(no subject)

[urocyon]

Feeling kind of silly.

I've been regretting not being physically up to walking Max and taking him to the park lately. He hasn't been getting many walks at all during the week, since Ingvar is usually pretty worn out by the time he gets home. I got to thinking (worrying, more like) about it more, since work will be sending him to the US for several weeks soon.

Then it occurred to me that I've been a muppet. There are lots of people eager to walk dogs for £10/hr. or so. I've done it myself, and am hoping to get a pet care business up and running again once my health improves enough. And, yes, I'd consider this a reasonable and fairly cheap accommodation for anyone else.

We'd already discussed maybe getting somebody in to help clean a couple of times a month or so, in a very similar vein. Neither one of us is great at tidiness, besides my pain and fatigue issues. We're actually pretty economically privileged in the scheme of things, and won't starve if we pay somebody to help clean on that kind of schedule. But, yeah, I've also put off looking into that, feeling like I "should" be able to do it myself.

Still, it hadn't even occurred to me that we could get someone to help walk Max.

Ah, disability shame and lingering ghost poverty! *facepalm*

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Oh, I have been exactly there with both the cleaners and the dog-walking. Disability shame and owning-class shame as well. (To which my answer is: quit emo-ing and put an ad on Craigslist already.)

[urocyon]

Sorry for the late reply! And thanks.

You put a finger right on it with the combination. I hadn't thought of it in terms of owning-class shame before, but yeah. Another case of putting a huge mess of rather universalist shoulds before what actually works. :/

quit emo-ing and put an ad on Craigslist already

Am planning to use Gumtree since it seems busier for where we live, but will do. ;)

On that note: since I've been having trouble getting out shopping regularly too, I went ahead and put in trial orders for milk and organic veggie box deliveries, too. Should help simplify things a *lot*. And for less frequently needed items, doing more ordering from Sainsbury's only makes sense. Or I could lurch around stores, curse myself some more, and have to lie down for a couple of hours when I get home. (Erm, no.)

[jesse_the_k]

Yeah, I must admit to having fairly bad luck with Craigslist, so I hope Gumtree yields sweets for you!

Are your veggie box deliveries from one farmer or from a greengrocers'? Our part of the upper midwest is home to many CSAs -- community supported argiculture. Eaters come up with a "share" payment once or twice a year, and the farmers supply weekly boxes with stuff they've produced. That's if all goes well. If the weather does to farmers what it so often can do, we all share the misery.
http://www.csacoalition.org/about/

Almost one-third of the supermarkets in our town offer either delivery, or web-assisted picking. That latter is very handy: I use their web form to request stuff; they get it and bag it; a stop by to pay and take it away.

I don't know if this reflects students-who-can't-plan or more older folks who can't handle shopping or what. I know I like it! Yes they add $5 or $15 on to the market basket, but that's less than hiring someone to do it.

Best wishes!

[urocyon]

Apparently, it's from one farm in a network, filled in with some purchased stuff grown elsewhere as necessary. (Varies a lot seasonally.) That was the closest-to-grower option I could find that delivers locally. There are at least a couple of others which are less local. I'd like to support CSA, but that doesn't seem to have caught on as much in the UK so far.

Yeah, we actually have several supermarkets that will deliver for £5 or less, which is good. Since I don't even have a British driving license, collecting in store wouldn't be so handy. :) Glad that option works for you. It would save a lot of time and effort. Yesterday, I did put in an order, which should be here tomorrow.