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eadwine Unnerving developments - Subscribe
About time I updated, I just haven't felt up to it in the past few days. I have had two bombshells drop on me in less than a week time, right after my holiday ended, so it's been stressful. I have tried and managed not to think about it too much, since I will get pissed off beyond belief at our former government, AND at the current brand new one for not doing anything that all the folks in my line of work are seeing when I do.

I have explained about the classes a long time ago already. There are two, class 1 and class 2. Class 1 basically only does the cleaning and such, does not handle the more special cases like the class 2's do. I am a class 2 helper. The determination of what kind of care a client needs has changed to the municipality, which, the former government thought, would save us money on health care. So far so good, I never agreed with that plan, not even when it was introduced, but what can you do besides protest.

Time goes on, and before the end of this year all the clients must have been re-determined by the municipalities as either class 1, or class 2. We are not even half way now on that, number of clients wise, which is what I heard on Thursday evening, but there have been alarming results with the part that HAS been done already. It varies per municipality, but some have put 85% on class 1, where before the class 1 was the minority. What happens now? There are not enough class 1 helpers and this is a nation wide problem.

I will have to explain something first now, whereas rights and such are concerned. The class 1 helpers don't have the same benefits as the class 2 ones do. If you are the main money line of the family you do not want to be a class 1. They don't get a pension built up for them, they don't get paid sick leave, your holiday time isn't paid for. You ARE insured of course, but in any case, most of the extras you have to save up for yourself. In any case, it is a fun job for you if you are not depending on the income. So.. for me that is not an option.

On to the monetary issue. Because most providers, mine included, don't want to leave people without help, they have sent class 2 helpers to them. However, class 2 helpers are more expensive than class 1. A certain amount per hour is allotted to both classes by the municipality, and what happens is when a class 2 goes to a class 1 client, the provider actually puts in a dab of their own money to help cover the cost. The result being that they lose over $10 USD per hour per helper. This may seem like a small amount, but just multiply this by thousands and you can see the problem. This can only last for so long before things start going wrong.

We are now at this turning point. The providers in some cities are already telling the clients "Sorry, but we don't have a helper for you" and are sending them back up the chain. There are not enough class 1 helpers to cover for all the clients that need help, and since class 2 helpers are too expensive as I explained, they cannot do anything else but stop providing the care people need. That is a really bad situation and my provider is now about to do the same. But they have to; if the providers keep going the way they have they will all end up bankrupt, that is not what we want to see happen of course!

There have been talks with the municipalities and positive results have come out, but of course, government being government, the wheels move slowly, and to avoid further loss and also to try and provide as many clients as possible choices now have to be made by the personnel.

One choice is to go down in the class to become a class 1. For me that option is not acceptable, since I am the head of the family here, and when I cannot afford to even get sick or take time off I have a problem, a big one. There IS the possibility of combining, which means that I can go and have a few clients working as a class 1 and then work the remainder as a class 2. Or I could opt for the training to become a care person class 2, meaning I can also start washing and dressing folks, which in turn means I have to work morning, evening and weekend shifts. Not something I look forward to, but what else can I do, right? But even that is tricky, since.. well.. what are they going to use to pay for that education?

Now.. as if that wasn't enough, another bombshell comes down. Because of the money issues the provider has it has become harder to pay the paychecks. One decision has been made to no longer allow overtime, and when you DO work overtime to get the number of hours worked out in time. Let's just explain that little bit.

I have a 15 hour a week contract. At the time that I signed said contract I made an agreement with the team leader to plan me in more, since I need more because I am the head of the family and need to bring in the money here. That was agreed on, and hasn't been a problem at all. Working 15 hours a week gives me 60 hours per period (four weeks), and adding the overtime I usually end up at 85-90. I get those hours paid out, and with that I make about a welfare level's worth income. I can make ends meet like this, it is a bit tight when emergencies happen, but it is doable.

Now overtime will no longer be paid out, it needs to be compensated. So, suppose I work 80 hours in one period, which is 20 hours worth of overtime, the next period I will have to take those 20 hours OFF the 60, so work only 40. You can see that whether I now work overtime or not, I am forced to stick to the 15 hours a week income, which is too low to get by.

My team leader has told me she would see what she could do, since my overtime hasn't been incidental but structural. I also just wrote her an email concerning a colleague who happened to get a new contract starting July with more hours in it. Terribly confusing in this period, with all that is going on, but it is something she should know.

So.. now you know why I have been quiet of late. It is something I didn't really wish to confront myself with more than was already in my face. I do know that whatever happens, if I lose income I cannot keep my head above the water and I will go to the municipality to get me a partial welfare benefit to fill up the gaps. And if you were going to suggest at this time to change jobs, then I will kindly refer you back up this entry to these two words: nation wide.

Who is saving money now? I'd rather be working for my income, but if this is the way it is going to be, so be it. At least I already LIVE on the welfare level, so it won't be too much of a blow, but it is all the paperwork and fuss that it involves that I am not looking forward to.

And who knows what else lies around the corner.
Mood: tense

eadwine Little update on the work area and other stuff Tuesday, July 10th 2007 @ 20:30 - Subscribe
Today I had a triple eek. Eek number one was that I had to leave the house open but attended a little bit. Painters were coming to do the outside, which they did. It was a major nerve wracking thing that wore off a little as time went by.

The second eek was a new client that I am getting for a while. This is eek, since when I get them once and I don't like them it's easy, next week there is someone else. But when you get them weekly.. you get my drift. Needless to say: it went just fine.

The third eek was the meeting with my team leader. No more overtime, and no different contract. So, I am stuck at the 15 hours. No more overtime has been announced, but it is not official yet, so for the time being I am good. And the option she offered me is to work those 15 hours as class two, and then take on two clients as class 1, leaving me with 21 hours per week. I can do that since class 1's are not de facto employed by my employer, but are employed by the client. Whole different story. My dad is currently checking out exactly what the financial consequences are going to be. Wait and see, but I think I will go for it. The other option is add-on with welfare. Not looking forward to that.

I got home, delivered my income papers at my dad and went home. I finally had something to eat about two hours after normal dinner time. Ugh, and I forgot to pick up the corners that came in for the mosquito door. That will be tomorrow then.

Oh, and for a final fun thing that happened at the new client... I found a condom behind the washing machine. Used. BOOM it said when I vacuumed it up. *laughs*
Mood: better

eadwine Update, about time Thursday, July 19th 2007 @ 21:23 - Subscribe
Nine days without an update, must be a record. Ah well.. I am ready TO update again, after sorting things out for myself.

Let me do a quickie..

Work: all OK till mid August, that is when the summer ends and overtime is no longer permitted. After that the class 1 hours are certainly negotiable, and considering we will be short on class 1 helpers it should be no problem to GET the hours. Lay-offs are still set to start at October. All this subject to change when the municipalities decide to take heads out of asses and see some consequences of actions.

Private life: reasonable. I went to a meet in Rotterdam with the Dutch hair group. Great joy. Both in meeting people and doing things with my hair, amongst comments that my hair is so very soft (yay KTC coconut oil treatment the night before that). The other enjoyment was the public railways, or wait.. they are private now.. in any case: if I mention the word delays I think things should be explained in plenty.

Religion: still going fine. Finding out a few at the hair forum are also pagan, nifty! Simple comment I have to make: some people need to look into things before making comments to me about paganism. Attack me on many points, fine, talk stupid about my religion and you lose me and apologies are in order. Plain and simple. Feel attacked by this? See disclaimer at the top. That is all I have to say about that.

Cat: going strong for her 16 years. I went to a client who had a 16 year old cat as well, and BOY did that cat look less well than Dixie does! Amazing what difference that can make!

Water: available in plenty, rivers where streets should be and flooding all over. Not inside, thank goodness.

Car: the most recent news. The rental company called and said they have a garage box available. I wonder what the thing costs *crosses fingers not too much* Gotta call them back tomorrow. I am going to start at 08:30 and call them at the client's place.

And finally hair: still growing, condition improving despite the stress. Only thing affected is color. Current state after taking out a hairstick updo:



Speaking of sticks, I had two hairsticks arrive here. One extra dangle was included as a surprise gift. Bought at Many Horses. Go buy something there, they are great people!

I also was finally able to do an updo with the three prong hair fork that I got from 60th Street Productions. Go get something there too. Here is a picture of that beauty of a bun.



That is about all the news that I have. I am glad the weekend is starting again soon. I have had so many new people of late that I got overloaded a little. Not much rest for me though. Tomorrow afternoon a great uncle is celebrating a birthday, and I am debating hairdo's or loose. Sunday is a BBQ at a nephew's house, debating the same thing there. Ah we'll see.

Oh yeah.. before I forget.. I ordered sock knitting needles, 20cm long, 2mm thick, to serve as hair fork when bent. I cannot do anything wet with my hair with the wooden toys, and wearing sticks to bed sucks. That should be the solution. Nice them up using a glasses strap rubber and then add one of my dangles, for instance.

I am getting creative with the hair, and it is FINALLY getting noticed by people hehe. I cannot wait till it is waist length *big grin*
Mood: reasonable
Training: Res4: 13.27km, Total: 208.49km

eadwine A jubilee, for my hair, that is Monday, July 23rd 2007 @ 22:26 - Subscribe
It's been a month (and two days) since I started changing around my hair routine. Slowly and with each care addition my hair's condition improved, and now, two coconut oil treatments, a number of conditioner treatments and a few hairdo's richer my hair has improved dramatically. It is so soft now that I have to watch it with the hairdo's the first day or two, as they will simply slide out.

It makes me happy though, and that is the most important part. It feels like it is not growing fast enough, but I have to be patient for that *laughs* Waist length is not something for overnight, it can take a good year in fact, maybe even more, depending on how fast or slow my hair wishes to grow. Wait and see, first I have to hit the bra strap, I will be very happy when I see that one happen.



Friday afternoon my dad and I went to visit my great aunt and uncle, it was his birthday that day. It was alright, but unfortunately my aunt isn't doing too peachy. She is 93 or 94 years old now, so.. not too strange. Mentally she is all there, just the body is being a poop of late. We'll have to wait and see if she pulls through. My dad feels that was the last time we saw her. I felt the same way when I stepped in the room, however after talking with her, I don't know.. she might just recover again.

Saturday was a day off, with nothing much to do, no plans. I did the laundry and took a bath, including coconut treatment and all that. Every bit of wash was hanging by the afternoon, and in fact it is now all cleaned up again, which is somewhat of a record actually; I don't usually take it down that soon. Reason being is this afternoon's client.

She has two puppies that (from what I now know) pee in the house. And of course, as luck would have it, I deposited my bag right into one of the puddles. Fucking hell. I discovered it when I got home since that damned pee smell just kept lingering around me. I have taken everything out of the bag, and put it in a bath of dishwasher soap, let it sit for a while and right now it is drying again. The smell is not completely gone yet, so it will require yet another washing. Bah, I hate it when that happens. Tomorrow morning I will go by the store and buy me some Fébrèze in the hopes that that stuff will help it a bit. Currently I am using my toilet anti-odor spray, which works, but... yeah.

I didn't know how quickly to get inside and jump in the shower, depositing my work clothes straight into the washing machine and letting the thing run. Same thing with the towels and everything I had used to get the odor off stuff, second wash. At least it is all clean again now, but that smell of old pee, it just seems to stick in your nose for some reason. Bah, so terrible.

Sunday, actual jubilee day, we went for a family visit in the south of the country, and spent a good number of hours there. We left on time, and went to the cemetery where my grandfather on my dad's side is buried. They had received word that the payment was due for another 10 years, and they could either opt for it, or not. If not the grave will cease to exist soon. It was thrown into the family meeting and decided not to lengthen the term. It's been 30 years after all, time sure flies.

On our way home we wound up in a terrible traffic jam. An accident had happened and all in all we stood in there for a good 35-40 minutes. By the time we actually reached the accident spot everything had been cleaned up already. All that remained was the police, who was in the process of getting in their cars and leaving. There is nothing worse on the road (besides getting into an accident yourself) than a traffic jam where you have no place to go but sit and wait for that amount of time. It was good to get moving again, finally.

Hopefully this week will not turn out to be as heavy for me as last week, I am booked full save for Friday afternoon and I have two new clients in my schedule that BOTH are going to call the office telling them they want to keep me. It is a very good thing that clients are actually doing that. Telling you that they like you is one thing, going to tell that same fact to the office is a whole other deal. Good thing, that.

Oh yeah, one more short bit of news: I have a garage. It isn't vacant just yet but it should be in about two weeks, and I will have to invest in a rain coat then, as I do have to cycle to the garage to pick up the wheels when the car is in there. I can re-register for another garage a little closer by, but at least the car will be safely parked indoors, with much less risk of damage than it has now. It WILL take some getting used to, to look outside and NOT see the car there. *shudder* But, it's for the best.
Mood: excited

eadwine Creative thing Thursday, July 26th 2007 @ 22:07 - Subscribe
These past few days have been interesting. I got another call this afternoon from the rental company about the garage and we set up an appointment for the 20th of next month. Why it has to take until then I don't know, but ah well, whatever works.

No news on the job front, all is still going as it is. The party I voted for at the last elections is demanding the government coming back from holidays to talk about the shit that has been caused, let's hope they actually get something accomplished. For what it is worth, at least the party that got my vote is doing something for ME, and that is not a very common thing to see happen in the politics world.

I have been creative a little bit in creating a hair toy. I used one of the knitting needles (thicker ones should come in tomorrow), bent it and then attached an eye glass holder to it with beads attached to that again. Mighty nifty to look at, a bit tribal I think, in fact. Very unique. I stole the idea from a girl that I saw at the long hair meeting that one weekend day, and figured I could do that too. I bought the materials today and now I have to wait for a thicker knitting needle which should come in tomorrow.

I told my dad about someone telling me I should sell these things, and he actually told me that it wasn't a bad idea. Nifty, but I do have to get the credit card thing set up first, or I cannot sell internationally. Big bummer where PayPal is concerned, but I don't think I'd be comfortable using my account number just like that.



Well.. it's late, a half day tomorrow thank goodness and then I am off for the weekend. It's been a busy and full week. I'm glad to get the rest alright!
Mood: tired

eadwine Weekend over, no change Sunday, July 29th 2007 @ 21:36 - Subscribe
At least, not in the situation of my aunt. My dad got a call that she is in the hospital suffering from dehydration (not strange since she barely ate) and now has pneumonia on top of that. Basically, we are waiting for her to pull her own plug, so to speak. The lady is 94 years old if I remember correctly, hopefully has led a full life, and is at peace with leaving that I know of.

No news this weekend though, who knows I might be right and she pulls through. That will be the day.

Hair related, Friday I finally managed to not use too much coconut oil and upon washing out on Saturday found my hair is superduper soft. So soft that even an elastic tie is sliding out. Amazing. It feels great though. I also found what I am going to wear tomorrow, a braided bun with ribbon through it. Should be nice, as long as I make sure all the braid ties are removed before tying things off, which I forgot in the attempt today *chuckles*



Nothing new about the job yet. I have filled out the paper with my preferences on it. Also filled out the administrative sector since I AM capable of doing that, even though I don't much like it. I stated on the piece of paper with it that I would do it, but that my heart lies with working with the people. I sincerely hope that all this hubbub will not be needed after all.

On Friday afternoon, before I put coconut oil in my hair, my dad came over and we finished the screen door together. FINALLY I have been able to open the door to the back yard without the possibility of the cat escaping. Lots of freedom, and fresh air there for me.

I also got my Bluebell hair sticks in, and boy are they gorgeous sticks!! I will most certainly keep an eye on things there and hopefully she will make another pair that I can fall in love with. I did advise her to make longer ones, considering most folks' hair is longer. At least, those that visit her site *laughs*

What else happened over the weekend.. oh yeah, the thicker needles came in, they were a bitch to bend but I managed regardless and it worked out really well.

Otherwise my mind has been working on various things, whatever it takes to keep the mind off more important matters. This entry is as scattered as my brain, but by filling out that form and delivering it to the office tomorrow I will have done my duty for a while to come again.
Mood: alright
Training: Res4: 5.61km, Total: 214.10km

eadwine I finally built up the confidence.. Monday, July 30th 2007 @ 21:40 - Subscribe
And then it turns out they are closed till the 6th of August. Damn. I have to start building up all over again.

What I am talking about? The dentist. I have an unhealthy aversion to them, and with reason. My mouth was abused when I was a child, so it is not strange to be scared now. I need to go, really need to! But I don't dare. *sigh*

I have this guy dentist now, and I would really rather have his wife, he makes me nervous. I was going to call in and ask the assistant to please please transfer me over because of my fear, and now I have to wait a week.

At least I have the week to get my gums a bit better.

I guess most would think this is silly, but for me it is not, it is a real life fear that I haven't yet mastered to conquer. It is very irritating alright. Let's just hope it is ok to switch, but if it is not.. well.. I guess I will have to go. I just wish I could whack myself over the head before I do, because just thinking about it makes me break out in tears. To just illustrate how scared I am of it: I don't even dare to WRITE about thinking about going, I didn't even mention it till now.

The day itself went ok, the client I had in the morning noticed my hair and how beautiful it had become. That one proper coconut oil treatment paid off finally and it showed shiny. It still does actually. It's a good thing to have. I tried to do a braided bun but nope. Maybe tomorrow I can get it to work, we'll see.

For now I am more a bit bummed about that dentist being on holiday thing and I just hope I can gather up the courage yet again TO call in and go.
Mood: bummed
Training: Res4: 5.19km, Total: 219.29km

eadwine Whoa, an update, and so soon! Tuesday, July 31st 2007 @ 20:00 - Subscribe
Yeah, I figured I would write something before bed. It is only 21:40 as I start this, but I am going to head in early for a change. The past two days have been heavy, both early rises, late sleepers (at least, for Sunday, today will not be).

I was very pleased with myself today since I was able to make the two braid bun stay up without leftover ties and it stuck all day. Whoo! Tomorrow is another one of those, we'll see if that one wishes to work yet again.

I came in early to Ms. Difficult, and I was greeted with a smiling face peeking around the door as I walked up the stairs. Trust me: when difficult clients smile at you, that is just a smile worth in gold. Too bad you can't cash it in though, hehe. I cleaned out her kitchen today and then at the end I was yet again greeted with more smiles and actual laughter as I was telling her about cat antics here. Yeah, life was good in the morning.

Still, every time I go there I cannot help but get nervous. I want to do some things, but I don't dare do them as I am afraid to upset things too much. I mean.. things like cleaning out a drawer is too much for her, emotionally, so go figure. And I am just not the kind of person to go waltzing over her feelings.

She did lend me two knitting needles. Me? Knit? Yeah I knit, don't ask me how but I do. I got thick needles for standard wool, intending to knit a long rectangular stretch thing in which I can store my hair toys. Said toys hanger will then be attached to my door using two suction cups. Everything is now in my drawer and it is getting confusing and most of all messy. With the thing I can hang up my sticks (weave through hanger) and clips (clip on side) and such, and save the drawer for the bands and combs and likes. Will save space.

The afternoon went alright, though it was mighty tiring, but needless to say that was also because of the kitchen clean in the morning. It went just fine though, and that is what matters.

Tomorrow is a standard not having to get up 30 minutes earlier than normal day, and then Thursday and Friday I have the afternoons off, thank goodness.

No news on the aunt by the way, so I guess she is stabilizing. But one never knows and I am waiting for my dad to tell me over Yahoo that she has passed on. Well.. it may sound stupid, but hey.. at least I know a 'do' to do to a funeral, that braided thing looks simple yet classy.
Mood: tired