Reach for the stars...

niccatw

Just checked Martin's comsumer rights (is there nothing that man can't do! :A ) guide and you're right Maty. Take them back to the shop. It's the shop's problem to deal with the manufacturer.

Now my concern is if I keep getting new ones and they keep leaking. I don't don't know how professional athlete's cope with the stress! :rotfl:

Talking of professional athletes, off to see my mate complete the men's 10k with no training! Harcore! :rotfl:

They are running in my walking park so I guess I'll have to step down the training for today!

Butti

niccatw wrote: »

Just checked Martin's comsumer rights (is there nothing that man can't do! :A ) guide and you're right Maty. Take them back to the shop. It's the shop's problem to deal with the manufacturer.

That's right. The basic principle to remember is contract law. The shop has offered you goods and you have accepted that offer. You have no contractual relationship with the manufacturer. The shop has to then take up its contractual issues with the manufacturer.

It works with services too. If you employ a builder and he employs a sub-contractor plumber who causes a leak your issue is with the builder (unless there is a collateral warrenty in place - and thats a whole new story!)

B

niccatw

:eek: Yikes Butti! Is that part of your course stuff? Sounds impressive.

Put stuff on £bay given it's free listings.... or VSO application...

Which will Nicca chose to do!

Answers on a postcard please.

Or I could always just eat the Bounty sitting on my bed whispering to me.

MatyMoo

Eat the Bounty while listing on eBay

VSO application to be done in the next week

Decision made, off you go now :rotfl:

niccatw

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I only just read that Maty, but it must have penetrated my psyche (Sp?). I ate the bounty, then I listed. 10 items! I think that's a record for me. It's a tedious, tedious task. I rate it along side ironing! :eek:

I was so sure I'd have done the VSO application! Who'd have thunk it!

Right, best get to bed before I turn in to a pumpkin in the next minute.

Night all. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

*Dreaming of sunshine*

niccatw

Dreaming of sunshine worked – for a while! It was sunny yesterday! Today it’s been chucking it down again!I have two bids on my eBay items! Yay. Pretty paltry in terms of monetary value really, but perhaps it will eventually be enough to buy the teapot that has been on my watch list for a wee while! Ah, the little things!

Yesterday was the last of my “return to work” meetings. I know they are meant to help, but they feel so bizarre. They are so policy-based and I couldn’t help but think that it was simply a case of going through the motions and making sure it was all agreed in writing to make sure one’s back is covered. I also couldn’t help wondering just how much money it cost to have me, two bosses and an HR representative sit in a wee room for an hour (and they met before and after I was in there). Upshot is I have to be re-referred to occupational health. I was referred to them 6 months before I first went off sick and they said there wasn’t anything they could do as I wasn’t off work. So I don’t hold my breath!

I’ve been to see my G.P. today. She’s really astute and on the ball. We agreed that no, I’m not depressed but that I am stressed. And if my boss actually noticed it, it’s probably been building up for a while. And we need to stop it before it morphs into a depressive episode. Essentially I’ll go back on to antidepressants for the short term.

She asked me about my job and where I saw myself in 10 years time... (VSO jumped straight to mind!) She knows I work for the NHS. She knows the client group I work with are very vulnerable. She’s guessed I have strong views on what is ethical and moral within my job. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that within the public sector right now there are a lot of things happening that I fundamentally disagree with but I am not in a position to influence (other than as a citizen and a voter).

Short of telling me to get a new job or go part time, there’s little she can do about that. That’s for me to work out. And I’m working on it. Or, at least, I am trying to! Essentially the antidepressants are to keep me on an even keel until I can get rid of some of the things that are currently adding to my stress levels (such as the post grad. course and conference - both of which I want to have under my belt for any future direction my career might take.).

She did tell me to focus on a holiday when all of that is out of the way! I should have asked her to write me up a prescription for one. Preferably somewhere exotic, where I can explore new adventures but that is also calming and peaceful (did I mention prescriptions are currently free in Scotland?)

I have been finding myself wondering, more and more, what the next step is. Perhaps that’s also why I keep delaying the VSO application. Although I know it’s just the first step in a long process and I can jump off at any point in that process, I guess it’s just fear!

Fear of the unknown. Fear of, after working so hard to get my finances on track, how I would even go about making sure everything in the UK was settled as it needed to be.

I know VSO have a world of experience in dealing with that, I know there are people that will help and I know that these are not issues I need to worry about right now.

But I do anyway!

Fear of not being in control of what might happen!!!!! I suspect that might be the real fear!

But I am reading a book on Mindfulness and I am trying to “be in the present” and stop worrying so much. Yes, vigilant readers. I am currently reading three books! Mindfulness for Dummies; To Die for: Is Fashion Wearing out the World and All Families are Psychotic. Or at least, those three books are currently the top of my pile. I won’t tell you exactly how many different books I am currently flitting between! (I'd need to gather them up from around the flat and count them for a start .)

No wonder I can’t sit down and concentrate on one thing for any length of time! Enough waffling! Perhaps I shall go and read one of said books. I think All Families are Psychotic is in order.


Oh, by the way, this week’s recipes are:

• Mexicana salad and guacamole (made last night. Guacamole was a bit peely-wally [Scots: pale]; too much sour cream, not enough avocado.
• Falafel and tomato salsa
• Carrot and Pumpkin Risotto

It might not go so well this week as tonight I had baby potatoes cut into wedges and veggie sausages as I couldn’t be bothered. Tomorrow I will be at Bon Jovi! Yay! :j And on Thursday I have the chance to perhaps go to Take That. (I’m not particularly a Take That fan but my friend can’t make it and her ticket is going spare.)


Ok, really, enough waffling!

Butti

Oh well, I guess I'll go to Take That, I'm not really bothered but there's a spare ticket :rotfl: How many people will be gnashing their teeth at you at the moment. Not me though - I'm not bothered either.

Stress - 2 main causes. The need for approval and lack of control. And BINGO, there you have it, lots of changes in the NHS and no control. A lot of NHS staff will probably be suffering but they'll also be close to the drugs cabinet!

Is there a book called 'All families are psychotic?!!'

Anyway Nic, all things considered (one relative has been sectioned this week, one friend has had an aortic valve replaced) I think you're doing remarkably well. Just continue doing what you need to do to keep you on an even keel (and pray for me on a 20mile bike ride tomorrow evening - Oh lordie!)

B x

niccatw

Butti I know you are right! All all those counts!

The bike ride will be fine; I once did 24 miles from Bridge or Orchy through Glencoe (with the optimistic intention of reaching Fort William) with no training and my bike riding skills are pretty shoddy for a busy, small, twisting road! At the 24 mile point my legs literally could not turn the peddles any further and my friend had to get the bus back to here car, collect me and we drove the rest of the way to Fort William. Despite how it sounds, I actually really enjoyed it. Though I personally think you need to be walking through Glencoe to appreciate just how beautiful it is!

*RANT ALERT*

I've just a voicemail from my boss. It goes on for a long time and tells me she has also left me an email. Essentially I am on annual leave tomorrow and Friday. But she says she did not grant it and was informed by supervisor who only found out today. She'll let it go because... lots of detail re. my work and personal mobiles, out of office signs, signing in and out book, where I am and am not... to be honest I stopped listening, held the phone away from my ear and swore a good several times.

I am angry at her reaction to 2 days annual leave, which I have discussed with her but which I may well have forgotten to formally send her via email or tell my supervisor. However, she's sent this message two days after my return to work meeting, one day after my GP appointment and I think it's an over-the-top reaction. Just another case in point for me feeling like I have no autonomy when I should have with my role.

Just after my supervisor was granted 4 weeks annual leave which directly impacts my workload but which was never discussed with me by either of them.

I need to get it out of my system because I did actually want to study this afternoon and enjoy the concert tonight. And my holidays without stressing what I'm coming back to on Monday.

1. Is it reasonable to ask her to listen back to her own message when I see her next.
2. Is it fair to let my counsellor hear it?

I haven't responded back at all as I'm too angry right now and I am off tomorrow and Friday so I refuse to do it then.

This in not just about my stress levels at all. This is also about the stress levels of my supervisor and my boss.

Yes, I really need to do that VSO application form. This entire diary has been one long rant about how I am managed! Or not! It feels like the goaslposts keep changing and that there's one rule for some of us and quite another for others. :mad:

*RANT OVER*

Deep breath. Big deep breath! On to Spotify to find some Bon Jovi to calm the soul!

MrsMoo2U

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.”
Ambrose Redmoon quotes

Nic I agree that return to work interviews are often about box ticking exercises. I recently told a friends son that if he didnt like what he was doing and that what he was doing was compromising his moral compass and principles then he needed to seriously think about if he should carry on with compromising these. Only he would know the answer to that question (he was working in a call centre as a debt collector and expected to use certain scripts with certain people whom he found very vulnerable). Needless to say that he had lots of things keeping him there, debts of his own, the fear that he wouldnt get another job etc, etc, etc.

Now as much as I hate to say this I often wonder about how many people do a job that goes against their moral grain because they are too afraid to walk away. We all have moments like this in life and how we handle them leads directly to our long term happiness/misery (insert appropriate) So the question for you is, how much of the stress is being caused by the manager and/or what is the real underlying cause of the stress for all of you. As you say you should not have to deal with your Managers stress. Yes I would let your counsellor listen to the message, if only to help you work out whether you should let the manager hear it back. DO NOT answer the message whilst you are on leave.
You can take control of the situation when the time is right for you. After all you took control of your finances and worked out ways to make that happen. If you go for VSO as you say they have experts who will help you to work out what to do about money issues.
Can you rent your flat out for a profit? Could the money on that go towards a steady payment on the debts and let them tick over until such time you come back and get the most fantastic well paid job.

By the way, thanks for the replies on my diary. Have you ever thought about being a counsellor yourself? (sorry if that is part of your job and I have misunderstood)

Butti

Definately let the councillor listen to the message. Personally I think your boss is stepping well over the mark. I think you only ring people at home when they are off sick and they have rang you and invited you to ring back. Otherwise it is an intrusion on your private life. You need somewhere where you can get away from the b*****ds.

My boss rang me back twice one day when I had put my back out and was lying face down on the floor. I was not impressed. I did point out to him on the second call the effort it had taken me to answer the phone.

B