Drat

 When I started in my current job, I was offered two days a week. It's not enough but I hoped it would become more. Within a week, I found out that my counterpart on the other three days would be going on maternity leave. I would have savings to use until she actually took leave and then I thought I might be able to do full time until she returned from leave.

Well, that didn't happen because the facility wants to keep a job share arrangement. When my latest counterpart resigned, I hoped I could at least get three days but so far that hasn't happened.

On the way to work yesterday, a woman driving in front of me slowed to take a left turn. She slowed and I braked, slowed more, I braked more. She almost stopped and still wasn't around the corner. I was braking as hard as I could and the car wasn't stopping on a slippery wet road. It was like a bad dream.

Her first words to me were "YOU HIT ME" 

The damage to my car will never be fixed, I just get to drive around in a more beaten vehicle than I already did.

I am responsible for the damage to the other car and have just made the insurance claim.

After that upset I got to work (late) and was called to the boss's office to be told the succession plan for my counterpart who is about to leave (the second person in 8 months) I had hoped that at this change, I might be able to increase my hours but no, the new hire will, again, take the greater number of hours.

It was a hard day and I am getting real tired of hard.

The aged care home where I work is a stone's throw from where I grew up so I have an association with the area and sometimes run across people I knew or knew of a long time ago. One of these was my piano teacher. I was about 14-15 when she taught me. I used to ride my bike to her house and I had to take my shoes off at the door. Mrs H taught in her loungeroom with plush white carpet and baby grand piano. I played half heartedly and she often took phone calls from friends. Mrs H seemed posh and scary.

Now she has pleasant dementia and when I told her I was a terrible student she said " Oh, you were probably interested in other things, darling"

Here she is at the Valentines Day afternoon tea. She saved a piece of cake for her hubby and when he didn't arrive she fed it to the visiting dog. She seems a lot less posh and scary now.