Update on a Few Things

Published July 18, 2022 by helentastic67

So, I have been intending to follow up on a few things lately, but I’ve been slack in my efforts to use speech to text. Some things are hard to say out loud.

I’ve been meaning to follow up on the bullying I received from the not-for-profit self-advocacy group I’ve been volunteering at for over ten years. I’m letting the dust settle on that for a little bit longer, but the baseline is that my time with them is going to come to an end soon as they took my blog link off their website, making such statements as ‘it’s not even about brain injury’. Clearly, they didn’t look very hard because I’m sure I stated in my profile its brain injury done differently. It’s a lost cause and it’s time to find a new tribe.

Add to this the Gaslighting I’ve been receiving from my mental health care provider. They have done very well at the opposite of their job. Ever wonder why I don’t name and shame providers? Yeah, now you understand.

I’ll unpack both things another time in more detail.

I often hope how I teach organisations to respect and treat me, is how they will continue to treat all their clients or patients. Some are slow learners and if they don’t learn, I take my funding elsewhere.

I have been doing too much as last Thursday I had a migraine that whipped me out for a day and another four of feeling seedy. But I now have injectable Tramadol in my home and no, I do not intend to inject myself.

Minestrone

Published July 11, 2022 by helentastic67

Minestrone

So, let me tell the older generation what you’re doing wrong in life. No, hanging in there with how I spent four or five days with my father over Christmas at the end of 2020. (I’ll get to the younger generation soon enough, never fear!)

It was the abomination year that wasn’t! Damn you Covid!

I went to the supermarket with him and he, so help me God, told me every recipe for all the things he buys and makes. Which, Lord love him, every recipe was a variation of minestrone.

I made him my version of a minestrone which has added ingredients over the years including Lamb shanks because my last boyfriend needed more meat in his “soups” how dare he.

These days, I make my minestrone in my larger slow cooker on the bench so it doesn’t stick to the bottom, and the yield is usually 7-9 bottles.

In between lockdowns in 2021, I even managed to Mule more minestrone to my dad via a friend, because logistics and “Muleing” things have become my superpower.

To be continued………….to be sure.

Can’t Pick ‘Em

Published July 4, 2022 by helentastic67

Can’t Pick ‘Em

More recently when I had my regular carer away on holidays for two weeks, I had a replacement carer. This lady had three shifts that week of more than three hours each shift to cover.

On the Tuesday, I had carer “A”, she quickly unpacked all of her emotional baggage. There is a tendency for friendly banter. She was very new to being a carer and she was telling me all about her husband’s first wife’s impact on her marriage and how he didn’t understand why at her age, she had gone back to study.

She was in her fifty’s and she had chosen to change her career and being a support worker requires qualifications. She was expecting me to be her mental health care provider.

On the way home from this shift, I received a text that this carer “A” would cover the rest of my shifts while my regular was away. I knew I would not cope so put a block on her. It seems to mean, but I’ve worked out in my short time which carers I can cope with and which ones I can’t.

Life One-handed

Published June 27, 2022 by helentastic67

Life One-Handed

You may have noticed; despite it’s having half the title of my blog. I don’t really write much about living life one-handed. I know, ironic much. It’s because I started to have weaknesses in my late teens so I had started to adapt.

Mum gave me every hot drink to carry to the lounge room and as I’d spill the drink in my left hand, I’d carry one drink at a time. She was very grumpy and impatient as she would carry two cups at the same time.

“Drop your left shoulder!”

Alas, I started adapting. But mostly when she wasn’t watching, I’d carry one at a time. By the time I was 16-17, I was a full-time student, part-time worker at a supermarket, an unpaid babysitter and was building a portfolio to go to college.

I had NO SOCIAL LIFE!

My first job at a supermarket saw me on the left-handed checkout, I wasn’t super-fast. With the right-handed checkouts I was so fast, forty items a minute, that I often had to call the front-end controller, the Prima packs in the trolley and then reconcile it so that on the receipt because the register couldn’t keep up. The trolley looked like a bomb had hit it, but that’s another story for another day.

Ok, times I’d be growled at for not packing the trolley neatly enough. I argued, you can have fast or neat, you can’t have both! Pick one! The end!

I’m also going to seriously kill the carer who insists on doing up the buttons on my men’s pyjama tops because at 1am when I’m naked and trying to quickly get into my pj’s, I cannot work out why it’s not as easy as it should be. It’s because one of my very caring but not so thoughtful, lovely assistants has done the buttons up on my tops.

Update on the Plague

Published June 20, 2022 by helentastic67

Update on the Plague

I feel like it’s been too long since I mentioned the thing, I like to call the Plague. Don’t make me use the word.

Occasionally, I find a reason to do a RAT for when I have an appointment somewhere if I even reach for a tissue, I will be interrogated like I’m going to cause the whole world to shut down.

So, I do a RAT and present a photo, then announce my favourite line! “NOT PREGNANT!” Then after a brief pause “NOT COMPLAINING!”

If you are not familiar with the reference? The RAT thing looks much like Home Pregnancy Tests. Never done one of those, still not complaining. Not a dig at people desperate at wanting to be pregnant.

I’m not bragging when I say I’VE NOT YET HAD THE PLAGUE!

Although I wouldn’t mind being able to say “I lost the 10 Kilo’s I gained during the lockdowns” I’m still not complaining.

One of my young carers had the Plague in early 2022 when all the young ones were getting out to all the festivals and coming home with gastro or the Plague, I heard from her and she told me she’d lost 5 Kilos. I responded I needed the Plague: TWICE! She was so delirious she didn’t get my joke, until days later.

Lastly, when will it be over? Don’t answer that! Hope everyone is staying safe and well.

My Next Life

Published June 13, 2022 by helentastic67

My Next Life

I have a great appreciation for packaging. I think at times I should have been a packaging designer. Yes, I think it’s too late in this life but maybe the next.

Sent a photo of this bottle to a carer, no words just the picture. she replied “Great bottle! Shit wine!”

Short and sharp. I like it! Just like this post.

Dave’s Dick

Published June 6, 2022 by helentastic67

Dave’s Dick

This is a weird little gift a friend gave me that has provided many laughs.

The 2 silver things are USB’s – so is the dick!

I outsourced to a tech-savvy friend to procure (buy!) me some USB’s so I could play my music in the cars of my carers when we are out shopping. He did and he saw this apparently, I just learnt months later he had ordered a Wonder Woman USB but this arrived instead, which makes it even more amusing.

I’ve put music and shows on it and loaned them to my carers. The husbands and partners enquire “Who’s Dick’s that!?” This is after I enquire “Did the Dick work?” Oh, this could go on.

I even had two gentlemen come to my home with a daughter/niece in tow Miss 6. She went to meet Mika on the bed, the father close behind. On the way past my entertainment area, she grabs a “Toy”. This is when the father followed to make sure Miss 6 didn’t get herself into trouble. Leaving me to explain to the uncle what exactly the Toy had been. I explained stating, “She won’t yet know what it is but, it’s a bit wrong” Thankfully, the uncle was amused and I sent her off with some chocolates to share with a brother. I am such a Nona!

Should I need to mention my tech friend is Gay? So, he’s not a straight “friend” being weird. Just one of my gay friends being greatly amusing. Enjoy!

And hit Like!

Scootering Nightmares

Published May 30, 2022 by helentastic67

Scootering Nightmares

Sometimes, on my scootering adventures I encounter obstacles. People blocking footpaths with their prams, dogs lazing across footpaths in front of cafe’s. I always happily go for a pat of doggy ears. Love those soft bits, but I do not have enough insurance to hit pets or babies and occasionally, off the High Street I encounter this – BIN DAY!!!!!!!

Thankfully, I can get off my scooter to move them. I could totally have ploughed through and kicked them onto the road. There were no cars, but I did good adulting.

A couple across the street called out they were going to come over to help me, but I had already moved them. I thanked them and my adventures continued…

Reasons Why “Reply All” Should Be Banned

Published May 23, 2022 by helentastic67

Reasons why all “Reply All” should be Banned

Years ago, I attempted to dissuade a group I was part of to stop using “Reply-All” in their befuddled state, some asked “What? Why?” It was a brain injury group so there’s that.

I mentioned there’s always one Numbnut, that hits “Reply All” top ask the original sender “Hey XYZ that’s great font! What is it?”

I’m not a PC User and even I know how to work out the font style. But in the meeting the Numbnut in question will prick up their ears and insists “It was a really cool font!” Someone else, not getting the gist of the conversation enquires what was the font? I mutter “Wing dings!” and a few laughs. You’re Welcome and another Numbnut asks (you guessed it) “what’s Wing Dings?”

For Christs sake! Write it down. You just got homework.

If you don’t know what’s going on in those kinds of meetings you gotta make notes, go home and do some research. One Numbnut had never heard about “Ted Talks”. Homework!

Meetings shouldn’t take this much time and I’m trying to not be doing my email at 1AM! It’s gotta stop and it’s because that’s when all my other chores for the day are done.

Hot off the Press 17th May 2022

Published May 17, 2022 by helentastic67

Censorship – The Next Exciting Episode

This week, I am following up on last week’s post and asking for your support for my blog and my intention to do brain injury differently. My question is “Is bullying OK?”

So, had a very ordinary meeting last Tuesday, trying to convince people who had not bothered to read my blog, that the blog link remains on their website (that features a disclaimer) for the group I’ve volunteered for 10+ years.

A fellow-member and friend suggested if I wanted to have my blog appeal to more people, I should change it. To be blunt, I could write about brain injury but it’s not sexy and people don’t want to know anything about brain injury until it’s absolutely relevant to them.

I could write about risk-taking behaviour but you don’t have to drink, take drugs and try to drive a car and potentially kill people while you nearly kill yourself to get a brain injury. I’ve done none of those things and I have a brain injury.

I am probably only alive because I didn’t do drugs, I barely drank. I found alcohol used to make me feel like my head was swimming. Probably because alcohol thins your blood and my AVM once diagnosed was stated as being enormous. So, I suspect its why I was feeling unwell I just didn’t have an interest in doing something that made me feel so awful.

That I don’t ever mention companies or organisations good, bad or otherwise, should tell you I have some ethics.

That’s this NGO (Non-Government Organisation/Not for Profit) thinks to bully me to remaining quiet for the bullying they think to visit on its long standing members and that it’s acceptable. Other members have been destroyed by its poor behaviour and so, if you are still with me? You don’t have to love everything I write or stand for, but if you have any appreciation for what I stand for please Like, comment (positively please) and share through your networks.