11 July 2006

Dear Dennis,
I trust you are well and on holiday somewhere relaxing and recovering your composure to return with gusto and renewed presence to the factory.

Me? Well I phoned the Unemployment people yesterday – my local branch told me that they had sent my claim to Kent (this is new but I soon found out they are now calling the infamous Canterbury – Kent) and also, because Kent now had my claim, they at the local branch couldn’t answer any questions. I called Kent (on the Canterbury number) and they answered straight away! Wow this was indeed a change for the good. Unfortunately for me though they then told me they had sent my claim to Nottingham (second time in eight weeks). I dutifully called Nottingham to be told that since it was a Reading claim, they couldn’t answer and I’d have to speak to my local branch…

I emailed my MP and asked him to please stop helping me as his intervention had caused my claim to be dumped into some interminable loop by the Benefits Agency – I’d rather just sit it out until they figured I’d waited long enough and was again compliant and suitably subservient, showing enough deference and stopped asking awkward questions.

This morning I did the same and rang the Benefits agency local office – I was told my claim was at Kent.
I rang Kent (Canterbury) – I was told my claim was at NEWCASTLE!
“Could I have the number for Newcastle please?” “Sorry Newcastle don’t accept telephone enquiries”

There, they’ve sorted it out – clearly each time they said they'd sent it to Nottingham they’d actually sent it to Newcastle but the people they employ on the telephones don’t know the difference as they’ve not been in the country long enough to learn our geography and so kept telling me my claim was sent to the wrong place – no wonder Nottingham never knew anything about my claim!

We are just waiting for the Income Tax refund … what a day that will be. I must admit we shed group tears the day I received the notification from the tax office that the factory had taken money they shouldn’t have. After all they didn’t need to take the money, I was broken by that time – it was just weeks after Saul was born and we were scared stiff. I suppose it was just an extra kick just because they could, but the difference it would have made to me and the brunette is astronomical – I’ve been taken to court twice for Council tax where I could have paid. Credit cards and mortgage are "distressed" and behind with payments where they needn’t have been – if only they’d had just a little empathy or social conscience instead of viciousness and for what? I hadn’t even really done anything wrong otherwise they’d have sacked me instead of the redundancy farce. I needn’t have sold so much stuff from the shed on @bay, I might just have been able to get further in my degree before we ran out of money … they really needn’t have done it mate.

Ah deep breaths.

Saul and I have watered the tomatoes and now we’re gonna watch StarWars
Laters
D.