Well today I am literally freezing. My fingers have gone blue, my toes are blue and my lips are blue. I cannot afford to put the heating on and must instead wrap up in blanket after blanket... It is 6C (42F) in my living room :( What can I do to warm up... xx
Ooh, Mike, that is COOOOOLD!!!! Do you have an electric blanket? If not, then maybe even a heating pad might offer some reprieve or those pads that you put in the microwave to heat up. You can even make them yourself using rice.
You could also turn on your oven and open it's door. If you're near the kitchen, you'll feel some of the heat, hopefully.
Are you in any shape to exercise a bit? Whenever I'm working and it's cold outside, I warm up once I get walking. It really works! Of course, I know how exercise is with most of us...
Drink something warm like hot cocoa or tea. Hold the mug close to you and inhale the warm vapors.
Also, get your labrador to lie next to you. He should offer up some warmth!
Man, if I were you, I'd throw caution to the wind and turn the heat on a bit. Saving on money won't do you any good if you get pneumonia from freezing in a cold living room!
The problem in the UK is that the government will not give people with no money an extra £10 when it gets cold to heat their house but if I get pneumonia I will be given £10000 worth of healthcare for free and then sent home to freeze again. It is a weird world we live in don't you think?
I have put the heatpad on and have a drink now :-) which is helping a little bit. Rossi is cuddled up by the side of me but he is cold too I think... he does not seem his normal comfortable self. The wind is blowing so much that all of the ferries are on short notice cancellation. One has been cancelled already and another has been cancelled so that emergency equipment (a generator and ambulances) can be taken to the Isle of Arran (next one along) which is entirely without power for at least three days and has so much snow that they are having to use helicopters to get people into community centres which have generators plugged in. They have also bought a 6MW generator over to Bute (enough for 4000 homes) in case the mains power goes off here. At least they have some of the plans for bad weather swinging into place. The Scottish government is pulling out all the stops to get equipment to the islands... If it stays bad for too long we get aeroplanes or helicopters bringing food in and medical supplies get stuck on special boats if the hospital needs anything like blood.
Mikexx
There have been great suggestions so far. Do you have any electricity or natural gas at all?? If so, make hot tea o hot chocolate or coffee, but don't drink coffee after about 4 p,m or you may not be able to sleep. Did you know you can call the red cross when your heat is off and they will help you? I also wrote a discussion about all different kinds of sources to help low income Americans maybe something on this list will help you with utility bills. I knew a few single ladies who just lived in 21 room in their house and kept that heated, closed off the heater ducts to the other rooms, and went to the kitchen and bathroom when needed. Small electric heaters are helpful too .http://forum.livingwithfibro.org/forum/topics/help-for-low-income-americans?xg_source=activity
Sheila
Hey there,
I am not sure what can be done in the UK but will look at your topic in a minute. I do have gas and electric, I just cannot afford to use much of either. After being assessed as not disabled (despite being barely able to move some days) my income has been cut down significantly. If it was not for the fact that my partner and I own this flat outright we would be on the streets I am sure. No one in this damned country cares because they are not allowed to. Even people who might be called middle class are suffering and losing their homes in some places. We have to pay a tax now on rented properties if there are more bedrooms that you are assessed to need. It sucks.
One of the ferries to the island has been used to bring in massive generators to us and the island next to us (which has no power and wont for 3 days unless they use generators), and if our power goes off too they will give us free electricity from the generator. I have heaters ready to run if that happens.
I have a hot chocolate on the go and may have another in a while because it is soothing. Thank you for your reply and help :) *hugs* Mikex
Oh Gosh Mike, I'm so sorry. Is there Red Cross there? I know the bigger cities are more cold-hearted than smaller cities or towns. I forgot you were in UK so forget my article. There must be some agency there to help people in emergencies. Red Cross might be able to refer you to other sites. If you get a small electric heater, that would help a ton. The newer ones are very low energy, so even using a newer one rather than your older ones might save a bunch of money monthly. As for your disability case being denied, did you know you can appeal? I had to appeal a few times here in Canada, and one of my refusal letters said "Even though we acknowledge that you have 8 serious conditions, any one of which would be disabling we suggest that you can still do an office job." Then we were guided by my Dr. to appeal and just put "Depression" on it. We stated that meds and counseling did not help and that it caused physical pain and was not controllable, and I won within a month or two.I'm so sorry to hear about you losing the disability application. I earned a large portion of my income online for the past 10 years, until about 1 year ago when my concentration was just gone. I did proofreading. Do you think your English is perfect enough to do that, or would you be willing to brush up on proofreading skills to work online, or are you also too ill for that?
Best wishes, Sheila
Proofreading sounds like a really good thing to do. I enjoy reading things and I think that on good days my English is good enough to manage it. I will have to look into it.
Yes we have the red cross here, but I do not think there are any on the island I live on, and the ferries are not running anyway, so it is going to be impossible to get here. We do have a quartz heater that I have found and it works quite well, it is nice. We have the central heating on for one hour a day (which happens to have just started) and it is lovely... I think we may have to bite the bullet, use the heating and find a way to pay for it later.
I am appealing my DLA (disability living allowance) decision... but it takes around a year to get to an upper tribunal here :( xx
Wow, that's a long time to struggle when you can't work. The Red Cross would not have to come to you. If you could call the main Red Cross office in London, they might know resources for the the whole country. Food banks might also have lists of agencies that help. County offices often help. You could ask if they have resources or agencies on your island to help pay for utilities in emergency situations. Are you on the Isle of Wight?
I am on the Isle of Bute, To the west of Scotland.
I will try to give them a ring tomorrow. My partner works part time so we have a little income, the problem is we would have more income if he were not working, so by working it is costing us money which is such a stupid situation to be in. We have enough food and things, it is just the energy bill that is worrying me. I think I may have a small grant coming through from my uni (not sure if I am eligible or not) but is so that will cover around a months utility bills which would be good.
Really warmed up fast now I have my heat pad on. We have a thing that tells us how much electric we are using per hour and the heat pad costs 4p per hour (maybe 5 or 6 cents) so I can afford that :-) xx
Brilliant!
Mike,
I just read about how your government is handling treating the working poor. Just splendid (insert sarcasm.) I don't understand a system that will let people freeze to death, and you could, via pneumonia. I hope you get the uni grant, and fast. You can't be sitting around in a flat that cold. I know when my furnace goes off and the temp plunges down into the 50's that I am upset and sore. Can't even imagine sitting in a room in the 40's. Please try to keep the heat on and pay for it later, Mike. Cause you know if nothing else that your fibro will flare a lot from the cold.
I'm glad to hear that you're appealing the ruling stating that you're not disabled. Good for you! You keep fighting it until you win, Mike because you deserve it.
I've heard it's very VERY cold in Scotland. I guess so! Hey, I hope your power doesn't go out.
What angered me most about the ruling is they decided it based on a medical report which was carried out by a government sponsored company who are paid more to fail people that let them pass.
It is like having a court case finding you guilty because the blind eyewitness who was on holiday 100 miles away heard a rumour that you had been the person to break into a house. It is nonsensical... problem is waiting for it to be appealed takes for ever.
Our government are Conservatives (basically republicans) and like helping the rich get richer (just given every millionaire in the UK £10000 per million tax break whilst putting tax up on low earners to pay for it. It sucks :( xx
If it does they will have us back up soon I hope. Last January it went out for 3 days and they had to compensate the entire island for spoiled food in fridges and freezers, the extra gas they used, the inconvenience I think it worked out something like 112 times more expensive than it would have to deploy a generator and have it running... Hopefully they have learned anyway. As for cold it can be very very cold yes... people die here from the cold every winter xx
You Scots are a hearty bunch! I admire your pluckiness.
How stupid to not send out a generator! I'm sure that people did die, and not very pleasantly.
Although I don't think my government would send one out, period. Go figure.
Errrrrrr can’t say on here lol but cardiovascular exercise warms you up if you can do it without the pain Tourette’s kicking in lol.
Other than that a couple Primani cheapie fleecy throws and 99p shop hot water bottles. Us Brits love a bargain!
Our system works the same way, Mike, and it does stink. They seem to ignore what your own doctors say and listen to the person paid to flunk you. What a stupid system!!! I hope you hang in there like an angry little clam holding on for dear life to a piece of seaweed!
I don't know what I'll do if I fail, Mike. Won't be able to keep working, as things are, so will lose my car...just don't even want to think about it.
I hope you get approved, and soon! Can you write to a local politician for help? I've heard that it helps somewhat on our side of the pond, so might be worth a look on your end.
Fleecy throws are marvelous!!! Never seen a hot water bottle on this side of the pond except in old movies.
Got the 99p throws from IKEA... loads of them lol... that is what I am wrapped up in. I am allergic to latex so no hot water bottles for me.... except the special ones that cost a fortune lol xx