THE GOOD BUCK

Bloody sinuses are playing up again. Totally ruined my weekend. Not that it wasn’t off to a bad start anyway.

I had no work until Thursday. Then they rang me up and said they wanted me in at 2100 to do a run to Chester. I thought that was probably bullshit. Why would they call someone in to do a 32 mile run?

It was bullshit.

You know how I’d been putting things off for months, I am on fire with the getting things done!

I was as good as my plan and sorted my allotment the very next day. I posted the key and notice of termination the same morning. As well as my Canadian Visa application.

This last weekend I spent ages trying to do my self assessment tax return online.First off I had to collect all my old wage payments, distance travelled to work (to claim for petrol) and such. Then I filled in the bits I could, blagged the bits I had no idea about (tax deductions from previous year? Wha..?) and got to the end of the seemingly interminable form. I have a P45 from my  last job, that said I’d earned £8k in 6 months and paid £1k or so of it in tax. I worked out my total earnings for the remaining 6 months, about £8.7K, deducted a £1K for petrol (that stuff really adds up! 45p per mile allowance ~petrol, wear and tear, tax, insurance~ times 20+ miles a day, times 121 days, worked out as £1,230!) take off the money for my satnav £355, and ‘phone (£90 for 3 months). So that’s £8,700- £1,230- £90 – £355 (= £7,025).

I’ve been putting things off, and putting them off some more. The longer I’ve left them the bigger and scarier they’ve grown in my mind. Tonight, my last day off before I return to regular work, I’ve taken the plunge.

The allotment paperwork was so simple it only took me 5 minutes, I truly don’t know what the fuss was with that. I’ll nip over in the morning and clear out my apple tree, fruit bushes and asparagus. Hand my key in and that’s it, job done.

This emboldened me to start on another one that I’ve been panicking over and trying to avoid; my Canadian visa application. I got stuck in while I was on a roll and an hour or two later I’ve got that done!  I can post the allotment and visa application in the morning. Thinking about it, if I get an early start I can clear out my allotment and return the key in the same envelope. Plan.

It’s that most wonderful time of the year. When I get several days off work. And, to steal someone’s tweet, “Let’s not forget what today is really all about. A (selfless) man who helps strangers. A man who died and came back to life. HAPPY DOCTOR WHO DAY!”

That’s enough of the seasonal crap.

I had a bit of a to-do the other day at the gym. It was a storm in a teacup over a parking space. How ridiculous is that? The point of it being, when the big angry chap said “Have you got a problem with that?”  I just tutted and walked away. Usually in such situations it’s me that’s full of rage and up for it. On this occasion I was no more than mildly irritated, which is my default state.

It’s not the incident, or even me not engaging, it’s the sudden loss of confidence. If I’d have tutted and walked away rather than get into a fight over such a trivial matter that would have been fine. Walking away because it wasn’t worth getting into a fight, and being scared I was going to get beaten up, that is all together a different matter.

Even if I never have to fight I need to feel I don’t have to worry about it. Just for my self-confidence.