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Nov. 22nd, 2012 06:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
girlofpreySo, you remember my back-up plan? My back-up, "this isn't great, but everything will probably be alright" plan for getting my sicknote? Yeah, that pretty much went sailing out the window too.
It mainly started last night. Given that I went into town on Wednesday and I'm going to be out all day tomorrow, I wasn't really looking forward to walking into town again, so I was planning to ask my mum for a lift if she was free. So I could just go in, get it, maybe have it photocopied, and leave. And then she was talking about going into town today, so I asked if I could come. And she ummed and aahed, because she WAS going, but at 9am, but maybe also later, she didn't know. And obviously I was asking her for a favour, but honestly, if she'd just said "no" or "too early for you", that would have been fine. Because "maybe", with no specific time frame in mind, doesn't really work for me, especially when I'm worked up about something. So in the end I said it didn't matter, and then she said she'd go in and see if they'd let her pick it up. And I asked her, if she did so, to ask if they'd photocopy it for me there.
So this morning I woke up just not knowing whether I'd need to go into town or not. But when I got downstairs, hurray, she'd picked it up. So I wouldn't have to go into town. But she'd left a note asking if the date was right, and saying if it was she could run into her workplace tonight and photocopy it for me. I checked the date, and it was backdated to 19th October, when I'd asked for it backdated to 12th October. I wasn't sure if that was really worth getting it changed for, but it is a whole week, and worth roughly £70 to me, so I figured it was, and I called the doctor's surgery to ask about it. They said it said in the doctor's notes he'd meant to backdate it to the 12th, and asked if anyone could bring the note back in to have it changed to that date. Mum wasn't around and I wasn't sure what she was doing, so I said I'd bring it.
So I walked into town. I went to the doctor's surgery. They'd said something about the doctor who made out the note being in this afternoon, and it was only a date that needed changing, so I assumed they could do it pretty much straight away. But they made a point of looking to see if he was in, and then said I should leave it with them to be changed, and it'd be done "sometime this afternoon". It was about 1 o'clock, and the surgery stays open till 5 o'clock, so I had no idea when that would be, and I had literally NOTHING else to be in town for. Nor did I particularly want to hang around. But if I wasn't going to come back up town, and I didn't know if mum was at any point, I thought I should give it an hour at least. So I went and had a sandwich, and then checked my phone. It had died, but when I turned it back on, I had a missed call from the surgery. So I went back down, and asked at reception, and the note was done, so I took it. Except that the date had been changed from 19th October to 12th November. So I went BACK to the desk, and told the woman it was still wrong. She insisted that it was 12th October, that the doctor had just changed 11 to 10 in the month space - he hadn't, it was 10 that morning and he'd written over it - but she basically just took it and drew a zero on more legibly, so it looked like 12th October. Which is what it was meant to be.
So then it was dated 19th November at the top, for when the doctor had written it out, and that it was valid from 12th October. But there was another date on there, "Date Of Statement", which now said 19th October. Which...is nothing. Is no relelvant date at all, but it matched the 'valid from' date when it was backdated to 19th October, and it hadn't been changed. I asked the woman at the desk if it was important, and she said she didn't know, because the doctor filled it out, and asked me if that was when I'd asked for it. I ended up giving her basically my whole history with the appeal, and why I needed the sick note backdated, and she said something sort of completely ineffective I think, and just that it would all be alright now, because it was still backdated to 12th October. So I left, just hoping that it would be fine. In all the drama, I forgot to ask if they would photocopy the note for me, or didn't ask because I still assumed mum might get it done for me. She's said she will.
So yes. Now I have a sick note, fairly legibly backdated, with only one date on it that sort of doesn't make sense, but hopefully won't cause any problems. I don't know for sure, and I won't until I hear back from the DWP, but I have it, and hopefully by the end of the night it will be photocopied. And it only took two good days of running around.
I came extremely close to crying about 4 times today.
And then, as a grand finale, I decided to buy myself some Ben & Jerry's ice cream, to make up for my terrible day. I had to carry it back from town, and by about halfway I could feel that it was melting. But I thought maybe that was good thing, since I wouldn't have to wait for it to thaw when I got in. I was also holding it in my hand and swinging it from side to side, since it had seemed a bit ridiculous to buy a carrier for one tub of ice cream, and I didn't want it melting in my bag. When I got in the house, I noticed that some of the condensation on the outside was brownish, because the ice cream had properly melted and started seeping out under the lid when I held it sideways. I cleaned it up with a tissue, and then took it upstairs so I could play one of my videogames. I - pretty carefully - took off the lid, expecting some of it to be in the lid and run around when I took it off. But in fact quite a lot of it was in the lid, and the entire top section of the tub was practically liquid, and because I was accidentally tipping the tub a bit, it started running down the sides. So then I was left, tub in one hand, ice cream dripping into the other, spoon in my mouth, with a tissue full of melted ice cream on my nephews' bed. And I had to go and get cleaned up, trying not to spill any on any of the carpets, before I could eat any of my half-melted ice cream. Happily, none of it went through that tissue and stained the duvet. But still. It was overall, a completely genius day.
And tomorrow I have to get up at 7am, and go volunteer for 6 hours, and it is lashing it down with rain at the moment. I sincerely thought about cancelling tomorrow all day, but I already cancelled it once before, so I don't really want to do so again.
At least I have a sick note, now, I guess. At least I have something I can send off so they'll stop sending me Final Notices for it. And hopefully it'll be fine, and they can start paying me money again. And even if it's not, maybe they can take it up with the doctor's surgery. And even if they don't, at least I will have sent SOMETHING in.
So yes. I had a GREAT day.
It mainly started last night. Given that I went into town on Wednesday and I'm going to be out all day tomorrow, I wasn't really looking forward to walking into town again, so I was planning to ask my mum for a lift if she was free. So I could just go in, get it, maybe have it photocopied, and leave. And then she was talking about going into town today, so I asked if I could come. And she ummed and aahed, because she WAS going, but at 9am, but maybe also later, she didn't know. And obviously I was asking her for a favour, but honestly, if she'd just said "no" or "too early for you", that would have been fine. Because "maybe", with no specific time frame in mind, doesn't really work for me, especially when I'm worked up about something. So in the end I said it didn't matter, and then she said she'd go in and see if they'd let her pick it up. And I asked her, if she did so, to ask if they'd photocopy it for me there.
So this morning I woke up just not knowing whether I'd need to go into town or not. But when I got downstairs, hurray, she'd picked it up. So I wouldn't have to go into town. But she'd left a note asking if the date was right, and saying if it was she could run into her workplace tonight and photocopy it for me. I checked the date, and it was backdated to 19th October, when I'd asked for it backdated to 12th October. I wasn't sure if that was really worth getting it changed for, but it is a whole week, and worth roughly £70 to me, so I figured it was, and I called the doctor's surgery to ask about it. They said it said in the doctor's notes he'd meant to backdate it to the 12th, and asked if anyone could bring the note back in to have it changed to that date. Mum wasn't around and I wasn't sure what she was doing, so I said I'd bring it.
So I walked into town. I went to the doctor's surgery. They'd said something about the doctor who made out the note being in this afternoon, and it was only a date that needed changing, so I assumed they could do it pretty much straight away. But they made a point of looking to see if he was in, and then said I should leave it with them to be changed, and it'd be done "sometime this afternoon". It was about 1 o'clock, and the surgery stays open till 5 o'clock, so I had no idea when that would be, and I had literally NOTHING else to be in town for. Nor did I particularly want to hang around. But if I wasn't going to come back up town, and I didn't know if mum was at any point, I thought I should give it an hour at least. So I went and had a sandwich, and then checked my phone. It had died, but when I turned it back on, I had a missed call from the surgery. So I went back down, and asked at reception, and the note was done, so I took it. Except that the date had been changed from 19th October to 12th November. So I went BACK to the desk, and told the woman it was still wrong. She insisted that it was 12th October, that the doctor had just changed 11 to 10 in the month space - he hadn't, it was 10 that morning and he'd written over it - but she basically just took it and drew a zero on more legibly, so it looked like 12th October. Which is what it was meant to be.
So then it was dated 19th November at the top, for when the doctor had written it out, and that it was valid from 12th October. But there was another date on there, "Date Of Statement", which now said 19th October. Which...is nothing. Is no relelvant date at all, but it matched the 'valid from' date when it was backdated to 19th October, and it hadn't been changed. I asked the woman at the desk if it was important, and she said she didn't know, because the doctor filled it out, and asked me if that was when I'd asked for it. I ended up giving her basically my whole history with the appeal, and why I needed the sick note backdated, and she said something sort of completely ineffective I think, and just that it would all be alright now, because it was still backdated to 12th October. So I left, just hoping that it would be fine. In all the drama, I forgot to ask if they would photocopy the note for me, or didn't ask because I still assumed mum might get it done for me. She's said she will.
So yes. Now I have a sick note, fairly legibly backdated, with only one date on it that sort of doesn't make sense, but hopefully won't cause any problems. I don't know for sure, and I won't until I hear back from the DWP, but I have it, and hopefully by the end of the night it will be photocopied. And it only took two good days of running around.
I came extremely close to crying about 4 times today.
And then, as a grand finale, I decided to buy myself some Ben & Jerry's ice cream, to make up for my terrible day. I had to carry it back from town, and by about halfway I could feel that it was melting. But I thought maybe that was good thing, since I wouldn't have to wait for it to thaw when I got in. I was also holding it in my hand and swinging it from side to side, since it had seemed a bit ridiculous to buy a carrier for one tub of ice cream, and I didn't want it melting in my bag. When I got in the house, I noticed that some of the condensation on the outside was brownish, because the ice cream had properly melted and started seeping out under the lid when I held it sideways. I cleaned it up with a tissue, and then took it upstairs so I could play one of my videogames. I - pretty carefully - took off the lid, expecting some of it to be in the lid and run around when I took it off. But in fact quite a lot of it was in the lid, and the entire top section of the tub was practically liquid, and because I was accidentally tipping the tub a bit, it started running down the sides. So then I was left, tub in one hand, ice cream dripping into the other, spoon in my mouth, with a tissue full of melted ice cream on my nephews' bed. And I had to go and get cleaned up, trying not to spill any on any of the carpets, before I could eat any of my half-melted ice cream. Happily, none of it went through that tissue and stained the duvet. But still. It was overall, a completely genius day.
And tomorrow I have to get up at 7am, and go volunteer for 6 hours, and it is lashing it down with rain at the moment. I sincerely thought about cancelling tomorrow all day, but I already cancelled it once before, so I don't really want to do so again.
At least I have a sick note, now, I guess. At least I have something I can send off so they'll stop sending me Final Notices for it. And hopefully it'll be fine, and they can start paying me money again. And even if it's not, maybe they can take it up with the doctor's surgery. And even if they don't, at least I will have sent SOMETHING in.
So yes. I had a GREAT day.
