This week, the Ship’s Dog had to attend the vet’s clinic. He’s been yelping when he gets up, or lies down, and we gave him a couple of days quiet time and he seemed okay. Friday morning however, he would not settle and kept yelping as if in pain and he was limping. I know from painful (financially speaking) experience how expensive a vet can be out of hours, so phoned them Friday and managed to get an early afternoon appointment. The vet couldn’t find anything obviously wrong, though did concede that he seemed in pain and was definitely limping. He gave the dog an injection of pain killers and anti-inflammatory, told us to keep him quiet for the next few days, and also gave me meds for the next few days for him, then liberated my wallet of more than £70. Now I’m in pain.

I used to have pet insurance, however one year, I tallied what I’d paid in insurance costs, and what the dog had cost me in vet bills. I couldn’t help but notice that each time we visited the vet, the cost would hover around the ‘excess’ of the policy thereby meaning I couldn’t claim on the insurance, or it would be an ‘excluded’ item. Now, I’m not suggesting that vets and insurance companies are colluding… Anyway, I stopped paying the insurance that year (along with my union fees and downgraded the house insurance too.) The vet suggested the dog might need X-rays, however I will resist that; I remembered afterwards that we’d come in on Tuesday, from the rain, and the dog had slid on the kitchen tiles and fallen. At the time he seemed okay, but I’m guessing he hurt himself and it’s taken a few days to manifest. He’ll have a check-up on Tuesday which will cost another £30 odd. He has only yelped, on average, once a day since seeing the vet, so hopefully he’s on the mend. On the plus side, I noted I’ve had a credit to my bank account and assumed I’d been reimbursed for the dentist bills, though the figures don’t tally, even if they include my son’s check-up. Do the SS usually help with rent and costs without advising? I thought I wasn’t eligible for help? I’ve no idea if this is a one-off payment or if it will be paid monthly. It isn’t a lot of money however, either way, it all helps.

Going out on the Friday was a pain in that I had a dog who could barely walk, and when we came home, there were no spaces in our street. I blocked the road to allow my son to take the dog in, then drove a few hundred yards to find a space. Back at the house, I realised I’d left the SatNav in the car. I retrieved it and noted a space I thought I could get into so drove around the block and tried to park. Well, I’m not the best at parking and couldn’t get into the space, but had espied a space just before my house, so drove around again (one-way streets) only for the car in front to park in it. OMG. I parked in the next street, and stomped home. After a few minutes I noticed the tight git who had blocked my house because they won’t pay for parking in the town, drive away. I pulled my wheelie bin into the space, told my son not to let anyone move it, drove around the block again (!) and finally parked outside my own house. Good grief!

The Deckhand and I are getting along just fine, with the occasional exception in the kitchen. He wants to cook sometimes and wants to be left alone – fine by me – but then he wants my help chopping things, or getting things, or stir that, or clean that up. It’s frustrating and would be easier if I just cooked it myself. We also have disagreements about garlic and spices in that he likes those, but my stomach doesn’t. He made chilli Friday and commented that he could barely taste any spice. I tasted it and thought OMG that’s hot. He was adamant that it wasn’t spicy, petulant too, so I put some of it into a separate pan for me and told him to add what he wanted to his. I didn’t have a lot of dinner and couldn’t even eat that due to it being too spicy. This is the second time I’ve not had much dinner due to his heavy-handedness with garlic and spices despite reminding him I have a stomach ulcer that won’t tolerate it. It makes me cross. Sunday, we’re having a roast pork dinner that I’m making so no spices there! My food isn’t bland, or tasteless, and I do use herbs and sometimes spices that aren’t fierce like chilli can be, but we seem to have very different tastes these days. We’ve made a menu plan for next week, and I’ve contrived for it to contain dishes that either have no spices, or foods that we can cook separately so that we both get what we want. The joys of sharing a house with a grown up ‘child.’

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a good week.