Barrier

My year long sick leave is over. I have been signed back for to work. This has meant an end to ESA (Employment Support Allowance) and a move to JSA (Job Seekers Allowance). This is something I want to be on for as short a time as possible. Being on benefits is a bit soul …

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One Year

A year ago I was living in Mwanza. In fact, though I did not know it at the time, this day (April 1st) would be my last full day in Tanzania. A year ago tomorrow we would be heading off for a holiday in Kenya. However, Easter is a moveable feast and as such has …

Where I’m At

Time ticks on and there has been little to say in recent weeks. Both my wife and I remain off work on sick leave, following her heart attack and my slow recovery from the stem cell transplant. We both are recovering well and have started to do a little more as we gear up for …

New Norm

The ring of the alarm. 7 am Morning comes too soon. On a good night I've been up twice. But sometimes thrice. Early hours ablutions. Within minutes they are up. Wife an daughter. Showers, hairdryers, dressed, breakfast out. The hustle and bustle of a typical morning followed by Silence. The house is quiet. Maybe another …

Strange September

For years I have hated the first week of September- the return to work after the long summer break. The sudden imposition of schedules and meetings on what was free space. It always started with INSET days. Staff Training Days ahead of the pupils return. Necessary but for those who prefer to be at the …

Rebuilding

Having been overseas for three years and having no intention of returning to Britain, it has been quite a shock to the system to be back here. Now, as we adjust to the reality, we are in the process of rebuilding our UK lives. Anita has secured her old job in Milton Keynes (in fact …

Full Circle!

We have returned. After three years we are back in MK. It seems like a lifetime and yet it seems like yesterday. We never imagined we would be back here on any permanent basis but here we are. God has a sense of humour.Anita starts work on Tuesday back at her old place of work …

Day of Rest

In the English vernacular" I'm knackered". After three days out of the last four days on the road I'm exhausted. A sign of my illness no doubt as well as the variable sleep patterns over the weekend. I had enough energy to walk to the doctor for my weekly INR this morning  where my blood …

Ghosts

In 1984 I needed a summer job. I'd left school and wanted to earn some cash before I went to Nottingham University.  I ended up getting a job as a Domestic Assistant (Cleaner) at the newly built wing of Lincoln County Hospital. My role along with a team of other young people was to clean …

Sands of Time

It seems hard to believe that I have been back in the U.K. for two months. I arrived on the day they called an election, which has now passed. I arrived just after Easter and now the summer Hilidays are fast approaching. Today at my school in Tanzania they will hold Prize Night that end …