Monthly Archives: May 2007

All right, I bottled it

You know me – I’m really not a mean and nasty person, and they say you should be careful who you tread on when you’re going up lest you pass them again on your way down.

Since I very much hope I’m still on the way up, and since I very much hope that I’ve got lots more publicity left in me, I’ve ducked my head back below the parapet and removed all references to the exact publication I was referring to yesterday.

I know, I know, I’m weak and feeble and shouldn’t give a flying one about what people think of me, but the way I look at it is this: in the coming months I’m going to be looking to do a lot more awareness raising of Transplant and Organ Donation and I want as many people on-side as possible.  Surely a petty (albeit nicely amusing) rant about the quality of a paper’s stories shouldn’t get in the way of that.

At least now they’re not likely to find it on a random google search of the name and I shouldn’t find myself blacklisted next time the wonderful Paula sends out an immaculate press release she’s authored on my behalf.

I shudder to think of the low esteem some fellows writers and bloggers would feel about me reading this, but I suppose that’s just who I am – I need to be liked by everyone because I’m a very insecure and shallow person.  So there.

On the up side, I’ve had  some great ideas for promotion and publicity as well as a few short films and other projects I might just have on the burners right now.  Who knows what’ll become of them – and I’m not going to detail them here just yet, because we all know what happened last time I did that – but we’ll wait it out and see.

The sun took a long time to come out today.  I’m hoping it does better tomorrow.

At least I’ve got local News

Some days are easier than others, that’s pretty clear after all the months I’ve been scribbling these bits and pieces for myself and whoever happens to be passing to peruse. But while a day may not have been as good as the day before it, at least you can rely on the laughably awful local newspaper to make you giggle through anything.

It is, quite possibly, the worst newspaper in the history of publishing – it would be laughed out of Fleets Street and probably still raise quite a few disparaging chuckles from Sesame Street. It’s pathethic, lazy journalism with hardly a hint of any sub-editing. But boy, does it make me laugh.

Take today’s issue, which landed on my doormat this morning. The lead story was about a pensioner who’s been BANNED from his golf club for using his own buggy. Or at least that’s what the headline leads you to believe. Actually, he’s bought himself a golf buggy to save money on hiring one from the club and they’ve told him he can’t use it because they’re not insured for it.

Laughable health and safety procedures, yes, but hardly the totally-out-of-order disability-discrimination they’re trying to make it out to be. Sure, I feel sorry for the old fella: it’s not cheap to hire buggies. But honestly, it’s hardly the meanest, nastiest thing in the world, is it? It’s a bunch of silly rules which have upset a pensioner.

It gets better, though. How about the article (or is it just an advert) about the new flats going up in Bletchley. With over half still on the market, you too can share the AMAZING views of Milton Keynes from your living room window. It’s even illustrated with a picture of the amazing view: IKEA. Well, IKEA, ASDA, the new footie stadium, downtown Bletchley and some trees. Not exactly the inspiring penthouse vista that you might have anticipated.

I’m consistently amazed and amused at the hilariously low quality of the rag (it really is a rag), and it’s collection of “human interest” stories which get published every week. I suppose I shouldn’t be railing against it quite so much as I have, on occasion, been known to use it myself as a voice of publicity for the various campaigns I get involved in. But even then they managed to spell my name differently in the main article than from the headline. Awesome.

I honestly don’t know if it’s just that MK doesn’t have enough in the way of “news” to make it interesting, or if there’s a genuine total lack of decent editorial leadership, sub-editing or reporting skills, but whatever it is, the paper is worth more as a source of entertainment than as a source of information on the city.

Oh the joys of having very little to do: you do get to see some wonderful things.

Lost plot (and momentum?)

It’s been a bit of a gap again since I last posted – I seem to have lost my blogging momentum, although I have a feeling it’s because the evenings are much harder for me now than they were. I used to write my blog posts right before I went to bed at 10 or 11 at night, but now I’m usually struggling quite a bit with breathlessness by then and sitting at the computer is about the last thing I want to do with my bed calling me.

Still, I’m sure I’ll work myself back into a groove somewhere.

I had intended to sit here this morning and launch off into another rant about Allied Respiratory (yup, still rubbish) but I’m not sure I can summon the energy or the bile to do it proper justice. I’m doing so well at the moment in terms of energy levels, happiness and all-round doing-things-ness that it seems silly to waste any of it venting my fury at Allied. And it’s such a glorious sunny day outside that I don’t want to spoil it with grumpiness.

I will say, however, that yesterday I was not quite for circumspect or forgiving when they failed to turn up with my oxygen delivery for the 2nd working day in a row. Having expected it on Friday, only to have it moved to Monday (that’s a weekend with no spare O2) and then pushed back another 24-hours yesterday, I was seething. Particularly as no one from Allied deigned to call me to tell me.

The way they treat their patients/customers/fools is completely reprehensible. When I phoned to ask about my delivery at 3pm and asked if anyone had been likely to call me to tell me not to wait in for it, I got a nice, curt, “No, I don’t expect so, not at this time in the afternoon.” Cheers guys.

Do they honestly think that just because I’m transplant-listed and dependent on 24-hour oxygen I don’t have anything better to do with my time than wait around for cylinders of oxygen to let me leave my house? It’s pathetic.

Anyway, I took it upon myself to draft them a letter expressing my regretful displeasure at the standards of the service they were offering and I eagerly await their response. Not that I’m expecting them to do anything.

But I’m not going to let that dominate things today (well, not unless they fail to deliver this morning and mean that I have to scrabble to find K an alternative lift to her appointment in Northampton which I’d not have enough oxygen to run her to). Instead, I’m going to enjoy looking out at the sunshine and contemplating the next move in my rather unhurried life.

The last week or so has been quite nice, as I’ve had nothing really to do or to focus on, having not come to any conclusion as to what I’m tackling next. I’ve just knuckled down to finishing off the next CF Talk, but most of the copy for that should be done by the end of the week.

I know, though, that if I don’t pick myself a project soon, I’m going to drift off into a little no-man’s-land of indecision and boredom and get into a vicious circle of boredom/tiredness/negativity.

The best thing about the last couple of weeks has been finally working out the ins and outs of my body as it is at the moment and finding the balance between activity and rest – knowing what I can and can’t manage and how to deal with whatever exertion I do undertake without running myself into the ground. It’s been a much longer and trickier learning process that last time I was doing it back in December, but I finally feel like I’ve grasped it now. Famous last words, I know, so keep your fingers crossed.

Now I’m off to sit and watch the clock tick round till Allied turns up with today’s delivery.