Nadine Dorries “says Sorry”..

Taken from YouTube, with grateful thanks to “TheAslanOfNarnia”…

Three O’Clock in the Morning….

And it looks like it’s gonna be another sleepless night..  This is the third night in a row I havent slept. I last had insomnia during the election and the agonising days after it while the nation awaited its fate. During that time myself and several others tweeted to each other via @tchee ‘s #1amclub . We passed the time sharing music, “passing drinks” and @tchee would  “hand round a plate of Ferrero Rocher”.  One night we danced on the bar and I even got @tim_mullen to dance with me : )

I digress.. the reason for my being awake in the not so small hours has a name, that name is Nadine Dorries.  Since her vicious comments seemingly aimed at me but taking a swipe at all disabled and unemployed, I have been filled with what I can only describe as poison. It makes me shake.  I can feel it in my blood, churning in my stomach, it is of course stress.  Stress has also tensed up my back and neck muscles leaving me in tremendous pain but also giving me headaches and vertigo.  My feet have been up all day but they hurt too.  I would take some medicine to relieve the muscles but I know they will make me dopey tomorrow.  Therefore I sacrifice my sleep in order to be alert as I know that there is still work for me to do. 

Right now though, I want to thank you Twitter, all of you. Whether you RTd a link, wrote a blog post, tweeted a comment or commented on a blog post, even if you simply read one of them.. thank you.  I have had the most amazing support this week. I have not been able to confide in family or friends about this, they wouldn’t understand and would be frustrated and upset on my behalf, they also have their own problems to deal with. Thank you for being there for me and for listening.

Now, about this blog. Please believe me when I say that I am not showing off , I didn’t make this happen   – YOU  did.. There have been over 6000 views of the blog in just 2 days. * That is incredible. So many people have been affected by this issue, the blog statistics are testament to that.  Could I ask you to help me again though? Please support the vulnerable, help their voices be heard. Fight to stamp out ignorance, discrimination and bullying. Keep this topic trending until the media finally take notice.  Together we are formidable as Ms Dorries must by now be aware.  Her brag of only 50 or so constituents hearing about this must now sound foolish, even to her closed ears. 

Nobody interested?

Tonight, as I lay awake thinking about Nadine Dorries and the effect she has had on my life this week, I wonder if she too is laying awake thinking the same about me?

*Since I posted this article, the blog stats went crazy as you can see.. now over 12.000 in less than one week.. thank you so much Twitter for taking notice!

Ms Cushion replies…

Today as been quite eventful. It all started when I saw a tweet that Tony Curtis had died RIP. In his honour I asked Twitter which avatar I should wear for a “tweetalongasomelikeithot” in the afternoon..  My Gangster, Captain or the Drag Act one I made for #altff (alternative follow friday).? Twitter chose the Drag Act.. Ivana S Uckuoff as she is fondly known ; )

I never got to have the tweet-a-long in the end sadly as I was distracted rather by Nadine Dorries’ latest blog post… here it is in full:

Twitter Obsession

Posted Thursday, 30 September 2010 at 10:57

I will post my article in Iain Dale’s book shortly, with his permission. In the article, in which I very clearly define the reasons why MPs should not blog or Twitter (yes, I know ) I mention someone who has posted 22,000 tweets in four months.
Today, someone has emailed my office with the details of a political/personal Tweeter who has posted 35,000 tweets in a similar amount of time.
I’m going to have to set up a Twitter account again so that I can check this out for myself!… Not.

 

Dorries didn’t name me as the “scrounger” but I have a feeling she would have had she gone ahead and published the Iain Dale blog post.  That is not the point I want to address however. 

 

As you know, I am currently awaiting 2 operations on my feet as arthritis has crippled them.  I have waited since March for these operations, sadly the hospital has been relieved of its “18 week guarantee”, thanks Coalition. I struggle to stand and walk, I also have arthritis in my neck.  I am a home carer. I love my job although the pay is dreadful and working with dementia clients can be as distressing as it is joyful.  My company are holdng my job open for me, I wish I could work from my chair at home but sadly the clients cant come to me!

 

I miss working.  I also miss walking. I miss days out with my kids. I miss going to their sports days and plays.  I miss having the life I took for granted just a year ago.  But I have Twitter and I thank God for Twitter every day.

 

Twitter gives me a social life, every morning without fail @Ivan_Jelical wishes me good morning, then it begins.. I struggle to talk on the phone as my grip is bad and my neck hurts so I “chat” on Twitter to pass the time. I also raise awareness for issues I feel are important, make daft avatars and terrible jokes, write blog posts, proof read for friends and manage other blogs for friends and communities.  You could say, I get by with a little help from my friends….  they are my rocks and I would be lost and lonely without them. 

Twitter has even given me a “real” social life. I’ve found some locals online and we meet up every few weeks for “tweet-ups”. Sometimes a “twandoori”, other times for Steak Night in my local.  I love these nights as for a few hours I feel relatively normal, although I have to sit with my head propped up and feet on a chair!  I stagger home afterwards with a big grin on my face, not from alcohol but that’s just how I walk these days!

 

I am deeply saddened by Nadine’s comments about tweeters.  I know many people to whom Twitter is a lifeline, a distraction from pain /depression /generally shitty lives..  

I look forward to reading the post she blogged about, the one that will appear in Iain Dale’s book about why MPs shouldn’t tweet nor blog..  I feel she has answered that question herself quite succinctly today though…

Back to Dorries’

Is there such a thing as Twitter addiction? How can anyone live a normal life who can do that? Surely these people cannot be in employment because if they are, how can they work? if they aren’t then it’s time they got a job which involves being sat at a key board because there’s nothing much up with their fingers, brain or attention span!!

I wonder if very soon someone is going to identify a Twitter syndrome and we get to read about people who have become compulsive Tweeters. Will we hear stories of people who Tweet, oh I don’t know, say 50 times a day and need to go into re-hab?

I will put money on that being a Daily Mail story one day. In the meantime, do you know of anyone else who has Tweeted more than 35,000 times in less than six months? If so, email my office and let me know. Or, better still, if it’s someone you know is on benefits, contact the DWP.

For a laugh, I tweeted that oopsie, she’s caught me..  what followed is in equal measure hilarious and disturbing.. http://order-order.com/2010/09/30/nadines-twitter-scrounger-expose/#comment-737859