I’ve found out something that, frankly, anyone on benefits in the UK needs to know - the new ESA system which has been open to new claimants and will replace IB entirely in February 2011 has one aim and one aim only: to not let anyone qualify for it. If you’re on IB, start making contingency plans because when they get round to you, you’ll be going onto JSA and forced to look for work, whether you’re actually employable or not. They don’t care anymore.

If you can sit up and move your arms for 30 seconds at a time, then you can work, and they don’t care if that applies in the real world or not.

If you’re studying but can’t study and work at the same time, they don’t care. If you can do one: you can do the other: whether you can do them at the same time or not? They don’t care.

According to the knowledge I was given, over 95% of people on IB will not qualify for ESA, so the chances are - that does include you. It certainly includes me. The final 2 years of my Uni degree? Let’s face it, nobody will employ me even if I was physically capable of going to Uni and work at the same time! I’m actually now spending my summer holiday doing a Diploma in order to try and make myself look professional enough to drum up freelance work I can do at home on the computer - and then all i need is enough business to keep me fed and, oh yeah, some miracle cure for the chronic pain so that when I’m done at Uni for the day I can still focus on doing work and assignments - having barely managed just the assignments through my Foundation Year.

I should point out that this is a process the Labour Gov. set in motion, the Tories are just continuing it. Their basic plan to make it acceptable is to tell us that if they don’t get everyone off benefits, then they’ll have to start cutting police and hospital services instead. Personally, I think that’s disgusting, but then I’m not a politician. Plus I’m disabled, so I don’t actually matter.

What they’re going to say about the unemployment figures when they shoot up, and when somebody realises that everyone on JSA is disabled and unemployable, I can’t wait to find out! 

Anyway, that’s the heads up from me, figure if I get advance knowledge then anyone else I can give it to deserves to have it too. 

TC x 

Alright, I don’t really like to stand on my soapbox here, but unfortunately being compared to Al Quaeda is just too insulting - and ridiculous - to ignore. So skim on if you’re not with me, or click below to join in.

Let’s face it, this isn’t the first or the last time Bill O’Reilly has used his "fair and balanced" platform to shout derogatory insults at everyone who isn’t him or a clone of him, and people listen, because people listen to those who scream loudest.

So, I’d like to bsuggest that actually the people who matter are those who respond quietly and calmly, which is what this is - we’re asking Fox and BO to apologise, and Fox to try and stop this form happening - because it’s not just about me, or the gay community, it’s about everyone who this man hurls abuse at. It has to stop.

News: Just released (out today, in fact) - Femme Fatales of Fright, published by NVH - the zine who I’ve been in a handful of times.

There’s a new story of mine in this book, called The Trickle Down Solution (inspired by something very odd I noticed in hea;th centr ewaiting room the other week).

And very importantly there is the first ever published work of a friend of mine, Kitty Taylor - which is totally awesome and I’m very proud to be in there with her on her first time!

Anyhow, clicky here for the book

In other news…uh…I’m officially, definitely, 100% accepted and confirmed and going to Keele University in September. Woohoo!

That’s about it, really. Just trying to make all of that stuff fall into place and what have you, but it should be fine. Hopefully, I’ll find a place up there in August, move into it in September, start at the very end of September on the Foundation Year which is the precursor to the 3 year degree course.

I do at some point have to name my dual honours bit but I’m still undecided on that and will likely remin so until they actually ask me to do so…

There’s scary stuff, but even that is also exciting and I’m really looking forward to most of it. As for the rest, that’ll sort itself and I’m not getting too stressed. S’all good. Heehee. I’m goin’ to Uni. Heehee. It’s funny. Heehee.

 Take care y’all xx

Oh yeah, I am in geek heaven at the moment - got myself a Blackberry Curve 8900 a few days ago. Been playing with it very happily indeed. Had some trouble with MMS at first, and unfortunately the techie people at Orange weren’t able to help, but I’m more of a nerd than the entire department apparnetly cos I managed it myself. Also hooked up to my home wifi, connected to my pc via bluetooth, calendar and contacts auto-synced with my gmail account, and I will never get lost again thanks to the inbuilt GPS - well, you get the picture, I am very happy. Once one or two programs get updated to be compatible, I’ll be so tricked out. I can definitely see myself turning into a Blackberry gal. They’re not business phones any more, not just business phones anyway - the scope of these things is massive and they’re not restricted like, for example, Windows smartphones are by their Microsoft stamp. It’s good.

In other news, I have my first Nephew The wonderful Jude had baby #2 on Tuesday night. As with the Sapling this one got nicknamed in the womb - as the little Dove. Woohoo! *happy dance*

Ok, I know this took me forever - but first I got distracted by the Cady & Morna novella, then I got back into it, but then I fell off a motorbike and was only really able to do shorts for a bit.

However, I have finished writing the second Shadow Walkers novel. I’m now into editing mode.

I have to say though, it is my least favourite bit of the process. Generally, if there’s a story being told, I either wanna be reading it or I wanna be writing it - I’m not so much for making it look pretty. However, it shall be done, and I have my fingers crossed for the independent publisher I will be sending it to.

On a totally different topic, I’ve been accepted to a University! Officially I’m still waiting on two other replies, but the main point is that whatever happens, I am going to Uni this year! I will be the least convincing mature student in my Foundation year. But, as I’ll be 31 by the time I finish the 4 years of philosophy that will follow, I might have grown up a bit by then. Heh.

 Nah, I’m only half-joking. It’s been 8 years since I left home. And some stuff I had to learn the hard way. Most notably, financial stuff. They really should teach basic budgeting at school - seriously, it’s ridiculous. Unless you have an innate grasp of financial stuff, somebody needs to teach it to you before you get dumped in the middle of it! School, parents, social worker, uncles, I don’t care who - but schools would at least be a way of ensuring that our kids don’t toddle out into the world and suddenly realise it’s a lot more complicated than it looked from the other side! Is it any wonder we’re stuck in a financial crisis - all over the world? The only thing we ever get taught is that to buy stuff is good and will make us happy - whether we can afford it or not, we must consume, on credit if necessary. And now we’re in a credit crunch, which is a nice way of saying the finances of most of the planet (instead of only two thirds of it which is more normal) is now, financially, completely screwed. And it’s thanks in part to the banks who don’t pay attention to what they’re actually doing to their customers, in part to the companies that don’t care and only wanna make money, and in part to us for letting them - and in part to a whole lot of other things, all of which come down us not being educated on what we really need to do with the money that we get, and how to do it wisely and sensibly, and being taken advantage of because of it.

I can tell you now, that if 8 years I had the tiny spreadsheet I have on my computer now, in  where at the bottom of each sheet is a single red box in which a single number updates automatically, thanks to some very simple formulae, every time I enter a number into any of the linked boxes - and tells me, down to the exact penny, how much is available in my account at any moment in time. I would have been a lot happier, a lot sooner.

Between that little spreadsheet, and Moneyway, who take 1 single payment out of my account every week and use it to pay all my bills, I am so much better off.

My online banking is always at least 3 days behind my real-time total. The problem is that, because I have a mild-ish form of dyscalculia - basically, number dyslexia - I sometimes miscount something, so sometimes I wound wind up with a pound or two less in my account than I thought I had. Because I’m not exactly rolling in it, that is enough to make one small charge that I think is able to go through bounce back and get me in trouble.

 And because my so-called "ethical" bank is only ethical when it comes to big businesses, and would rather shoo it’s small personal customers away at their first mistake, this has involved numerous humiliating phone calls from me where I have to try and explain my number problem and so on.

 But now I have Moneyway and a funky spreadsheet, I’m all good - I can’t miscount, cos I don’t need to count at all!

Sorry, got a bit off-track there - University, yeah, so I’ll be moving in September and so on. It’s all very exciting and very, scary. Not something I ever expected to be taking myself off to do - I still can’t quite believe it, to be honest. But I know that…God knows exactly where we need to be. And sometimes, that’s exactly where we are least expected to be - and that’s definitely the case with me & Uni, it’s exactly the last place you would expect to find me! I think it’s amazing, and I’m gonna love it.

Anyhow, I hope that you, yourself, are well. xx