Dealing with halfwits drains the life out of me

To deal with officialdom in this country you need nerves of steel, the patience of Job and the ability to decipher idiot speak ......

We've bought a house!! Well we've had our offer accepted on a house. It's more money than we've got but we found out we could get a mortgage even though our only income at the moment is benefits. It's only a small mortgage so it's low risk compared to the value of the house. Anyway here comes the first example of idiot speak... Initial conversation with mortgage advisor at Halifax (we were told Halifax were one of the Building Societies that do mortgages for people on benefits), she wanted lots of info which you expect, then she asked me for the dates of when we last worked and when our benefits started, fair enough, but I didn't know that off the top of my head so I got all the rest of the questions she needed answers to and said I would get it all together and speak in a couple of days. Next conversation, we get to the question regarding the dates between us last working and when our benefits started. Keep up now........ So who are you employed by she asks - silence at my end, am processing this stupid question!!!! We're not employed, my husband is disabled and I'm his full time carer I answer (exactly as I told her last conversation). Oh I'm really sorry but we can't process a mortgage application unless you're a tax payer. SILENT SCREAM

This morning I ring the local OT (Occupational Therapy) department to find out how we go about getting a grant for ramps onto the house and having a wet room installed. First question from her, have you already bought the house, my answer, we've had our offer accepted. Her next statement, you shouldn't have bought a house that's 'unsuitable' you should have come to us first - silence at my end while I process this STUPID STATEMENT. Very carefully I explain we've bought a bungalow with only ONE step into it and only needed small changes to an existing en-suite to make it into a wetroom. How more suitable a house could we have possibly bought!!!!

You'll remember the battle we're having to get someone to take Mark seriously that something is wrong - little by little he's spending less time out of bed and feeling more and more poorly. His consultant ordered an urgent MRI two weeks ago, the other day we finally got a date - Dec 30th. Alongside this there is a campaign under way now to keep Pinderfields Spinal Unit open - it's one thing being disabled but dealing with 'the system' needs a strong constitution.