No, Zinc Did Not Prevent Hair Loss

A month ago I started taking zinc supplements to negate my thinning crown. I tried to eat healthily with the right kinds of food, plus a zinc tablet every night. As you can see, nothing changed.

Update: I'm not convinced zinc has made a blind bit of difference. Are you? pic.twitter.com/I83CehyvKa

— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 @matttuckey on Threads (@matthewtuckey) November 8, 2023

I guess it may work for others. It didn’t for me. But it’s another thing off my ‘Before 42’ bucketlist.

The Flower Arranger

 

British Immigrant Holly Blain has got her foot in the door at The Tokyo Shinbun – think the Japanese Washington Post – covering celebrities, but she longs to cover crime. 

When a young Swedish woman turns up dead, skin whitened by blood-letting, Blain gets her big break. Teaming with Inspector Tetsu Tanaka, head of Tokyo’s Metroplitan Police’s Gaikoku-jin (foreigner) unit, the two must work together if they are to stop a twisted serial killer from murdering again. 

The Flower Arranger is one of a number of books I got as part of a subscription gift from a relative. Teatime Bookshop sent me 2 books a month for 6 months in the crime genre. This was the fifth book out of these that I’ve read so far, and the best so far too. 

Brilliantly plotted by British author JJ Ellis, the book interweaves clashing perspectives on Western and Japanese culture and practices, pop music, fashion, nightlife and personal attitudes. All the while, the plot steadily reveals the motives of a deranged killer who himself has ties to both worlds. 

It’s the first book out of the Teatime Bookshop offerings that doesn’t have some glaring error in it – the science is backed up, the police and journalism work is well-researched, and there are no obvious that-wouldn’t-happen moments. Solidly written, not too elaborate, and with every chapter bringing the inspector and journalist closer to their suspect, The Flower Arranger races like a bullet train to a dramatic conclusion. 

2 more novels featuring Tanaka and Blain are planned. I’m intrigued.

House Music and Horror

3 things to look forward to this week. 

 

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A mate of mine is running a house music night, Hype Drive, in The Northern Quarter’s Off the Square, featuring DJS from bygone clubs like Venus and Sankeys. Expect house music, older clubbers, good company and good vibes. I’ve never been to this particular venue before but I got a ticket long ago. This Saturday night. 

I can’t stay massively late as I managed to grab one of the remaining Sunday tickets to For the Love of Horror, a movie convention in Bowlers featuring a plethora of horror actors. I’ll be meeting Alyssa Sutherland, Maggot Mommy off Evil Dead Rise (I didn't rate the movie to be honest, but she was brilliant as Princess Aslaug in Vikings) and William Forsythe, off The Devil’s Rejects. I’ve never seen it, but I’m a big fan of Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (in which he played family man Franchise) and of course the greatest film ever, Once Upon a Time in America (playing gangster Cockeye). 

I gather there are still entrance tickets. Photos and Autos, you’ll have to see on the day. 

Also, expect a murder mystery book review on the blog soon.

Stray Bar Opens in Mackie Mayor

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Inside the 1858 Grade II listed market building Mackie Mayor, on the edge of Manchester's Northern Quarter, lies a tiny strip of floor space near the entrance. 

Stray eschews the eatery vibe for a straight up cocktail bar serving up cocktails and mocktails over chillhop and deep house. Friday night was the launch night, so I ducked out of the rain to try it out. It’s small, so on a busy night it will pack out, but after a bit of food from the numerous outlets in Mackie’s, it’s worth washing said meals down with a little alcoholic treat. 

Friendly staff, welcoming atmosphere.

Do HMRC want this money or not?

I mentioned last week that HMRC have announced that they want nearly 200 quid off me, while they are still actively paying me in-work benefits. This makes no sense. 

Well, I spent a morning trying to get through to them to find out what this is about. On Wednesday morning I called up. The automated message said there was a predicted 6 minute wait time. Ended up being 15. The operator I spoke to had no information about the 3 figure sum I apparently owe, until he did a bit of digging. The ‘end date’ of the overpayment is 1/8/23. What does this mean exactly? The last WTC payment they gave me? This wasn’t explained, nor was the reason for the overpayment, which hadn’t been passed over to his department. 

He gave me another number for HMRC (whom I had assumed I’d been speaking to) and was told to say I’ve spoken to Debt Management. 

So, it took 25 minutes to find out I’d called the wrong number. 

I waited until after lunch before trying the new number. This time I was predicted a 40 minute wait. I finished reading my book while I waited for an operator to pick up. 

The automated waiting message advised me to download the HMRC app. I tried this, but the exact same password that I used for the website doesn’t work on the app. Insane. 

After 1hr 14 min wait to this number, the voice message changed to ‘we are very busy right now, goodbye,’ or words to that effect, then the line was cut off. 

Fucking useless. You would think they’d be onto me about this – they’re claiming I owe THEM money. But we all know that the reality is that HMRC, like my own employer, also part of the government, is underfunded and understaffed. The Tories have done this so you can’t get through to these people, so that you CAN’T claim what you are eligible for. It’s engineered. So, the next time you actually need the government to help you with something that you’re legally entitled to, and you don’t seem able to get it, look around you. Which of your friends are voting for this? And why are you still friends with them?

My Facebook is Back

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I appear to have my Facebook back, after some wrangling. Only problem is, I can only log in on the Chrome mobile browser, which is making it difficult to upload albums. No access to the mobile app. No access on desktop. 

Strange. Still no clue why this is happening. Apparently I set up a 6-digit code to gain access if I was ever locked out. I have no recollection nor notes of this. Not that I should need it if I can get in on mobile Chrome. 

I’m wondering if my phone being over 2 years old is a factor. Smartphones usually start to mess up after that 24-month point. I got mine in September ‘21. Doesn’t explain how all the other apps are fine, AND I can’t get on Facebook on desktop though.

It was all going so well.

Oh, great. 

After months of graft with the Help to Claim team, and Help to Claim Lady (HTCL) teaching HMRC how their own systems work and why I’m eligible for Universal Credit, (I’m now in receipt of this) HMRC have now written to me demanding £195.99 in overpaid Working Tax Credits, a benefit that was stopped months before I was awarded UC. 

‘The DWP will recover what you owe from your Universal Credit payments unless they tell you otherwise.’ 

Who’s mistake is this? Mine? Theirs? Do I definitely have to pay this? 

I’ve been in this position before, where the government makes a mistake with my benefit situation, then has blamed me for not knowing what to do about it. After my DLA was stopped several years ago and I had to apply for PIP, I eventually was awarded a much smaller amount on PIP, but then my WTC was stopped as it was DLA that was making me eligible. I was at first told the letter was sent in error. Then it was forwarded to a debt recovery agency. When said agency found out I was on PIP, they wanted nothing to do with me and handed it back to DWP. WTC was eventually reinstated, but it took a lot of hard work and a particularly good Welfare Rights officer. 

It’s time to clarify all this with HTCL. I’ve left a message on my UC account online. I’m hoping someone will read it, although they may not as now that I’m in receipt of UC I think my time with Help to Claim has come to an end. I’d probably have to go around the circle of visiting numerous buildings in Oldham to get advice, to get forwarded back to Help to Claim again. 

Typical. Government want a £200 overpayment off a brain-damaged admin bloke on PIP and UC, and they’ll chase him (and no doubt threaten me with bailiffs, as mentioned above), but are happy to write off £4.3 billion in COVID fraud. 

Hypocrites.