Call me Marvin

Just been signed off work for a month by my GP, for depression;also had my prozac dose doubled.

So kind of looks like I have a few weeks of pretending to be retired whislt waiting to be retired...I live in hope.

Did I tell you about the pain in the diodes in my left hand side?


Anyway....the vegetables we planted in the garden have finally shown signs of life, after 12 days we have a single sprout...purple broccolli. Hardly gonna feed us for a while but at least it means we have planted it all correctly, or at least we will find out if more sprout or not :)

So at lest I have time to get some stuff sorted out for the impending re-enactment season.

How to take on your bank and win !!! + Retirement update

You may recall that back at the start of February I decided to ask my bank back for all the charges it had levied on our acount for the last 6 years.

Last week when I hadn't heard from them in several weeks I began court procedings against them for the money.

Surprise surprise on the very day they were served the summons from the county court they have written to me and offered me over £2000, a little less than I asked for but we are going to settle. That'll cover the mortgage for a couple of months.

They of course say they do not accept the have done anything wrong or broken the law as that would require them to carry out a comprehesive review of their charging practices, and that the payment is a good will gesture...that's a bloody huge lump of goodwill (sic).

Anyway the whole process has taken about 8 weeks and I would recommend anyone in the UK who has been charges anything in the last 6 years by their banks to visit MONEY SAVING EXPERT and you'll find templstes of all the letters and the proces alid out in simple steps...you have nothing to lose.

Previous posts....
Give me My Money
Give me my Money Part 2

Now to get on with getting retired. I was denied medical retirement last week, however, I have right of appeal and grounds to do so. They agree that I am unfit for work and no adjustments would make it possible for me to give regular and effective service, but as my Family Doctor's report didn't specifically state that my Arthritis is permanent and going to effect me significantly for the next 23 years of my working life they couldn't retire me.

So anyway it turns out they addressed the request for a report on me to my GP's Medical Practice and not my GP himself, so the practice wrote the report based directly on my medical file, just diagnjostic facts and dates with no personal input from the Doctor who actually knows anything about my day to day issues. I asked my GP to write me a personal medical report in light of this and he has, stating the permanent aspect f my arthritis and so now I am awaitung the results of the appeal.

Stress Relief

Picture yourself near a stream. Birds are softly chirping in the crisp cool mountain air.

Nothing can bother you here.

No one knows this secret place.

You are in total seclusion from that place called "the world."

The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

The water is clear and you can easily make out the face of the person whose head you're holding under the water.

Look. It's the person who caused you all this stress. What a pleasant surprise.

You let them up... just for a quick breath... then ploop!... back under they go...

You allow yourself as many deep breaths as you want.

There now... feeling better?

When they refuse to sit on the naughty Step....

Not one of my kids I hasten to add...