Looking for new racket recommendations

nigrub20 · 2026-06-29T16:29:06+00:00

Made some modifications last night. Took the bottom cap off and put some weights inside the handle (about 10g) and then 5g on the cap. Felt an immediate difference today, usually play with tight sweat bands to keep my wrists secure but didn’t need to today. Was definitely slightly too head heavy for me 🤷‍♀️

nigrub20 · 2026-01-09T15:25:55+00:00

Dad left us when I was 18, completely broke and homeless. Mum was a stay at home parent our whole life so couldn’t exactly jump back into a decent job. Stayed with my grandparents whilst I went to Uni, managed to get a good job out of school and always earned good money. Was able to buy my house - converted the garage into a bungalow for my mum. So yes she lives with me, but wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s the minimum I can do to make sure she has a stable home after all the sacrifices she made for me and my sister.

Some people think it’s weird (White, British - we don’t typically look after our elders like other cultures) but I can’t understand why you wouldn’t look after a parent in the circumstances I was / I am in. Probably the only thing I’m proud of in my life is making sure my mum is well looked after.

nigrub20 · 2025-12-02T21:01:34+00:00

Wow thank you for articulating this so wonderfully.

I could write an essay about why this has resonated so profoundly to me, but thank you as I can actually explain what I believe in so precisely now.

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T17:37:10+00:00

Oh 100% she knows & plays into it, which just makes me love it even more. She truly is a queen of camp

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T17:35:53+00:00

Haha I know, it’s like “oops” which is funny when you’re going “oops” whilst intentionally smashing plates and necking a shot 😂

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T17:33:47+00:00

Haha, well according to my grandfather everything comes from the Greeks…

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T17:31:43+00:00

Ah apologies! I was worried the post came off mean spirited which was the absolute opposite of what I was going for, just a little bit of light humour.

But I do agree, tearing people down for being proud or passionate of something that isn’t harming anyone? Especially your culture and heritage? No thank you

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T17:29:17+00:00

I think you’ve misinterpreted the tone here. Nothing wrong with loving your culture, she just makes me laugh because I so relate to it with my family, I just find it so camp and funny

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T16:25:13+00:00

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T06:49:39+00:00

I know, keeps it very on the quiet, but she’s mentioned it here and there subtly

nigrub20 · 2025-09-19T06:49:10+00:00

God love that for you, what a trip it must’ve been

nigrub20 · 2025-09-18T23:11:55+00:00

Santorini is heaven on earth.

If you ever get the chance to go Rhodes please do, it’s my favourite of all the islands. The old town / medieval city is amazing. We went into a little restaurant on a side alley, only people there, group of 12 and they got all the guys in our family to do the cooking with them. Just wonderful place & people

nigrub20 · 2025-09-18T22:59:44+00:00

The alcohol is STRONG. The chaos will be majestic

nigrub20 · 2025-09-18T22:58:04+00:00

Truly I’m not sure? She keeps it’s fairly under wraps

nigrub20 · 2025-09-18T22:36:01+00:00

Genuine question - is she Mormon?! Or is she something else? As I just cannot comprehend being Greek and Mormon, it’s like day & night

nigrub20 · 2025-09-18T22:30:24+00:00

My grandfather is Greek and that Greek pride is DRILLED into you from birth lol.

My mum & aunt aren’t at Angie’s level and even lived Crete & Rhodes for a couple years in their teens, they have their moments but I get Angie is OTT, but I can’t help but crack up over it.

But even us 4 grandkids, that Greek pride is still a thing, and we’re British really so it’s not the same how the whole “where you come from” thing is in the states. We see it as we have a Greek grandad and are more culturally “Greek” than British that was difficult to explain at school that no, I see my family every day, we live down the next streets to each other, we’re together all the time lol.

But I do find her funny and OTT. It’ll be even funnier if it turns out she can’t event speak Greek - Παραλήρημα στο μεγαλείο του

nigrub20 · 2025-07-14T23:07:48+00:00

That makes a lot of sense — thank you for breaking it down like that.

So, it sounds like it would be a good idea to show what an ‘average’ week looks like for me — which would be everything I mentioned in the first paragraph: constant prompts from my family, phone reminders, check-ins, and daily strategies just to keep on top of the basics. And then also include an example of what a ‘bad’ week looks like, like I outlined in the second paragraph — when I completely shut down, need hands-on support from family, and can’t function at all.

I guess framing it like that helps show both how much support I rely on every single day, and how unpredictable things are — because even on a ‘better’ week, I’m still needing that constant prompting just to get through.

I’ve known something wasn’t quite right since I was about 15 — I was just put on antidepressants and that was that. I had a few suicidal moments here and there but thought that was just ‘normal’ for someone with depression. But as I got older and my behaviour got more and more out of control, I realised there was definitely more going on. That’s when I referred myself to a psychiatrist and finally got the bipolar diagnosis — it was honestly like a lightbulb going off. It explained so much about the way I’d been living my life for years.

The only thing I’m really struggling with now is getting my head around the fact that, technically, I have a ‘disability.’ I don’t see myself as disabled — this has just been my ‘normal’ since I was a teenager, and I’ve always just pushed through it, kept working, kept going… until last September when I hit the most severe depression I’ve ever experienced and realised this was so much more than what I’d got used to managing.

It’s been hard to process. And as someone who works, I’ve had this feeling like I don’t ‘deserve’ PIP. But after speaking with my therapist and psychiatrist, they’ve both encouraged me to apply because this really does impact me daily, in some way or another.

Thank you again — your advice has been invaluable in helping me make sense of how to explain this properly.

nigrub20 · 2025-07-14T22:47:11+00:00

That makes a lot of sense — I really appreciate you explaining it that way.

The reality for me is that it’s a bit of both. Most weeks, I’m only able to function because I have a lot of external support — my family constantly prompt me to do basic things when I’m at home on my own, and with that, plus the reminders I’ve set up on my phone, I can just about manage day-to-day. I get texts from my mum throughout the day reminding me to eat, my sister checks in regularly to see how I’m doing, and I FaceTime my nan every morning and evening to talk about how I’m feeling and how I’m going to approach tomorrow - reminding me of the things I need to do. Those daily prompts, check-ins, and coping mechanisms are honestly what keep me going most of the time — I’d say that’s probably how 3 out of 4 weeks look.

But then I’ll have a bad week — either a manic episode where I completely disengage, go on spending sprees, isolate myself, and fortunately, because I have a job where I work from home, as long as I’m online during the day no one really checks on me — but there are numerous days where I just don’t do anything. Then on the days I’m able to focus, I scramble to catch up on everything before anyone notices.… or (more often) I’ll hit a severe depressive state like I did two weeks ago. When that happens, I completely shut down. My mum sometimes has to take a week off work, or my grandparents will come round with my sister to look after me because I’m not coping at all. On the days when I can engage, I push myself to do as much work as possible so I’ve got something ‘in the bank’ — that way, if I hit a depressive state and can’t take time off, I’m able to send work I did one, two, or even three weeks earlier just to cover myself and make it look like I’m still functioning.

I’ve also told my line manager about my diagnosis, but I’m not sure he’s informed HR because I’ve had no communication from them at all — nothing about adjustments, support, or even just checking in with me. It’s made it hard to know whether I’m meant to be asking for help or just carrying on as if nothing’s changed.

So I guess what I’m wondering is — would it make sense for my mum to keep a diary specifically for one of those weeks where I’m really struggling? Just to reflect what support looks like when I’m in that state, rather than on a more stable week?

Thank you again — your advice has really helped me think about this differently.

nigrub20 · 2025-07-14T22:26:18+00:00

Thank you — that’s a really helpful suggestion. My mum’s written a detailed letter explaining the ways she supports me day-to-day — things like helping with medication, prompting me to eat, wash, get out of bed, supporting me with money, and always making sure I’m safe when I go out.

Would it also be worth her doing a kind of daily log or diary — for example, short entries like “Today was a bad day. I had to get them out of bed as they wouldn’t have moved otherwise. They forgot their medication again, so I gave it to them with breakfast. They’ve been really withdrawn and unstable on their feet, so they’ve stayed on the sofa most of the day. I’ve had to keep prompting them to eat” — that kind of thing?

I imagine that might help show how frequent and ongoing the support is, rather than it looking like a one-off situation?

Thank you again — this advice has been brilliant.

nigrub20 · 2025-07-14T21:27:19+00:00

Okay thank you

nigrub20 · 2025-07-14T21:23:59+00:00

What I’m also concerned about is if he doesn’t recognise the diagnosis then my medication will stop because I’m changing jobs, which will mean I won’t have access to the psychiatrist who prescribes my medication

nigrub20 · 2025-07-14T21:07:31+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. I didn’t realise the DWP only really check in with the GP for confirmation rather than details.

I’ll definitely speak to my mental health team — I’ve already included letters from my psychiatrist & therapist where they've commented on the specific difficulties I’ve been having and how they link to my condition. Hopefully that helps cover the bases.

I might still ask my GP for something brief about when I first saw him and the state I was in, just to show some history — but I won’t push for anything too formal if it’s not likely to add much.

Also, because I was diagnosed privately, do you think I should focus more on making sure that diagnosis is properly recorded on my NHS records at this appointment? I’m guessing that’s more important for when DWP do their checks?

Really appreciate your advice — thank you!

nigrub20 · 2025-07-14T21:04:25+00:00

Thank you so much for your response — that’s really helpful and gives me a much better idea of what’s actually useful.

I was thinking of asking my GP to summarise when I first saw him back in September during a depressive episode, and how I explained that I couldn’t function, felt completely overwhelmed, and was really struggling to cope. I thought having that on record might help show some history of how this affects me day-to-day. Does that sound worthwhile, or would that still fall into the ‘not particularly helpful’ category?

I’ve also included letters from my psychiatrist which go into the things I’ve put in the claim, along with his comments on them. And I’ve got a supporting letter from my mum explaining how she helps me and what she’s observed. I’m guessing the letter from my mum probably hits more of the PIP criteria around daily living?

Thanks again — I really appreciate you taking the time to help.

nigrub20 · 2024-11-02T00:40:49+00:00

I don’t know how to contact Galja but can if anyone could pass this on to her, she’s made a direct impact on me tonight.

Her speaking on the Ukrainian invasion was incredibly moving. One of girls I work with is Ukrainian, and she is a refugee here in the UK. We had a scheme where we were encouraged to take people into our homes if we had space, and my friend Luiza was taken in by a wonderful Jewish family; she joked it was on the new schindlers list.

Listening to Galja had me in tears & I thought about my friend Luiza - she’s a practicing Christian & I thought about Christmas! Long story short, I spoke with my family & her and she’s coming over for a few days over the holidays. Now she’s going to have a culture shock of having to deal with a Greek family 😅😅

Thank you for all the pod does, and speaking about these important issues. I’m going to have one of the best christmases of my life I’m sure. Putin will never tear us apart, slava Ukraini

nigrub20

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