Post #133 - Trains, Planes and Automobiles

Well, the first one anyway, planes aren't a huge part of my life. Yesterday I went for a day trip to the coast and to enable myself to be able to catch the relevant train I had to travel across London. At weekends they often run 4 carriage, half size trains and as you can imagine, they can get crowded. Anyway, there I am, minding my own business, sat on a set of 6 seats, facing the way of travel and the train stops at a major travel hub. Quite a crowd of people get on and despite there being loads of other free seats, a couple wish to sit right next to me. Yep. I huffed and puffed a bit - the woman was frigging annoying - all middle class braying voice and flicking her long bleached hair about. After putting up with about five minutes of this, I plonked myself on the backwards facing window seat, thus having a free space between myself and another passenger who was located in the aisle seat.

The rest of the journey was fine; I managed to score well on my Tetris game. Mind you, later on, whilst on a mini train, a noisy group of people with profound learning disabilities got on the same carriage. I honestly felt that my ears would explode and truly believe that not all disabled people can understand others with different conditions.

Post #75: Resources Plus Covering Letter

This is a redacted version of the covering letter I sent to my contact in Resources Plus (a council-funded scheme to get people off of the unemployment statistics/find new jobs etc ...)

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Hi [Name]

It was great to meet you last Tuesday and thank you for providing an overview of the work of Resources Plus.  As requested, I attach a copy of my CV, which, quite frankly is geared towards my previous career as a civil servant.  I'll flesh out the details a little more on xxxx, but basically, I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome last year following years of issues at work and in my personal life.  The knowledge that I do have the condition and how it limits everything has made it almost impossible for me to seek a suitable role.  I took voluntary redundancy in April after twenty-one years of working in the public sector - the highest grade I achieved was Higher/Senior Executive Officer.

I have attempted to obtain public service Agency Work, via Brook Street back in August and more recently, Adecco.  Brook Street put an awful lot of pressure on me to accept a totally unsuitable role, which included working in awful conditions with xxxxxxxxxxx.  I quit after seven days.  I'd ideally like to work part-time and flexibly, but no employer seems to be able to facilitate that.  Although I registered with Adecco back in September, I never heard back from them, despite their hollow promise that 'I had been fast tracked to the top of their temp list ...'

With all of this behind me, it's clear to me why I'm so disillusioned.  Also, any paid employment I obtain could affect the level of Disability Living Allowance I obtain on behalf of my son, who has Autism and ADHD.  In addition, my husband is a secondary carer for his Mother, who has dementia and lives in a residential home, and his Brother, who has profound learning difficulties, who resides in a different one.  This is the main reason why we both left successful careers in the Civil Service.  

All the best

Faspie