I haven’t yet been abroad, and I don’t drive. As such I do not posses either of the forms of ID that retailers consider adequate to prove who I am, and my age. I do have a birth certificate, which when produced in conjunction with credit/debit cards might be enough to convince a sympathetic checkout clerk that I am who I say I am, and am indeed aged over 18.

I certainly don’t think I look younger than 18!  I have a full beard and a hair line that is receding embarrassingly rapidly.  In fact, the majority of checkout clerks who question my age are pimply youths who hardly look old enough to be custodians of the cigarettes and booze I am old and ugly enough to choose to buy for myself.

Since I have been deprived of cigarettes and almost deprived of the beer I have been looking forward to relaxing with all day, I take justified objection to what feels like discrimination.  A checkout clerk can refuse to serve me because they decide on a whim that I look younger than 25; seven years older than legally required, and I am unable to prove my age because I neither drive nor have been abroad.

In summary – BLARGH!

I’m not much of a ‘New Years’ person. While I appreciate that Hogmanay is a big holiday for a lot of people, I’m not one of them. I always feel that it is a holiday where you are expected to force yourself to have a good time for the sake of it. Having said that, I did have a good Hogmanay this year! Going hand in hand with my ‘bah humbug’ feeling of New Years, is my opinion of so called resolutions.

Rarely do people manage to stick to resolutions that they make at the beginning of the year, and I tend to make a point of not making resolutions because I’ll just feel guilty when I inevitably break them. Nonetheless, I am going to make a few this year that I will try very hard not to break:

1. Stop smoking
2. Lose weight
3. Play the trombone more
4. Drink less coffee

Surely I can manage four things! Although I don’t hold out much hope for the first two… we’ll see!

In the last few weeks, he had further nerve damage, this time more severe. He lost all feeling below the waist. Due to the last incident his highly developed chest and shoulders allowed him to pull himself about the house, but he was unaware of going to the toilet inside, and getting him outside involved a crude sling/wheelbarrow affair with a towel slung under his stomach.

The look of shame and embarrassment on his face when he had to be lifted outside and cleaned up after was heart breaking. Although the vet gave him medication to try and repair the damage his quality of life was seriously affected. Thus the decision was made today to have him put to sleep.

Although I’m very upset at the moment, I know he is in a better place now. Flint was a loving and friendly dog, and I’ve loved him from the minute we got him as a fluffy little puppy. Rest In Peace Flint.