The Cafe at 6:45pm

Out first thing to a hotel near the bypass to present my documents and photocopies to a woman whose job title is ‘ID Verifier’. Rarely have I met someone so stupid. She’d been on her eight day training course she informed me, as she attempted to match my documents against her checklist. I was as patient as the patientest pensioner can be and she kept telling me how good I was; she’d then pause to tell me some anecdote about how cross and unreasonable so many people were. Indeed.
And just as I was about to leave I told her that it was a guy that had done this process last year. Turns out it was her husband. A couple of days ago he was taken into the Western - leaking aorta; his kidneys have packed in, he’s got a tracheotomy, and he’s paralysed. Poor bloody woman; how she could sit there doing her job however badly was quite beyond me.
To raise my spirits I called in at the Filmhouse for the matinee showing of Testament of Youth. My hopes weren’t high but I thought it was actually really good and quite moving; wet eye moment #2 (at least).
But finally something a bit more uplifting - a trip to the Cafe to meet the Pensioner Crew and MsBedlam turned up - the EA from 15 years ago (she’s still a young thing I should add). As mad and great as ever and her business of walking rich people’s dogs about Midlothian is going from strength to strength. She’s even got four vans! I suppose people want dugs as some sort of lifestyle accessory to go with their green wellies but haven’t got time to get out and exercise the mutts during the week. Plenty shaggy dog stories as you can imagine. And then one for the road.