A loss of sense of humour

[smokingboot]

It's not that I didn't try. Maybe my row with Mum earlier in the week set me up, and there is something else too; a remnant that never goes away. I do not like to be near strange men, and I really don't like to be alone with them in an enclosed space. I had to go to physio anyway. I reminded them again not to leave the front door and side gate open because of the cats, then off I went.

The physiotherapist was a young man. My dismay increased as I followed him into the therapy room. It wasn't a broom cupboard but neither was it large. We talked, he tested my tendon, I quietly wrestled with the onset of hypervigilance, especially when he told me to lie on my stomach. I did so, aware that while he pushed his hand against my foot I was planning to kick him with the other if it ever felt that he was sliding his hand upwards or attempting any form of caress. But he did nothing like that at all, of course. He was perfectly able, perfectly sexless and safe in his approach. All went well, we finished the tests, made a plan of treatment, and then I walked home.

Round the corner I came, spotting them eating in the van, yup, lunchtime, no worries until I spotted the side gate, not only open but propped open. If the cats wanted to flee from noise and strangers in the house, they could have done so at any time. I strode across to the gate, closed it, then turned to these gents and asked them why they had done exactly what I had told them not to do. They protested, saying I hadn't mentioned the gate, which was simply not true. They either hadn't listened, or got into a kind of mindloop like Joey in Friends being suddenly unable to say 'soup'. I tried not to lose my temper but my annoyance was obvious. Then I got indoors and exploded while my patient husband listened to me, gently remonstrating that that they had a lot to deal with. I was not convinced. If they could close the door to their van while they were eating, they could close my front door, and I didn't think adding the gate to that request was any kind of instruction overload. Yes, turned out the cats were shut in, but if the workmen were leaving doors randomly throughout the house and beyond, they wouldn't stay that way. I spent the rest of the day soothing incarcarated cats and avoiding incapable men. When it was all done (past 8pm) R suggested we go to the local Italian. And the night perked up considerably after that.

So now we have these solar panels. I am waiting to feel very virtuous indeed, as well as becoming a millionaire when we sell our bounty back to the national grid. I will be very nice then, my temper will be serene, and in no way will I spend all my money on self-locking doors and oubliettes for people who annoy me.

P.S. Interesting. It's a dull March day outside, but right now a third of the energy being used in the house is generated by those panels.