Lockdown from Bridport - Part 2 - Day 12

I could absolutely scream, for everything I have ever said about people being 'taken in' by cold callers I was well and truly stuffed today. I can hardly bear to think about it I'm so busy kicking myself. I hold a post mortem with 'The Undertaker'. (No pun intended)  As soon as I put down the phone I became uneasy so googled the company in question. The alarms bells were clanging so loudly I couldn't get to my bank fast enough. Difficult to say whether any fraud has taken place or indeed a scam but it's cold calling and unethically aggressive sales at its worst. The lady at the bank was very kind and understanding. Quite how I wriggle out of it I'm not quite sure. If you are a small business and a broker phones regarding changing your supplier, promising you a better price, AVOID them like the plague. Lesson learnt. It will just be an unwanted time consuming exercise dealing with it. Low life chancers.

As I was slapping some ready sliced cheese and ham into some bread this morning, whilst scorning 'The Undertaker' for buying it, I couldn't help but wonder what it must be like to be retired. Was I expecting to still be working after sixty? Never mind launching yet another new business! The answer is no, I was not. I envisaged myself travelling and soaking up the wonders of the world, well at least Europe, not working like a donkey as such fat juicy carrots disappear over the horizon. I'm part of the millions of  WASPI women who lost out on their state pensions as they pushed the age up. 'Does this sound like a moan'? I ask 'The Undertaker'. 'Yes' he replies. And so it is. 

One of the very many insidious side effects of this whole lockdown is the rise of loneliness. I see people passing by, they stop and gaze through the window and I pause and give them a cheery wave. People desperately need human interaction, a purpose to the day, a reason to go outside. All this business of telling us to stay at home is neither good for morale nor people's mental wellbeing. Take a walk and smile at people. We need to connect.

Great progress today on the shop however. Amazing what a lick of new paint does, (or rather applied by the bucket load) quite remarkably transformative. 'Office darling' drops off a delicious slice of home made chocolate and raspberry tart. My friend Doug comes to the door and informs me that 'Sally the Seagull' is now encased in her very own glass fish tank. Small trivia you may think to yourself, but had I been sat at home (retired) then my interaction with other humans would have amounted to zilch today.

There's a silver lining to every cloud they say. 

Now if I can just disentangle myself from the grasping fat fingers of the con artists , I can go seamlessly on and make my fortune before I retire...