The Mental Debt Struggle...

Cherryfudge

Near us, a number of charity shops have pat-tested slow cookers, sometime still boxed. Would that be worth checking, so you could put more towards something else? I love using a slow cooker. You can do things like roast chicken, jacket potatoes, rice pudding as well as casseroles.

Crazycatlady2

Have you considered an air fryer instead of a cooker...can do anything in it you could in an oven. I have one with shelf's as basket type can't fit pizzas in and that's important to teenagers 😂

Keedie

I didn't realise you could get small electronics in charity shops, I'll have to check that out. There's a few near me that are in walking distance or a short bus ride away.

I've got an air fryer @Crazycatlady2 but it's a basket one, but my kitchen is small so I have barely any surface space so I couldn't get a bigger one. We've been mainly reliant on the air fryer for the last year, but today I made roast chicken and that took its sweet old time in the oven, as the air fryer is way too small to hold the chicken. But I did the roast potatoes in the fryer so that bit was quick. 

Our heating's gone as the boiler is showing that it needs to be serviced, so I have to call the council in the morning for someone to come out and do that. They come with some remote control looking device and put it next to the control panel and then it's all reset. I usually keep an eye on when the warning message pops up, but I've been a bit all over the place and it passed me by. So I have to remember to call them about that and chase up the plumber repair as the bath has been blocked and backsurging for a week, and they said it's urgent when I called them on Tuesday 31/10/2023 and they told me I'll be contacted with an appointment by Thursday 09/11/2023. I think we have different opinions on what classifies as 'urgent'. And my son is getting rather irritated with washing using a bucket that he then has to pour into the toilet. And he's patiently been emptying the bucket for me as I can't lift it when I wash, but with the flat now cold and the electric heaters on, I don't fancy another strip wash as I don't have an extension lead to curve around the hallway to make the bathroom a tolerable temperature 🥶.

I keep forgetting that I have to complete a (very long) form to be registered with the housing department as vulnerable and disabled. I asked them how they don't know considering that I completed a form years ago and the council sends a carer around twice a week. They seem to have updated their systems and my record wasn't done. But I hate filling in forms and I get so tired doing them and I used to get help from my care coordinator at the Community Mental Health Team, but since they discharged me I don't have that support, and I'm not sure where to go to get the help. I might have to write myself a note and put on my fridge to ask social services if they have any idea who can help me. As without my housing record being updated, there's no priority for repairs, especially as my son is no longer under 16. My council doesn't seem to care as much when they're 17 😂.

beanielou

Have you thought about getting a Ninja or similar.
I got one a year ago & have not used the oven since.
It is great for me as I don't have to bend down to use the oven.

Also re Octpus if you can get any friends to sign up then you both get a £50 credit on your account.
Win win.

Cherryfudge

Not all charity shops do small electronics but there seem to be more than previously. Worth a try.

I'm sorry to hear you are having these problems with heating and water, as well as the loathsome form filling. Is this last a task that would be better broken into five minute slots, or  do you need to do it all at once? Perhaps get a friend or family member to support you through it? Even if it's just being another human presence supplying hot drinks and listening if you need to talk your way through. I found a link about help with form filling but I'm sure there's more out there. I see it has a section on PIP claims so perhaps I need to look at that: it was recommended back in the summer but it's been one step too many so far.

I think the important thing might be to focus on one thing at a time right now. It sounds as though the call for the boiler is first on the list, then make sure you give yourself credit for it. Once that's sorted you will be in a better position anyway, and it doesn't sound like a long job.

By the way... roast chicken and potatoes - Mmm! I bet your kitchen smelled good.

Keedie

I didn't know about the Octopus sign up referral scheme @beanielou so thanks for that. I should really pay more attention to these things 🤦🏾‍♀️. I'd love to get a Ninja air fryer and I do eye them up especially when there is a sale, but there's literally no space on mu kitchen counter for one. They're wider than my current one and I wouldn't be able to fit it with the microwave there. I might have to have a think about things, and maybe move stuff around as I have two small kitchen surfaces and one has the fryer, a nutribullet I can barely remember using and a small microwave. The other has a kettle, toaster and chopping board and is next to the sink. Do you have the double basket Ninja one? I admittedly don't use the oven much, which is how I've got away with the cooker slowly becoming more dysfunctional.

The form that I have to fill in for the council is one that you can save and come back to later @Cherryfudge, but my mind just goes completely blank! And then I freak out about it all. If you can get any help with the PIP form then definitely take it, as I found that form the worst, but for the initial form and the renewal I had a specialist employment or benefit advisor sit and do the form with me. It was definitely worth it though.

Would you believe that was my first roast dinner? I've clearly been sleeping on my cooking rites of passage because at 42 and 17 years into motherhood, I should really have tried to make a roast by now. I think it's a hangover trauma from when I was a teenager around 17 or 18 and my mum had the flu at Christmas and my parents had already divorced by this point and there was no one to make the Christmas dinner. My older sister was on holiday with her boyfriend's family and my brother had already moved out. So that left me and my younger sister to fend for ourselves. My dad called the house phone and gave us instructions on what to do but it was totally different from what my mum had told us to do. So we just combined methods and it was not a tasty turkey at all! Also took way too many hours to cook and was dry as hell (and considering it was turkey, that was saying something... 😬😂). I remember having cheese on toast to fill me up and vowing to never go through that stress again... 😂. But my son loved his dinner and I couldn't smell anything as I've slowly been losing my sense of smell for whatever random reason, so apparently it did smell good, but I've no clue either way.

The gas engineer came out this morning and tried to reset the panel but it turns out that it's broken so he had to replace the whole thing and some big plastic thing inside the boiler that deals with condensation. He left me with some fancy Honeywell Home T3 wireless thermostat thingy which looks rather slick but I've no clue how to use it! There was no instruction booklet so I've just printed a manual that I found online and will work out how it all works later. It took a YouTube video for me to even realise that the front panel lifts up to reveal more buttons 🤦🏾‍♀️😂. 

My cost of living payment came through and I kept to the plan of where to put everything, but I did not pay the Octopus money onto the account, but I put it in a Monzo pot. I figured, if I end up needing it for something else at least it is there, whereas, if I added it to the credit it'd be stuck on the energy account. Over £500 credit at the start of winter considering that the prices have dropped a bit, isn't too bad even though I'm reliant on heating in the winter with my joints and stiffness etc. If by January 2024 bill my credit has dropped below £250 despite still paying £100 a month, then I'll use what is in that back up pot. If that's not the case, then I'll see what happens. It might not last that long anyways as something always comes up...

beanielou

My Ninja is a single basket as I only cook for myself. 

MatyMoo

Delurking to say our local British Heart Foundation Furniture Shop had slow cookers & other small electrical items very cheap the last time I was in. I cook roast chickens in mine but could also do chicken joints (thighs etc) in the air fryer for a mini roast dinner.  Can you tell I love a gadget!

Keedie

That makes sense @beanielou. My air fryer is not great as it once was as I brought it on the middle aisle in Lidl about 3 years ago, but I'll need to save up for another one. I've been fantasising about the dual basket one lol.

I actually have a BHF furniture shop not too far from me @MatyMoo, so I'll check that out thank you. I love a gadget too so I can definitely relate. I actually forgot about the BHF, as they sometimes have white goods as well, not often but I've seen a couple from time to time, so I'll pop there later this week and see if there is anything there.

It's my late dad's heavenly birthday on Sunday, and so I need to get some flowers and work out what we're doing as a family to celebrate his birthday. My East London Sister suggested that maybe we get carribbean take away as my dad was Jamaican, and so I think that would be nice. We did a lot of family meals as a wider family, sometimes for special occasions and sometimes 'just because', and we still do, so it's quite fitting really. The kids are going to Flip Out on Saturday evening to run around in some large activity centre and hang out together, teenagers included. So we'll have a good celebration on my dad's behalf. 

I forgot to say earlier that I had my one month review following the end of the pain clinic, and we all went out for a drink afterwards at the Slug and Lettuce. It was so good to see everyone and we still talk all the time in our whatsapp group chat. We've said that we'd meet up a few times a year (but none of us are up for meeting in the winter as it's too painful with the cold), so I'm looking forward to that when it gets warmer. I definitely feel like I've made friends for life beanielou, just like you did on your group. I even managed to get a meal and a drink for £10 on their evening meal deal, and considering we were in zone 1 in London near Waterloo, it was a bargain. So my spending money came in handy. Can't say it tasted nicer than Wetherspoons though, but at least the decor was nicer lol.

beanielou

So pleased that you have made good friends that will ‘get you’ @keedie. 

Food for the soul.