Your Government Inaction

Day 2 of trying to link up all my government 'services' through the 'MyGov' website, so that I can try to access some Covid19 lockdown compensation. I can't access any payments 'til I get Centrelink - basically the government's welfare department - linked to my account, something it has refused to do. Yesterday, I was on the phone for at least 3 hours, most of which was spent on hold, naturally, sporadically talking with a low-level operative who apparently updated a lot of my details (I haven't needed Centrelink's services for well over a decade & a lot of my numbers have since changed). After the LLO concluded that the solution was for me to create a whole new MyGov account, just because her department was the problem, she took issue with my assertion that was a ridiculous suggestion & didn't like it when I proposed just creating a new Centrelink account instead, which led to her giving me a technical support number, telling me I was being disrespectful & hung up on me. I hadn't used any colourful language, had barely raised my voice & only begun to talk over the top of her when she was obviously reading from a script & not listening to me anyway...

... So I called the tech service number, spent some more time on hold & was eventually put through to a slightly higher operative, who found the problem - & this is where it got weird - was not with Centrelink, but Medicare, the national public health department, who have my name listed slightly differently to every other department. In short, they have my middle name as an initial instead of the full name & that's enough to gum up the works of the whole shebang. Make of that what you will... Anyway, she transferred me to another phone number for Medicare, where I spent 30 minutes on hold before an automated voice told me they can't answer my call, please try again later beep beep beep beep beep... And it wasn't even 5pm! And it wasn't even Friday!!

So this morning I'm back on the phone. I finally got through to Medicare & a low-level operative changed my details & assured me the changes are immediate & I could now go to the MyGov website & proceed...

Of course it didn't work

Now, over an hour into my 2nd stint sorting this out, I may start to charge the government an hourly rate, as it's turning into my new full-time job. At least I'll try to, whenever someone answers the phone...

Friday Five Time

What toys were popular when you were a kid?
God, this makes me feel old... I remember marbles, Coca-Cola brand yo-yos, matchbox racing cars we raced down street gutters & trump cards, Monopoly & other board games... even chess was a 'thing' for a while

What musicians were popular when you were a teenager?
Early 80s, so Kiss, Bowie, Pointer Sisters, Go Gos, Madness, the Police, Adam & the Ants... the alternative kids were into Talking Heads, Violent Femmes, Bauhaus, Elvis Costello...

What unique personality traits do you think you have in common with others born around the same time as you?
As an early Gen Xer - a certain cynicism when it comes to promises of a fair deal, or of any kind of torch being passed down to us. Whatever we want, we have to get for ourselves - it won't be provided, or given

Do you think stereotypes about your generation are accurate?
I think Gen X has got off fairly lightly as far as criticism or ridicule is concerned. After all, we made all the cool toys the kids now play with!! But we're in our 50s & 40s now, so it won't be long before we've lived long enough to become the villains for the younger ones coming through

What do you admire about other generations?
You have to admire the Boomers triumph & progress over adversity, but not their refusal to let the rest of us share the rewards. I admire the younger Ys & Zs for their zero bullshit tolerance & open-mindedness regarding sex, race & beliefs, but I can't support the knee-jerk arbitrariness of Cancel Culture. I suppose perspective is something you only achieve after enough time & distance has passed...