This is now the Tuesday post, the one I meant to write yesterday. See the previous post for more comments on the slippage of time. 

I spent last night coughing quite badly and, on waking, found that  the pulled muscle in my abdomen was much worse. I would have rung in sick, but I’ve had a lot of time off recently and, added to some problems at work yesterday, didn’t want it to look like I was malingering. (all will be revealed as I continue writing).

Consequently, I felt very uncomfortable at work all day, coughed a lot and felt washed out by the time I went home.  I have taken several doses of painkillers and seen very little difference. It’s tempting to move on to co-codamol, the strongest non-prescription painkiller we have, but I can do without the consequences I experienced last time.

Mentioning last time reminds me that I seem to be ill on a fairly regular basis. This is clearly not a good thing and I must address this. I also note that I was threatening to take action against the surgery in writing. I am seriously considering it again – see later.

Currently, the coughing has lessened, the wheezing is less noticeable and the pain in the abdomen has abated a little. None of it is ideal, but it all seems to be past its peak. However, it did mean I spent the evening sleeping, coughing or bemoaning my fate.

So, back to yesterday.

The owner turned up at the shop with letters. He has been looking at his accounts and can’t afford to go on as we have been. I sympathise with him. Since Covid, we have not been paying our way and cost reduction is required.

From next month, we will be working fewer hours. This, of course, means less money. To be fair, we he has met us half way and is paying us more for the hours we do work. It’s a slightly byzantine story, which I won’t bore you with, but he loves making up complicated rotas. Me, I would just have cut the hours and I would have had a simple rota.

Some of it is based on the fact that my coworker likes to have two days off at the weekend. He already has Friday afternoons and alternate Saturdays off. You are forgiven if you are thinking that this is not ideal for shopworkers, but that’s just how it is. He has an elderly relative to look after (though he didn’t have when it all started, he just used to like long weekends) and this rota is all built round allowing him time to do that.

I am now going to be getting alternate weekends off now. Saturdays, I don’t mind, but I have no use for a Friday afternoon (which I now have permanently off) and There is no point having a Monday off if Julia is at work.

However, he is trying to do right by us and because of my pension/retirement arrangements, it isn’t really a problem for me. I would have preferred full wages, but I will, overall, not suffer.

What I would have liked would be more warning. I would have spent a little less at Christmas, though we don’t really push the boat out too much. I would also have liked him to discuss it first, as I have been thinking of cutting back my hours so I could prepare for the big move.

It’s less convenient for my co-worker, who isn’t planning to retire,  and I sympathise with him. However, we did exchange cross words this afternoon. I could have been more considerate, but I’m actually fed up with accommodating the needs of others who never think about me.

He has an elderly relative who needs help going to hospital appointments and sometimes takes a day off to do this. Unfortunately, the days are often Wednesdays. As you know, they are my days off, and I arrange my medical appointments on Wednesday so that I don’t have to take time off work. I’ve altered arrangements several times recently, but it is inconvenient and I don’t really like cancelling/rearranging appointments.

I said today, that I want the rota written down in the diary for the year, as there have been a number of problems with lax record keeping this year. At that point he told me he needed me to come in on a Wednesday next month. I pointed out that many of my Wednesdays were already booked, that I was fed-up with having to rearrange them and that there were other days of the week for his appointments. I could have been more tactful,

Then, the surgery. I rang this morning and asked how they felt about my cough. They feel it would be better kept at home so I have rearranged the blood test appointment for next week. I don’t, in case I am infectious, want to spread it about.

Just over a week ago, I sent a  prescription request in, because it’s Christmas soon and everything closes. It’s about time to renew everything, and in one case, I have now run out. I checked last night and there was only one thing on the system, so I emailed. When I rang I also checked up on this. They have now ordered the urgent prescription but have no record of the others. They can’t do anything more, so I have had to order them again. I took a screenshot this time. They forced me to move to on-line prescriptions during COVID. Since then I have had numerous problems. Sorry, that’s almost a thousand words of moaning. The pictures will, I hope, be a random assortment of cheerfulness.