Wednesday 8 October 2008

Don't panic

Okay, enough about babies, a moment of weakness only.

I had some twinges of anxiety this afternoon. I went to get petrol - oh, I say, it took less than £60 to fill it up, when it had cost me £65 until recently. The fact that it was £40 when I bought this car 3 1/2 years ago is a passing happy memory. Anyway, I stood there, nozzle in hand, pondering how to pay. I had cash, but if I spent that, I'd only have to go to the cashpoint sooner. Credit card or debit card? I've been hammering the credit card this past month, spending money on the London flat and since I won't receive any rent until the agents have taken out their commission, the Sage will probably insist on paying the bill - well, he may have to, in fact, though in any case he hates to think of me being short of money in case I have an extravagant whim (I very rarely do, but he enjoys it when it happens). So it seemed less than polite to stick him with paying to fill my car too. I decided on the debit card. Only it wasn't there.

I keep a few cards in a pocket in my purse, as I am using quite a small bag at present which isn't large enough for a wallet as well as all the other necessities of a woman's life - 8 sets of keys, a corkscrew, screwdriver, Oyster card (I'm not planning a trip to London any time soon), diary and so on - so I don't have to switch things round too often. And whatever else gets taken out, the debit and credit card don't. And I wasn't exactly sure when I last had the missing card. Not for at least a week. I imagined my bank account being emptied. I considered phoning to get it stopped. I pondered whether I could have left it behind when I used it last. While doing all this, I paid for the petrol (credit card, sorry, darling xx) and decided that the odds were I'd dropped it at home.

And when I got back, some three hours later, so I had.

I bought a new waterproof coat in Norwich for cycling in during the winter. It was very boring. I also bought a new diary. That was positively depressing. I shall, in the next few days, spend some time filling it in with meetings already booked.

9 comments:

Pat said...

Makes me real how lazy I'm getting; I've used the same handbag - winter and summer - for the last two years.

Z said...

It's such a nuisance, changing your handbag. There's always something you need in the other one. I do ring the changes more than that though.

Dave said...

Cycling in a coat? Well, the ground underfoot will be dry, but the view will be a little dull - perhaps you'll excite yourself by taking detours up the sleeves from time to time.

Z said...

If I take a detour to the inner workings of your mind, Dave, I shall become hopelessly lost in moments.

Tim Atkinson said...

Hope you're ready for those Norwich hills (and winds!).

Z said...

Very hilly, Norfolk. I am acutely conscious of wind direction now. If it's blowing from the west, it's a pleasure cycling in to town, but hard work coming back with panniers full of shopping and the wind in my face as I come over the dam (a road across marshland or water meadows is known as a dam in these parts).

Anonymous said...

Oh that sinking feeling when you think you've lost a credit card. Bet we've all had a few (hopefully false) alarms like that. I'm so glad you found it.

Z said...

At least I had another way of paying or things could have been pretty embarrassing!

luckyzmom said...

Phew! What a scary feeling when this, on rare occasions, happens. I recently changed from a summmer to a winter purse with slightly different pockets, It takes awhile to become reaquainted.

The price of our gas has been declining the past week also.