Moving Forward

At last! I had my appointment at the AgeUK office in the Food Centre yesterday morning (Thursday). I'm grateful to my lovely Mother-In-Law for suggesting this to me. I rang the Age UK branch in Milton Keynes, which is actually only a short distance from home and was given the telephone number of their central Milton Keynes office. I got an appointment yesterday at 11 o'clock. It seems I can claim further benefits and he will help me with the various bits of paperwork and references so that I can at last move out of this house and pay far lower rent which housing benefit will cover. It has been a long journey to get a positive response to all this and once I am moved I can get on with my life. What I need to do is go on line to websites such as Rightmove and begin to search for suitable accommodation, one bedroom, bit of garden for Alfie and with a rent level which will be covered by housing benefit.

(Friday) I've been looking on Rightmove for suitable, affordable accommodation, fitting in with the budget I've been set by housing benefit. It's not easy. I thought I'd found somewhere absolutely suitable in Bradwell, reasonable monthly rent, nice looking (having seen photographs on the website,) with a bit of garden and what looks like a great kitchen, but looking again this morning it's a shared house. I really don't fancy sharing, but if I can't find anywhere that fits what I can afford then I may have to rent out the spare room here, with our landlord's permission as well as the housing benefit people. I know I've just said I don't want to share, but in the end if that is the only way to be able to afford the rent here, then I may have to go down that avenue.

(Saturday) It was frosty when I went out with Alfie earlier this morning. Because of the clocks changing, it's light so much earlier, so we manage to get out by 6.30. Alfie's always eager to get out for his run around the park, so he doesn't mind. There's been a really beautiful sunrise these past couple of days. I did manage to take a photo with my iPhone but unfortunately it doesn't do justice to the actual sunrise. It doesn't show the diffuse nature of the view. I can't describe it any other way.

On Saturday morning I went to the men's breakfast at 8 o'clock. I was informed that I was on what is called the Genesis rota for Sunday morning, but I didn't realise this. I am supposed to get either a text message or email a few days in advance, but I didn't get either. It was as well I went to the Saturday morning breakfast. Great to get a full English breakfast, the works, a bit like what you'd get if you were on location, filming for the good old BBC. It was one of the perks of doing 'walk-on' work, getting to a location, deep in the heart of the countryside, signing in with one of the A.D's  (Assistant Directors)or unit manager (or whoever it is who is usually in charge of the S.A.'s (Supporting Artistes) and then going to the catering van and getting a good plate of food.

It's been quite frosty the last couple of mornings, usually when I take Alfie out for his run (I can't really call it a walk. I might walk, but he runs!). This morning (Sunday) it is sunny but there was ice of the windscreen of the car, so I went out early and ran the engine, which allowed me to put on the heating so as to melt of the ice. It was thawed within a few minutes, enough to have a clear view so I could drive to Shenley for the first service and help set up things up.

I got to the Oaktree Centre,  at around 8.15, home of Shenley Christian Fellowship and helped put out the chairs in the main hall. Not a difficult job. We had a sermon given by Ross, the Pastor, on the subject of 'Excellence.' During the break between services, when tea and coffee are served and a chance is given for conversations with various people, I had a chat with someone who has been through a lot of what I've been through, having a wife who had cancer similar to Carol and was in Willen. I was mentioning to him about my difficulties attempting to find new or possible accommodation and having to make sure the rent fits in with what I'm getting from Housing Benefit. He says he'll come with me to any appointments I have and will help me with my accommodation. I now feel a good deal more positive with the situation knowing I can have this sort of support.

Having left Shenley, I drove to Morrison's. I had originally intended buying something for lunch, but when I arrived in the underground carpark, I changed my mind and decided to go into their cafe and have something to eat, possibly a sandwich or roll and a coffee. I might as well have given up, because on arriving in the cafe there were absolutely no sandwiches in the chiller unit near the till, so I went for a fry-up, or, as it's called on the menu, a 'Big Breakfast.' Nothing wrong with it, intact, when it eventually arrived at my table, a good sized portion of bacon, sausage, baked beans, mushroom and so on, what they usually call a 'Full English' breakfast, and the sort of thing you would get when you arrive on location (as I have done.) whenever I've done any 'Walk-On' television work for the BBC or any television company. It's the first thing you get whenever you get to the location in the early hours of the morning, usually before 6 a.m. But, having heard Ross speaking about 'Excellence,' this wasn't the word I'd use to describe Morrison's cafe this particular lunchtime. Dirty tables which hadn't been wiped clean. Slow service and general lack of anything resembling quality and professionalism.

Thunder In The Night

It was exceptionally hot yesterday (Thursday) as I said in my last blog post. I found it really difficult to sleep last night and came downstairs to read. I've found something to watch through the BBC's iPlayer, the original television version of 'House of Cards,' which was something I did a lot of Supporting work on in the 1990's. So I shall have to watch and see if I can remember what I did in it. I was a journalist with a group of other S.A's (Supporting Artistes) in quite a few scenes filmed over the course of several weeks all around London. It stars Ian Richardson who plays Francis Urquhart. Actually, his name was something of a problem, because it had to be pronounced 'Urcart,' with the end sort of silent. If that makes sense. Nobody spoke in our group, well, you don't when you do Walk-On work. You're not employed to speak and you have no lines, although we did have to make crowd noises, sort of 'rhubarb, rhubarb' noises, indistinct crowds sounds, no distinct lines as you would if you were an actor playing a part.

Then I heard thunder. Hopefully things would be relieved by rain. Another loud clap and it did rain, but not as torrential as I would have hoped. It didn't last longer, no more than a minute or two. I just hope we get more rain today (Friday.) First thing this morning it's been overcast, not as if it was going to rain, but just cool enough to not be overbearingly hot and pleasant enough to take Alfie for his by now obligatory early-morning walk around Eaglestone Park.

As I've explained in an earlier blog post, we're currently applying to Milton Keynes Council for Housing Benefit. It would be a smooth process if only I could contact our landlord as they need to have proof of how much rent we pay and they require either a tenancy agreement or a letter from our him. I have tried to find our copy, but it hasn't come to light, unfortunately. If I found it it would be a simple matter of taking it to the Council offices and they would no doubt make a photocopy. I have been attempting to contact the landlord via telephone but all I get is a recorded voice and last night I left a message for him to contact me, but as yet no response. I do not know where he and his wife are, possibly some family matter, but at the moment I'm not bothered where he is or why. We need to get this matter resolved as quickly as possible. I don't think he realises how important it is to get this sorted and quickly. I have emailed the Benefits department at the Council explaining all this. If you have read my earlier posts on here you may have read about the problem we had with our gas boiler a couple of years ago. We attempted to contact our landlord but the telephone number he gave us was 'unavailable.' We went through the Council, who had details recorded for Council Tax purposes and managed to contact him via mail (or it may have been telephone, it doesn't matter. It worked, and the boiler was eventually replaced.) I am hoping that they may be able to contact him this way again in order to get the tenancy agreement sent on so the Housing Benefit claim can be completed.

Frustrating (Non) Walk-On Jobs

I've mentioned in earlier posts on here about my work doing 'Walk-On' work. On such television shows as 'EastEnders,' 'The Bill,' 'Lovejoy' and many others, over around 30 years, on and off. During the 1990's I think I was on something or other virtually every month during the summer. It trailed off as the new century started, basically because I was doing care work. As I'm now officially retired I thought I'd like to get back to doing SOME sort of supporting artiste work (please don't say 'extra' as it's a bit of an insult. I've been directed by the actual director on stuff I've worked on as well as A.D.'s (Assistant Directors) who are generally the people who work with the S.A's (Supporting Artistes) and give direction. I've never had any lines to say, but that doesn't mean you're not an important part of the film, or television programme-making process. If you make a mistake or don't take direction it means that a shot has to be re-done. Actors get annoyed, as they have every right to do, and it means that a 'take' has to be re-done. You have to be extremely patient, as many 'takes' can be done of a lot of the shots. From different angles, which means that the camera or cameras in some cases, have to be moved about, along with the lights, props have to be reset, along with furniture and this all takes time and effort. The S.A.'s can be the last people to be called onto the set and have to wait in a holding area, away from the actual shooting, usually on a bus or coach. Days can be long and VERY boring. You might have to arrive at a particular location at an unholy hour, say 5.30 a.m., and you might have had to drive some considerable way to get there, in the middle of the countryside perhaps and then, when you arrive, get herded around, sent to wardrobe and makeup and the, once in costume and 'made-up,' have breakfast and sit on the bus to eat it and wait for hours until you are used, maybe for 20 minutes during the whole day, or perhaps several stints of work over the whole day.

Well, having said all that, I used to get called by telephone from the various agencies I used to be with. Mostly in the Anglia area of East England, with the best (during the 1990s at least) Jaclyn, who were based in Norwich. I'd get a call from the ladies who ran it then, and they'd say 'can you work on . . . such and such a day? It's to work on . . . 'Lovejoy', 'Middlemarch' or whatever. I'd say, yes, or no, and then you'd pencil it in in your diary. Usually regular work on 'Lovejoy' and none of the 'you've been put forward . . .' business. You just said 'yes' to a job and then went to the location or studio on the allotted day and time.

I signed up to a couple of agencies. A couple of years ago I went up to London to register with Casting Collective. My stepson Daniel even came with me to make sure I got there. I think there was some concern that I was going to get lost or something. Hardly likely, but who knows? My photograph and my details were collected and put on their website. It seems that most casting is done using this technology. I can imagine it's easier than producing the more traditional 'Casting Book' that most agencies used to have. Probably less expensive as a print book must cost an arm and a leg to produce and then distribute to television and film companies as well as advertising agencies and other people most likely to need walk-on's as well a photographic models. After a while I began to get text messages. No such thing as a telephone call. You have to answer very quickly to these texts. Really  no personal touch with an agency ringing and speaking to you direct. I got quite a few 'you've been put forward for . . .' bites, one for something called John Carter of Mars and another for The King's Speech. A pity I didn't get to work on that, because it won the 'Best Picture' Oscar the year it was released. But no joy on either movie, unfortunately.

I also signed up with an agency in Birmingham called Extra People or something. We actually drove up to Birmingham to have photographs done at their studio in the Jewellery Quarter. A photo was posted on their website but I heard nothing for years. Until a few weeks ago I had an email from them telling me that they'd put me forward for a job as a gardener on something near Chipping Norton, at some large country house. I have a hunch it was to work on an episode of the popular series 'Father Brown,' which is filmed in and around Oxfordshire. It wouldn't have taken too long to get to the location, but then I got another email a few days later to say I hadn't been chosen. More recently I had another email from 20/20 after I'd responded, through Facebook, to a call for people to work on something at Cardington, in one of the former balloon sheds which have been converted into a film studio. I heard nothing further until a week or two ago when they sent yet another email asking for people to fill in for people who couldn't presumably fulfil a very long commitment to filming something called 'Big Ears' which I believe, after doing a Google search, is a live-action remake of Disney's 'Dumbo,' and being directed by Tim Burton. I sent a selfie, as well as my NI number and other details but, as Carol isn't well and now in hospital (see previous blog post) I couldn't accept, unfortunately. As it was for about a month-worth of work it would have been quite lucrative money-wise. So, after all the excitement of being even considered for work on something and then being told you haven't been selected, it's somewhat frustrating, to say the least.

There was YET ANOTHER call for work, again via email, for something filming in Milton Keynes. Don't ask me what it was for, or, for that matter, where in Milton Keynes. So, you can imagine I was keen to say 'yes' to it. But, you've guessed it, nothing came of it. You would think, would you not, that I'd be in with a chance with something that was being filmed virtually on my doorstep? But, no, I didn't even get a sniff.

I just don't understand this thing about being 'put forward' for this sort of work. It's not as if you're going to do an actual speaking part. You just have to be able to take a certain amount of direction, behave properly, not take any photographs on the set, be extremely patient and not trip over the scenery. They seem to make a big issue over something quite straight forward. I've been booked for work where you accept or decline the work offered work and then just go to the location and do the day's walk-on and that's the end of it. Then you sign the clit at the end of the day and get paid a few week's later.

Working In Care- Part 5

As I mentioned in the last post I did quite a few shifts at the house at Everton. I think I seemed to fit in with the other members of staff.  As a result I was booked there almost on a permanent basis, which meant that I knew I had a good run of work. The risk with doing any sort of temp work, whether it be industrial or care, is that you can never guarantee you will have enough work, but I was fortunate in that I had obviously made a good impression on the other permanent members of staff to be constantly re-booked for  shifts at Everton.   I also got to know the client group well which made the work a good deal easier. It had been my intention to get back to doing 'Walk-On' and 'Supporting Artiste' television work, and I was intending to get back to that sort of work eventually, and filling in with care work in between times. There were no major issues with such things as challenging behaviour, not to say that some members of the client group couldn't become quite challenging, but not of the violent type,  it was more verbal. It was nice that you could do a 12-hour day, starting as I said in the last post, at 7 a.m. and working through until 7 p.m. and going home.  This meant that I could do enough hours in a few days rather than over a seven-day period to make it financially viable. Most days were broken up into three shifts, starting at 7 and ending at around 2- 2.30, and the late shift coming on at that time and finishing at around 9-10 p.m. This was the sort of shift pattern all the N.H.S. homes throughout Bedfordshire used. At Vincent House we had to do night shifts, and these were for around a month. I don't like working nights as I'm a day sort of person and find it extremely difficult to keep awake and then to have to go home and try to sleep when it's light outside is extremely difficult. 

Not only did we have the general care tasks to perform in the home, but we had to do the shopping and cooking for the residents and part of your job you could expect to get a meal which you ate with the residents, so that was something of a perk of the job. I seemed to always get the job of preparing this evening meal and when I started my shift I would find myself in the kitchen peeling potatoes and other vegetables and making whatever was on the menu, such as cottage pie, sausage and chips or whatever.

We had to take some of the residents to daycare. I seemed to be attached to one particular client, a lady who went to Biggleswade and to a daycare centre run by Barnfield College, a sort of 'outreach' from the Luton college and a centre in Queen's Park in Bedford. She was in a wheelchair and another member of staff drove us there early in the morning and she was involved in such things as basic money-handling, personal care and drama. I was in my element with the drama part of the classes, with my background in stage management and puppetry really being put to good use. Every year the clients did a play, and it was quite amazing that people who in general had real issues regarding speech and communication could stand up on a stage and put on a show. There was a real sense that they were overcoming their problems by doing these shows. I helped with such things as scene painting and general running of the shows. These shows were watched by quite a lot of their friends and relatives and they were assessed by teachers and tutors and from this the clients were awarded certificates which were presented at a ceremony at the end of the year.