After my Culross Cycle last Sunday i awoke on Monday a touch jaded but in the mood to get on with things. First on the list was to find work, small chunks of work or any work if I’m being honest.

Since the government passed new laws which limited Contribution based Employment Support Allowance to only 12 months of payout on the 30th April the benefit I received (for contributing for over 20 years) was stopped. It’s OK though the kind policy makers wern’t so heartless to leave you totally high and dry they would “pay your stamp” which was nice of them.

So to cut a long story short, to receive any cash help from the system I had to become a Job seeker and for the first time in my life I signed on.

Monday, I made a list of friends and contacts I was going to call over the next few days to spread the word about my search for work. I was hopeful that someone would know someone who needed a photographer, no job to small.

Tuesday, I sat down with phone in hand and my list of friends and foes, I started with the friends and decided to phone Andy my old boss. As i was tapping my touch screen some type of Matrix stuff must have happened because when he answered the phone, he said I was just going to call you. The lady who took my position with Max Spielmann when I finished working had that morning handed in her notice!

Now I still had a lot of names on my list to phone but I crumpled up that piece of paper and agreed to take my old job back, I kept my cool and I don’t think the 1000 thank you was to much. It is now Sunday and I’ve been processed, interviewed and I start on Tuesday, no hanging about just how I like it.

Now is probably the time to mention the elephant in the room, my health. Well thankfully this government was kind enough to send me a letter last October informing me that legislation had been drawn up that could effect my benefit. Now they didn’t want me to worry because it had not been through parliament or the lords yet and the Queens still had to ratify it anyway. So I was relaxed after reading the letter, I was also struck by how thoughtful of them it was to consider my welfare and give me heads up of a possible change 6 months in the future, unheard of so far in my time dealing with them.

This care, inspired me to do my best to get as healthy as possible again and I have nearly stopped drinking, except that time I went down to London on the bus for an excellent street photography course with Peter Dench, I blame him or it could have been the slipped disk and acute Sciatic pain i was enjoying!

Anyway after seeing there gaff and being in more pain than I had every experienced before I decided it was time to be good. In the intervening months I’ve stretched, I’ve dieted, I’ve reached out, I taken photographs, I’ve wrote pages, I reached out again, I’ve meditated and I practiced and practiced to hone my skills. Mr Miyagi would be proud of me and next week I hope all my hard work and preparation will start to paying of.

Special thanks has to be made to DC, GO and my personal favourite IDS they guys, well lets just say I couldn’t have done it without them.

Taking my tounge out of my cheek, I am over the moon to get a chance back at my old work that is where PhotoHelper was inspired and that is were he will be 40hrs a week. I believe my health will be inspired by how lucky I am and my thoughts are with the thousands who may not be a fortunate as myself.