for four weeks before, and I sure as hell don't want it again! The relief from the pain is so great, that I would willing take "Metronidazole" for the rest of my life, and stuff the odd glass of wine that I enjoy with my food!
So how is life with everyone else? I'm away to catch up on your blogs, and find out what joys life has been bringing you!
 

Problems with my teeth continue! On Friday I saw Mr Nimbrokar, who is the senior dentist at my dental practice, and he carried out root canal work on the ailing tooth. I obviously have a severe infection in the root canal as he was not able to fill the tooth, but has left it to drain the remaining infection. I have been put on yet another course of amoxycillin, this time 500mg, in the hope that the infection can be sorted, and I have to see him again on the 2nd February for him to complete the work. The tooth is still unbelievably painful, so of course I am taking extra painkillers for toothache - I swear I rattle with the number of tablets I am taking! At least the swelling has gone down, and I have now managed to get some sleep, so I am starting to feel more like a human being again!!!