The Adventures of Poppet & Other Stories

Spamar

Registered User
Oct 5, 2013
7,723
0
Suffolk
My mother accumulated soap as well. When my father went into a home I took in 6 bars, thinking that’ll last a while. A few weeks later they asked for some more............I couldn’t believe he had used it all so quickly.
 

Sam Luvit

Registered User
Oct 19, 2016
6,083
0
East Sussex
Some of my soap stockpile is cheap £land hand wash, but there is a lot of expensive shampoo, conditioner and hand soaps and body creams @jugglingmum I’ve not felt right about just using that, but I’m going to start now. I may well need the additional moisturising of the more expensive stuff now ?
 

Sam Luvit

Registered User
Oct 19, 2016
6,083
0
East Sussex
Oh dear. I just had a nasty shock. I’ve received two dart charge penalties. They’ve been sitting at my brothers place for a week.

There shouldn’t be a problem as I have had an account for years. I tried logging in to see what the issue was, but couldn’t, so I phoned them

Apparently if you don’t use the account for a year ... they close it!
I think my shocked response of “no I didn’t go over the bridge .. my mum was dying ... you have to be kidding me..” sort of shook him. I was quickly placed on hold.

Thankfully, they have cancelled the penalties and let me just pay the crossing fee.

New account set up and it’s all good

Blooming dementia just keeps on giving ?
 

Spamar

Registered User
Oct 5, 2013
7,723
0
Suffolk
Advantages of a blue badge, Sam, no Dart Charge. Or at least the last time I went that way, which was a while back.
 

Sam Luvit

Registered User
Oct 19, 2016
6,083
0
East Sussex
I’ve had a dart tag for about fourteen years, moving from that awful bit of tut that you had to wave around to get the barrier to go up, to an auto payment collection as the balance dips below a set level

I've really just let it work in the background, giving it little or no thought @Spamar ... so I was puzzled, then worried, then just plain cross that they wouId just close the account, no email, just closed

I am grateful it’s sorted now :rolleyes:
 

Toony Oony

Registered User
Jun 21, 2016
576
0
Thanks for the Dart charge heads up @Sam Luvit. When MiL was very poorly and living in Suffolk we were back and forth constantly. Now she's moved into Mum's old apartment and her house is on the market (???!!!) we are no longer doing the M25/A12 trek. I will have to keep an eye on the account - didn't realise it timed out.

Glad your pitch is secure for the time being. There's a good chance that property prices will dip once things calm down and as a flexible cash buyer you will be in a good position. Fingers X'd.
Take care X
 

Sam Luvit

Registered User
Oct 19, 2016
6,083
0
East Sussex
I too was back and forth to see my parents when I moved out of the area @Toony Oony I never gave it a thought after I set up the automatic payment plan. It just happened.

I just had a look at property prices in Suffolk ... I’ll keep dreaming. They are not at all cheap. Even with talk of prices expected to fall 60%, I can’t see me getting anything in that county.

I've received an email this morning, along the lines of “payment of six weeks rent is due by Friday, failure to make full payment may result in cancellation of booking”. Considering that he has refused to refund anyone who was already asked to leave ... I’m not sure I trust him to honour a six week payment and not kick us out the week after payment is made. We have previously made weekly payments, so this is not the norm

I'm starting to wonder if it wouId be simpler to just find a parking space on the seafront and move, although access to water and washing facilities would be nigh on impossible now.

Hey ho. Its off to work I go .... at least I get to make someone else smile :D

UPDATE
I’ve managed to talk to a member of staff (they are not answering the office phone) ... apparently this was a standard email, sent every six weeks. Funny how it’s the first I have received, but they have assured me it’s ok to continue paying weekly and not to worry
 
Last edited:

Bikerbeth

Registered User
Feb 11, 2019
2,119
0
Bedford
Really wish you could find somewhere better to relocate too. Seems appallingly that you can all be treated like this at a time like this especially with the work you and the others are doing ( I think you said they were all key workers too)
I guess he would get more money if the site was completely closed down or am I being cynical.
hope the smiles made your evening
 

Sam Luvit

Registered User
Oct 19, 2016
6,083
0
East Sussex
Really wish you could find somewhere better to relocate too.
So do I @Bikerbeth , so do I

Yes, we are all key workers, delivering for the NHS, doctors receptionist, deep clean specialists, nurses, pharmacists and carers. It’s just so sad, that we are pulling long shifts, doing extra and the roof over our heads is being made to feel insecure. Yet we keep smiling and supporting each other. I found a half dozen eggs on my bonnet this week ... someone overheard me saying I couldn’t get any when I shopped. They refused payment. That was so sweet.

He probably would get more cash if we were all gone, but it’s his attitude, he doesn’t want to get the virus (who does?), so he wants us gone. Other people and companies are trying to support NHS staff, delivering food to hospitals, offering free taxi services ... and then there is him.

Tonight was a hard round ... tomorrow I finish off with a darling lady, whose smile can light a room. She’s not got much longer, she’s in incredible pain and yet she apologises for “being a nuisance”, as if I could ever think of her as that. I often struggle not to cry in front of her. I’m looking forward to seeing her.

There are some amazing people in this world. They ask for little and are grateful that we turn up at all. These people make me humble, I want to crush them in a hug (but don’t), but I can hold a hand (while gloved up) and talk. I love that they smile when they see it’s me. I love that I can spend time with them and maybe make them feel just how special they are.
 

DianeW

Registered User
Sep 10, 2013
859
0
Lytham St Annes
You sound just like my husband Sam...he gets so much joy from his job and finds it so rewarding....he always likes to bring a smile to residents faces and gets them singing and dancing, he always seems to have that special bond with each one in different ways.

One said to him last night - oh thank goodness your on, I can have a nice cup of tea, nobody makes my tea like you.....he said I only make it special for you, you know...and she was tickled pink....such little things!
It’s lovely to hear his stories of how interesting people are and what exciting lives some have had.
 

Toony Oony

Registered User
Jun 21, 2016
576
0
Hi again Sam - ooh no, Suffolk is so expensive, with very definite 'postcode pricing'. We are trying to sell MiL's place in Aldeburgh as she has moved into my Mum's apartment now, and I was shocked at the price. (I know it sounds a bit incestuous her being at Mum's place and it's a bit weird now Mum has gone, but MiL being there is sooooo much easier than hacking up to Suffolk every time she has a problem). I'll take a 35 min journey over a 3.5 hour trip, any day of the week, especially in these weird times.

So glad that your pitch situation is ok for the moment - but the lack of certainty must be awful. I would have thought that most Park owners would be proud that their residents were selflessly doing so much good, not cut the ground from under their feet. Given that schools, sports centres and churches are shut, perhaps they could be charitable and offer a carpark or a playground to accommodate on a temporary basis if someone selfishly and illegally evicts?

I think what you and @DianeW 's OH are doing is wonderful, so much appreciated and more now than ever before. You make so much difference to so many lives and I am in awe and appreciation of all Carers. Mum certainly had her favourites at the CH, but they were the one's who made her laugh and were jolly and kind with her. She may have been unable to converse with any clarity, was very confused and in her own little world, but she was still able to suss out those that were patronising, impatient or not genuine with 100% accuracy!!
Take care X
 

Spamar

Registered User
Oct 5, 2013
7,723
0
Suffolk
I can put you wise to the cheaper places in Suffolk. As you say, there are massive price differences within a mile or so.
 

Sam Luvit

Registered User
Oct 19, 2016
6,083
0
East Sussex
Lol. I walked into one lady to see she was not in the best of spirits, a tune came on the radio and I danced. She went from glum to beaming in seconds. Her OH laughed, saying the tunes timing was perfect @DianeW It’s the silly, impromptu things that make the difference. I may have made her beam, but it also made me laugh. I really needed a laugh.

I tease them, I honestly can not make tea, I’m hopeless at it, yet they tell me I make a lovely cup of tea. I don’t think my tea is lovely at all ... just that I don't “dump it all and leave”, but sit with them and chat. Each and every person at some stage will say, they just want to talk to someone, they are so lonely and they miss just chatting about nothing. I chat about nothing. I chat about the weather, the parking, taking Pooch for a walk ... all the boring mundane things that make life normal. Whatever they want to talk about, I will chat about. it’s easy for me, it’s just thirty minutes and I can go, but it’s everything to some.

I get to meet people who have been sidelined by life, but still want to engage. Some want to tell you about the love of their life, who has sadly passed on, others want to tell you their achievements (but it’s obvious they feel the need to state it). I wonder if what the world is going through now will make us all value our families more. I wonder if this forced (almost incarceration) will teach families how important it is to get along. I wonder if people will start to talk to each other, rather than waiting for a break or pause, before they can start their own monologue. Or am I hoping for too much?

Sorry ... that turned I to something a bit ... eeewwww
 

Sam Luvit

Registered User
Oct 19, 2016
6,083
0
East Sussex
I have to admit to being rather surprised at the “average” price of property in Suffolk. It was an eye opener @Toony Oony Even if the forecast 60% drop in property prices happens (doom mongers), I’d be pushed to buy anything.

I know exactly what you mean about reducing travel times. I’m looking at somewhere I can afford, but less than two hours drive to youngest. The present drive is only ninety miles, but takes 2.5 hours, due to half being two way, impassible roads.

The lack of certainty is difficult to deal with right now. There is a degree of infighting in the family ownership, with no indication of who will win. By my calculation, there is a clear thousand a week clear profit with us here ... but it’s not enough it wouId seem when out against what wouId have been expected at this time.

Alternatives might be more secure, but wouId be unlikely to be able to offer the facilities needed. Long term van living needs the opportunity to empty tanks, access launderette facilities etc. In normal times that can be achieved ... but these are not normal times

I’d happily buy a falling down, uninhabitable property with electricity, water and a garden and invite the families to park up. I’d buy this place, but my lottery win was a mere £30 ... a few more zeros and it wouId have been a very different week ? ? ?

Thank you, but this is more than a job, it’s fun, it’s rewarding in more than money (thankfully coz the money is rubbish). Admittedly, it’s blooming hard graft at the moment, running around in ever decreasing circles, but it still has moments and pockets of laughter. When things have calmed down, I hope it will be fun again.