Steve from England

Well, it did here around1am this morning. I have now experienced two earthquakes in my life and it is amazing how humble they make me feel when I realise just how vulnerable we all are! Of course, my first thought was earthquake followed by 'shit, this might make the new desk fall apart after we spent all day on it!' then I was concerned just in case it wasn't an earthquake but that one of the girls had fallen out of bed (repeatedly)! Have to say, I am still a little shaky. I won something on ebay earlier, quite a good deal it seems but I won't know for sure until I collect it which will hopefully be tomorrow evening. These past two days have been really busy. Am glad we got Nick sorted, at least he may have lost a few pounds!

Well, it did here around1am this morning. I have now experienced two earthquakes in my life and it is amazing how humble they make me feel when I realise just how vulnerable we all are! Of course, my first thought was earthquake followed by 'shit, this might make the new desk fall apart after we spent all day on it!' then I was concerned just in case it wasn't an earthquake but that one of the girls had fallen out of bed (repeatedly)! Have to say, I am still a little shaky. I won something on ebay earlier, quite a good deal it seems but I won't know for sure until I collect it which will hopefully be tomorrow evening. These past two days have been really busy. Am glad we got Nick sorted, at least he may have lost a few pounds!

I had a friend over last week that I grew up with and we were chatting away (like you do) about what it was like to grow up in the 60's & 70's. Obviously we didn't have CD players, hell, we were still using the reel to reel tape deck back then and the '78' had only just gone out of fashion having been replaced with the '45'. We could remember getting dead excited about having our first transistor radio. It didn't matter that it was 'am' and sounded like a tin can with a hole in it, these things could fit in our hand and run on batteries, they made a noise and that was all that mattered. Of course our TV was still operated by valves for some time and were all B&W, the sort which had the dot on the screen for ages when it was turned off. It didn't matter though because there was sod all to watch. There was no kids TV except between 4-6pm on weekdays. Much later came Saturday morning kids TV. We had Blue Peter , Crackerjack with Leslie ...

I had a friend over last week that I grew up with and we were chatting away (like you do) about what it was like to grow up in the 60's & 70's. Obviously we didn't have CD players, hell, we were still using the reel to reel tape deck back then and the '78' had only just gone out of fashion having been replaced with the '45'. We could remember getting dead excited about having our first transistor radio. It didn't matter that it was 'am' and sounded like a tin can with a hole in it, these things could fit in our hand and run on batteries, they made a noise and that was all that mattered. Of course our TV was still operated by valves for some time and were all B&W, the sort which had the dot on the screen for ages when it was turned off. It didn't matter though because there was sod all to watch. There was no kids TV except between 4-6pm on weekdays. Much later came Saturday morning kids TV. We had Blue Peter , Crackerjack with Leslie ...

Still awaiting the final decision regarding the DLA. I say it is the 'final' decision, I don't know that, it could just be the 'next' decision. To clarify, the DLA people are querying the decision. Apparently it is not an appeal just them asking the tribunal chairman what exactly they mean and how she reached her decision. That was send off to the tribunal panel about 2 weeks ago. I spoke to the clerk to the panel and she said that 'these things take time'. I asked how long and she declined to answer that but did say it would be by the end of March for sure - probably. Coincidentally (or not) Voyage (The Coach House) sent me a letter on Friday saying that I'd not yet made any contributions from Jermaine's DLA award toward the transportation costs. They say that I will need to start paying about £27 a week as of April. I wrote back and told them Jermaine is not in receipt of any DLA and that the PCT have informed me his transport is already fully fund...

Still awaiting the final decision regarding the DLA. I say it is the 'final' decision, I don't know that, it could just be the 'next' decision. To clarify, the DLA people are querying the decision. Apparently it is not an appeal just them asking the tribunal chairman what exactly they mean and how she reached her decision. That was send off to the tribunal panel about 2 weeks ago. I spoke to the clerk to the panel and she said that 'these things take time'. I asked how long and she declined to answer that but did say it would be by the end of March for sure - probably. Coincidentally (or not) Voyage (The Coach House) sent me a letter on Friday saying that I'd not yet made any contributions from Jermaine's DLA award toward the transportation costs. They say that I will need to start paying about £27 a week as of April. I wrote back and told them Jermaine is not in receipt of any DLA and that the PCT have informed me his transport is already fully fund...

... Complain that I have not made a blog entry recently! Seriously though, not a lot has been happening of late to make an entry. The DLA people are still querying the decision of the tribunal which is obviously delaying things. I need to call them again tomorrow to see what is going on. This week we have seen delivery of a new TV which we will keep here but Jermaine will have our old TV which is a better set but suits his needs more than we need it. Along with that he'll have a nifty multimedia hard drive to stream all his movies, songs and pictures to the TV. One last thing is that he has a laptop now as well (again) so we have effectively reinstated the system he used to have only with more of an upgrade. We will deliver all that to him on Monday when I have a van booked for. I bought something on ebay recently and it has not arrived over a week later yet the seller was happy to take my money the same day. They have not replied to any of my messages either. Thankfully it is just...

... Complain that I have not made a blog entry recently! Seriously though, not a lot has been happening of late to make an entry. The DLA people are still querying the decision of the tribunal which is obviously delaying things. I need to call them again tomorrow to see what is going on. This week we have seen delivery of a new TV which we will keep here but Jermaine will have our old TV which is a better set but suits his needs more than we need it. Along with that he'll have a nifty multimedia hard drive to stream all his movies, songs and pictures to the TV. One last thing is that he has a laptop now as well (again) so we have effectively reinstated the system he used to have only with more of an upgrade. We will deliver all that to him on Monday when I have a van booked for. I bought something on ebay recently and it has not arrived over a week later yet the seller was happy to take my money the same day. They have not replied to any of my messages either. Thankfully it is just...

Friday 9th Feb 2001 ... maybe that is the key, the reminder of the date and an email from Tony sent this day 7 years ago. The play "New Boy" is actually a false lead to me. For ages now I have assumed that this play was "The History Boys" but I know now it wasn't. Thankfully I archived every email Tony ever sent me else I may never have remembered what the play was or where we saw it ... I assumed it was Hemel but it turns out it was Bedford. Anyway, this waffle is not making a lot of sense to anyone but me. When I first heard about 'The History Boys' I thought of Tony. I don't know why exactly but somehow there was this link in my mind. Thinking about it, that it is set in a grammar school and is about rather well educated boys (no doubt cute) would instantly relate to Tony. well, we went to see 'New Boy' which is quite similar in some respects back in 2001 and Tony got somewhat emotional about it. I presumed at the time that it mirrored qui...

Friday 9th Feb 2001 ... maybe that is the key, the reminder of the date and an email from Tony sent this day 7 years ago. The play "New Boy" is actually a false lead to me. For ages now I have assumed that this play was "The History Boys" but I know now it wasn't. Thankfully I archived every email Tony ever sent me else I may never have remembered what the play was or where we saw it ... I assumed it was Hemel but it turns out it was Bedford. Anyway, this waffle is not making a lot of sense to anyone but me. When I first heard about 'The History Boys' I thought of Tony. I don't know why exactly but somehow there was this link in my mind. Thinking about it, that it is set in a grammar school and is about rather well educated boys (no doubt cute) would instantly relate to Tony. well, we went to see 'New Boy' which is quite similar in some respects back in 2001 and Tony got somewhat emotional about it. I presumed at the time that it mirrored qui...

Something good happens. I'm not saying any more here, it hasn't all gone through yet but things are looking hopeful for at least one small victory in the great scheme of things.

Something good happens. I'm not saying any more here, it hasn't all gone through yet but things are looking hopeful for at least one small victory in the great scheme of things.

Today I decided that I'd have a no pressure day where I didn't have to have any pressure at all and just chill out. So, in a relaxing way I got up at 7am and then had to tell Zoey to get out of bed and got moaned out for my efforts. Then I chatted to my Dad (that was OK). Then I took Daisy to school followed soon after getting back by taking Deej to the doctor to get his feet sorted. Home again just before dad left at 9:45 I got a call and then an email from CSCI, I was right. He said from the information I have given him that the home would potentially be breaking CSCI rules by not allowing Jermaine to have a webcam and gave me reference to the rules relating to that. Any connection between a webcam and a CCTV device depends on usage and location and neither of those apply as it is not being used as a security device and as his place is self contained, no other service users are involved so it isn't a civil liberties issue. That may be good news but I suspect the home is s...

Today I decided that I'd have a no pressure day where I didn't have to have any pressure at all and just chill out. So, in a relaxing way I got up at 7am and then had to tell Zoey to get out of bed and got moaned out for my efforts. Then I chatted to my Dad (that was OK). Then I took Daisy to school followed soon after getting back by taking Deej to the doctor to get his feet sorted. Home again just before dad left at 9:45 I got a call and then an email from CSCI, I was right. He said from the information I have given him that the home would potentially be breaking CSCI rules by not allowing Jermaine to have a webcam and gave me reference to the rules relating to that. Any connection between a webcam and a CCTV device depends on usage and location and neither of those apply as it is not being used as a security device and as his place is self contained, no other service users are involved so it isn't a civil liberties issue. That may be good news but I suspect the home is s...

Today didn't bode well. I had this feeling that the meeting at the Coach House was about to be a dictation rather than a discussion. From the outset the attitude of Ali, the new manager was aggressive. Even though the issue of the webcam was way down the agenda she wanted to be there right off. We had to get her to hold fire until we had discussed other issues first. I should point out that Ali is the manager of Phyllis who runs the Coach House. Both of them seem to have decided that everything which went on before they took over is in the past and should be left there. They are doing this with some very serious issues which remain unresolved. Today was mainly about this webcam though .... Ali came right out and said that because she'd had complaints from staff members (Nick) about the underhanded use of the webcam (?) she decided to check things out where they stood legally, whether they had to accept my imposition! She said she wanted to get everything 'above board' a...

Today didn't bode well. I had this feeling that the meeting at the Coach House was about to be a dictation rather than a discussion. From the outset the attitude of Ali, the new manager was aggressive. Even though the issue of the webcam was way down the agenda she wanted to be there right off. We had to get her to hold fire until we had discussed other issues first. I should point out that Ali is the manager of Phyllis who runs the Coach House. Both of them seem to have decided that everything which went on before they took over is in the past and should be left there. They are doing this with some very serious issues which remain unresolved. Today was mainly about this webcam though .... Ali came right out and said that because she'd had complaints from staff members (Nick) about the underhanded use of the webcam (?) she decided to check things out where they stood legally, whether they had to accept my imposition! She said she wanted to get everything 'above board' a...

I can't believe the stupidity of CSCI (Inspectors of Care Homes) My son is mentally handicapped and lives in a self contained flat which is part of a building with 4 flats in it run by the adjacent care home. We have just been told that we cannot speak to him any more on MSN using his webcam because as far as CSCI is concerned it is a recording device akin to a CCTV camera. If I can't get this stupid piece of logic overturned it means he has to have his PC removed because the webcam is part of it built in. The care home is understandably following directions from CSCI but even so, what the fuck is wrong with using some common sense in these cases? What is it about bizzy body agency types that makes them think that common sense plays no part in the care of the disabled? But then, the government is no better! In 1996 the Tories introduced some law that means that those who are paid for their care home by the NHS are deemed to be in hospital and, as it is presumed that all those i...

I can't believe the stupidity of CSCI (Inspectors of Care Homes) My son is mentally handicapped and lives in a self contained flat which is part of a building with 4 flats in it run by the adjacent care home. We have just been told that we cannot speak to him any more on MSN using his webcam because as far as CSCI is concerned it is a recording device akin to a CCTV camera. If I can't get this stupid piece of logic overturned it means he has to have his PC removed because the webcam is part of it built in. The care home is understandably following directions from CSCI but even so, what the fuck is wrong with using some common sense in these cases? What is it about bizzy body agency types that makes them think that common sense plays no part in the care of the disabled? But then, the government is no better! In 1996 the Tories introduced some law that means that those who are paid for their care home by the NHS are deemed to be in hospital and, as it is presumed that all those i...

I got a little angry earlier, indeed, really rather upset as it happens! Since Jermaine has been in Corby I have considered I have had a good relationship with the carers there as though we were working together to make sure Jermaine had the best possible level of care. Just in the last month or so I have had reason to doubt this was the case. They had become secretive in the way they have dealt with me. In particular after the attack by Simeon the atmosphere has felt less than it was. They seem to have had real issues over the computer. I have asked several times if there was a problem as it never seems to be turned on. At least, MSN Messenger never seems to be running. Every time I have asked I have been told the PC was on and they had no idea why he did not appear to be online. I found out today they have been lying to me. It was explained to me from Lucy over at the PCT what has been happening behind my back. Apparently someone or several someone(s) have taken it upon themselves to...

I got a little angry earlier, indeed, really rather upset as it happens! Since Jermaine has been in Corby I have considered I have had a good relationship with the carers there as though we were working together to make sure Jermaine had the best possible level of care. Just in the last month or so I have had reason to doubt this was the case. They had become secretive in the way they have dealt with me. In particular after the attack by Simeon the atmosphere has felt less than it was. They seem to have had real issues over the computer. I have asked several times if there was a problem as it never seems to be turned on. At least, MSN Messenger never seems to be running. Every time I have asked I have been told the PC was on and they had no idea why he did not appear to be online. I found out today they have been lying to me. It was explained to me from Lucy over at the PCT what has been happening behind my back. Apparently someone or several someone(s) have taken it upon themselves to...