Mental Health In The Workplace

I’ve just read a top notch article, by Bipolar Babe, titled Mental Health In The Workplace.

I’ve also pasted the article below in case the link above doesn’t work for all.

Let me know what you think of the article?

 

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23may2013

 

I recently wrote a BLOG for my other place of employment: The BC Government, so I thought I would share it with you.

Mental health in the workplace has been an emerging trend toward discussing the topic more freely than ever before. Having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for the past 10 years, I have experienced both stigma and compassion in the workplace, which partially led me into the non-profit work that I do today. Currently, I facilitate support groups for people affected by a mental health condition and conduct presentations on my personal story in the schools to youth, community organizations and in the workplace. Why do I do this work? I feel it is so important that we approach mental health in an open manner leading us to have conversations free of stigma. Ideally, we ought to live in a world where an employee is not ashamed to disclose the fact that they have a mental illness. It is vital to be able to acknowledge it, because, as I have personally found, it can negatively affect my work, attendance, and even my behavior. Over the years I have had to advocate for myself and now I have an accommodating and positive work environment. This is by no means an easy task because the fear of disclosing remains daunting; however, if my mental health condition is not supported by my employer, then I would simply not want to be employed with their organization.

There are some positive and exciting developments that are taking place for mental health in the workplace, such as the recent Not Myself Today campaign that is supported by partners for mental health in BC. The idea is to wear a badge in the workplace about how you are feeling. Maybe you’re feeling okay – or maybe you’re not yourself today. They propose that the more open we are about how we feel, the more we create a culture of acceptance and support for mental health.

There have been some amazing strides taking place in the private sector that perhaps our government employer could learn from. For instance, Deloitte has installed a black dog statue at its London office as a symbol of commitment to support the mental health and well-being of staff via the Black Dog campaign. The company also has a group of mental health champions who have been trained to have a conversation with an employee who feels that he or she may have a mental illness. This approach is brilliant! Having to face the black dog every day at work reminds employees to be cognizant of their mental health in the workplace and to talk about it!

You may have heard of the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), and wondered what it does? The MHCC has led the development of a voluntary National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the workplace and developed recommendations to support increased employment among people living with a mental health problem and illness. It released an action guide to help employers improve the psychological health of their organization and provided guidelines that encourage executive leadership to commit to making mental health in their workplace a priority.

I am hopeful that all employees in our government workplace will encourage this type of mental health action and awareness. Don’t be afraid to say how you are really feeling or to be understanding of the person who may be struggling with a mental health condition. Everybody wants to know that their fellow co-workers care about their mental health. If someone is absent for suspected mental health reasons, don’t tip toe around them, but instead ask them how they are doing upon their return and express your openness as a fellow co-worker that you are willing to listen. When you break the silence, it is more likely that the situation won’t become stigmatized.

What are you doing to create a workplace of empathy and acceptance for all employees and yourself in the workplace? Or what do you think should be done?

 

 

 

 

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Drink More Water! Benefits and Why You Shouldn’t Neglect Consuming H2O

I’ve pasted below a blog about the benefits of drinking water I came across on Reaching Utopia.

We all know it is good for us to do so, but it still surprises me how many of us don’t drink it enough. Myself included on occasion!

I’ve tweaked the post slightly in the ’14 Things Water Helps With’ section. I’ve highlighted numbers 7, 8, 12 & 14 as I believe these are things those of us who have suffered from depression would benefit from. Ummm not having the symptoms…drinking more water to alleviate those symptoms

Anywhoozles I’ll shut up now & let you read the article.

 

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The Most Overlooked Liquid

People simply do not get enough water in their diet. The majority of us will trade water for any other kind of beverage packed with unnecessary additives and sapping the health qualities of water on it’s own.

Water takes up around 60 percent of our body weight . This liquid contributes nutrients needed for cells, flushes toxins  out of vital organs and creates the perfect atmosphere for tissues in the throat, ear and nose. Every system inside your body relies on water. So what do you want your body running on? It’s funny to joke around and say “Yeah, my body runs on coffee”, but it’s an entirely different thing when your body is literally fueled by it!

Now it’s true that all liquids are comprised of some amount of water, but the problem is some beverages actually work against waters original capabilities. More on that later!

Does it matter if I lack water?

One of the most common conditions that people incur is dehydration due to a lack of water. Even a minor level of dehydration can leave you feeling sapped of energy since you don’t have enough water in your body to carry out it’s normal functions.

14 things water helps with:

1. Digestion
2. Weight loss
3. Kidney health
4. Headaches
5. Replaces potential food so you feel full and don’t overeat
6. Younger and healthier looking skin
7. Relieves fatigue
8. Preventing sickness
9. Exercise productivity
10. Reduces risk of cancer
11. Work productivity
12. Improves mood
13. Preventing cramps and sprains
14. Helps with regular bowel movements

Consuming an appropriate amount of water will aid your heart in pumping blood and deliver essential nutrients to your cells more efficiently. It also helps to transport oxygen in your blood.

Boosting your muscles and preventing cramps is also a helpful trait of water. This can be a fairly significant property if you find yourself always feeling tired while working out. You should be chugging back a couple cups of H2O around two hours before you exercise. Water will reduce fatigue during exercise and and activities  in addition to helping you keep more alert and awake. If you tend to work often and for long hours this can be one of the single best things you can do to keep in check.

Water vs. Other Liquids

Some companies try to sell the idea that their drink product can be better than water. This is not the case! There’s a major difference between drinking water and drinking something thatcontains water. Some positive effects of water on it’s own are masked because of added ingredients.

Caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea and pop are frequently chosen before water. Although it may taste better, the water contained in these beverages does not help the body as effectively as just drinking water on it’s own could. These processed liquids stimulate the adrenal glands in the body and act as diuretics. High amounts of phosphorus are found in soft drinks which could result with calcium depletion in your bones.

Even a lot of fruit juices that we associate with being healthy can have harmful effects on the body. Pop and fruit juices can stimulate the pancreas due to their high sugar content. Blood glucose is converted by your body to energy through a hormone called insulin. Eating too much sugar in one sitting isn’t too big of an issue as your pancreas can handle the extra insulin. However, if you frequently eat too much sugar, your pancreas may “age” faster than the rest of your body. Ultimately, this can result in pancreatic failure or diabetes. An average can of pop contains over 9 teaspoons of sugar, not to mention a decent load of calories. These particular beverages can therefore cause some undesired effects.

Some people like to consume sports drinks especially after an intense workout. Now this can be useful however they contain syrup and among several other ingredients that aren’t beneficial to your body in the long run.

There are a fair amount of people who don’t like drinking water because of the lack of flavour. Although it’s highly recommended to drink this precious liquid on it’s own, here are a few healthy ways to improve the taste of water if you really must:

• Add some fresh lemon, orange slices, lime or mint to your water
• Put a handful of frozen berries into your water bottle. As the day passes on the frozen berries will help keep the water chilly and infuse the fruit flavour.
• Make natural herbal iced teas without adding sugar to use in place of plain water.
•  Fruits on their own can be up to 90% water content so one of these suckers can boost your fluid intake on it’s own

Lack of water?

Thirsty? You may already be dehydrated!

When your thirst mechanism kicks in, your body is signalling that you are already dehydrated. When exercising you ideally want to be drinking water before, during and after the exercise. This ensures that you don’t reach the stage where you feel thirsty.

Pitting edema is when a section of your body (usually a limb) is so swollen that when you press your finger down on their skin, the finger print hole stays for several minutes. It is an additional symptom that occurs with dehydration in some of the elderly and needs to be checked every so often if they are on prescriptions that might reduce this.

Signs and symptoms for dehydration in adults and teenagers:

• Dry mouth
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Dry lips
• Nausea
• Low blood pressure
• Dry eyes
• Vomiting
• Muscle cramps
• Lack of sweat
• Dark urine (orange/yellow coloured and an especially strong odor)
• Inability to urinate

Dehydration signs and symptoms in children and infants include:

• Crying without tears
• Over three hours without a wet diaper
• Dry mouth and tongue
• General fatigue
• Irritability
• High fever
• Sunken eyes cheeks or abdomen
• Pitting edema

How much water is needed per day?

You have probably heard  that you should be drinking eight 8 ounce glasses of water per day. This isn’t necessarily accurate but is at least an easy thing to remember and to have as a base amount. The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of fluids per day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of fluids per day.

Every day you lose water from breathing, perspiring, urinating and bowel movements. For your body to function properly it’s important to replenish this water supply. If you spend time in hot or dry weather, exercise or consume a significant amount of caffeinated drinks you may need more water!

Can you drink too much water?

Realistically you can take in too much of any liquid or solid than your body can physically handle.

It’s pretty rare but there’s a condition called water intoxication. Drinking too much water will dilute the electrolytes in your body which can affect your heart. There’s even been athletes getting heart attacks because they consumed too much water, but it’s extremely uncommon. Don’t worry, your body won’t get over hydrated drinking 15 cups of water a day. You’d have to be drinking a ridiculous amount of water to reach that level of extreme.

Wrap Up

On average, people aren’t getting enough liquids in their body and even less are primarily consuming pure water on it’s own. This is a critical and essential asset to your health. Keep your body running on the cleanest liquid fuel around and it will do wonders. Don’t forget most fruits primarily consist of water so you can never go wrong with indulging in them!

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Blog For Mental Health 2013 Pledge

I’m a bit late on seeing this but here is my pledge…

“I pledge my commitment to the Blog For Mental Health 2013 Project.  I will blog about mental health topics not only for myself, but for others.  By displaying this badge, I show my pride, dedication, and acceptance for mental health.  I use this to promote mental health education in the struggle to erase stigma.”

I saw this pledge on Canvas Of The Minds & thought it was something I definitely want to take part in, as it serves a great purpose of eradicating the stigma around mental health & shows solidarity in the mental health community.

I try to write about my daily living with bipolar, but I also post a lot of music. I aim to write daily, but since I’m back in work this is turning more like once every few days.

My symptoms of bipolar tend to go like this…When I feel like me, I’m happy, outgoing & cheeky. When I feel low, they all go out the window to be replaced by insecure, reclusive & subdued. When I feel hyper I dance to the tune of enthusiastic, excitable & I feel I can achieve anything.

A more accurate description of my hyper side would be annoying, bouncing off the walls & Okaaayyyy, time to get Graham some sleeping tablets, as he is plainly tired…

Please show your support to the Blog For Mental Health 2013 project. Anyone reading this who writes a blog about mental health please consider yourself pledged by me.

 

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More Involved In Mental Health Wellbeing

I’ve decided I want to go one further than having my own blog. I haven’t decided how I want to do this just yet, so I’d appreciate feedback on this post. I’ve been thinking about joining one of the group blogs that are out there, where I could guest post. I’m not too sure how they work, but I’ll look into it more to figure it out.

Please comment on this post post with advice/tips or email me at bpshielsy@gmail.com

Thanks

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Balancing Myself Out

I’ve realised I haven’t been looking after myself as well as I could have the last few weeks. I feel I have my fair share of shit hitting a lot of fans right now, so the last thing I need to be doing is getting said shit off the fans & smearing it on myself. Ain’t that a lovely image!

I’ve been a little all over the place recently. I posted Will He Come Out about three weeks ago, which goes into a bit of detail on this. So, with everything going on & another issue on top of it that I won’t go into now, things are…well a bit shit right now.

Anyway the things I should have been doing to look after myself are small-ish on there own, but daft now I look back & see that I’ve done it, or haven’t, if you see what I mean. For example, last week was pretty much sunny everyday and roughly twenty degrees & in my job as a postman I’m outside from 10:00 to 14:30. So I need to be drinking plenty of water to keep myself going. Which I wasn’t doing! I was drinking, but not as much as I should have been. At the time I was making excuses like, “I don’t have time to buy the extra bottle of water” blah blah blah.

Other examples were simply not doing my fair share of the housework & even on the odd occasion of not having a shower after work. Which trust me, after 4-5 hours walking and cycling in twenty degrees heat…I needed to!

Now don’t get me wrong, as I said, I know these things are fairly small & aren’t life changers, but they’re the kind of thing, that if I don’t keep in check, can slowly escalate & in a few months down the line I’ll be depressed.

So a pat on the back for me! Why? Because I really am getting better at reading the signs that can eventually send me into a shitty funk

Ummmm you may have wondered what the hell was the picture at the top all about. Well, I typed in ‘balancing pics’ on Google & there it was. It made me chuckle, as every now and again I catch my cats doing this. Why do they do this? How the feck would I know, they’re cats!

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Living Triumphantly With Bipolar

I was looking for positive bipolar stories & came across this.

I’ve pasted it below too in case the link doesn’t work for you.

Let me know if you find stories like this useful or not? Personally I think they are as it’s a reminder you’re not alone if nothing else.

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Living Triumphantly With Bipolar

With the recent news that Catherine Zeta-Jones checked into a facility due to mental health problems, there’s been a lot of talk in the media about bipolar disorder. Although it’s sad to hear about anyone suffering with a mood disorder, the good news out of this is that it’s shining a much-needed light on what bipolar is, its symptoms and who it affects (even Hollywood starlets can’t always escape the grip of mental health issues).

So, what exactly is bipolar disorder? According to the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario:

Bipolar disorder is in a class of mood disorders that is marked by dramatic changes in mood, energy and behaviour. The key characteristic of people with bipolar disorder is alternating between episodes of mania (extreme elevated mood) and depression (extreme sadness). These episodes can last from hours to months. The mood disturbances are severe enough to affect the person’s ability to function. The experience of mania can be very frightening and lead to impulsive behaviour that has serious consequences for the person and the family. A depressive episode makes it difficult or impossible for a person to function in his or her daily life.

To make things a bit more complicated, there are two variations of bipolar: bipolar I andbipolar II. Zeta-Jones suffers from the latter, which can go unnoticed for a period of time since the symptoms are less severe than those of bipolar I. Someone with bipolar II can display behaviours that they wouldn’t normally have on a daily basis — they may be able to function on far less sleep than usual, they may have a very irritable, depressive, or exceptionally joyful disposition for a period of time, and/or they may talk much faster than they typically would. Close friends would likely notice the change in behaviour, but those outside of that circle may not be able to recognize it.

On the other hand, those with bipolar I show behaviours that even those outside of their close network would see as abnormal: out-of-control happiness, delusions or hallucinations, seriously inflated self-esteem, overspending of money (as in, going out during their lunch hour to buy a house they can’t afford), interpreting events to be or mean something they do not, among others. Essentially, those with bipolar I have a hard time functioning in their daily lives. What’s more, their symptoms are undeniably abnormal.

I wanted to learn more about bipolar I from someone who has first-hand knowledge and understanding of it, so I got in touch with Leslie Bennett, executive coach, mental health awareness advocate and cofounder of Open Spaces Learning. She is an intelligent, open-minded and highly-accomplished businesswoman who has fought the good fight with bipolar I — and is now thriving. It certainly wasn’t an easy ride, but she has lived to tell the tale and is passionate about sharing her story in hopes that it might help someone else.

At the age of 27, Bennett spoke to her doctor about some depressive mood issues she was experiencing, for which the doctor prescribed antidepressants. At that point in time, she was feeling isolated, as she was living in British Columbia while her family was living in Ontario. To make herself feel better, she was self-medicating by smoking marijuana, staying up late and generally not taking good care of herself.

Perhaps partly because her meds were starting to take effect (and she didn’t realize this to be the case at the time), she decided that she was starting to feel better and took herself off her antidepressants cold turkey and continued to self-medicate. Things took a turn for the worse not long after this, leading to a manic episode that she can’t even recall fully, since the events and timelines are still blurred in her own mind. As she said, “During a manic episode, you see reality differently.”

Bennett’s behaviour was becoming increasingly erratic, and her roommates were really concerned. They called her family to let them know what was going on. So her sister and mother came to visit her in B.C.; they were hoping to bring her back to Toronto to see if they could get her some help. Because of Bennett’s manic episode, she had convinced herself that the people coming to visit her were not her family, but clones of them. She was so convinced, she asked a friend to come with her to the restaurant where they were meeting and bring a video camera to tape it. She thought that she could use the tape as evidence that someone had cloned her sister and mother and could take that to the authorities.

Worried and feeling at a loss in terms of what to do or how to handle the situation, Bennett’s mother had nowhere to turn but knew that her daughter desperately needed help. An RCMP officer told her that if her daughter ever mentioned anything about harming herself or others, she could have her committed to a mental institution. At one point during their trip, Bennett mentioned that she could “jump out of this window” (at 30 floors above ground), and that’s precisely what her mother needed. Bennett was committed to a mental institution for two weeks and was diagnosed with bipolar I. You can read more about her manic episode here.

Bennett eventually moved back to Ontario with her family. Her parents started going to a peer support group, which was immensely helpful for them. Bennett is a big advocate of peer support groups and readily acknowledges the lack of information available for not only those suffering with mental health issues, but also their families. That’s why she’s happy to share helpful information about her own journey and what helped — and continues to help — her live a balanced and stable life. She writes about the importance of getting enough sleep as key in maintaining a mentally stable lifestyle, as well as her focus on some factors that she can control to aid in removing triggers that could affect her balanced state of mind: Food, Sleep, Treatment, Exercise, and Perception (FSTEP).

If you suspect that a family member or close friend is experiencing any mental health problems, or if you’re concerned about your own mental stability, remember that there is help out there. There are mental health practitioners who can help you, as well as peer support groups that offer you the freedom and comfort in sharing your stories, especially with others who understand what you’re going through. Visit www.lesliebennett.ca for information and helpful resources.

A diagnosis of a mood disorder certainly isn’t a death sentence; it can happen to even the most accomplished and seemingly level-headed individuals. Take Bennett’s story as an example and a reminder that you’re not alone. Take it in stride and remember that you can overcome these obstacles and thrive by living the life that you want to lead.

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Definitely Feeling It

Hmmmm, I think I’m a little hyper/sleep deprived. I haven’t been sleeping too well these last two weeks and the last three nights have been particularly low on the beautiful zzzzzzzzzz’s. I do know that it’s likely being triggered by the fact my father, in name only, could be coming out of prison soon & all that entails. I detailed this a few days ago in Will He Come Out.

I contacted our parole officer this morning & she advised he had his parole hearing on 22nd May, but I wouldn’t find out the result for two more weeks. So I’ll be in limbo on this one until then…

What made me stop & think earlier today was, if I didn’t have Bipolar, I’d likely be feeling mixed emotions over all this anyway. It’s very hard to see the line of, is this bipolar, or is it how anyone would feel in these circumstances. I guess there is no sure fire way answer that…

I feel like I’m writing a disjointed post here, but hey, I’m knackered so sue me

I would like to ask anyone who has no contact with bipolar, i.e. don’t suffer from it & aren’t closely in touch with anyone with it, what their views are on how they may feel in my situation with my father & the house & all that crap? You’ll need to read the will he come out post linked above.

After just re-reading that last paragraph I guess anyone who doesn’t have bipolar can have a go at answering my question. As I said I’m knackered people.

And as ever I welcome all comments from anyone reading this.

I’ll definitely be taking my own sleep tips tonight.

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Bipolar Is Awesome!

I saw this on a fellow bipolar blogger’s page, BIPOLARMUSE, please read, it made me smile

 

Bipolar Is Awesome!.

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BBC – Preventing bipolar relapse with web therapy

I found this BBC News piece on Bipolar.

I found it very insightful & the first two lines summed up how I’ve sometimes felt when in a hyper phase.

Have a read & let me know what you think. I’ve also copied and pasted it below in case you can’t access it outside of the UK. I’ve also pasted the related links at the bottom of the story, let me know if you want me to email you a copy, as I don’t think the links will work when I publish this post.

 

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Preventing bipolar relapse with web therapy

“I tend to think I am in a film – it’s like The Truman Show. I’m the star of the film, off on my own planet.

“It’s quite pleasurable for me, but a bit strange for other people.”

Michael, 29, from Cheshire, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after experiencing these feelings during his “most severe high” while travelling after university.

A spell in hospital a few years ago led to weekly sessions of therapy for a year which helped him manage the impact mood has on his life.

But research into web therapy being carried out at Lancaster University may hold the key to ensuring he does not relapse.

As a teenager, Michael had noticeable mood swings to the extent that his GP thought he had ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

But it wasn’t until 2007 that he could put a name to the periods of mania which characterise his type of bipolar disorder.

Stabilising his moods and controlling the triggers for his condition are a daily challenge, and yet being bipolar is clearly part of who he is.

“I’m a very productive person. I have to keep busy and stimulated. People say I’m like a machine sometimes.”

 

Michael has had 30 or 40 jobs since he was 16. He currently combines three different part-time jobs and he writes poetry and tutors in English during his spare time.

He can experience weeks of low mood too, but the extreme highs tend to dominate.

Michael says having access to an online psychological resource, which has been developed by a research team at the Spectrum Centre for Mental Health Research in Lancaster, was invaluable because he could tailor it to his own needs.

Prof Steve Jones, who heads the Spectrum Centre, says web therapy provides an alternative to traditional face-to-face therapies which few people with bipolar actually access.

A controlled trial of 100 people with bipolar, half of whom used the interactive web tool, has produced some encouraging findings, he says.

“We provided them with information about what the disorder is and strategies to improve their mood, then we looked at their experiences of recovery and getting on with their lives.

“There was a significant increase in people’s self-reported recovery. They also felt more positive and optimistic.”

 

He puts this down to a limited knowledge of bipolar disorder among GPs and other medical professionals which means there is often a delay in diagnosis and a lack of information about the nature of the disorder.

“It still takes 10 to 15 years to get a diagnosis in most cases,” he says.

“Some clinicians will just tell people what to do without giving any rationale why. As a result people are half-hearted about the treatment and it doesn’t seem to work because they don’t know what’s in it for them.”

By giving individuals more information they in turn gain more autonomy and can learn to manage their own symptoms.

Offering it online makes it accessible to more people too.

Michael has given his boyfriend and his family access to the online resource so that they can support him in managing his disorder – something he says has been beneficial to them as well.

He says being able to keep his bipolar disorder under control has meant making simple changes to his life.

“If I need to eat, I just need to go and do it. If I need to take a break from work, I have to take one.

“When it’s mental health, you can’t regulate emotions.”

He also tries to maintain a routine and a good work-life balance.

Another study being carried out at the Centre will look at how best to help parents with bipolar disorder.

“If you are living with a disorder characterised by instability then parenting becomes much more of a challenge than for the rest of us,” explains Prof Jones.

By creating a multi-media resource for people to increase their confidence in parenting, the aim is to encourage more stable parenting too.

The knock-on effect may be that their own moods are stabilised and their children become less likely to develop the same bipolar symptoms, which evidence shows is possible in families.

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Related Internet links

• Spectrum Centre
• Lancaster University
• Bipolar UK
• Bipolar disorder – NHS Choices
• Mind

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Will He Come Out?

I think I’ve only written about this topic once before and that was in a poem type way (not a good one at that), simply because I didn’t want to offend any relatives out there. However I don’t think they still read, as my number of posts have dwindled to roughly one a month. For those that still do read, well it’s my blog so I’ll write what I please ;0)~~~

OK well basically the topic is my family, specifically my parents & why I’ve been feeling a bit off lately. Over the last few weeks I initially wasn’t sleeping great, which was OK as I like that slight hyper feeling I get from this. Aaahhh the natural high . After I got some sleeping pills from the doc I then started to feel a little low. Nothing to worry about, but enough for me to wonder why it might be.

It wasn’t until I was speaking to my wife this morning that I realised the fact my dad (he will be referred to as dick-face, dick-head or prick, depending on my dalliance here on in) could be coming out of prison later this month could be something to do with it. Yep, I can be that slow to realise that something like this could affect me! So after two to three weeks of pondering my offness it came to me, all Eureka like!

Now to the interesting & painful stuff of why my prick of a dick-head is in prison. To put it simply, he killed my mum about 13 years ago. He claims he can’t remember doing it & so also isn’t sure why he did it. Nice that eh? Personally I think it had something to do with the fact my mum served divorce papers on him that morning, but hey, I’m no detective. So after 13 years of him being in prison I now get to face the prospect of bumping into him in the city we will likely both inhabit. To be honest that doesn’t bother me much, the more annoying situation which is resurfacing is what do we do with the family house?

Well you would assume we’d have sold it while he was inside. No that’d be way too easy for our family! You see my eldest brother, we’ll call him P, didn’t move out of the house after he killed her (incidentally, dick-face killed her in the family house). No, he decided he’d like to keep living there. Why you might ask? Well I think the fact that he pays for fuck all except the food he needs to survive might just be the reason…now I’m no detective but…

Anyway over the last few months I’ve been meeting with P & my other brother, we’ll call him D… the good one to see if we can decide on selling the house. Now granted me & D may have pussy footed around P for too long. I mean nobody wants to evict their brother and see him on the street, but we probably could have been more direct in our approach to what we wanted to do with the house. Recently we were notified by the prison service that dick-head’s parole hearing is due & so I contacted P twice to meet up & decide what we should do with the house. Got nothing back from him. That’s our P, do the Ostrich & hope it all goes away.

So that’s why little old me has been having the odd sleepless night the last week or three. Meh “Shit Happens”

P.S.

For those of you who like my misadventures as a postie…Today I swallowed a midgie… ….sooooooo……that was nice!

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