A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…. ME

I found a piece of paper which had been pushed through the door. This is what it said:

ODD JOBS?

Need odd jobs doing by a local 19 year old with experience in the area?

Gardening/removals/dog walking and sitting/heavy lifting/no job too big or small!

This was followed by contact numbers, home and mobile, and ended with

DO NOT HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ANY ENQUIRIES.

I don’t normally take notice of things pushed through the letterbox and I’m not the sort of person who buys stuff or deals with strangers who call. But this was different, I wasn’t put under pressure by a personal visit, all I had was this note. It was my choice – take it or leave it.

It was the photograph of the lad who was touting for work that decided me and let’s face it all I had to do was phone. Studying the photograph I saw a pleasant young man and mentally praised him for his ingenuity. At least I could see who I was dealing with.

There were one or two things I could get him to do, the first being the removal of autumn leaves which were literally covering paths and lawn in my garden. It was too much for me now that I can no longer bend for longer than two minutes and sweeping up leaves would have my heart pounding in no time.

So, I rang and spoke to the lad. It turned out that he is a student and tries to earn money when he’s not studying. Well, from all accounts and stuff I read in newspapers it is unusual for a young fellow to want work. He said he would come and view the job and then fix a date to do the clearing up.

I must admit I liked what I saw. His name is Luke, good looking and polite and when he did the work he did it well. I have promised to bear him in mind if something else needs doing.

There’s another side to this story and not as pleasing as the above. Garden rubbish is

collected by the council twice a month and I pay for the privilege. Naturally this is a seasonal thing, collections stop in winter. Every week I check on line that I have up to date collection times, and print the information for ease of reference. Luke and I had worked out the exact date when he should do the clearing up job and on the due day the wheelie bin was put out for the men to collect. We have to put our bins out, the collectors don’t walk up the path to collect them.

Except, they didn’t do either.

I checked on line and, yes, I had the right date. What I didn’t know was that THEY had made a mistake. The next time I checked the date had been withdrawn. Now I’m stuck with a wheelie bin full of leaves, too heavy for me to shift. The window cleaner helped out by bringing the bin into the front garden where it will have to stay until next spring.

I was feeling disgruntled about it all but then the phone rang. It was the lady who organises my section of Visiting The Elderly asking if I would like to go to a Rotary Club lunch in a week’s time? Would you believe I said I couldn’t make it – I had checked the diary and realised the chiropodist was coming to deal with my feet!! I realised what I had done as soon as I put the phone down and promptly rang back.

YES, I said I CAN go! To hell with it, I could always change the appointment with the foot man.  

What a way to end the day!