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The Double Deckers
23:27 Jan 21 2015
Times Read: 583

So I was out with Barry in the car, much as we have enjoyed weekends passed. The weather had been biting cold and, I’d relished the cars heater, as we had listened to Manchester Rock XS and sounds that meant something to us, that the music of today could never reach… We had gone to the docks, to check onna trip down the canal, then onto Ellesmere Port Market, to check out a thing or three and, on the way there I’d got pining for chocolate, as some can and I rarely do. And, we’d gone round the stalls, finding the odd thing wanted and a few frames that were needed, then begun our winding way home, so I’d be back in time to cook the evening meal. It was as we had begun to traverse, that Barry had pulled a blinder and, two Double Deckers from a bag in his quite capacious pocket. And, as we travelled home, listened to rock music of the seventies, we bit into and chewed a taste of the time, that was sweeter with just a touch more rhyme… and, as I chewed the chocolate bar in Barry’s car, my mind had slewed back in time, to the year nineteen seventy-two and the teevee show with a sweet name… just the same, The Double Deckers.

as we may have done, months ago…
00:01 Jan 09 2015
Times Read: 591

I know that in his own inimitable way, my Father cares. But, I get cabin-fever within hours, if I’m told I can’t go out. And, the weather on the first January 2015 was not your best. Now granted, other parts of the country will have got it worse tha we do on the Wirral, they always do. That said, it was windy going on stormy with the distinct possibility of rain and Dad was protesting about my intent to go to the Mere, simply because of the weather. Now, at one o’clock the next morning it sounded pretty stormy outside my window, but earlier in the day a few spots of rain were not going to stop me and, as it happens, they had hardly touched me.



When we were younger, I recall being in my bathing suit, playing with my brother in the incoming tide that ebbed in and out, layer after layer, drifting toward toes as we walked. He had dark hair and dark skin, whilst I was quite the reverse.



We’d played and laughed, as our parents walked behind us, holding hands, with Dad’s trouser legs rolled up, as he paddled. And that had been it.



Maybe he had swum with us at Abersoch, there on the Warren beach. I don’t recall.



What I do recall is either my brother or myself running over to my parents, sitting on their deckchairs, by the windbreaker, on a sunny day, beneath an eternally blue-sky.



“Come in Daddy,” one of us would yell, “the waters lovely and warm.”



And, he’d reply the reply I always associate with Dad and those wonderful holidays, “I would, but the waters too wet.”



Well, this Friday the 2nd January 2015, after shopping at the Azda, on the quietest day I’ve ever known there, we’d put the groceries away and the heating had been on a awhile and, as he sipped his tea, I’d said, “I figure the waters ready for your bath.”



And dryly he lamented from the sofa, “Well, I’m not ready for it yet.”



I had returned from the The Nationwide in the village, where I had learnt the dole has now managed to get access to my account right, if not the amount. But hey, life’s made of little achievement. Once home I had responded to Barry’s phonecall, “Okay to call round for awhile?” He had asked, knowing it was pretty near to when I usually cook the tea. “Of course,” I’d answered, as I’d made my coffee. Well, just a short while later he was on my doorstep, “I don’t need a drink, thanks.”



He hadn’t sounded too serious, as he spoke; but once in my room he’d asked me to turn down the volume, as I’d decided to show him the Riddick cartoon, on the RM Seven machine, Karl got working for me. “Sure,” I’d answered, doing as requested.



Then he’d begun talking, telling me that he has been diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. The whole conversation had been so calm and collected. It was on the Saturday we had a travelling day, much as we had months ago…leaving no plan for the next day, as we may have done, months ago…





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... no snappy reply.
22:15 Jan 08 2015
Times Read: 594




I received a letter from DWP on Friday 26th – my claim and amount of ESA confirmed.



Duplicate received on Saturday and, a letter telling me details of my application for ESA needed to be confirmed.



I had wrote a letter regarding the capital, to illustrate the amount with evidence, which I sent on Monday



On Monday I rang the advice-line and had clarified the points of the application that needed to be confirmed. I was told that’s it and had the amount to be received on 30th

And, I was also told of the payments to be made on the 8th and 22nd.



On Tuesday I went to the Nationwide to see about my money. Other than the final payment from the JSA paid on the 23rd December, there was nothing else in my account.



I went home to ring the advice-line, only to be told that the money had been issued and then withdrawn. I was told that he would contact Birkenhead and they would ring me before 5:30 or, 10:30a.m.at the latest, the next day.



At 10:31 a.m. the phone rang: Helen from ESA, Birkenhead. It seemed there was a problem with my Nationwide current account, formerly The Cheshire: she sought account detail clarification.



I explained that although I hold a Nationwide passbook, my details have not changed.



Helen, from ESA had phoned back at 11:15 as she had said she would, to inform me that the money would be paid, via The Cheshire’s Account details, as these were the one’s that were used on the 23rd December 2014



She said she would ring back 1:30 p.m. to see whether I’d been paid. I had not and, she had not rung when she did not ring back at the time cited.



At 1:46 p.m. I had phoned the ESA advice-line and spoken to ‘Louise from Grimsby’, appraising her of my current situation, in an effort to see what to do next.



She had assured me that if they said they would pay me, they would; and, that payment could take up till midnight. At this point, I’d reminded her it was New Years Day, the next day.



Knowing I can trace an amount sent before it reaches my account, if I have certain details, I had asked her if she would contact Birkenhead and get them to phone me, with what I needed. I had been told she would, but it could take up to three hours. The Nationwide closed at 3:00 p.m. on New Years Eve.



Then somewhere between 3:40 and 4:00 p.m. a man from the ESA in Birkenhead phoned, to assure me I would be paid and, that it was issued at 11:11 a.m. and, could take up to four hours after that. I had reminded him that the woman who had phoned had phoned at 11:15 a.m. and known nothing of it. ‘She must have been looking at a different screen,’ he’d retorted, to which I had no snappy reply.