Well, for me it sucked, for a time, any way.
In January I caught tonsillitis and had a bad back; that was bad enough but the company I work for, Curst Heaven-Help-Us-All, cocked-up my Sick Pay and Holiday Pay, resulting in my borrowing takings, about £150, to ensure my overheads were paid. I struggled financially throughout January and February.
In February I had two weeks unscheduled holiday without notice from Curst; there was no holiday rota posted. The first I knew about it was when I checked my detail for the next weeks to see HOLS next to my name. Great, I'm on holiday for two weeks but I don't have any cash, because I'm still paying for the errant Sick Pay, and it's too late to plan anything anyway.
So, two weeks of sitting at home it is; I couldn't even take Titchika, the German Shepherd, for long walks because she was in season. Nnnnngh!!
A week after my non-holiday, I was then suspended from work for ten days for borrowing money from takings to replace the Sick Pay and Holiday Pay that wasn't paid to me. Curst tried to get me to come to a hearing without twenty-four hours notice and on a day that they knew the Union Reps would be unavailable or absent; when I informed them that it seemed a bit underhand, they didn't take it too well.
At the hearing they tried to make out that the unpaid Sick Pay unpaid Holiday Pay had no bearing; obviously it had a bearing, as I wouldn't have needed to borrow the takings in the first place. You try living without the equivalent of two and a half weeks wages, on your own, pal. Durrr!!
Now, for the last seven weeks I have had a bad back, started by four weeks of sciatica, and then three weeks of a heavy cold (but not Man-Flu; no achy joints).
During this time, I could not visit my Mum on Mother's Day, so omitted taking a card and present for the first time in living memory, and missed buying Gyorgy an 80th birthday card. My sister has, for two days, been giving me grief-by-email about missing Mother's Day, my other sister and brother are the ones she should have been having a go at, not me.
Due to all of the above, I have not been very focused in my duties as Union Learning Rep and have done absolutely SOD ALL this year, so far.
However, I went for a day trip to London, as the train to Penzance had broken down, and thoroughly enjoyed it! It's the first time in twenty-six years I've been to Buck House and Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar and Leicester Square etc. Soho is a fantastic place, with the theatres, restaurants, people and bars (straight or gay).
I missed the last train to Plymouth, kind-of deliberately, and sat for a couple of hours in Paddington station concourse, until McDonald's opened at five.
A train to Bristol left at six-thirty; I got on it, got the next train to Plymouth, got the bus home and got into bed.
My sister brought-up this rare away day in her criticisms about missing Mother's Day...
City beat United in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley; I've been trying to get a ticket for the Final v Stoke on May 14th...I will probably get one and go...
I'm a Scorpio and a Manchester City supporter for thirty-six years and, therefore, an eternal optimist.
See? I told you this year was getting better...didn't I.
