Two weeks ago I get a call from a friend , who Ive not heard from for 18months , he has not been well and needs a new liver, hence he is on the transplant list. Now if thats not bad enough about 7yrs ago he had his leg amputated just below the knee ,and before you ask his name is not Lucky.
It transpires that with all of his medical problems he needs a carer for 1 day a week, to help him with such things as shopping hoovering ect. He has asked me to accept the job , I told him I have no qualifications or experience at this sort of work, but says I will manage. He is due to go on holiday on mon so this week Ive been helping him get ready for that and have been asked to house sit for 2 weeks . Basically just go round every other day water the plants open the windows to air the house and check the mail . Thats part of the reason Ive not been out selling Big Issues this week . Ive to call on him lunch time friday to discuss what to do while he is away and arrange when to see him on monday to get the keys. Apart from the house watching Ive agreed to work 1 afternoon a week from 12-4.30 , we have not really talked about wages yet, but I know I will at least get min wage . It might not seem much ,but its a start and achange from selling mags and you never know it may lead to other things .
On friday I will be back in Balham with the 30 mags I am buying and a lot of patience as I try to sell them , so take care and buy your copy from a genuine vender - me if possible .
Pennie in her bed
Is my dinner ready yet
intro
Pennie - my 15 year old dog
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Monday, 28 June 2010
WHERE DO THEY COME FROM
As I am writing this I take it for granted that you all got my retweet and may have read the Big Issue code of conduct.
Licensed Venders such as myself sign this code and agree to abide by the rules . Now I am not perfect and admit at times to have broken some of the rules myself ,but on the whole I stick to them and try to get every person that pays for a magazine to take it ,some wont and tell me to resell it , I thank them for their kindness.
UNLICENSED VENDERS- often forge their own Big Issue ID, as they are not allowed for a number of reasons to sell the magazine , I imagine they get someone they know to purchase magazines from one of the distribution points.They move from pitch to pitch usually at the peak selling times sometimes in a gang. Every magazine they sell means 1 less magazine a genuine vender will sell ,so as you can imagine they can be a hinderance to someone like me trying to get their life into some sort of order .Usually the Big Issue may inform the police of their activity as has happened in Balham , they then check their ID and pitch passes maybe give them a warning 1st time or confiscate their magazines . I did have a problem with these but In my opinion the community police have done a good job of putting a stop to this .
BEGGERS ON TRAINS/USING 1 COPY of the Big Issue as a blagging tool.These dont cause me any direct problems ,but do get the Big Issue and bonafide venders a bad name .Some off them may be suffering genuine hardships and may be in desperate need of money,all I can say on this is that they should get badged properly Ive even offered to take a couple of them to Vauxhall to do this .You could also look at it this way at least they are not mugging or robbing people - but that could be avery thin line .
BEGGERS SAT AT CASHPOINTS OR STATIONS or any other place.I dont feel Im in a position to condem beggers as it is something I have done myself in the not too distant past , also I have known some of them for years and they were my friends. That was until they started sitting round the corner from me with an old copy of the big Issue and messing up my sales. I have talked to the 1 concerned and asked him to make his mind up about what he is doing i.e. either beg or get badged up and sell the Big Issue properly on a designated pitch . I am hoping he takes my advice. because I dont really want to argue about this with anyone .
Sometimes I may get pensioners say they paid someone for a magazine and that person just ran off with the money. I tell them I will report it and if I can afford it I give them 1 of my mags. Its not just old people that can be conned its anyone it could even be YOU so take care and check the venders ID .
I WAS ASKED WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE COME FROM- well there is a big hostel at Ceders Rd-Clapham that takes homeless people directly from the streets, I spent some time there myself . Also Wicks lane ,a couple of places in West Norewood ,Streatham
plus all the ones I dont know about . The staff in these places do everything in their power to make sure residents in these hostels dont disrupt the lives of the locals, but I dont think you can blame the hostels and the troublemakers are a minority.
Being naturally lazy , hungry and wanting to watch a dvd I think Ill cal it a night and hope this has awnsered some of your questions Matt. ps watched Whole Lotta Love vid ,best cover of that song Ive heard.
Licensed Venders such as myself sign this code and agree to abide by the rules . Now I am not perfect and admit at times to have broken some of the rules myself ,but on the whole I stick to them and try to get every person that pays for a magazine to take it ,some wont and tell me to resell it , I thank them for their kindness.
UNLICENSED VENDERS- often forge their own Big Issue ID, as they are not allowed for a number of reasons to sell the magazine , I imagine they get someone they know to purchase magazines from one of the distribution points.They move from pitch to pitch usually at the peak selling times sometimes in a gang. Every magazine they sell means 1 less magazine a genuine vender will sell ,so as you can imagine they can be a hinderance to someone like me trying to get their life into some sort of order .Usually the Big Issue may inform the police of their activity as has happened in Balham , they then check their ID and pitch passes maybe give them a warning 1st time or confiscate their magazines . I did have a problem with these but In my opinion the community police have done a good job of putting a stop to this .
BEGGERS ON TRAINS/USING 1 COPY of the Big Issue as a blagging tool.These dont cause me any direct problems ,but do get the Big Issue and bonafide venders a bad name .Some off them may be suffering genuine hardships and may be in desperate need of money,all I can say on this is that they should get badged properly Ive even offered to take a couple of them to Vauxhall to do this .You could also look at it this way at least they are not mugging or robbing people - but that could be avery thin line .
BEGGERS SAT AT CASHPOINTS OR STATIONS or any other place.I dont feel Im in a position to condem beggers as it is something I have done myself in the not too distant past , also I have known some of them for years and they were my friends. That was until they started sitting round the corner from me with an old copy of the big Issue and messing up my sales. I have talked to the 1 concerned and asked him to make his mind up about what he is doing i.e. either beg or get badged up and sell the Big Issue properly on a designated pitch . I am hoping he takes my advice. because I dont really want to argue about this with anyone .
Sometimes I may get pensioners say they paid someone for a magazine and that person just ran off with the money. I tell them I will report it and if I can afford it I give them 1 of my mags. Its not just old people that can be conned its anyone it could even be YOU so take care and check the venders ID .
I WAS ASKED WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE COME FROM- well there is a big hostel at Ceders Rd-Clapham that takes homeless people directly from the streets, I spent some time there myself . Also Wicks lane ,a couple of places in West Norewood ,Streatham
plus all the ones I dont know about . The staff in these places do everything in their power to make sure residents in these hostels dont disrupt the lives of the locals, but I dont think you can blame the hostels and the troublemakers are a minority.
Being naturally lazy , hungry and wanting to watch a dvd I think Ill cal it a night and hope this has awnsered some of your questions Matt. ps watched Whole Lotta Love vid ,best cover of that song Ive heard.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Offline
I have been offline for over a week this pay as you go mobile broadband eats up quite a bit of my money ,desperatly trying to open a bank account with out one Im excluded from a lot of things (will write about that in a few days) ,.Have not seen my keyworker yet so dont know anything about my flat , hoping to see her this week then I can let everyone who has been asking me know whats going on .I may have a part time job as a care assistant , will write about that tommorow night .Really tired so I will say goodnight tonight.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
MY NEW COUNCIL FLAT
Seen my keyworker from St Mungoes earlier today , seems Lambeth council are giving four tennencies away this year and one of them is coming my way. I did not realize Ive been in the supported housing scheme near West Norewood stn for just over four years Im the longest staying tennant(its meant to be a short term thing) , they let me stay so long because of illness and the dogs age . Im going for a ground floor place with a garden the areas I have chosen are West Norewood,Gypsy Hill,Crystal Palace and Balham , you have to nominate four areas and at the moment I dont know how many refusals I have before I make my choice . It works like this the council give me a pin number thyen I go online and view all the available properties in my chosen areas . So I dont know how long it will take but Im hoping to be in a new place before christmas .
Looks like I will have to start saving to furnish the place thgough I have been told that if I do a pre-tennancy course I will qualify for a grant , which would be really helpful .Dont know what to do about my stray cats yet , I think they give Pennie a bit of excitement she always wags her tail while growling at them, her eysight is so bad I think she can only see about a foot in front of herself . On the subject of eyesight mine is really bad , I have appointment for an eye test in the morning so over the next week will be working to pay for my glasses . Im not going to specsavers its too far and anyway I believe in supporting small local bussinesses , Im hoping a £100 will be enough , will find out tommorrow .
In the afternoon its down to Vauxhall to pick up thirty big issues , thats £30 after paying my fares , so Im in for a busy night selling I hope , after five when the suns not at its hottest . All though there is plenty of places at Balham to sit in the shade . Im also hoping that all the abusive people get sunburnt tounges .Well got to go no time to check for spelling mistakes ,not that I really care , I am what I am .
Looks like I will have to start saving to furnish the place thgough I have been told that if I do a pre-tennancy course I will qualify for a grant , which would be really helpful .Dont know what to do about my stray cats yet , I think they give Pennie a bit of excitement she always wags her tail while growling at them, her eysight is so bad I think she can only see about a foot in front of herself . On the subject of eyesight mine is really bad , I have appointment for an eye test in the morning so over the next week will be working to pay for my glasses . Im not going to specsavers its too far and anyway I believe in supporting small local bussinesses , Im hoping a £100 will be enough , will find out tommorrow .
In the afternoon its down to Vauxhall to pick up thirty big issues , thats £30 after paying my fares , so Im in for a busy night selling I hope , after five when the suns not at its hottest . All though there is plenty of places at Balham to sit in the shade . Im also hoping that all the abusive people get sunburnt tounges .Well got to go no time to check for spelling mistakes ,not that I really care , I am what I am .
The angel of St Roch .
I have not been out a great deal this week due to illness . Today though I went to my local Sommerfield which until recently was my regular pitch. Its been quite hot in London this week but I took my dog with me not expecting to be out in the sun for to long with only one magazine to sell . I usually take a stool with me to sit on as I suffer from arthritis,back pains and COPD . I was there for about ten to fifteen minutes and had to rest so I sat leaning against the bin . I tried to get my dog to sit in the shade , but she kept coming to sit near me so I put a bit of water on her head and neck to cool her down , she was panting slightly but ok and it was my intention only to be there for half an hour . Pennie my dog is fifteen years old and wont sit down or remain still when she wants to go home . So I look at the time and think to myself only ten or twelve minutes to go then Im off home for a cup of tea .
She descended upon me from nowhere screaming like the avenging angel of St Roch (patron saint of dogs).
"you shouldnt be sat in this heat with that dog , its cruel blah blah yip yap you are wicked blah blah " . She did not even give me a chance to say anything but went and stood at the cash point about twenty yards away from me with (a failed science project) her daughter I presume .I have had my dog a long time and am anything but cruel to her. So shes at the cash point with her mouth breaking the world speed record , every second or so her arm flys up and I see her finger is pointed at me . Well by now I gesture for her to come over to me and ask what her problem is . She keeps nagging non stop so I say the RSPCA is right across the road why dont you go and tell them about it , she gets hysterical saying she will have my dog taken away and that white dogs are more affected by the sun than black dogs and she has a white dog and does not take it out (her house must smell awful I think what with her dog doing a life sentence), Im about to call a exorcist when she leaves for the RSPCA across the road .
What got to me was the fact that she did not see a person , all she seen was a piece of dirt she thought she could bully nag and abuse and I meet people like that everyday and usually they dont bother me. and what angered her the most was the fact that I awnsered her back in a polite manner and did not speak to her like she did to me .
Ten minutes after she left I called it a day (I was there a total of 28 minutes) and walked over to the RSPCA shop and offered to give them my details in case they wanted a Inspector to investigate me . I knew I had no cause for concern and the people in the shop said they knew my dog was well cared for and she is .
At the same time though I do think that if a person thinks a animal is being mistreated they should report it even if they are proved wrong in the long run . You never know one time they may be right .I never got to sell my magazine ,but thats another story .
She descended upon me from nowhere screaming like the avenging angel of St Roch (patron saint of dogs).
"you shouldnt be sat in this heat with that dog , its cruel blah blah yip yap you are wicked blah blah " . She did not even give me a chance to say anything but went and stood at the cash point about twenty yards away from me with (a failed science project) her daughter I presume .I have had my dog a long time and am anything but cruel to her. So shes at the cash point with her mouth breaking the world speed record , every second or so her arm flys up and I see her finger is pointed at me . Well by now I gesture for her to come over to me and ask what her problem is . She keeps nagging non stop so I say the RSPCA is right across the road why dont you go and tell them about it , she gets hysterical saying she will have my dog taken away and that white dogs are more affected by the sun than black dogs and she has a white dog and does not take it out (her house must smell awful I think what with her dog doing a life sentence), Im about to call a exorcist when she leaves for the RSPCA across the road .
What got to me was the fact that she did not see a person , all she seen was a piece of dirt she thought she could bully nag and abuse and I meet people like that everyday and usually they dont bother me. and what angered her the most was the fact that I awnsered her back in a polite manner and did not speak to her like she did to me .
Ten minutes after she left I called it a day (I was there a total of 28 minutes) and walked over to the RSPCA shop and offered to give them my details in case they wanted a Inspector to investigate me . I knew I had no cause for concern and the people in the shop said they knew my dog was well cared for and she is .
At the same time though I do think that if a person thinks a animal is being mistreated they should report it even if they are proved wrong in the long run . You never know one time they may be right .I never got to sell my magazine ,but thats another story .
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