Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Pandemic personal consequences

Puddy_Tat said:
old bill (or pcso at least - are they young bill?) were doing a road block on one of the main roads in to reading this morning and stopping cars.

i obviously managed to look respectable enough for them to take my word that i was going to work and who i work for and what i do without me having to show work identification or the 'key worker' letter that employer has given us

meh
Click to expand...

I’m hoping my uniform will give them a clue as to where I’m going!
 
Anyone know if it's still as horrendous getting through on the phone to make a UC claim? We're gonna have to do that now. It's gonna be a mare, OH will have to send them everything, all his accounts, he's self-employed (mixed in with a short permanent payroll job he had last year, just to keep it complicated :rolleyes: ). Me, I just get £60 a week furlough pay atm. I'm chasing up about other work.

We heard from the letting agents yesterday, they were checking up on our situation with regard to paying the rent (we were able to pay April's). They said the L/L is very sympathetic to our situation (we'd let them know we have virtually no income due to Corona). So that's something. Decent of them in fact. As much as I can feel that about a L/L. We'll have to see what HB we can get, and negotiate something with the L/L about the difference. Feels a bit daunting tbh.
 
chainsawjob said:
Anyone know if it's still as horrendous getting through on the phone to make a UC claim? We're gonna have to do that now. It's gonna be a mare, OH will have to send them everything, all his accounts, he's self-employed (mixed in with a short permanent payroll job he had last year, just to keep it complicated :rolleyes: ). Me, I just get £60 a week furlough pay atm. I'm chasing up about other work.
Click to expand...
I found it pretty quick - you do it all online and only get a phone call at the end from someone to check up your details, which came through the first working day after I finished. Getting the identity verification app to actually work was the main problem :rolleyes: I didn't have to send any accounts (just what savings I had). Having said that my situation is fairly simple.

This is not to say it provides an enormous amount of money of course.
 
Thanks FM. I was under the impression first contact had to be by phone call, and people were listening to holding music for hours, so that's good you can do it all online.
 
Epona said:
My uncle passed away in the early hours this morning from cancer, he'd been ill a long time and it wasn't unexpected.

Although the death wasn't linked to Coronavirus, it meant that he wasn't able to have visits from his brothers and other relatives and friends over the last weeks and days of his life, as might have been normal at any other time. Most won't be able to attend his funeral (my parents are shielding). His wife is now alone in their flat and cannot have the physical closeness of family, friends, and neighbours to support her as would normally happen. She had to wait with his body alone for the undertaker to arrive, no option to have someone come and stay with her.

If there is any small consolation it is that he died at home with his wife right by him, rather than alone in a hospital somewhere. Please spare a thought for my Aunt who is now alone - although people are phoning her, no-one can go and give her a hug or stay with her to help her in the immediate aftermath.
Click to expand...
How sad. Really bleak. So sorry for your family x
 
I need a little arghhhhh. I hate talking on the phone. I don't even phone my friends or family unless something serious is going on for them. But in order not to lose my job I've had to agree to try counselling over the phone. I did my first day yesterday and it was just as shit as I expected. Not only was it incredibly nerve wracking and awkward but my signal or theirs would drop out making us have to repeat ourselves. I can't counsel someone I can't see, when we can barely hear eachother while feeling this fucking uptight and unskilled. It's just not going to work out. I found it so exhausting I had to take a nap at lunchtime and was in bed by nine.. a fucking stressed husk of a person. :( :( :facepalm: and no...I'm not allowed to video call. Fuck.
 
Clair De Lune said:
I need a little arghhhhh. I hate talking on the phone. I don't even phone my friends or family unless something serious is going on for them. But in order not to lose my job I've had to agree to try counselling over the phone. I did my first day yesterday and it was just as shit as I expected. Not only was it incredibly nerve wracking and awkward but my signal or theirs would drop out making us have to repeat ourselves. I can't counsel someone I can't see, when we can barely hear eachother while feeling this fucking uptight and unskilled. It's just not going to work out. I found it so exhausting I had to take a nap at lunchtime and was in bed by nine.. a fucking stressed husk of a person. :( :( :facepalm: and no...I'm not allowed to video call. Fuck.
Click to expand...
You must be more than ready for private practice by now. Get yourself some indemnity insurance (ppsweb.info) and a Counselling Directory profile, and you're good to go. You'd be surprised how few private clients it takes to match a college salary.

Free guidance available here. :D
 
existentialist said:
You must be more than ready for private practice by now. Get yourself some indemnity insurance (ppsweb.info) and a Counselling Directory profile, and you're good to go. You'd be surprised how few private clients it takes to match a college salary.

Free guidance available here. :D
Click to expand...
hmm in fact I already have the insurance as I was about to begin before all this went down. I'm going to no doubt cry at my supervisor this morn about this. Cos the thing is...I was a lot better when ringing ex clients cos we already have a relationship...just gotta ride this week out somehow. I guess the thing is...If I didn't give a shit I'd see this as easy money...one 15 min clunky phonecall instead of a usual very focused 50 min face to face- easy money right?? but nah, I do care and I want to help. This does not feel helpful and it's highly stressful.
 
Clair De Lune said:
I need a little arghhhhh. I hate talking on the phone. I don't even phone my friends or family unless something serious is going on for them. But in order not to lose my job I've had to agree to try counselling over the phone. I did my first day yesterday and it was just as shit as I expected. Not only was it incredibly nerve wracking and awkward but my signal or theirs would drop out making us have to repeat ourselves. I can't counsel someone I can't see, when we can barely hear eachother while feeling this fucking uptight and unskilled. It's just not going to work out. I found it so exhausting I had to take a nap at lunchtime and was in bed by nine.. a fucking stressed husk of a person. :( :( :facepalm: and no...I'm not allowed to video call. Fuck.
Click to expand...

My sister and my mum are both doing this. I think for my mum the tricky part is that the home/work separation she normally relies on to stay sane has disappeared.

I'm concerned that this might all be used as a pretext to tell mental health workers oh, as you've shown you can work so effectively from home, you won't be needing that office that we can now sell of for housing or whatever.
 
Clair De Lune said:
hmm in fact I already have the insurance as I was about to begin before all this went down. I'm going to no doubt cry at my supervisor this morn about this. Cos the thing is...I was a lot better when ringing ex clients cos we already have a relationship...just gotta ride this week out somehow. I guess the thing is...If I didn't give a shit I'd see this as easy money...one 15 min clunky phonecall instead of a usual very focused 50 min face to face- easy money right?? but nah, I do care and I want to help. This does not feel helpful and it's highly stressful.
Click to expand...
I hate phone counselling (giving and receiving). Supervision is marginally better. I have one video client this morning (walk in the park, helps that he's a fairly experienced Zoom user), and a new phone client, which I am not looking forward to ONE TINY BIT. He's on a mobile, which I find makes it even harder to judge tone of voice, etc., on. I'm leaning quite hard on my admins to give me video clients, but most of them seem to want phone. Boo.

I find that using the phone hands-free helps a bit - at least I can gesticulate!
 
Clair De Lune said:
hmm in fact I already have the insurance as I was about to begin before all this went down. I'm going to no doubt cry at my supervisor this morn about this. Cos the thing is...I was a lot better when ringing ex clients cos we already have a relationship...just gotta ride this week out somehow. I guess the thing is...If I didn't give a shit I'd see this as easy money...one 15 min clunky phonecall instead of a usual very focused 50 min face to face- easy money right?? but nah, I do care and I want to help. This does not feel helpful and it's highly stressful.
Click to expand...

I'm sure your clients will pick up on the fact you are genuinely trying to help them in a situation when you could (literally) just phone it in and get away with it. I'm sure they are not expecting you to be perfect or to work miracles, so there's no reason why you should expect that of yourself.
 
SpookyFrank said:
My sister and my mum are both doing this. I think for my mum the tricky part is that the home/work separation she normally relies on to stay sane has disappeared.

I'm concerned that this might all be used as a pretext to tell mental health workers oh, as you've shown you can work so effectively from home, you won't be needing that office that we can now sell of for housing or whatever.
Click to expand...
TBF, that would save me two 50 mile commuting round trips a week, so I wouldn't mind. But, as I'm one of the two in charge, it would be my decision, anyway :D. Although I'm already setting expectations for a "remote day" and an "office day", just in case it can be made to work...

Actually, this lockdown is making me put all the cards on the table and look for embedded assumptions and unseen new opportunities...maybe I'll change career again?
 
SpookyFrank said:
I'm sure your clients will pick up on the fact you are genuinely trying to help them in a situation when you could (literally) just phone it in and get away with it. I'm sure they are not expecting you to be perfect or to work miracles, so there's no reason why you should expect that of yourself.
Click to expand...
Thankyou. That really helped to read that. You're right.
 
bellaozzydog said:
take it it wasn’t yer bunions getting done:D
Click to expand...
Cancer stuff. I have been tested for covid 19 last week and was negative. I really wanted to get in and out quickly . :)
They said decisions are clinical and on a case by case basis but it was clear that I would be unlikely to get into the ICU if I picked up covid 19 whilst in the hospital.
Made it scary being in there. Not wanting to touch anything.

I'm home and happy. The faint smell of bleach hangs over me.
 
Last edited:
Just had a call from my sarcoma nurse regarding my next bout of chemotherapy. My oncologist is calling me later this afternoon with a phone consultation. I asked about the palaver of driving through just for my bloods checking and I was advised my oncologist will tell me what to do.
Apparently there is a drive through phlebotomy facility at Sheffield Arena alongside the covid-19 test area.
 
Sprocket. said:
Just had a call from my sarcoma nurse regarding my next bout of chemotherapy. My oncologist is calling me later this afternoon with a phone consultation. I asked about the palaver of driving through just for my bloods checking and I was advised my oncologist will tell me what to do.
Apparently there is a drive through phlebotomy facility at Sheffield Arena alongside the covid-19 test area.
Click to expand...
New ways of working. Good luck with it. :)
 
Good luck to all the above posters going through health challenges during this, so worrying and I wish you all the best^^

Nothing like on that level but I am getting the fear every time OH is a bit wheezy - it isn't that unusual as he has severe asthma but I'm getting really worried all the time, it's just he's been hospitalised due to having other viruses before because of his asthma and it's a really big worry. He's keeping going out to a minimum and to be fair it's pretty quiet round here so not a lot of risk if he wants to go for a quick saunter around the back streets for some exercise and fresh air, I just am regularly anxious even more than usual about health (I know I am not alone in that sort of fear especially at the moment). I can't help thinking that a factor that is triggering it might be the extreme heat in here, it's horrible.

As for myself, I have gone largely nocturnal, am having trouble sleeping for any length of time, but am spending around 12-14 hours a day in bed just feeling bored and miserable.
 
  • One of the two (!) village bakers are open once a week, so I FB messages them about buying 00 flour and yeast on their Wednesday opening event... then completely forgot to go ☹️🤦🏽‍♀️ Was it Wednesday? Apparently so.

  • I have had to acknowledge that I need to Go For A Walk every morning, or I feel fucking dreadful and sad and moody and fat and awful. So now I’m setting an alarm to get up & at ‘em at a single-figures hour otherwise taking 2+ hours to do 11k steps (it’s very hilly) means I look bad on Skype 🙄
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

hash tag
The next pandemic
Replies
3
Views
340
hash tag
hash tag
tim
  • Poll
To what extent are you still taking C19 precautions and has your lifestyle been permanently changed by the pandemic (April 2023)?
4 5 6 7 8
Replies
224
Views
9K
cupid_stunt
cupid_stunt
bimble
48% (!) say the pandemic negatively affected their wellbeing
2 3
Replies
77
Views
3K
Epona
Epona
A
Pandemic Art & Cartoons
Replies
0
Views
255
Aladdin
A
P
Pandemic Political Consequences
2 3 4
Replies
113
Views
6K
David Clapson
D
Back
Top Bottom