I’ve stopped worrying about the seal on the Bonneville now, I had a bit of a giddy ride and it held up fine. A couple of weeks and a few hundred miles of thrashing and it’s good as gold. Sorted.
My other concern of late has been money. I extended our overdraft facility as we were getting low on funds. This is the first time we’ve been overdrawn in many years. It’s surprising how you adjust. For years we were dirt poor. I remember walking around in a pair of jeans with a safety pin in the broken fly because I couldn’t afford a new pair. The last bunch of years I’ve been on high paid lorry driving gigs so we’ve always had a grand or three in the bank. Rich, to me, is seeing a thousand pound pushbike and just buying it. You know you’ve got enough in the bank to cover it, and you’ll soon make the money back. To go from that kind of (relative) wealth to putting off getting an eye test and a new set of glasses (even though there is a small but annoying scratch on this pair) because you’re worried you’ll run out of money is… unpleasant.
I wouldn’t say we are breadheads, we give money away (to charities, and family when needed. It’s a good feeling to be able to help out.) and our wants are pretty modest. We’ve not been on holiday in 2 years, Wendy has had the same £4k car since she passed her test. I do have something of a motorbike addiction, but generally I sell them for something like what I paid for them. So it’s not like we are in thrall to more money and constantly better things, but it is a nasty feeling to suddenly have to think about what you can afford to buy, and how much you can afford to give away.
Which is a rambling prelude to me saying I’ve stopped worrying about money as well. I’ve gotten 8 out of the last 8 shifts I was available, and they’ve asked me to work 3 other shifts as well. One of them I had a hospital appointment (which I’d booked as a paid holiday) so I couldn’t, but I’ve worked the other two shifts this week. Assuming I get my available days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday this week, Sunday for next week) that means I’m on for a 6 day week this week. This is huge because everything after 48 hours is on overtime rate, so all the 6th shift will be at £30+ p/h. I did a 6 day week on nights and took home £1,336. Took home! If I get the 6 shifts and take home, say, £1,200 that will sort us right out. We’ll go from being overdrawn last week to over a grand in the bank (after weekly expenditure) in a fortnight. Then I can relax and just do 4 on 3 off if I want, we should still be able to bank about £300 a week. Now I’m getting used to the stress of the job, and the harrowing nature of the driving required, the job is not so terrible. The unloading is a doddle. It’s just the driving that is hard work. What I think I’ll do is the 4 on 3 off, then, if I need to make some cash do a 6 day week. That way I’ll get the big bucks in overtime. If I was to do regular 5 on, 2 off, I’d only get a few hours a week at overtime rate.
This is all just shooting the breeze about what ifs, my point is, I’m relaxing about the money situation. And the job that’s necessary to sort the money situation. It’s very reassuring that they are wanting me to work more shifts than I requested. I can more or less count on getting a minimum amount of wages per week at this rate. More if I want it, when it’s available. It’s only been a few weeks, but that’s definitely how it feels at the moment.
As a treat to myself for a couple of weeks of shopping denial, I bought some new trainers. They are supposed to be a shameless rip of the Saucony Endorphin Speeds that I love, but which have been getting less Speed-y with each generation. But better. And £40 cheaper. Got to be worth a punt. I did need some new trainers.
Tastefully understated.
(The arrows are from a screenshot, not part of the trainer, lol.) I took them for a test ride today. I did 2 miles warm up. Meh. Comfortable, light, soft, but the rocker made it feel like you had a bit of hill to push over before your next stride. I thought they were good plodders. Then I wanted to test them as fast trainers so I did a flat-out 5k. Bloody hell! The rocker explodes into action as soon as you give it toes. Throwing my legs forward faster than I could keep up. My fitness isn’t up to much so I flagged, nearly quit by 1.5 miles, but kept going and did it in a respectable 20.56.
The down side is I’ve only just noticed my big toes point up at rest, so they got a bit battered in new shoes and are sore now. But once I wear the trainers in, they seem very, very good. At least as good as the first generation Speeds. Good job, Adidas.
Oh, might as well mention it while I’m here. The hospital appointment was for coronary artery calcification. It went as I expected. I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke, I run marathons, I’m not overweight. “OK, try eating better. And take statins.”
The good news is I’m low risk. They said if 100 people presented with my exact condition and risk factors, they’d expect 9 of them (8.9%) to go on to develop heart disease in 10 years. And they were massively impressed (from a heart point of view) with my running. They said the statins might have some side effects, but if the side effects were to interfere with my ability to train, they’d prioritise the running over the statins. That’s how much they like the training. They said to cut down on fat, sugar and cholesterol foods. But said the energy powders (maltodextrin and sucrose, basically pure sugar) I have in my long-run water bottles was fine (would have been a deal-breaker) on the run, as it goes straight to the muscles using it, but to avoid a stone of biscuits afterwards as they will plaque up my heart.
All sounds reasonable, and nothing much to worry about.
As I said, it’s all good.