Understanding and Empathy

From Facebook Archives

4 August 2018 at 15:06 ·

Took Ferretfingers down to town today to put in his birthday money into his Newcastle Building Society account.

He goes up to the cashier and hands the pass book over with 

"Cheque in and cash out please."

The cashier took it in his stride and asked 

"You want me to put this cheque in and take £25 cash out?"

"Yess"

The cashier, God bless him, did the minimum tick box security check (first name, date of birth) and sorted it all with a smile.

We visited other places on our wander through town (I wandered, Ferretfingers had a plan) and ended up in the Grainger Market.  Here he got a little agitated because his backpack wasn't zipped up properly.   

A bearded young man came up and said 

"You can use one of my tables if you want.  I understand.  I get moments too.   

That's why I wear these ear buds."

 

Will is a 'high functioning autistic' young man running his own bespoke carpentry and woodwork firm, creating furniture and treen from reclaimed wood, and upcycling items: IR8 Bespoke

Mrs Leftfoot It's good to hear about people being kind,. must be a boost for you both.

Ms PH Fantastic - I'll have a look next time I'm round there. What a star. Glad Ferretfingers enjoying his birthday money.

Mrs Poet Lovely to start my day with two positive posts: this is one.

 

Three Fester Things

From Facebook Archives

3 August 2009 at 21:22

Will Fixit has just been 'round to fix the bathroom light-switch which went yesterday evening.

I did suggest Fester might have his bath by candlelight.

"Not on my own" was the hopeful reply.

"Not in that bath" was mine.

3 August 2016 at 11:45

I've just had this conversation with himself with regard to today's menu.

Him "We've got lots of cooked spuds that need using up and a lot of mushrooms."

Me "What about a Spanish omlette?"

Him "You need potatoes for a Spanish omlette."

I worry about our future, I really do, we're already not dealing with a full pack.

3 August 2020

So I walk into the office and request that the awful maudlin Radio 3 dirge be turned off or muted.

"It's French Baroque!” indignantly.

Then, grumblingly, “I should have married Bodrhanman, he knows about these things."

Bazoukiboy  <phew! >... another bullet dodged

Sandy   Ahem I'll have you know radio three is never awful and doesn't play dirges. The cheerful woman they have on in the morning on the weekends gets on my tits though.

Bureaucracy

Those inclined to be judgmental might remember that 2012 was our Aunnus Horribilis.

By August we’d had: health scares; the house upside down due to a loft extension; Fester’s Littlebrother’s sudden intestate death; the death of my first but cherished father-in-law; their two funerals within a fortnight; and hoarding relations’ home and estate to sort out.

With the end of my tether was well in sight this bureaucratic bollocks was the sort of thing up with which I could not put.

 

From Facebook Archives…

2 August 2012 at 13:52

According to the Newcastle Building Society Ferretfingers' National Insurance number card still attached to the sheet of paper it was sent on, with the person's name and address on it and the National Insurance logo at the top is not “proof of residence”; but a Disabled Living Allowance letter written to me referring to him is.

"Couldn't you phone Inland Revenue and ask for proof of tax code?"

No I effin couldn't.

They blame the Financial Conduct Authority.

I blame backside covering jobsworths.

Tits.

Believe me I shall go through my paperwork this afternoon and find so many proofs of residence it's going to take some poor counter clerk a considerable amount of time to put it all on their computer; which is a waste of their time but they have no problem wasting mine!

Some time later that day …

So, after further phonecalls from NBS, I phone Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs and (eventually after pressing my way through half a dozen menus and messages about how helpful their webpage would be) get through to a nice lady and explain it all to her.

"But he can't have a tax code because he's never been in work" she says quite reasonably.

However she has offered to write Ferretfingers a letter telling him he is who I said/say he is and does live where I told them.

Apparently all the Child Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, social service report, Statement of Special Educational Needs report and my letter of authority from the Pensions people to act on his behalf, all of which bear his name, address and/or NI number, are unacceptable.

"It's because of the Barclays stuff and HSBC" they say.

Menopausal housewives and autistic teenagers from Benton are, of course, infamous for laundering drug money....

 

Cat Tales #27 Teddy

Ever since I got Dominic a black witch’s and my first in 1981 I’ve always had a cat, preferably two, and for a short period three, cats.

In this I take after my Welsh Granma.   

When our family home was being cleared my sisters showed me a photo of Granma with a black and white cat; although as it was a black and white photograph it might have been white and any colour.

“I thought Granma didn’t like cats” I said to Bigsister, twelve years my senior.

“Oh she always had a cat, usually two” she replied.

It’s five years since our tabby Matilda was put to sleep, to be replaced a few months later by the psychocat also known as The Ginger Git. 

He seemed so sweet when he arrived …

From Facebook archives …

1 August 2016 at 20:12 ·

The new cat has arrived.

Young intact (not for long) ginger tom so living room now smells a little musky, semi-feral from a stables.

Photos when we're sure it won't freak him out.

He's under a chair eating his second meal of 'proper' catfood.

Thunderthighs is lying on the floor pussy whispering (oh go one it was too good to resist Drummerman).

Ferretfingers has decided he should be called Garfield.
Good to have two cats in the house again.

Miss Doozer  Snip snip ;-)  Let me know if you want to borrow the Feliway.

Henlady  Hurrah. Delighted to read your good news.  Will look forward to his photo.

Bentonbag Update - we decided against Garfield (2 cartoon cats is too much) and after much discussion decided on Teddy - or Edward on Sundays.

Dr E  We have 2 9 wk old kittens. Tom our 21 yr old tabby died the day after we got back from holiday. Ginger tom is called Yanoff and tabby girl Azuel (hero and love interest from son’s novel

Bentonbag Just got back from vets. Snip day next Monday. Not sure how Felix is going to cope until then as Teddy is very feisty!

3 August 2016 at 11:43 ·

Last night, Felix being out, I let Teddy have a bit explore beyond the living room.   

He came upstairs.   

The bathroom door was slightly open.   

Fester gets out of the bath, sits on the edge, opens the door and says "Hello Teddy, here boy."

Teddy takes one horrified look at this hairy naked dripping apparition and scarpers back downstairs to his 'safe place' on the sewing cabinet by the back window.

 

Four For One

Or “So like the homelife of our own dear Queen”.

From Facebook Archives

 31 July 2011 at 16:16 ·

Just back from a quick visit to North Yorkshire.

Turning into our street Thunderthighs sighs and says 

"Oh good the house's still standing."  

 On enquiry he said "Well I thought it might have burnt down or summat".   

Always the hopeful traveller our Thunderthighs.

31 July 2014 at 14:05 

I rang Independent Lives to change Ferretfingers's day to Thursday from September because TyneMet College has changed his days there.  We talked a little about the things he does at the Rising Sun farm - cleaning out the ducks, watering in the polytunnel - and Carol mentioned what a good worker he was once he knew what to do. I said we'd got him a saw for his birthday because he's so good at sawing wood for the fire.

"We know" said Carol "He told us you'd got him a chain saw"

!!!😲

He's destructive enough as it is

God only knows what he'd do given access to power tools!

 

Strawangel  Brilliant! xx

Mr Python  He can come and play on the digger if he wants..😁😲

Bentonbag  He'd love that.  Didn't know you wanted the farmhouse demolished ...

31 July 2015 at 15:06 ·

Me "It's a blue moon tonight"

Him "Does that mean Sheffield United will win?"

Me "Are they playing?"

Him "No"

Me "Well they won't then. But look on the bright side, they won't lose either"

31 July 2018 at 20:35 ·

My husband and I are sitting here in the office and I just leant forward to get an envelope, causing a small but audible outbreak of wind.   

Thunderthighs, coming up the stairs to run his bath, says 

"What?" 

then comes into the office with 

"I thought I heard you say something".   

I'm corpsed with laughter and his father says 

"More sense than she normally comes out with."

All together now ...

So like the homelife of our own dear Queen

Henlady  I really really enjoyed the last sentence.

Mrs Poet  I left a poetry reading before the end, tiproeing out, dropped my bag, and farted when retrieving it, it was a small silent room, before that

Miss Doozer   😁 😁 😁 Once I farted so loud both cats came running in to see what the fuss was about...

 

Ardnamurchan Point (31 May 2017)

 

A Woman's Work ...

 

From Facebook Archives

30 July 2013 at 10:39 ·

Today I shall be mostly: loading and unloading the washer; hanging stuff out on the line and bringing it in; ironing; washing up; tying up and chopping back plants; continuing my attempt to empty the tivo from 100% full to just those things we might actually watch.

This last has already resulted in one screaming tantrum from Ferretfingers including throwing down and kit-forming the tv remote.

Don't worry it all clips back together

- it's getting the AAA battery out from under the furniture that's problematic.

31 July 2013 at 11:27· 

Well we've got the new telly. 

Fester and Ferretfingers are off out to the coast and Thunderthighs to Sunderland and I'm putting off sorting out the corner I'm going to have to install it into.

Some time later that day ...

New tv up and running and connected to tivo.   

It has an integral dvd player so we can at last watch Noggin the Nog from the start, and there's one less plug to find a socket for.  

Old tv in garage, if no one wants it it will go to Acorn recycling when we next have a carload of electrical crap.