General news update
So, as it's the start of a new month and I'm not going to be going down to Sidmouth FolkWeek due to a combination of lack of spoons and more urgent things needing to be done at home, I thought it was about time I did a general-updates post.
ESA tribunal next Monday is the most pressing matter and the main reason I'm not going to Sidmouth, because I really need to stay at home and sort through all the paperwork, put it in the right order, locate any pieces I may have misplaced and generally prepare myself for it. I'm oscillating between hope that they'll finally realise the extent of how my illnesses (fibro and according to my medical notes chronic fatigue syndrome as well, which, let's be fair, I've long suspected anyway) and general state of being (by which I mean not-yet-diagnosed Asperger's), and cynicism that because I've technically got "normal" function in my limbs they'll dismiss the pain and fatigue limitations and the brain-fog limitations and declare me completely fit for work.
Tornado warning for those who've not seen the relevant episode of Mythbusters: it IS possible to be decapitated by flying debris from a tornado. Consider yourselves warned.
Exciting news: I have my washing machine and tumble dryer! I got a text yesterday while I was still up in Southampton to say that they'd be delivered sometime between 8am and 6pm today. They came at 5:15pm. In some ways it felt like I'd wasted most of the day coz I could have gone out and got a few things, BUT then I reminded myself that I couldn't really have gone out today anyway because last week the thermostat and engine heating went haywire - as in, I'd drive less than 100 metres and the engine would overheat and the temperature gauge go red with the cooler fan going into overdrive and making sooooo much noise. Kat heard me coming when I went over to hers on Wednesday to do laundry! So I took it up to Vospers Thursday lunchtime to get it sorted while I was in Southampton over the weekend. They said it should be ready to collect Monday (ie. today) so I told them I'd probably be up today to get it but it depended on when the washing machine and tumble dryer were delivered. In the end, even if the appliances had come at 8am on the dot I still wouldn't have been able to get my car today - the ramp that they put the vehicles on to lift them up so they can get underneath them had got stuck. In the raised position. With my car on it! So the engineer is sorting it and they'll call me tomorrow morning when the engineer has fixed it and my car is back on the ground! I promised wildelover that I'd take photos and add them to the album of photos of my flat on Facebook. The tumble dryer is in one corner of the living room being used as a TV stand, as suggested by writerdahling when we were talking a couple of weeks ago. It's currently in use and the washing machine has been used. It's going to save SO MANY SPOONS.
writerdahling has requested a Forest Argent (Gate faction) larp weekend event. 14th-16th October at Goblin Combe just outside Bristol. It looks like a brilliant site (we've not used it before) - and I LOVE the name! It's almost fully wheelchair-accessible, too, which it a very rare thing for larp sites. If you're interested in coming, that would be awesome! Just let me know.
It's just shy of 11 months now that Gideon and I have been together. He's wonderful, sweet, kind, a hopeless romantic, smart (and if you're reading this, Gideon, don't go feeling you're not just because you didn't graduate from uni!), is wonderful with the fibro, CFS and Asperger's, generous, a cat person... I could go on for much longer!
The badminton season has just finished and the final rankings got published a couple of weeks ago .I am ranked 6th in the country for wheelchair badminton (out of, admittedly, just 14), Berny and I are joint 4th for ladies' doubles, Hannah and I are joint number 1 in the country in ladies' doubles (we share that honour with 2 other pairs), and Rowan and I are 3rd in the country for mixed doubles. Not bad considering I've only played in 2 tournaments (the club open one is Badminton England-sanctioned so it does have an impact on our rankings)! I'm going to the Cardiff leg of 4 Nations in the second weekend of September. I plan to go to the Irish leg in November. I would LOVE to go to the World Championships in Guatemala City, but the big problem would be the cost. I doubt I'd do very well, but it would give me a fantastic experience, it's probably not somewhere I'd go to otherwise; and it would give me a world ranking.
I am placing myself under a book ban because I've got several books on my shelf that have yet to be read and I'm not going to get round to reading them all if I keep buying more! That said, I'm not stupid with my money - when the ESA back payments came, I used some of it to buy the washing machine and tumble dryer; I'm going to have to use a bit more of it for car repairs. Once I've paid that and got the car back, I'll go into town (there are some things I need to get anyway) and transfer pretty much all the rest of the money across to my Nationwide savings account.
There may have been more I was going to say but I'm tired and will be going to bed fairly soon.
ESA tribunal next Monday is the most pressing matter and the main reason I'm not going to Sidmouth, because I really need to stay at home and sort through all the paperwork, put it in the right order, locate any pieces I may have misplaced and generally prepare myself for it. I'm oscillating between hope that they'll finally realise the extent of how my illnesses (fibro and according to my medical notes chronic fatigue syndrome as well, which, let's be fair, I've long suspected anyway) and general state of being (by which I mean not-yet-diagnosed Asperger's), and cynicism that because I've technically got "normal" function in my limbs they'll dismiss the pain and fatigue limitations and the brain-fog limitations and declare me completely fit for work.
Tornado warning for those who've not seen the relevant episode of Mythbusters: it IS possible to be decapitated by flying debris from a tornado. Consider yourselves warned.
Exciting news: I have my washing machine and tumble dryer! I got a text yesterday while I was still up in Southampton to say that they'd be delivered sometime between 8am and 6pm today. They came at 5:15pm. In some ways it felt like I'd wasted most of the day coz I could have gone out and got a few things, BUT then I reminded myself that I couldn't really have gone out today anyway because last week the thermostat and engine heating went haywire - as in, I'd drive less than 100 metres and the engine would overheat and the temperature gauge go red with the cooler fan going into overdrive and making sooooo much noise. Kat heard me coming when I went over to hers on Wednesday to do laundry! So I took it up to Vospers Thursday lunchtime to get it sorted while I was in Southampton over the weekend. They said it should be ready to collect Monday (ie. today) so I told them I'd probably be up today to get it but it depended on when the washing machine and tumble dryer were delivered. In the end, even if the appliances had come at 8am on the dot I still wouldn't have been able to get my car today - the ramp that they put the vehicles on to lift them up so they can get underneath them had got stuck. In the raised position. With my car on it! So the engineer is sorting it and they'll call me tomorrow morning when the engineer has fixed it and my car is back on the ground! I promised wildelover that I'd take photos and add them to the album of photos of my flat on Facebook. The tumble dryer is in one corner of the living room being used as a TV stand, as suggested by writerdahling when we were talking a couple of weeks ago. It's currently in use and the washing machine has been used. It's going to save SO MANY SPOONS.
writerdahling has requested a Forest Argent (Gate faction) larp weekend event. 14th-16th October at Goblin Combe just outside Bristol. It looks like a brilliant site (we've not used it before) - and I LOVE the name! It's almost fully wheelchair-accessible, too, which it a very rare thing for larp sites. If you're interested in coming, that would be awesome! Just let me know.
It's just shy of 11 months now that Gideon and I have been together. He's wonderful, sweet, kind, a hopeless romantic, smart (and if you're reading this, Gideon, don't go feeling you're not just because you didn't graduate from uni!), is wonderful with the fibro, CFS and Asperger's, generous, a cat person... I could go on for much longer!
The badminton season has just finished and the final rankings got published a couple of weeks ago .I am ranked 6th in the country for wheelchair badminton (out of, admittedly, just 14), Berny and I are joint 4th for ladies' doubles, Hannah and I are joint number 1 in the country in ladies' doubles (we share that honour with 2 other pairs), and Rowan and I are 3rd in the country for mixed doubles. Not bad considering I've only played in 2 tournaments (the club open one is Badminton England-sanctioned so it does have an impact on our rankings)! I'm going to the Cardiff leg of 4 Nations in the second weekend of September. I plan to go to the Irish leg in November. I would LOVE to go to the World Championships in Guatemala City, but the big problem would be the cost. I doubt I'd do very well, but it would give me a fantastic experience, it's probably not somewhere I'd go to otherwise; and it would give me a world ranking.
I am placing myself under a book ban because I've got several books on my shelf that have yet to be read and I'm not going to get round to reading them all if I keep buying more! That said, I'm not stupid with my money - when the ESA back payments came, I used some of it to buy the washing machine and tumble dryer; I'm going to have to use a bit more of it for car repairs. Once I've paid that and got the car back, I'll go into town (there are some things I need to get anyway) and transfer pretty much all the rest of the money across to my Nationwide savings account.
There may have been more I was going to say but I'm tired and will be going to bed fairly soon.