Update: General
On top of caring for my foster young'un, it seems to have been the season for friends having emotional melt-downs. I have 'been there' for a couple of people and it has felt good. I've had moments of fearing I was getting back into my Mr Fixit trip, but this is very different, for a start; I was sought out each time. I'm most worried about the youngest one who in my opinion is being fcked up by his parent. It reminds me of 'Steptoe and Son' -the son constantly trying to improve himself and at least leave whilst the father sabotaged his plans and attacked his self confidence and self worth at every opportunity- all so he would not be left alone. The parent in this situation has systematically pushed everyone away, including their other children leaving this lad to shoulder their bullshit. He is so convinced that his parent is on the way out that he has all-but put his life on hold to look after them until they die. None of the lad's friends or other siblings believe the parent's death will happen any time soon- despite their propensity to spend as much of their time as possible in bed and to live on chocolate and coca cola. I am so angry with the parent for the selfishness I don't know what I might do or say if I see them again.
Another friend had... Well; problems precipitated by his relationship with a lass. To say that a 'can of worms' was opened would be a major understatement. Significant life changes have taken place for them in a very short time, but I feel confident that he is more than on the way back to equilibrium. Another has drug-induced/dependent depression, another has health issues and needs to move from his underserved rural location but the council aren't offering him anything worth accepting... Wow: I realise that my good mood may have been quite rare.
I applied for and got a job at the end of March quite unexpectedly, but it happened. I STILL haven't started because, despite having received a FULL DBS just a few weeks before after three months of appying for it, the new employers refuse to offer me the contract until the DBS is complete. They also checked up on my social media use. All I can say is that I hope they didn't spend much on it as the most it seemed to be able to tell them was that I had responded to some racist, homophobic and anti refugee Facebook posts. I was confused and asked if they knew/remembered that I am a Black, Gay man? The response seemed to be 'nevertheless, there are concerns'. They asked if I would consider shutting down my social media accounts. I laughed and said absolutely not. 'If you pay for a service which does not give you the whole picture, I don't see why I should suffer for it.' The person with whom I was talking sort of agreed with me. I confess that eight or nine weeks since being offered the job but not having started it I just do not have the same enthusiasm for it as I did. I encountered someone doing the same job who was working with my young'un; they told me that the same thing had happened when they started to work for the organisation, but she had left a job when she was offered the contract and had no income for four months as a result. I sensed the former worker was still unimpressed which did not bode well for my work with this organisation knowing my reputation for not putting up with crap from employers! Remember: I don't NEED this job, I wanted to do it.
Oh: I only subscribed to the dreaded Amazon to get to see 'Picard'! I bought a couple of things including an 'office' chair for the young'un. It arrived, it was what I wanted etc. A couple of weeks later, another package appeared! Confused, I accepted it, opened it and realised It was a second, identical chair. I made sure I hadn't mistakenly ordered two then set about returning it. To send it back requires me printing a label. I could not get my printer to work. I walked up to the library, it was shut. I went to the library the next day and spent nearly an hour trying to access sites that now require two step verification and failed to get the label. I returned and struggled with an Amazon operative and failed to get them to understand that I was not seeking a refund as I had not paid for the item, I just wanted them to collect it. I explained that I had no access to a printer, they kept telling me to print the label. In the end I told them i would not be contacting them again and if they did not collect it by the time they said they wanted me to return it, I would dispose of it myself. THEN the website asked me for 'feedback' which I supplied, ending with my decision not to buy from Amazon until they update their returns policy... I suppose if the mistake is the customer's and their cash is involved, I can understand them putting the onus onto the customer, but i don't see why I should have to shoulder responsibility for a mistake that, had I kept my mouth shut, the vendor is unlikely to have known they'd made.
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