Posts by Rosemary McDonald
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Thanks for posting this Hilary. I guess I should have done an update here on PA last Sunday, but in all honesty, these days, quelling my frustration to the point of being able to write to the standard expected here is sometimes beyond me.
I see Kirsty Johnston has a paywalled article about the death by overdose in state care of a disabled person in 2011 that the Misery is choosing to hide. This death was one of '110 in care facilities that year...'
These two issues are inextricably linked.
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"You have no idea of the smell.."
Oh yes, I do.
Cleo the pound puppy, part springer spaniel they said. The other 99% was pure unbridled eat absolutely anything Labrador. Nothing was inedible...the most horrific being the still live mice and birds the cats had caught and given to her, the messiest was the tinfoil wrapped smoked kahawai remains which went straight through her...
But the most disgusting was the rotten duck eggs.
Little known fact...ducks will quite happily lay their eggs whilst swimming along. Said eggs sink. Said eggs become exposed when the pond dries up in late summer. Said eggs became Cleo snack. The smell of broken very rotten duck eggs reached the forty metres or so from the pond to the house.
Then, That Dog bounded in bringing the concentrated odour with her...overjoyed with her find and desperate to share her delight. Ah, the way a dog will almost smile...a green smile in this case.. with the odd bit of blue shell. And the smell. Fan forced by panting dog.
The large finger full of toothpaste I used to clean up her mouth she looked on as a equally delightful dessert.
Cleo has gone now, along with her predecessor Beth. Both dogs distinguished themselves as being remarkably patient and tolerant of the many foster children we cared for. Many of these children had never learned how to behave with animals, and we soon learned that the first 'house rule' we had to impart was that we don't touch any of the dogs, cats or chickens unless they make the first approach. Despite that of, of course, there were the inevitable assaults on said pets by some of these damaged children. And neither dog ever retaliated. And never bore a grudge. Once the child learned to treat them with respect, the dogs would approach them and allow the child to play. Or just cuddle up with them on the couch.
The only growling a child got was a kid in a wheelchair who knew better than to try and run over the dog's feet. His family had dogs and he knew the rules, but I guess he had to give it a go. Beth knew it was deliberate...and gave the lad a growling and a front castor a bit of a chew. Apologies ensued and they went out for a play.
Ben speaks about the 'escape artist'...we had a couple of those come and stay for respite. One or two we had to decline, we simply couldn't keep the child safe with bog standard farm fencing and gates. And a 100kph road.
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Hard News: Psychedelic Therapy: an…, in reply to ,
...but all that pedantic compliance to endless inventions of extra rules just because...
Indeed. We had two tradies in the house the other day and one of them was wearing these...https://colorex.co.nz/shop/products/plastering-tools/plasterers-red-stilts/ .
The other thought they might be the answer to his problem.
His firm was sub contracting to one of the Big Guys, who in paying due homage to the gods of Workplace Safety had banned all subbies from using ladders. Yes, you read right. No ladders, and scaffolding to be used....even when changing a simple light bulb.
Don't despair steven, you're not the only one having thoughts that somehow the world has gone just more than a little weird...and that without the assistance of mind altering chemicals.
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Hard News: Media Take: We need to talk…, in reply to Russell Brown,
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Access: The stories the Royal Commission…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
(that is a story for the memoirs, maybe).
There must be some use for the 2x60l plastic crates of printouts we've managed to accumulate over the years. Just the OIA request proceeds alone take up half a crate. Absolutely amazing how much space seems to be needed to essentially say nothing. And then there are the documents I printed out instinctively...only to find they had disappeared from the web since I downloaded them. The information we had to collate for the case is quite spectacular.
Department of Mental Hygiene.
I'm thinking such a department sounds like a fine idea.
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Access: The Family Carers case – here we…, in reply to Sacha,
I have no idea.
I guess there will be some official public announcement any time soon, though how much detail I don't know. Confidentiality and all that. ;-)
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Access: The Family Carers case – here we…, in reply to Sacha,
Believe it or not Sacha, that bit of news had passed us by. Somehow.
However.....
Stop press!!!
This case has been settled out of court.
This is good news for most of us as hanging around in court for weeks was going to be very difficult.
OTOH, yours truly was looking forward to listening to the arguments from the Ministry. Again.
Something new, perhaps?
Anyway, even if we were drinkers we would not be celebrating just yet.
That treacherous knife in our backs that is the Part 4 amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act has to be repealed, and
.... all family members who are carers are paid on the same basis as are other carers, and that family members who are carers be entitled to make complaints of unlawful discrimination with respect to the State party’s family care policy.
Like what the UN Monitoring Committee said.
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Access: The stories the Royal Commission…, in reply to Caro13,
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So, with very little fanfare (and I would have missed it were I not looking for it) the Mystery of Health published the report into the Targeted Engagement on Funded Family Care.
I was torn between reading those publications and reading the report into the Thompson and Clark inquiry. I suspicion brain has reached boggle point.
However. Jo Esplin and the team had a very short time frame for doing this work and they have produced a surprisingly comprehensive report that when read with the survey results provided AND the Paid Family Care Discussion Paper published in April present the very accurate picture that all is way less than rosy for disabled Kiwis and their chosen family carers.
In fact, it's pretty shit really.
The report writers acknowledge the level of cynicism (guilty) and do present some options for Sorting This Shit Out...but I fear there will be mere tinkering.
More later maybe.
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Don't. Do. Christmas.
Just don't.
The most difficult thing about not doing Christmas is having to explain to others why it is that one is immune to this temporary insanity.
Hope you all get better soon.