North of the Stupid Line

Christmas is over, and here are the things that I had from my Wish List, posted on 31 October 2004.

DVDs
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, DVD Collection (Seasons 1-7)
Star Trek Voyager, DVD Collection (Seasons 1-7)
Mystic River
Shrek
Shrek 2
Spiderman 2

Books
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn

CDs
Greatest Hits, Robbie Williams

Miscellaneous
Iriver 20GB MP3 Player
Creative Labs Webcam NX Pro
George Foreman ‘Junior’ Clear Lid Grill

I bought myself a Thomson Lyra 20GB Jukebox MP3 player about 4 weeks ago for ?179.99, which I am really chuffed with. I’m going to buy:

Spiderman 2
Mystic River
The Dark Tower V: Song of Susannah by Stephen King
The Dark Tower VI: Wolves Of The Calla by Stephen King
Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn
A pair of shoes!

Some pics were uploaded onto the RAD Staff Intranet today from the RAD Christmas Party that we had in Chelmsford on 16 December 2004, and I decided to pinch a few and put them on here, seeing as you all don’t have access to the intranet (don’t worry, you’re not missing much!). We had a sit down meal in a pub, and then a few of us congregating to Toad in Chelmsford city centre, where we just got pissed! ;o)

[L-R] me, Paz, Val, Andrew, Andy, Polly and Becks	[L-R] me, Andy, Val, Becca, Sumita, Polly, Paz and Becks
Becca	Sumita
What am I doing?! Talking to the floor? Hmm!	Paz and Andrew: they married in November 2004, bless ‘em!
Me scratching my head/looking sheepish with Val, Richard and Becks	This was in Toad, and Andy’s looking erm, well, tipsy, with Paz and Becca

I have to say that the RNId is pissing me off big time, and this time it’s personal. Why? They are letting Rachel down in their provision of Speedtext operators at university.

On several occasions this academic year, the RNId has failed to provide Speedtext operators. Rachel has attended university a number of times only to discover that the Speedtext operators booked for certain sessions have failed to turn up. Even when she is told that no Speedtext operator will be available, she is usually only notified at the very last minute, which does not allow her enough time to make alternative arrangements so that she can still access her lectures and seminars.

So far this term, Rachel has only had a Speedtext operator for 4 out of 10 seminars, and 4 lectures out of 9 for her China module. How is she expected to do well if she is unable to access the information given in these sessions, in a similar vein to her peers? It is hardly surprising that a lot of Deaf people lack the confidence to go to university or drop out of university, considering the severe lack of communication support.

For the amount of money that the RNId charges for the use of Speedtext operators, ?35.50 an hour, the poor level of service they provide is just shocking.

This brings me to this point: are charities such as the RNId really providing a viable business service? Do they actually make a profit? Why do fees keep rising for no apparent reason? Where is the competition? This idiocy reinforces the point in my mind that all charities should be dismantled and businesses should be set up, by Deaf people, to provide services to the Deaf community such as BSL/English Interpreters, Speedtext operators etc. Only will they become profitable and competitive.

It appears to me that the RNId has a blatant disregard for Deaf university students in general, aside from the fiscal benefits, in not providing a good service. The RNID?s Speedtext service certainly does not appear to run parallel with the RNID?s vision ?of a world where deafness and hearing loss are not barriers to opportunity and fulfilment?.

What are we going to do about it? Hmm … ?

I’m Deaf right? I absolutely abhor it when people go “Oh, I’m sorry” when I tell them I’m Deaf. I tend to avoid telling people I’m Deaf unless I really have to.

A case in point: I was on the London Underground yesterday at Edgware Road (waiting for a Hammersmith & City Line train to go to Royal Oak – how irregular are they?!). This chap came up to me asking me something, but he was virtually impossible to lipread, and eventually, I said “I’m sorry, I’m deaf, I don’t understand you”.

Why do I automatically say that every time? What do I have to be sorry for? It’s not my fault that they’re not speaking clearly in the first place! When I said I was Deaf, he just gave me this look of … what was it, pity? … and I felt like screaming. I’m quite happy the way I am, it’s HIM with the problem not me. If he can’t be bothered to speak clearly or employ other methods of communication with me, then it becomes HIS problem. I was quite happy to just carry on waiting for my H&C train without anyone bothering me.

The general populace is just so thick. It just astounds me what kind of shit we all have to put up with.

As many of you know, I’m currently doing a LLM in Law and Employment Relations at the University of Leicester by distance learning.

What many of you don’t know, however, is how much reading I’ve got to do by 14 January 2005. I literally have two lever arch files worth of material to read re Contemporary Employment Relations, and that’s only Module 1! The way it works is that there are approx. 160 pages of written text compiled by the academics at the Faculty of Law, with references to Documents and Cases that are also in the files, as well as external books such as The Realities of Work by Mike Noon and Paul Blyton. You work through the written text, reading the documents etc. as instructed. I’m currently up to page 32, although I’m doing a little catch up reading in The Realities of Work because I only purchased the book recently.

I have to say, that I really am enjoying it, but I am finding it difficult to balance my work and social life with study time. Most evenings I am too tired to do anything other than go online or watch TV; reading on buses, tubes and trains during my daily commutes is not ideal because highlighting becomes almost impossible due to the constant movements (that’s if I get a seat in the first place); and most weekends are spent either at home or entertaining guests at my flat in London, or just cuddling up with Rachel on the sofa with a DVD playing.

Where can I find the time to study?!

Well, I’ve got two weeks off for Christmas, so will take my study materials home to Wales with me to do some serious study.

I can’t wait to do my first Assignment! How sad is that? I think because Rachel asks me to proof read her assignments, it makes me long to write a few of my own. I’ve actually emailed the Course Administrator to ask when they’re sending out the list of assignment titles! How sad is that?

Don’t worry, I’ll keep at it, especially as:

1) It’s costing me ?3,000 a year (albeit funded by other sources, which does add pressure nonetheless);
2) I’m really enjoying it;
3) It could help me get a training contract; and
4) I want the letters “LLM” after my name!