Well, I may be exaggerating a little, but the day started badly and carried on limping from problem to problem.

First, a phone call (this was last night to be honest) about the delivery time of my medication – the specialist one that needs refrigerating. I noted that the delivery time they had texted me was impractical and spent 30 minutes waiting until I could talk to someone on a very dodgy line. He agreed to change the delivery time from 8am – 8pm and make it 5pm – 8pm. However, when I checked my text this morning it said 2pm – 5pm. I don’t get home until 4.30pm. However, I didn’t have another half hour to waste so I decided to just let things happen.

Then, on the way to work, I got a phone call. Julia answered it because we were on the way to drop her off. There was no power at the shop and National Grid were desperately digging the road up to find the fault. So I arranged to go to the boss’s house to work, as he had collected a medal collection the previous night and we needed to go through it. That was two.

Third was the medal collection. It was, without doubt, the biggest anti-climax of my collecting life. I have known the collector for 30 years and, although he has spoken of his collection, I had never seen it, and never seen him buy anything. In a way I always doubted it was as good as he claimed, but couldn’t be sure. It may have been brilliant. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Almost everything was damaged, repaired or faulty. He had, as we always say, a good time building the collection, but it isn’t going to be an investment as his prices are are all based on prices for a medal in good condition.. We are going to tell him that we believe it would be better if he put it into an auction and let the market decide the value. To be honest, it saves us the task of criticising his life’s work.

South Africa medal with 1879 bar for the Zulu war. This is one that we bought in the shop – it’s possible for a 150 year old medal to look presentable, as you can see. Very few of today’s selection were as good as this.

The good news is that we were finished by lunchtime, the workmen say we will have electricty tomorrow and I got home in time to meet my delivery.

Then I knocked a four-pack of beans off a shelf and onto the floor. The whole thing fell on the edge of one can, the other three all added their weight, the lid split and bean juice oozed across the floor . . .

I can only wonder what tomorrow will bring.