careful what you wish for

Oof. Crazy busy!

1. I - bizarrely - have a nice and growing number of clients for my podcast business. And I'm getting paid!
2. I'm still not used to talking about my "clients". or my "business". Weirdness.
3. Most of these are just editing jobs so far but I also launched a whole podcast and got it onto Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher...
4. I'm actually really good at this!
5. Even though I'm LOVING doing the podcast work, I recently applied for another job. I didn't get it but it was nice to go for an interview and not have EVERYTHING riding on it.

All of this is despite the fact that I officially "have limited capability for work and work-related activity". This is from my recent Work Capability Assessment (WCA), something which I probably should've had for my Universal Credit claim way before now.

The first part of this involved filling out... ANOTHER FORM!

Well, it has been a while.

This one was pretty intense. But once again I used the Benefit Advice Essentials Facebook Group for some advice. And as before it was really helpful.

At first glance I thought I could take a good run at the form. But looking at one of their information sheets, it pointed out two things:

• Parts of the WCA form are directly related to parts of the PIP form.
• The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could use the information from a WCA form to make decisions on PIP applications.

After reading this, I made sure that anything I wrote on the WCA form didn't contradict anything I'd put in my last PIP application.

I got it done and submitted, then spent a couple of weeks stressing about having to have another face-to-face assessment.

And then I got a letter through the post, saying, as above, that I have limited capability for work. With no need for an assessment.

Which at first seemed like a bit of a result - woo-hoo, etc.

At first.

But then I realised. I hadn't lied on this form. And thinking back, I didn't so much as bend the truth at all on my PIP form.

And then I thought - so maybe I really am that disabled.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that I should get the support I need, especially as I try to establish my new of working.

But nevertheless, it's a bit crap, innit?

(It's that kind of penetrating insight which you keep coming back for, right?)

i’m on the FUMS podcast!

In a continuing showcase for my shameless oversharing and self-promotion, I thought I’d let you know that I’m the guest on the newest FUMS podcast episode.


This chat was recorded a couple of weeks ago and, as is obvious if you listen to it, it was a lot of fun.

FULL DISCLOSURE: as editor I took out a few of my more irritating space-holder noises and phrases, plus I removed a whole section of chat where I got something totally round my neck and misremembered a few facts. It seemed easier than stealing Adam Buxton’s Fact-Checking Santa character wholesale.

I’m the first guest in a series where Kathy talks to MSers from around the world to find out about their experiences of diagnosis and treatment. Obviously she’s based in the US so there are some fairly obvious differences between her experience and mine in the UK.

But I’ve heard the next episode which features Robert Joyce from A 30 Minute Life and, even though he's only from Ireland, the variation between the care we receive is pretty staggering.

the blogger’s complaint

The work I've been doing has gotten crazy recently. Hence the extended radio silence. I knew it was coming but still it was surprising nonetheless.

The festival I've been working on opened last week. My contract is for a set amount of days over six months so I don't have a huge number of days left. The festival itself finishes mid-April but they want me to do some work on the evaluation. So the number of days I'll be working each week will necessarily get fewer.

There have been a number of long days and weekends which I guess is par for the course. But it doesn't stop my family worrying that I'm heading for a crash.

On the other hand, my work on the FUMS podcast is like a dream come true. I love it and I feel like I'm pretty good at it - Kathy tells me so, anyway.

Coming up the pod will be featuring interviews with people with MS from around the world, talking about their diagnosis and treatment stories. Obviously Kathy is based in the US so her intention is to show how F'd up their health system is. She started off by interviewing me and this gave me a good opportunity to bang on about the NHS again.

I really enjoyed chatting with Kathy and I'm a shameless self-publicist. So I'll undoubtedly share it here once it's published. Although obviously you should already have subscribed to the podcast,right?

I just hope I don't hate the sound of my voice so much that it's the shortest interview yet. Or at the very least very presenter-heavy.