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Morphing into an Android ….

I have decided this is what is happening to me and I seem to have no choice ….

So …it began with the mobile phone back in the day …a very useful piece of kit which soon became a ‘cannot live without’ item

Then came the P.C …ditto ….as it hit the workplace the 2 became combined …not only had they become useful to us but for employers to use as a ‘monitoring’ tool and the game commenced …throwing at us ‘targets’ to meet and ever shifting and increasing the threshold …almost as tho they were the ‘end product’ or ‘outcome’ in themselves ….many went under ….many cheated to stay in the game ….and the rest of us ….somehow ….continue to get by …..just ….by the skin of our teeth

Now we have laptops and tablets …..we are ‘agile workers’ contactable 24/7 ….no longer do we have offices but instead check into ‘hubs’ ……bumping into colleagues like ships that pass in the night

And the LATEST piece of kit …..(which I am attending training for and issued with next week ) is the ‘lone worker device’

Yep ….at first we all thought …’Ooooooh that’s a good idea ….thought it’s a nice addition to our current ‘lone worker policy’ which has done us well thus far.

You see we’re out there in the community knocking on doors of pretty vulnerable people and sometimes in risky situations 

Thing is rather than double up ….our office ( and sometimes other agencies) being aware we are going into a dodgy situation and using a code on our mobile phone ( which I have NEVER had to use thank goodness) we are now expected to take this device with us …..but ALL THE TIME …not just on ‘dodgy’ visits

We are apparantly supposed to press this button and speak to a bod at some call centre somewhere to give them details of EVERY SINGLE VISIT IN THE COMMUNITY WE MAKE ….checking in with the call centre when we get there and checking out when we leave.

Thing is …we do LOADS of visits in a day …sometimes back and forth taking folk to various appointments or meeting them where needs must …sometimes in cafes or on park benches for example ….do YOU know the postcode of your local park???? And where is the privacy re information …for the service user AND us….who ARE these people in the call centre??? ….it’s a private agency for sure …one of these that the government has bought in like they did ATOS to strike folk off their disability benefit.

And we’ve had to fill in these forms giving our full description including height, weight, eye color, any distinguishing features etc and details of our cars ….what’s THAT for??? …is it so they can identify our dead body??? …and if so …it doesn’t give you much faith that this device is going to be much good as a ‘safety device’ with a protocol of ‘action to be taken’ if the emergency code is stated

Hmmmmm no ….I said a while ago that our service had been cut so much it no longer felt safe because it is now nothing more than a ‘crisis service’ …. at the time I was thinking of safety for the service user ….but I now feel …cutting back our current lone worker policy and REPLACING with a device!!! …..which is linked to a privately funded call centre ( how much is THAT costing I wonder???) ….is also potentially placing us as workers at unnecessary risk …..and in more ways than one

Hmmmmm I guess it’s a case of watch this space

Or ….maybe it’s a case of YOU are being watched my dear …am I getting paranoid?:D:D

36 thoughts on “Morphing into an Android ….”

  1. Pingback: Morphing into an Android …. – Blog On!!!

    1. :D:D:D …Ok maybe I should have used the collective ‘we’ meaning those who work for the public sector …..Hmmmmm and maybe ‘big brother’ is not as far fetched as it sounds ( good book by the way 1984 …but I digress)
      You see I’m not sure that the majority of the public are aware of a LAW passed in parliament in 2012 called ‘The Health and Social Care Act’ here in the uk …..there was MUCH controversy surrounding it …..thousands …and I mean THOUSANDS …of people marched on the Houses of Parliament in London against the introduction of the then bill ……the protests were as big if not bigger than those against the war on Iraq ….and YES I was there …but was it reported in mainstream media ? ….hardly …I remember seeing a small article INSIDE the guardian newspaper …ANYWAY the act was enshrined in law by the rarely utilised ‘Royal Ascent’ ……this act IS the nail in the coffin of the NHS ….within it, it states that government no longer has any responsibility for providing health and social care ….will they get away with not providing such services? ..well I think they ARE doing …by a slash and burn approach used over recent years to undermine the efficacy of the NHS and social care provision and bring in the private sector ……it might be ok if you live in Hampshire say ….but in areas such as this private companies are NOT banging on the door to provide services ….they ‘cherry pick’ ….and funnily enough folk in areas like this are NOT seen as cherries:D:D:D
      Over the last few years we have seen services severely cut ( and YES we always DID work with the charitable sector) ….no one is against modernisation …changing and growing …indeed I would challenge anyone to find a more dedicated workforce than that of the NHS ….BUT this DOES feel deliberate ….the police station and cells have been closed in this area ….the hospital has been run down and is closing shortly …..we have no mother and baby unit within any commutable distance any more ……..these ‘lone worker’ devices aren’t really about our safety ….they are yet another method of isolating from ‘team work’ and another layer of ‘monitoring’ in ADDITION to the electronic diary we have to keep. The thing that REALLY works to ensure our safety is having a ‘base’ where we take turns to cover in the office with an admin worker on a rota basis everyone checking in and out using the board ….simple, cheap …has worked to date …and better for team morale
      And so endeth my rant:D:D:D
      Hmmmm …..maybe this should have been a ‘post’

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        1. Hmmmm ….I guess follow the blog …it’s an open book …I’m an open book ….just myself really …a bit of an idiot at times …frustrated with the way things are and the way we seem to be heading …just wish there was more openness, honesty and a little fairness …in life …and generally …mostly optimistic …like to keep things light, …acting a bit daft …trying to see the humour in it all ….but sometimes feel tested to the limit.
          Oh and regularly ‘Tune into Om’ :D:D:D to let go of it all and enable me to function:D:D:D

          And less of this ‘Meh!’ ….your blog is fabulous …the way you write …the messages therein …it’s spot on ….has your mind gone blank or something?:D:D:D ….there’s LOADS of inspiration out there …maybe follow some current affairs blogs or people’s non fictional journal type blogs if your not doing so already, or maybe just your own daily life and thoughts which is all mine is really ……looking foreward to more posts Mr 🙂

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              1. :D:D:D your talking to the grammar AND spelling mistake queen AND I only speak one language AND it’s with a northern accent so no’one can tell a word I’m saying:D:D:D ….lived in the states for a while …found it hilarious folk not having a clue where I was from …it happens often …good fun keeping folk guessing tho 😉

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                  1. JD ….are you responsible for cognicsance …..if so ….there’s some great Indian writers out there if you don’t know them already that need pulling together ….saying this as its a waste if they don’t reach a wider audience somehow:)

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                    1. Hey Fijay, I am not sure what you are referring to with respect to cognisance! (I used to work for a tech company, Cognizant)
                      By the way, I am following a lot of Indian bloggers in WordPress 😀

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  3. “…it doesn’t give you much faith that this device is going to be much good as a ‘safety device’ with a protocol of ‘action to be taken’ if the emergency code is stated”
    It’s the device that does the “action to be taken” by recording every aspect of your demise, you see? Then it can be properly filed with proper non-action needed to be taken.
    One of these days Earthians are going to wake up and realize they’ve been conned to the max, and that for millennia. One of these days they’re going to say, “Government? What government? That’s just a big black hole.” Then they’re going to say to one another, let’s just ignore all that elitist bullshit and take care of ourselves, right here, right now. No more government; no more church; no more corporation; no more any other “civil service” because we are the people. Yeah, right.

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      1. Why… I’m dessicated with blossoming shyness… I just had this really wild idea that makes no sense, but here it is. Given that I had the money (time isn’t an issue) and the appropriate passport/visas, whatever they call the things, I’d plan a bucket list trip to meet with each and every blogger I’ve interacted with, all over the world. I think that’d be an amazing journey. I’d plan it so that my last visit would be to “Project Why” in India, and that’s where I’d stay. If links work here, you might want to take a look : Project Why

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        1. I thought you were going to say you were popping over here:D:D:D ….you’d be welcome but there’s only a sofa …we are of modest means …I’ll check out Project Why:D:D:D

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    1. Just managed to check out …yes a wonderful charity and story behind it :):):):):) …..Your bucket list idea is great too …just let someone know your plans …you do have someone you can tell don’t you? ….you’ll need someone to keep an eye on your place and touch base with every now and then …oh hark at me …I sound like I’m your Mother:D:D:D ….Hey it’s got to be better than having a ‘lone worker device’ checking your every movement tho:D:D:D
      It’s funny you know …I met someone earlier this year who has set up a charity in the Peruvian rain forest …it was a chance meeting …think I blogged about it earlier …they said ‘Right ..when are you coming to work for us then?’:D:D:D…of course I can’t afford the fares etc and have other commitments here at the mo ….but maybe one day:)

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      1. We have to have dreams. I’m no innovator but I’m good at plugging into an existing fabric. You seem the practical type – me, at 70, I want to get past practical. I’ve lived my life “practical” – avoiding debt, working for one company for 42 years, etc., living in this town for 55 years now. I don’t like traveling so if I put that dream together, it would be a one-way trip, no coming back. But like you, I have so many commitments right here, I couldn’t leave anyway. Just a dream…

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        2. I don’t believe for one minute that you are 70?!? You have the energy/passion of a 17year old.

          Looked at Project One, I only returned from India a few years ago. Many similar projects, my favourites are in Bihar [the poorest state of India] a few school projects; leprosy colony, animal shelters, visiting medical teams … the list goes on. There are so many worthy causes but as you both say you need the funds to go and No commitments back home or staying will be moot.

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          1. Thanks… energy and passion… who, lil’ ol’ me? 🙂 I hear that a lot, and yes, I was born in France in 1946 and lived in Canada since 1950. There is a reason for this life I live. In 1979, I was looking at life in a wheelchair from deteriorating back problems. So, I decided in favour of the suicide thing – and I got rescued by entities not of this world, physically healed, sent back with a warning, some really good and strict advice and a guarantee that if I followed the advice given, I’d be healthy but I’d lose everything I held of any value. Out of that near-death experience, the only thing left me was my corporate job. I lost everything, including family and friends because my whole life changed. I remember my partner saying, “I don’t know who you are anymore.” Divorce followed quickly, a great opportunity to divest myself of property and attachments and I was free to live my own life. Following warnings and advice on how to maintain my new-found health: no more TV, radio or newspapers. No more doctors or drugs. And shortly thereafter, no more meat or fish either. For 20 years I had Teachers filling my mind with greater, deeper truths about life, the cosmos and our place in the scheme of things; explaining dreams and helping me remember past lives.
            As to energy, even today at 70, I know that in a challenge I’d physically and mentally “beat” my 20 year old self. I think the point of the exercise was to give myself a purpose for my life and in doing so to discover the power arising from within in giving my life away, making myself available to all and sundry who need help, doing so in a compassionate way, i.e., no expectations, no attachments, no records kept. I know now that if individuals realized how healthy it is to, voluntarily and purposefully but without any agenda other than to serve, live a life of service, we’d solve our most serious human social problems practically overnight. Imagine, today we still make heroes of those who sacrifice themselves to kill others – well how about making heroes of ourselves in saving others? Doing what is right and good is so incredibly satisfying (and so much “cheaper” than killing or destroying). It’s the greatest possible stress remover because stress I sense, results from the fear of not being in control, or losing control over one’s place in the flow of events. When one “is” compassion, there is no need to be in control of anything.
            Being truly good: it’s right here, ours to be, to have, to do, by right of our intelligent, sentient, self aware nature. But we’re blinded by all the false values of the System and since what I got is only available though the risk of a total change of nature and the CERTAINTY of losing everything needed for self-identification, or of value in the eyes of other people… it scares people from honestly trying it. And yet that is the path to self-empowerment. But instead people get emotionally involved in giving bits and pieces of themselves (usually using money) to groups and organizations and most of their energy gets lost, or worse, does more damage than good on the long run.
            If things do change and I become free to travel, I’ll choose a place of service to go to; a place of dire need – but it will have to be a one-way trip as I said, every bridge burned. Since 1979 I’ve never “gone back” over any ground gained by choice. Sorry, there’s no shorter way to explain “me” or address your comment. I sincerely hope this doesn’t come across as bragging: there is nothing for me to brag about – what I have was given to me freely and I could have done nothing to earn it or command it.

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              1. Thank you “Kate”(?) The thing is, there is little to be impressed about when we realize the potential for good we actually possess, and the little, even with effort, we make of it. Upon this realization is when humility becomes the most powerful and useful tool; knowing we were given this gift (of unconditional love, of understanding, of sharing and caring, of compassion, of all that is good), we could never earn it, or buy it, we can only use it, and that for such a short time. There’s a saying, “If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.” Our first misguided attempts in a life of service is to ask that the mountain come to us, for in essence it’s what we are taught in our many spiritual schools. But when we discover how to become honest with ourselves and realize the mountain isn’t moving, that’s when we leave the comfort and safety of pre-selected expectations and begin the long, lonely trek to the mountain. The only valid path to the mountain is achieved with humility. All other paths only circle the mountain and teach nothing. A short analogy of the spiritual path is like finding a walnut in the park in the fall, as its green coat is falling off. The only way to get to the meat inside is to peel the bark then crack the shell. We are the bark and the shell. Another example: to release an herb’s essence it must be crushed. We are the herbs that grow in the hedgerows of life. “To give life one must endure burning” is probably an eternal truth of worlds existing in duality. Don’t want to close on a dark note: when we burn with our passion for service, that’s when we discover joy – a limitless state of bliss. (End of sermon!!!)

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