General Chat

As some of you know I have a serious heart problem and have been awaiting surgery. Last mid September I was signed of sick as I can no longer drive due to dizzy spells'
This has meant confined to the house and I have felt and still feel very isolated.

I have only had a visit from one colleague/friend and one friend from my old district.
Boss one from the rural school hasn't been to visit me and I had one 10 min call just before xmas.
Boss 2 finally text me last week to ask if she could visit me on wed(just gone) I said that would be lovely, she said 3.45pm. I get a text 3.30 to say it will be 4.30 before she can get here!

I went to a lot of trouble making a banana loaf and put out nice biscuits etc all on a tray ready.
She arrives with the deputy head! Whilst they were parking, I quickly set another place at the table...no problem

Explained everything that had happened and that I felt very isolated not working or seeing anyone. She said oh well hopefully soon you will hear something.
I asked what had been doing at school but she said"just the usual", so no new news there.
Blow me she kept looking at her watch and at 5.10 announced they would have to go as she had to be somewhere else.
It was all so rushed and I had been so looking forward to being with people I knew.

I feel I am just a number. Out of sight is out of mind.
But also I am a burden to the dept as they are paying me sick pay but also paying a relief to cover my jobs in both schools.

I told them I wouldn't be back until after the summer holidays in August assuming im fully recovered.

Has anyone else been off sick longterm and feel they are just a number?
Or is it just me.
The visit has left me feeling very down and not very valued

Florence in the hebrides

I suspect she felt awkward and not sure what to say, almost like a bereavement.

She probably didn't want to tell you about things going on, in case some of it might 'stress' you. It can be hard to judge what the person who hasn't been in the day-to-day cut and thrust might want to hear.

I've worked somewhere where a staff member was on long-term sick and it can be hard to 'remember' them all the time. There may also be an assumption that you don't really want to hear about work when you're concerned about your health.

Don't lose touch with them, I'm sure they don't think of you as just a 'number'

Florence61 - a very sad situation.

You can judge your (real) friends by the way they help you when you’re in trouble.

Friendship is not something that is ephemeral.

Try not to feel sad Florence, concentrate on getting yourself well. Sending hugs


<3 <3 <3 <3

Florence, I agree with Sheila and Ann.
Look after yourself - and chat on here. <3
Have you got Whatsapp/messenger - so you can talk to family?

Thankyou for you kind words and advice. I am a very sociable creature and before I was ill was always visiting others as I had the freedom of driving myself anywhere I wanted too.

This setback I think has hit me very hard.

I do have whattsapp and friends down south do message weekly etc but its just not the same as having a person sit and have a natter and a cuppa for an hour.

I am so glad to have this site as I do look in most days and read lots of threads just don't always feel like commenting on some but it passes the time for me.

By tomorrow lunchtime, I probably wont have any power when the storm hits as maybe some of you elsewhere wont have either.
Stay safe everyone

Florence in the hebrides

Stay safe Florence, hope your power stays on. The wind is rising here in the Midlands, I can imagine what it sounds like where you are! Takes me back to when I was a child in the Isle of Man, when it was stormy and the power went off, hurricane lamps and candles and as many torches as we could find. Happy days really :-)

Rose I have so many candles in preparation for when the power goes off, ex use to say my front room looked like the Vatican City...lol
I said," one can never have too many candles up here"!

Its gone rather calm just now. There is always a lull before a bad storm.
Im off to bed now to hopefully get to sleep as theres little wind to keep me awake!

Goodnite peeps

Florence in the Hebrides

Edit...when my children were quite young, they loved it when the power went off and we played lots of games as a family in the candlelight along with a feast of crisps dips and cake! happy days then :-)

Florence I still have a pack of Price's candles in the garage, just in case :-D

Umm - I've got 3 packs of Prices candles in a drawer - somewhere! :-S
It has been spookily quiet here all evening- until about 5 minutes ago, when the wind started.

Hope you are ok Florence this morning with power on. I have just seen Jill in the IOM say on Face Book that their power has gone off again. Very squally and blustery here.

Morning everyone. Im ok and strangely not that windy here....yet but pouring hard.
My parents are in the south east so off to check on them by phone.Think its about 75 mph midday down there.

better locate those candles as you never know when you might need them.
Stay safe

Florence in the hebrides

Good to see you are safe and have power Florence.

It's wild but dry here near the Channel coast. A plant growing against the house has done a horizontal tilt, but no point going out there until the wind eases.
Daughter has just told me that a lorry has blown over on the A20 London-bound from Dover. I do hope everyone is safe there. There are so many lorries on our Kent roads and parts of the A20 are high and bear the brunt of wild weather from the Channel.

Here on the Firth of Clyde it was calm all night but now is very windy with heavy showers and sunny spells. We have just had a parcel delivery and the poor man could hardly stand upright - he certainly earned his money today.

OH is in Lancashire and should have been driving home but the forecast is so awful and the M6 is high up through the Lakes, so he is staying put.

I have a packet of candles too, in the kitchen and we are lucky that we cook on LPG so don't run out, no matter what the weather does.

Evening All very windy here last night & all day as well not much rain .but snow on the way Tomorrow for Dumfries & Galloway .have family in. Lancashire But they are all safe Take Care if you are out & about Barbara

I was away yesterday but checked our local on line newspaper. A tree had come locally.

It seemed to have fallen onto a speed camera ;-)

We had a tree come down locally (between Winchester and Micheldever), on a car.
Unfortunately the occupant was killed.