How long until the tennis starts up again? Just 11 sleeps!

I had a couple of emails yesterday saying that the dog insurance is up for renewal next month. As the dogs get older the insurance goes up. That makes sense as they are more likely to get ill later in life. Molly is 8 and Charlie is 7. They are not exactly ancient. I had intended that when they came up for renewal I was going to switch to “Bought by Many” insurance. Apparently their premiums don’t rise each year. Sounds good doesn’t it? In the last year I have paid £18 per month for Molly and £15 for Charlie. As a Trailhound Molly is classed as a pedigree breed. Charlie is a Collie cross and so is a bit cheaper.

Molly’s monthly renewal figure is set to go DOWN to £15. Thats the good news. The bad news is that because she is now over 8 years old I would have to pay 20% of the vet bill on top of the £100 excess. I had a look on the “Bought by Many” site and entered their details for a quote. Common sense tells you that if they don’t increase the premium each year that it isn’t going to be the cheapest. What I wasn’t expecting was to get a quote for both dogs of £139. Per month! I don’t pay that much for my car loan and insurance! I have never claimed on either dog’s insurance. Next year Charlie will be over 8 so his monthly amount will come down but I’ll have 20% of the bill to pay. I’ll stick with the current insurance company for now.

From tomorrow we have to wear masks in shops. Masks have been recommended for use in small shops where social distancing isn’t possible but from tomorrow it is a legal requirement in all shops. You can be fined £100 if you don’t wear one. Apparently the police and Tesco have both said that they won’t enforce the wearing of face coverings. As I have said in a previous post I have not worn a mask so far but have no problem wearing one. I just don’t think they are necessary in the large stores. If it makes someone else feel more comfortable to be out in public then I don’t mind.

I went shopping in Tesco yesterday. Very few masks were being worn. A lot of people still seem to be quite nervous about being around others. There are a lot of people on Twitter saying they won’t wear a “muzzle”. I forgot a couple of items yesterday so I will be going down there tomorrow. It will be interesting.

The local hospital is under the spotlight a little. I’m not sure if it is 3 or 4 members of staff that have committed suicide at work recently. The hospital management are pretty poor and don’t support their staff very well at all. Lots more staff are working their notice. I have been surprised over the 8 or 9 years that Sue has worked there how badly the place is run. The amount of money that is wasted by the NHS is staggering.

Not many matches of interest in the exhibitions today. It’s a pity that a lot of the better WTA players are taking part in events with wacky rule changes. No thank you.

I’ll make the most of the quiet days before the fun starts on the 3rd.

Stay safe.