THE FIRST BOMB FAILS .. MAYBE

Well that did not inspire me with confidence.

I missed a phone-call back from a gentleman who seemed to be helpful and working for the local Citizen's Advice Bureau in Birkenhead.

He admitted that the situation was a bad and confusing one and said he needed to speak to others.

When he called he did that bloody thing that annoys me with the telecoms companies .. he left a voice message when I never listen to voice messages .. EVER.

It is well known that the mobile telecoms companies leave this on deliberately and has been complained about for years. Yet they still do it.

So I managed to send them an email via their webpage form and asked if he could call me back or arrange a meeting, as I was sure they would realise their had been a major mistake here that had cost me thousands of pounds and climbing.

It was not long before I got a phone-call from their office and was asked how they could help?!

What?!

I have sent no less than two emails to them and spoken on the phone at length about the problem and she asks me how they can help?!

I told her I had already explained this to someone called Steve and she made excuses that he was only a volunteer, umm .. aren't they all? She went on to say that according to what he had put in the notes I was getting the correct amount of Universal Credit?!

I said “Well that is NOT what he said on the phone and as I have had a letter stating that I am getting the exact amount as what my rent is .. this obviously is not right” She asked if I wanted an appointment. Well .. duh!

Then she became patronising by telling me they cannot help with the other things I spoke about in the email .. which I did not include I this request to contact me!

The other issues she was referring to was me purely explaining why I am here who I am helping and that the other authorities are not helping us with those issues either.

In other words ..

• I have a disability
• Which involves pain
• I am being investigated for chest pain which I have right now
• I have short term memory problems

And ..

• I am here to help my daughter and grandchildren
• There are two autistic children out of four
• They have been subjected to domestic violence
• There are some serious health concerns, that have us both scared

Among other things but that is basically the gist of it.

Having lost all faith and trust in absolutely everyone a long time ago and very late I the game admittedly .. I set up a Patreon account for myself and a Crowd Funding campaign for my daughter and grandchildren.

Due to some lack of communication with GoFundMe I decided that after suspending my account they were asking too many questions and it was not going to be allowed. For whatever reason but they seem to think I was raising money for someone to defend themselves in court? Umm .. no.

So I went to the British Crowd Funding site called Just Giving and set that up. No problems with that and I put a lot of content on there.

Then very late that night I receive an email from GoFundMe informing me that they had now approved my account?!

So the next thing I thought? 'Oh .. now I have two crowd funding accounts .. is that even allowed?! Great .. now I am going to have to remember to email them and ask them about this?!” Talk about hard work!

Then while looking after the youngest grandchild, which I often do, while my daughter takes two others to school, the oldest now going to school on hi own, I decided to hoover the living room.

Often it ends up looking like Beirut on a rough day.

The children make more mess than your average children, well three of them do, and if your not careful and after demanding another packet of crisps or a drink the youngest can then just decide to empty the packet she has mashed into small pieces anyway all over the sofa and carpet. That happens at least once a day. On a good day there wont be too many when you decide to vacuum which you have to do twice a day and it still ends up looking like Beirut by the time they go to bed .. ooh robotic vacuums? Oh but they will destroy those. Within hours. Electronic toys enter the house and within a few hours one or two things on them are no longer working. If they fight over something, does not matter to them who it belongs to, it can get broken completely.

Except for the oldest one. Although he gets his stuff stolen or broken by all the other three.

In fact a favourite trick of theirs is to switch off his Xbox at the wall. He often comes in with one or the other and begging we keep her in the living room.

We have both talked about finding work, while someone we know seems to throw the opportunities away!

But the way things work now .. you cannot really get anything part time and earn anything substantial and what with our disabilities we need a car to do anything. Unless you can find work very nearby that includes no travelling around to places. Unless the organisation you work for does not mind relying on public transport in its daily rotas?

I was just talking about finding work with someone and they asked me how many hours you can work before your benefits get deducted. The benefit they are talking about I said I did not know but would look it up .. when it suddenly occurred to me ..

If I or anyone else was to find work who was having their benefits, the living side and not the housing side, deducted because they are holding money you had against you .. what happens then?

Think about it in what appears right now to be my case ..

• After being told I would get £600 as a first payment ..
• I was then in receipt of a letter that stated that I would only get £300 every month
• Which is my rent amount ..
• Therefore I have nothing to buy food with or pay bills .. other than what little savings I have left (which often go on my daughter and 4 grandchildren due to lack of help)
• But Universal Credit states that for every £1 you earn they take 65p .. though I think this changed to 63p .. whoopie-doo!
• Sooo .. how are you going to afford to even get to work?! Let alone do this with no food?!

Funny how I three conversations the Citizen's Advice Bureau who receive money to run their operation did not pick up on that either?! Three conversations!

Will they pick this up in a face to face third conversation? We will see.

Whoever thought up of this Universal Credit shit needs to be shot! Truly they do as it seems that every other week I see a ajor problem that actually stops people fro workig as well as killing people.

I want to ask them for a cyanide pill when I am next in the Job Centre as it would be far more humane that what they are doing.

If you did this to dogs the RSPCA would be all over your arse like the proverbial flies. You would be fined and/or sent to prison.

They would put a dog to sleep rather than leaving it to suffer.

I was mopping a floor in a pause during this typing and I kept asking myself two things ..

• How have I ended up I this situation?!
• How did we ever get into this situation as a nation?!

My absolutely serious advice is this .. if you have been on benefits and you have received some money and want to go out on your own and make money, starting a business and/or going self-employed .. do not, I repeat, DO NOT go to your Jo Centre for help!!

You might want to keep an eye on your own family members, no matter how close you thought you were as they could end up stealing hundreds of thousands like one did with my own family.

Then when you try to do it with what has not be stolen off you the DWP then lure you in with promises, then cut you loose and .. then refuse you benefits altogether after you have spent two thirds of it on the tools they agreed to and signed off for.

I really must put the business plan up on here and all the recordings I made as well as the emails.

Damn it! Those crowd funding emails!