The mother of a good friend is very ill, she is going into The Royal Marsden today. It's a very difficult situation, made worse because the kind of vague primary caner diagnosis she has been given is so non specific that it does not have an 'on paper' specification - so the family cannot get any support - that's administration gone mad. She has lost a lot of weight and is finding things difficult - but was much heartened last night by something unexpected - her son knows someone in film and told them in passing that she was a big fan of Gerrard Butler - and last night, to her amazement - Gerrard Butler unexpectedly skyped her from Santa Monica and had a chat. That doesn't happen everyday.
Work is quite slow - but does not actually stop - so I have to keep going in, and trying to work around unexpected bursts of occasional activity. It's still very hot and clammy. The dogs hate it and I'm losing my patience with it too.
Heard on the digital grapevine that someone I once went out with who fleeced me for quite a bit of money (it wasn't hard - I'm a very soft touch, and I should have realised they had extensive form) got married at the weekend - to someone quite solvent. That's fairly typical for me.
There is a small cottage for sale just behind my studio - very close to the seafront - it's actually a great little property, and very good value - there are reasons why it's so cheap - about a years worth of huge building work and development is about to start nearby that will be quite disruptive - and it's quite an oddly shaped house - but In like it, and that area will see a huge increase in value over the next 5 years - it's going for about 30k - 40k less than this house is worth - I could, at a stroke - resolve all my practical and financial issues, but it's sadly about 12 months too soon. Another case of my phenomenal bad timing. The logistic just don't work. There are quite a few really good properties available still in Hastings at good prices, but sadly - large numbers of cash-rich Londoners are moving in, buying them and throwing huge amounts of cash at complete refurbishments. It's inevitable that I'll be priced out soon.
I cycled to Eastbourne again yesterday - saw the burnt out pier that I'd walked just a week before, it's very close to hotels and seafront shops so I can understand why they evacuated several - a change in the wind direction could have been a disaster.
They have already completed putting up the framework for the new Aldi across the valley from me - it's going to make my life so much easier, and cheaper - opening in October / November I believe.
I bought some dog bones from the butchers in Morrissons earlier. I've mentioned before that they generally have so much meat on them - you could probably make a decent stew with them to feed a family - I wouldn't be surprised if people were regularly buying them for that reason, they were VERY cheap and came bundled up in plain packaging. I think that Morrissons have cottoned on, they now come in 'nice' packages, like 'real' meat with labels just like the rest of their butchers products - and are much more expensive, but alas - they are a necessity. Anyone with an elderly greyhound will know the misery of rotten teeth and foul breath - raw bones are probably the only practical way to control it. For the uninitiated - do not, under any circumstances attempt to brush the teeth of a reluctant dog, and greyhounds can't tolerate anaesthetic (no subcutaneous body fat - the chemical gravitate to the muscle and stay there causing havoc).
During the weekend Hastings Carnival a friends shop window was broken, like most independent retailers, that kind of expense can be a disaster - they caught the guy who did it - he had managed to cut himself badly - and the police had to take him to hospital to be stitched up, apparently they use a kind of superglue to close up large wounds, by the time they got him back to the police station he'd managed to superglue the handcuffs to his wrist and had to be taken back to be 'extracated'.
I worked out today that for the last 30 years I have paid all my own bills, my own rent or mortgage, managed all my own financial affairs, transport, house repairs, building, training and development, managed my own business and career and never once asked for help, or had it offered. That's not too bad. However - things being as they are - 3 bad months and I could quite easily lose everything. That's just the way things are now.
I forgot to defrost the mixed beans for my dinner. Sitting here like a idiot with a salad on a low heat in the oven.
No comments:
Post a Comment