Goodbye Birkenhead

I feel like a bird that has just flown out of the cage....freeeedom! Finally I am out of boot camp

I was on my way to the train station when the agency rang me to offer me work from the 3rd August.  I said, "Well hang on' I've got work here in Birkenhead on that date".   "Oh!" she said, "that was cancelled last night".  As I write no-one yet knows why I was cancelled.  It is a mystery! And I am so happy, happy, happy!  What a relief!  The night before I was to leave, one of the family called in armed with laminated lists of rules to stick on various walls around the house.  "Jo, this has nothing to do with you OK.....it is for the benefit of future carers OK".  Right...I don't think.  My heart slid into my shoes when I saw all these rules.  My first thought was "I'm out of here....three weeks more and that's it".  So Halleluliah! .no more Birkenhead.  If I can survive that I can survive anything.  Even my dear old client in Cambridge, with double incontinence, aggressive behaviour, dementia and night disturbances was easier than this lady.  It is sad 'cause it could have been so much more pleasant.

So here I am with Scott and Emma, and have enjoyed the leafy surrounds of Epping Forest for a couple of days.  Am off to Durham tomorrow via bus....six and a half hours! Twice the time on the train but half the price.

Ferry 'Cross the Mersey

Saturday afternoon was brilliant. After discussions with the agency about me having a adequate time off the family organised for me to have Saturday afternoon free.  Once my dear lady got over the trauma of me having all that time out of the house the daughter dropped me off at the ferry and I enjoyed the experience of the famous sixties song Ferry 'Cross the Mersey.....they even played the song onboard.  It took a whole 10 minutes to cross from the Birkenhead side to the Liverpool side.  Access from one side to the other is usually via the underground tunnel, apparently the first tunnel under water to be built worldwide.

My afternoon in the city was hardly earthshattering but it was great to do normal things and enjoy just being part of the city life. I ended up in a Rockerfellas hamburger bar ....was very 50's Happy Days style.  I kept wondering if the Fonz was going to pop out of the woodwork. 

Saturday afternoon in Liverpool is not much different from any other city in that there are absolutely crowds of people everywhere.  One would hardly think there was a recession on here with so many people in the shopping plaza but I suppose they could all be like me, only time to spend but not much else. 

It has come to light that I am dealing with someone who has obsessive compulsive tendencies....I knew there was something wierd going on.  It sort of helps to know there is a mental health issue and not just a personality clash.  I am afraid I am too old to be told constantly when I am not doing something the 'right' way or I should be doing something other than what I am doing.  The family seem to have complied with it all their lives and expect the us to do the same....all for the sake of peace!  I am starting to see that my ego is about the size of a battle ship and will take some battering before I submit to such pedantic requests.  What was the story of the little girl who when she was good she was really, really good, and when she was bad she was horrid......it is a bit like that but is actually quite sweet and lovely for a lot of the time.

Ten days to go and then two weeks off!

Mother Duck said...Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!

I have been so tired by the time bed time finally comes round I haven't had the creative energy to write anything. It is now Sat 9^th July and as I write I keep getting a blog error coming up so goodness knows if this is going to complete. 

The neighbours across the road are at it again after another hot day so it looks like being another sleepless night.

Each day has been much the same, excruciatingly mundane; however, there was one bright spot this week when I went off to the park for a short break.  As I approached the park a mother duck waddled out with her four little ducklings.  She was trying to get back in through the fence but was too fat.  Another local lady had gone to the rescue but had a huge dalmation dog to contend with too....not a good combination with ducks. So it was left to me to try get mother duck back into the park.  No easy task!

After fruitless efforts trying to get back throught the fence she took off up the footpath with little ducklings falling over each other trying to keep up and headed straight across the road with kiddies in tow. So there was I on my eagerly looked forward to break holding up the traffic so mother duck could get across the road without being squished. Then it was round all the houses till she finally found her way back across the road again....this time I had to stop a bus which made the driver's day and with the help of a John Lennon speak guy and a young lad from the nearby garage we all finally get the family of five back into the park.....last seen waddling across the vast lawns.

Why am I here?

I have to keep reminding myself why I am here?  Money and traveling!!  First pay week tomorrow.  Two more to go then two weeks off. 

I had a serious thought today of quitting after I have my Scottish Highlands fling in September and head back to Aus via Canada and visit my sister there for a couple of weeks.  This is doing my head in.  I will give it my best shot to the end of these three weeks and see how it goes.  Apparently my saving grace is I am a marvelous cook....the best yet!....Sigh!  Pity my patience levels weren't as good. 

The weather has been really balmy for the last three days or so but cooler days ahead, surprise, surprise.  So warm in fact the neighbours across the road (imagine Coronation st) have been sitting at the front door step two nights in a row talking their heads off.  I couldnt stand it any longer last night and went to the door and asked them to turn it down.....a waste of time....called the police at 2 a.m. who were even less helpful.  So as far as I'm concerned the cooler weather cant come quick enough.  So far tonight it is peace and quiet. 

Hopefully I will be in a better frame of mind tomorrow after a good nights sleep.

Getting better?

Am finally feeling in a more positive frame of mind.  Have now been at my new client's four days and seriously wondering if I was going to last the week.  However, I think I turned a corner today and the future is looking a lot brighter.  Initially the family did not seem very supportive and I was not being given much time off but after some discussion with the agency and an honest talk with the family it all seems to be coming together and they are now asking me how long can I stay!  Gee, it's nice to be suddenly appreciated.  So, once I can crack making perfectly smooth, creamy, thin porridge for my LOL it will be downhill all the way.  Once we get past breakfast the day improves by the hour.  It's been a bit like the three bears story so God willing, Goldilocks will finally hear the famous words....Ooooh! it's just right!

The area round here is not exactly uptown but there is a lovely park just at the end of the road, Birkenhead Park.  Apparently Central Park in New York is designed after it.

I am feeling a bit starved of decent shops but that is probably a good thing as I cant buy anything without adding weight to my already heavy load.  Discovered a cool little coffee shop in the village ten minutes walk away so that will be my little haven when I want to feel like a normal person.