Thursday, March 06, 2008

Still going...

... but struggling a little bit right now. It is very difficult to maintain a positive mental attitude, and use relaxation and pain-management techniques, when thinking and writing in detail about how painful/difficult/physically impossible any number of normal daily tasks are.

So far I am about half-way through the DLA form and have typed 21 standard A4 pages of 12-point Times New Roman about the physical and cognitive difficulties I have with various things. It's not fun reading.

On Thursday I was sent home sick from work. Went back in on Monday, not fully recovered but not sick enough to warrant being at home. On Tuesday my co-worker went off sick with what sounds like the same thing.

Adding to this not-nice-ness, we are in the middle of an unforseen cashflow crisis that we do not have the means to deal with (and have been since the beginning of the year, in case you hadn't guessed that was what was going on) as my earnings only cover half of our joint essential expenses. It's not immediately dire - both Steve and myself have the capacity to get loans and the suchlike when it becomes really necessary - and it will probably be sorted out in a few months once Steve has passed his exams and gets a job again. It's just distinctly unpleasant At The Moment. Neither of us have been in debt before.

To make matters worse, I suspect that I shall run out of yarny before this cashflow crisis resolves itself. I have a horrible vision of a scarf made of end-of-ball bits from the stash, just so that I have something to do with my hands to relax.

On the plus side, though, my wardrobe will be up by one pair of handknit socks and one soft and snuggly jumper.

Also, I have found out that in October, I will get a pay-rise.

Predictably, this is not based on my skills, but on an increase in the National Minimum Wage. Still, it counts...

5 comments:

erasmus (aka jiva) said...

let me know what you would like in the way of yarn. I have LOTS then, you can knit me something :D
not really but I do have some yarn I could give you.

Mary said...

Hmmm, Yarny For The Needy would make an interesting blog appeal! I could pose for pictures where I gaze sadly at a pair of empty needles in my hands, or perhaps standing in the grey and wintry weather looking through the brightly-lit window of the LYS at a group of cheery knitters...

I won't raid your stash just yet, but thanks anyway :)

The Goldfish said...

Hope you are feeling better soon. Cash-flow stuff is really frustrating, especially when you've managed this pretty well and something just comes up.

I recommend letting your knitting friends know about the potential yarn crisis. You don't want to go begging, but I imagine it is the kind of craft where people do have lots of leftovers, balls (or hanks or whatever you call them) that have been bought in error. Only unless they know you might be in need, they won't think to offer.

Mary said...

Cheers Goldfish. I've perked up a bit again since passing the milestone of the Paperclips In The Middle Of The Form yesterday. I have about ten more Big Questions to answer, then it's the home-straight of bank details and so on.

As you can see, one lovely knitter has already offered emergency backup yarn (I have great friends).

DD said...

Good luck with the form. I found the new form much easier to fill in. I still find the whole thing a negative experience though, it forces me to think about all the things I can't do, and I'd rather focus on what I can do.