Or so they say….

Patience is something that develops over the years. As a kid I was very impatient and if I was waiting for something, the days would drag past at a snail’s pace. Now I just shrug and waiting is something I just accept as part of life. One lesson I learned at an early age is that time is indeed a variable, and watching a clock very definitely slows time down.

I have done a lot of waiting in my time. I have waited for exam results and outcomes of interviews. I have waited for Herself to get ready for something [why do women take so long to “get ready”?]. I have waited a combined lifetime in waiting rooms. The fact that there are rooms dedicated to waiting shows how waiting so popular and is an integral part of life.

I’m waiting at the moment.

My first wait is for the outcome of my application to retain my Carer’s Allowance. Yes, I get paid by the gubmint to look after Herself. I know that technically I’m just getting my own tax money back but what the hell. It’s approximately one percent of the minimum wage but it’s still an addition to the income and I would really miss it if it stopped. I have been getting it for a couple of years now with no problems, but suddenly, out of the blue, I get a demand for all my financial details. That makes me nervous even though I fulfil all the criteria.

My second wait [sentences to be carried out concurrently] is for the result of my grant application for fixing the roof. I could pay for it out of my Rainy Day Fund [does a leaking roof count as a rainy day? I suppose it does] but it would leave very little for any other emergency. Once again, I fulfil all the criteria but knowing bureaucracy, a missing comma in an application form is all it could take for them to refuse.

So I could discover at some point that I have lost my savings and taken a big hit to my income. I am reasonably confident that neither will happen but I still have to wait and see.

I’ll just have to be patient.