What are you thinking? (Part 2)
- Thread starter Romero
- Start date
Tigers are scary. Awesome but scary.
Was at the zoo yesterday and one male tiger came right up to the glass and stared at me - there was one pane of glass between us and it suddenly didn't feel thick enough by a long shot.
But it was awesome to be that close
Was at the zoo yesterday and one male tiger came right up to the glass and stared at me - there was one pane of glass between us and it suddenly didn't feel thick enough by a long shot.
But it was awesome to be that close
Very nice! But it should have been bars not glass, so you could have smelled what it ate.
I've always had such respect for carers, whether they're professional or not. This week, however, that respect has increased even more.
Both my grandparents had falls within days of each other over this last week or so. My grandad injured himself the worst as he fell on concrete in the garden, but luckily nothing broken, just cuts and severe bruising on his arm and face (due to blood thinners he bleeds under his skin if he hurts himself). My grandma was looking after him after that and as a result of sleeping for three days in an armchair with him and doing everything for him, her neck went funny (she has osteoporosis in her neck, which means her discs are crumbling in her neck), and she went dizzy and lost her balance and has been unsteady ever since. They seem to be recovering steadily, which I'm very glad about.
Myself and my mum have therefore been round at their place lot, caring for them and making sure neither of them falls down again, helping them moving around the house and to the bathroom, cooking them meals and sorting medication and stuff. Even though I already appreciated carers and knew they did a hell of a lot, it gave me a whole new perspective to actually be in that situation myself. Carers definitely need higher wages.
Both my grandparents had falls within days of each other over this last week or so. My grandad injured himself the worst as he fell on concrete in the garden, but luckily nothing broken, just cuts and severe bruising on his arm and face (due to blood thinners he bleeds under his skin if he hurts himself). My grandma was looking after him after that and as a result of sleeping for three days in an armchair with him and doing everything for him, her neck went funny (she has osteoporosis in her neck, which means her discs are crumbling in her neck), and she went dizzy and lost her balance and has been unsteady ever since. They seem to be recovering steadily, which I'm very glad about.
Myself and my mum have therefore been round at their place lot, caring for them and making sure neither of them falls down again, helping them moving around the house and to the bathroom, cooking them meals and sorting medication and stuff. Even though I already appreciated carers and knew they did a hell of a lot, it gave me a whole new perspective to actually be in that situation myself. Carers definitely need higher wages.
Yes. Yes we do.
The level of care required (which is person-dependent, of course) should be reflected accordingly in the wages of those doing the caring. So if you're someone who is in a care home, serving the needs of thirty residents which can range from administering medications to literally doing everything for them, with ridiculous shift patterns to boot...well, you should be paid more, in my opinion. You are doing what the family (if there are any) either cannot, which is fair enough, or will not, which I take issue with slightly.
Trust me, when you're changing adult incontinence products, wiping up bodily fluids, washing parts of the body you'd really rather not be looking at let alone touching...to get a wage packet that barely covers your bills is disgraceful. If you're really lucky, you can get a private care job in someone's home and you do get quite a lot of money for that, but those jobs are rare and hard to get into.
And for the hidden carers, like myself, the lack of support is an unfortunate by-product of being careless enough to have either elderly or disabled relatives. If you're lucky you get a 10 minute assessment review once a year to check you're not about to top yourself or the person you care for and then off you go, with less than the minimum wage in your pocket to provide 24 hour care. But because it's a relative, it just sucks to be you. They make a big song and dance in the media about carers, young carers, hidden carers etc but in actuality there is a huge disparity in what support carers get.
I get £67.25 per week to care for my disabled son.
That works out as 4 pence per hour.
Prisoners earn more than I do.
And it's also taxable so if I dare to try and earn a decent wage elsewhere, they take the Carer's Allowance, as it's called, away. My son is at school now but his needs at home haven't changed. With that magnificent sum of money I have to ensure he has everything he needs, do all of his personal care, provide the precise foods he will eat, pay for transport costs to any therapies or hospital visits he may need...he was in nappies until he was 7. I challenge anyone to think it easy to wrestle a large 7 year old boy onto the floor of wherever you are at the time to wipe and change him. Whilst he's wriggling, kicking, shouting, swearing and refusing to cooperate...in full view of other people because changing rooms are for babies, not children or adults.
And to add insult to (often) injury, this enormous wage packet can only be claimed by one person, even if it takes an army of you to share the care. So Steve will do a lot of the work and gets nothing. So, in effect, we earn 2 pence per hour each.
During lockdown, carers were just ignored completely. The only bonus is a free flu vaccination once a year. 6 months of having to provide EVERYTHING for a child who needed specialist help and schooling...zero support from anyone but his teachers when they were able to. If he was physically disabled too I honestly don't know what I would have done sometimes.
Sorry for going off on one but it's one thing I really do feel quite strongly about. The attitude of "well you should just be grateful you get any money at all" is unhelpful at best and just plain wrong at worst. No one I know who is a hidden carer is in it for the money, believe me.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Angel. I can feel the passion in your words and I have a deeper respect for you and Steve. Definitely not an easy situation, but of course, a necessary one. I hope for a better future for you and people in your situation. I have a co-worker who has a daughter with disabilities and his wife is a nurse, so during the outbreak of the pandemic, she couldn't be a caregiver to her at all. The co-worker had to quit his job here and is just living full time taking care of her. I wish I could help him out more, but he simply can't do any role in our company while she needs him. The world is getting better though. Every year, better programs are founded to help with situations like this. So there is hope!
The new Crash Bandicoot game is amazing. I love it with every fiber of my being. 
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You have it already? That's awesome. Been seeing some reviews, and it looks like so much fun.The new Crash Bandicoot game is amazing. I love it when every fiber of my being.
Crash Bandicoot? *googles, reads Wikipedia*
LOL. I'm laughing at myself here, because it's a series that started in 1996 with over a dozen games. And I just heard about it for the first time right now. *Continues the giggling at myself*
At least I did know about the developer Naughty Dog.
LOL. I'm laughing at myself here, because it's a series that started in 1996 with over a dozen games. And I just heard about it for the first time right now. *Continues the giggling at myself*
At least I did know about the developer Naughty Dog.
I adore Crash Bandicoot. I am terrible at it (exceot Crash Team Racing) but that's nothing new
CT: A man in America tests positive for a virus, two hours later my savings on the stock market has lost some value. He didn't do anything, is not even ill yet, and it's sending ripples around the globe.
Will people in Japan feel it if I fall ill?
Get well Mr President and wife.
Will people in Japan feel it if I fall ill?
Get well Mr President and wife.
Yeah I checked last night at 9 pm EST to see if PlayStation had updated the game info with a download time as it didn't have one before just a counter to release date. Needless to say I was very happy to see that it was already downloaded and ready for play. Legit stayed up all night playing it and I'm loving it so far. Didn't get very far to be honest as I'm trying to 100% the levels, minus time relics, as I go but the challenge is welcome.
It feels fresh while also feeling crazy nostalgic and like the classic games. It's a very faithful continuation in my opinion.
I'm actually wrestling with whether or not I should pick up my pre-order. My Gamestop membership runs out this December, so it's something I can use my 5 dollar certificate on, and it'll be paid off in trade credit anyway. But the only reason I pre-ordered it was to boost my trade credit, so I had no intention of picking it up, especially since I just started Red Dead Redemption, but then EVERY. SINGLE. DAMN. TIME. I see that game, I need it!
Bruh trust me. You need it; it's amazing. If you like the originals, you'll love this one. There's videos on YouTube of people playing the first portion of the game of if you want to see a little bit before you decide. I definitely recommend TheViperian and WumpaLewis's playthroughs.I'm actually wrestling with whether or not I should pick up my pre-order. My Gamestop membership runs out this December, so it's something I can use my 5 dollar certificate on, and it'll be paid off in trade credit anyway. But the only reason I pre-ordered it was to boost my trade credit, so I had no intention of picking it up, especially since I just started Red Dead Redemption, but then EVERY. SINGLE. DAMN. TIME. I see that game, I need it!
Why is it that state leaders and governments sometimes tend to hide the truth to avoid panic? I see this in fiction and also in the real world. I have been thinking this many times, and the latest occasion that brought this up on my mind was Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic.
If you cover up something the truth will come out one day. White lies and inaccuracy degrades the trust for the authorities, and this trust is important during a crisis. Someone will always panic, but most people can handle the truth. And in regard to the danger that is threathening, some panic is probably no worse than millions of people not taking it seriously.
How can authorities not realize this?
If you cover up something the truth will come out one day. White lies and inaccuracy degrades the trust for the authorities, and this trust is important during a crisis. Someone will always panic, but most people can handle the truth. And in regard to the danger that is threathening, some panic is probably no worse than millions of people not taking it seriously.
How can authorities not realize this?
I disagree. Too many people are too willing to just take a chunk of what they hear and blow it out if proportion rather than do research and take precautions. And as bad as the country is with riots right now, the last thing we need to do is add panic to the mix. Er, well, anymore than it already is. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one for lying, but sometimes it's better for people to not know how screwed they are.
I guess one can make points for/against openness. But would more accurate information send even more people out in the streets? That's hard to imagine. And being able to trust the government (regadless if you like them or not) is IMO so important that they should never give me extra reasons to not trust them.
And them who blows things out of proportion... let them do it. Btw maybe they do it partially because they can't trust the authorities.
More people should protect themselves - and others - in order to save lives. Saving lives should be worth some people freaking out. I'm thinking that the toilet paper would have to be sold out for an extremely long time to be worse than thousands of extra deaths. (Or maybe not? lol.)
And them who blows things out of proportion... let them do it. Btw maybe they do it partially because they can't trust the authorities.
More people should protect themselves - and others - in order to save lives. Saving lives should be worth some people freaking out. I'm thinking that the toilet paper would have to be sold out for an extremely long time to be worse than thousands of extra deaths. (Or maybe not? lol.)