A Stressful Day, A Wasted Trip & Andrew Lyons

A stressful day. I attended a rather subdued Group meeting this morning which was thankfully made more cheerful by the arrival of Harry and Harriet, our local Pets As Therapy dogs and their handlers. There were once again relatively few attendees and I'm inclined to blame the weather for their non-appearance.
The journey to Spalding this morning was again made in freezing conditions, this time compounded by thick fog and ice. It looks as if we are in for a prolonged period of freezing temperatures though the snow does seem to have abated.

Speaking on non-appearance, I yesterday afternoon attended what I believed to be a meeting held at Lincolnshire NHS offices at Bracebridge Heath. The meeting had been scheduled for 4pm and its purpose was to informally discuss how we all felt about the future of mental health support in the wake of Andrew Harrison's tragic death. How surprised was I then to find on arrival that I was the only one attending and that the meeting had evidently been cancelled. I have sent an email to the organiser but I have yet to receive a reply.

Today had been allocated by my wife for us to contact the council regarding our council tax payments and our electricity provider Eon regarding the ridiculous amount they are changing for our lighting and heating.
I had been dreading the prospect of having to speak with them but thankfully my wife had dealt with the council before I arrived home from Group. I find more and more that my anxiety kicks in and frankly makes me feel quite ill. I much prefer to type letters. It is one of the few things I am still able to do with any level of confidence.
I finally mustered the courage and explained our situation to the chap in their call centre. To his credit, he was actually quite helpful and having explained that there was no way we could afford to pay £360 per month, he set about changing our payment arrangement. This still leaves the £800 odd debt we've somehow managed to accrue since joining them last year. This still needs to be resolved and a complaint has been raised with a dedicated team who should be contacting us in a couple of days time. Of particular concern is how our monthly energy consumption could have leaped from £126 to £196 and why they emptied our bank account at the beginning of January to pay off some of what we owed - without consulting us beforehand. This may sound minor and trivial to many but when you have very little or no income, it's pretty major.

Suicide is in the news again. The BBC have an article on their news site which highlights the increase in the number of people taking their own lives. This is tragic and sad, but not unexpected. I've written at length about how stress, depression and their causes such as debt, redundancy and the squeeze on living standards caused by Government policy is making life unbearable for many. An increasing number are being pushed to the limit, and in some cases, beyond.
In my local newspaper, the Spalding Guardian, I see that there was another successful suicide attempt in Spalding. The body of Andrew Lyons, aged just 33 was discovered next to the railway line. What drove Andrew to this act is unknown but it is a sad fact that more and more people in their 30's are choosing the ultimate way out and freedom from the pain and misery of debt and redundancy. Why? is something many will be asking. Was help available to Andrew or had he sought help? IS there anything anyone could have done to make his situation easier or provide hope, enough for him to see that there is a reason for carrying on? Perhaps we'll never know, but Andrew is a reminder to us all of how suicide is difficult to predict and to prevent in someone determined enough.
I always feel anger when something like this happens. I feel angry that no one was able to help. I feel angry that Andrew felt so desperate and alone, that his problems couldn't be resolved or worked out. If help had been provided and there was hope, what would Andrew have become and achieved in his life? Whatever pushed Andrew to the limit and beyond could have been made easier with support and help from others, particularly those who have been where Andrew had been, people who understand how it is to feel there is no way out of a situation and to make the ultimate choice. People like this are in a unique position to empathise and provide the support needed to convince someone like Andrew that there is another way out. When someone is depressed and at their wits end, it is impossible to see, but it is there, of this I am convinced. If only...
My Moodscope score today is 47%

Common Sense

I do seem to find myself becoming increasingly frustrated and angered whenever I drive anywhere in South Holland. The habits of drivers in this area are no longer limited to speeding and poor indicator use. A large number it seems do not know when it is appropriate to use their lights.
Take today for instance, most of the area around Spalding is blanketed by a thick layer of dense fog. Visibility is very poor as a consequence and on the faster roads, it is impossible to spot vehicles until they are just a hundred feet away or less. Why therefore are there so many drivers who choose to make themselves impossible to see by not using their headlights? I have this afternoon driven back from Spalding and I have honestly lost count of the number of cars without lights, front or rear. It's not just the older cars at fault, most of the offenders are the new larger cars such as Land Rovers and Mercedes. For some reason best known to them, they don't seem to need lights. Perhaps it is just too much effort for them. What would their excuse be I wonder when explaining to a police officer why they hit a car pulling out from a junction on a 60 mph road? It is just this type of driver and their plain ignorance and lack of basic common sense that puts other road users in danger and causes accidents. Headlight use should be mandatory and the penalty for failing to use them should be severe. There can be no excuse.

Continuing in a similar vein, the funeral is being held in Sutton Bridge this afternoon for the two young sisters tragically killed a couple of weeks ago on the A47 near Wisbech. Apparently the two young girls attended the Westmere School in Sutton Bridge - which is federated with my son's school. There is no indication of what caused the accident but it serves as a stark reminder of how dangerous our roads can be.

A Foggy Hunstanton

Today we took a trip to Hunstanton so that Polly our dog could have a good run around. She loves it down there on the beach and I'm rather fond of the place also. My favourite poet John Betjeman had a fondness for it also. Such a shame that it was shrouded in thick fog. In fact, the journey there and back was in thick fog.

An incessant northerly wind soon made my face numb and as we reached the cliffs and rocks, we turned around so the wind was behind us. Thankfully I had thought to take my scarf and wear a fleece.
Despite the inclement weather, there were quite a few people on the beach, most of them walking their dogs. It's that time of year when dogs are allowed on the beach - out of season - so we tend to make the most of it while we can.
With the wind behind us, we continued to walk to where the lifeboat and beach huts are. In all the years I've lived here, and in my visits to Hunstanton, I had not actually been to this part of the beach and wouldn't have known it existed until my wife had pointed it out.

There's even a place to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea and a snack. I imagine it is bustling during the summer months, but the fog today did lend itself rather well to giving the place a closed in feeling.
As we walked back along the sand dunes towards the main car park, we passed the little village of beach huts and I felt quite envious of their owners, imagining how useful it would be to own one and use it as a shelter and a place to get changed on hot summer days.

A visit to Hunstanton isn't complete without fish and chips and this time, we tried out a new place my in-laws had spoken highly of. It's a little way up into the town and it was a job to find somewhere to park. We each had cod and chips and a drink and I was shocked to find it costing £19! Either I'm out of touch or prices have gotten ridiculous in the last few years. Despite the cost, they were delicious and being served in a strong box ensured I didn't end up with a lap full of chips, as is the norm on occasions such as these.

The drive back home via King's Lynn for fuel was taken a little more gingerly given the weather conditions and I found myself having to flash other motorists every few minutes for failing to use their lights. I don't know what it is with some people. Surely, the automatic instinct when seeing fog is to turn on your car lights. It seems common sense isn't that common after all.
My Moodscope rating today is 71%, pretty good.