Diary / 2021-03 / New year, new post — Scope | Disability forum
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Diary / 2021-03 / New year, new post

NotReally
NotReally Community member Posts: 59 Pioneering
edited March 2021 in Coffee lounge
2021-03-21 - Census Day

Feels silly to keep updating a post that I started 18 years 10 months ago.  [https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/70917/diary-2020-05]
Helpful tip for Windows 10 users: Windows key + V gives you access to the copy / paste history (although you may need to enable it - see here).

Kitchen Sink

So, first time plumbing for me, and the big project over the last couple of weeks has been replacing the kitchen sink.  Unfortunately who ever fitted the kitchen shouldn't be let near any kind of tool, ever; just shockingly poor work, which made fitting the new sink much more difficult and time consuming than I'd anticipated. 

The whole thing was prompted by the hot tap in the kitchen starting to leak ... soooo, I suppose this is what happens when you get an autistic person to fix a dripping tap!  I had to rectify some of the plumbing upstairs, adding a stopcock to the feeder pipe from the header tank, and a ball valve to the outflow from the hot water cylinder, so as to be able to fit the new kitchen tap without huge hassle.  The upside to this is that it means that future plumbing works will be much easier. 

Old


New



Plumbing Rectification

Comments

  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks for the update @NotReally

    You're certainly a better plumber than I could ever hope to be.
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,521 Disability Gamechanger
    Two jobs I will never tackle plumbing and gas, as senior management says "we will get a man in" 
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

  • cartha
    cartha Community member Posts: 1,390 Pioneering
    Nice job done, looks much more modern :-)
  • NotReally
    NotReally Community member Posts: 59 Pioneering
    2021-03-23 Census Day +2

    I sat down at the PC to do a quick update here and do the census, and I've instead spent an hour messing around with setting up and organising a bunch of audiobook torrents.  *sigh*  Well, it needed doing - audiobooks have been invaluable in managing PTSD ... hopefully at some point soonish I will be in a position to actually buy them. 

    I really need to fill out the census, I've got the leaflet & letter in front of me.

    Sunday evening and yesterday morning I managed to grind out and edit / refine an email to my social worker and the social worker who was assigned to my son briefly last year.  This was a really important thing to do with regards to making progress in resolving re-establishing contact with my son.  Unfortunately when I sent the email I received "out of office" replies from both.  Bah.  I will follow up with a phone call to my social worker on Monday.

    Have managed to make progress with clearing up the kitchen & dining room following the kitchen sink install.  The boiler needed its yearly service, which was booked for this morning and having all the clutter out of the way for that was needed, so it was good to have this actually done ahead of time. 

    Still trying to make progress with getting the Raspberry Pi 4 in the kitchen running on an SSD; I think there is just not enough current being supplied to the SSD, so I need to try running it off of a USB / SATA that has its own power supply ... which is annoying as I do not have an extention lead with enough sockets in it. 

    Shopping, batch cooking, and meal planning is an issue.  The new manager at the care company is due to visit on Friday, hopefully something can be done around resolving this stuff then.

    Something else that's really important is to update my education & outreach material; I am worried that many of the improvements, new concepts, and ideas that I have been working on in my head have gotten a bit lost or forgotten.  There are all sorts of random notes around the house relating to this, so maybe coralling them up and going through them will help.  But ... I need the mental space to be able to sit down and just work on this stuff, instead of the feeling of constant deluge of things that need to be done that I am struggling with currently.
  • cartha
    cartha Community member Posts: 1,390 Pioneering
    I haven't had a chance to do the census yet, actually forgotten all about it until seeing your comment, @NotReally .  My mind is preoccupied with moving house at the moment but I am also easily distracted by things to do.

  • NotReally
    NotReally Community member Posts: 59 Pioneering
    edited March 2021
    2021-03-23 - Covid Lockdown +365

    Census done.

    Rest of day pretty inefficiently used:
    Dismatled hardware from old sink, ready to cut up with angle grinder (I need a conductive surface for welding jobs, and this'll do perfectly)
    Found and prepared piece of board suitable for turning into a whiteboard; measured it up and figured a rough design in my head
    Typed up and printed shopping list ready for carer to go shopping in the morning; copied it all into a spreadsheet so as to start to get some organisation around shopping
    Some ideation work around making an open source epipen; need to do some research about how epinephrien (adrenaline) is commonly packaged.  Also need to look in to springing mechanisms that can be easily and reliably reproduced.  Cuz **** those price gouging pices of ****.
    Emailed a loved one in NZ, who I've not been in touch with for too long
    Measured up for a new shelf in the bathroom; still not sure about hardware fixings for it
    Put a candle in a jar outside the front door at 8pm
    Turned an ice cream carton into a seed planter; sewed the thyme seeds I impulsively bought the other week
    Made a bit of progress with making a ... "case" for my PC. 

    Need to:
    Order hinges for making garage door
    Order two part silicone
    Continue moving / organsing boxes from conservatory onto the temporary storage shelves I built (should add photo of these - am quite pleased, despite the poor non-existent joinery)
    Make a master list of things that need to be done
    Try and remove the build up of entropy at the patio door ... *sigh*
    Continue to clear the kitchen bench ready to chip away the old grout and reseal the join with silicone
    Deal with the not quite 1000 open tabs in my browser

    Temporary shelves - almost finished in this shot ...


  • NotReally
    NotReally Community member Posts: 59 Pioneering
    edited April 2021
    2021-04-20 - D-Day: Minus 7 Years 51 Weeks 4 Days

    Last Tuesday was one of the worst days of my life.  I feel that it speaks to the resiliancy that I have developed that, despite everything (like having the paramedics here for 2 & 1/2 hours) I am coping remarkably well, have not been hospitalised, and have gotten back to a daily routine ... well, as much routine as is possible at the moment.
    I'd like to give huge props to the Scope support phone line, I had a hugely helpful call with them on Friday; of course, my opinion is somewhat biased here, as I was given one of the best compliments I've ever received by the person who I spoke with.  ?
    Also, quite randomly, I feel it's worth mentioning another really helpful source of support: Tesco Mobile!  I phoned them for reasons related to what happened (... it's complicated), and had an hour long talk with the person who'd taken my call; she'd been in an abusive relationship as well, and was really lovely and supportive.
    I'm not really (hah) sure how to convey the circumstances easily, because ... as usual ... "it's complicated".  *sigh*  I think that will likely be my epitaph. 
    But, in the shortest manner I can manage:  children's social services explicitly gave my ex-wife (yes, the person who abused me) permission to, pretty much, demand what ever she wanted in terms of the condition of my house and garden, and to "risk assess" my property and personal circumstances, and decide when / if my son can stay with me. 
    It is impossible for me to convey the sense of betrayal I feel as a result of this; by the time my carer arrived at 10am I had regressed to practically being non-verbal.  I thought that "the system" was supposed to protect victims of abuse from those that perpetrated the abuse, not enable them to continue it.  I cannot see that this is anything less than morally reprehensible.
    With support of friends and various services, I have managed to rally myself and start to find appropriate assistance that I'm going to need in the coming weeks in order to deal with this.  I'm not sure what the best way forward is, but at the moment it looks like a formal complaint to children's social services is on the cards.  I am now waiting for contact back from a couple of places that should be able to help in determining how to proceed.
  • NotReally
    NotReally Community member Posts: 59 Pioneering
    edited April 2021
    2021-04-21 - D-Day: Minus 7 Years 51 Weeks 4 Days

    Two consecutive updates!  This hasn't happened for a while.

    I've managed to contact the local CAB, and they have arranged an appointment for me next week to help with what's going on.  I'm a little surprised, given that when I contacted them in December they weren't too interested and simply signposted me to other charities.  I have also managed to do the self referral process with the local domestic abuse suport charity, and their victim support should contact me in the next week or so to see what they're able to do.

    In preparation for the CAB appointment I need to send them over as much documentation as possible, which is going to be mentally and emotionally demanding; I am working myself up to start that just now. 

    Also next week, my social worker will be visiting, which will be our first time meeting in person (along with the local fire service for the third(!) fire safety check I've had in a year), and I feel that it's important to have everything as organised and as nice as possible for this visit; the plan is that she will come away wondering what all the fuss is about with regards to my son staying with me, and will be willing to feed back to children's social services that there's no issue and they need to stop being <moderator removed profanity> about the whole situation.  While things are generally pretty good around the house, I've been doing a lot, so there's a lot of disorganisation that needs addressing.  A friend has offered to lend me some money to purchase furniture / nice things, and I've decided to take her up on that having thought over how I could sensibly use it. 

    So, a lot of demand on me over the next week or so, and I expect I will crash hard afterwards, but ... my son is the most important part of my life and ... this stuff just needs doing.
  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,741 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @NotReally

    Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us, it sounds like you've gone through a lot and I really applaud you taking proactive steps to access services, get support and challenge decisions.  Please let us know if ever you need anything else from us  :)

    Just to advise, I've removed a swear word from your last post as profanities aren't allowed on the community - please see our online community guidelines for more details.  I realise you said it with due frustration but just a friendly reminder for the future.

    Wishing you all the best - speak soon!
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  • NotReally
    NotReally Community member Posts: 59 Pioneering
    Hi @NotReally

    Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us, it sounds like you've gone through a lot and I really applaud you taking proactive steps to access services, get support and challenge decisions.  Please let us know if ever you need anything else from us  :)
    Thank you.  It's been ... uh, "interesting" alright.  Dear Universe, I've had enough of this kind of interesting, I'd like the other type please, the type of interesting where I get to achieve some of the good and fun things I'd like to do.  And not have to worry continually about money; that'd be really nice.  Thank you!
    Just to advise, I've removed a swear word from your last post as profanities aren't allowed on the community - please see our online community guidelines for more details.  I realise you said it with due frustration but just a friendly reminder for the future.

    Wishing you all the best - speak soon!
    I put to Her Honour Judge @Cher_Scope that the term used was entirely accurate and appropriate for the <moderator removed profanity> being referred to, and in fact, not at all a profanity given the circumstances.  After all, if a tree falls in the forest and no accountants are present, does anyone hear the sound of a logging company making a profit?

    Understood.  Would it count if I swore in Deutsch?  I'm really, really good at swearing in German.

    I'm a little manic today, and overwhelmed by everything I need to do by Tuesday.
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger

    Understood.  Would it count if I swore in Deutsch?  I'm really, really good at swearing in German.

    I'm a little manic today, and overwhelmed by everything I need to do by Tuesday.


    Unfortunately we don't allow swear words in any language you'll be disappointed to hear :) I did study German to A-level standard so I would fancy my chances at catching you out if you slipped one in :) 

    I'm sorry to read that you feel manic today about everything you need to do. I find it best to take everything as one independent task and focus on them one at a time. The satisfaction you'll gain from ticking them off your list will be great, and you'll get everything done I'm sure :) 
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