Image by skypistudio from DepositPhotosI’m really struggling to get going again at the moment, and I think much had to do with the busy-ish day I knew was coming up yesterday.
Both of us had dental appointments, but because the poet had cancelled his last one and moved it to this week, we didn’t have our two appointments together. In fact, with a good 90 minutes between my checkup appointment and his, it would have been a waste of time for us both to go and then one of us, probably me, sit around for that 90 minutes.
Parking is at a premium at our dentist’s, so we do try to go together if we can. Plus, if we’re both there, it means the dog can come too and I’ll walk him while the poet’s being dentisted. Since Hawley went back to his previous human, our Alfie hasn’t really been left on his own for long, which is why we take him with us if we can’t control how long we’ll be out.
So yesterday, I was going to go for my appointment while the poet worked from home and stayed with the dog, and we were going to swap when I got home and he headed out for his appointment.
Still with me? Good…
The big problem yesterday, aside from the appointments not being together at the same time and not being able to leave the dog on his own for that long, was that the poet’s work calendar had been wiped a couple of weeks ago and all of his ‘personal’ appointments had vanished.
Both appointments were in his diary. The important one, obviously, was his own. But when his diary was wiped, someone came along and booked him in for something else, which is reasonable. It is, after all, his job. But we are entitled to have health appointments during work time, Plus, if he takes me, he usually schedules in a Teams meeting he can also attend on his phone in the car.
Now, this conflicting appointment at work was made for yesterday because someone else couldn’t make the alternative date tomorrow, on Wednesday. And it wasn’t just ‘down the road’ either. It was 2 hours away in Leicestershire (pronounced lester-sheer). If he could get away at a certain time, he should be home just as I was leaving, then he’d still be at home with the dog for the next couple of hours and we could still do the swap.
But there was always the chance he might get stuck, either at the meeting or on the motorway driving home. So we had to Alfie-proof the house, or the rooms we could leave him in, in case he was on his own for minutes, and we had a backup plan in case the poet did get stuck: he’d call me and I’d take the dog with me, then he’d meet me at the dentist and we’d swap and I’d come home with the dog.
Even though that would mean he’d be there 90 minutes early after all, it was still an acceptable backup plan for a worst-case scenario.
So, we had our plan and we had our backup plan. But it all still had to be properly co-ordinated.
Fortunately, he got home just as I was closing the gate to our drive. Step one: check!
Unfortunately, I hadn’t banked on having x-rays at the dentist, so my appointment lasted a teeny bit longer than we thought it would. And with the journey time from our house to the dentist creeping up as school-runner time got closer, the poet had to leave the house a few minutes before I got back. Had it been likely to be any longer, he would have taken the dog and we would have swapped him between us in a layby somewhere.
We did it, though. We passed each other and waved literally minutes from the house and he got there with 10 minutes to spare.
I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it was a worry, and it meant I didn’t do any work all day again. We did both get clean bills of health, though, which is something.
Alfie gave us both a good telling off when we got home. He was left for literally one minute while one or the other of us was still outside the house and still visible to him through the lounge window, and he was left for less than 10 minutes, probably less than 5 minutes, when we were both gone. The longest we’ve left him for so far is about 20 minutes, so he was a right little diva over it all. And something we really do need to start working harder on.
Oh, and the person for whom the meeting was made yesterday to accommodate? They didn’t turn up.
This post appears on Words Worth Writing and Medium.
It’s always the one who demands the change who doesn’t turn up, isn’t it?
Alfie is a little diva. But I’m glad it worked out, even cutting it close to the bone. You must be tired from it all.
He needs to get used to being left, sooner rather than later. I sometimes feel like a prisoner!