I am definitely not on holiday.

Whew! I had more rest when I was working.

Seriously, being retrenched is no holiday. Last Monday, I had a run-in again with the nasty vet who treated my old boy Joe very roughly and seems to think every issue my cats have stems from some deep seated disease. His bedside manner sucks and I ended up walking out of there without paying. He told me I should avoid the practice on Monday as he is only there then. I told him that because of him, I would avoid the practice altogether from now on.

I have been trying to claim from my credit card insurances but the one bank after a long wait has simply given me another form to fill in and the other bank has never contacted me again or returned my call.

Then on Friday, I decided to brave the unemployment queue and after dropping Bradley at school, made my way along to the centre of town and joined the queue. Two hours later of standing on the pavement and the batch of applicants that I was in entered the building. Then it was shuffling our bums along chair to chair for another two hours until I got to the information counter and was handed another sheaf of forms. I had taken a form in that I had taken off the Labour Department website. It was outdated and had to be redone! And there I thought I was being proactive in getting the form completed beforehand... So tomorrow I will be joining the queue again with my bundle of forms.

I thought I had the cellphones and sim cards sorted out. The final item to sort out was a phone for Bradley. We had a phone that needed a new ribbon which is a part that breaks often in a slide phone. Dael went off to the cheaper side of town and purchased the ribbon for R120. He then spent time and fixed the phone for Bradley so he could listen to music and go on mxit and also be in contact with us. That lasted a week. On the weekend he visited cousin R and one of the little hooligans that live at the flat knocked the phone out of Brad's pocket and stood on it. Now the screen is broken. Apparently he thinks that the parents of this child will pay for the repairs. I don't have so much faith in humanity I'm afraid.

On Monday morning this week, Dael and I stood in another long queue at the Licensing Department to book for his drivers test. After about two hours it was Dael's turn to go in and complete his form. I was just congratulating myself for getting that far when he came out and asked for his photos. Now I had consulted the Licensing Department website as well before going there and it clearly said that the photos would only be required on the day of the test. My heart sank as we were going to lose our place in the queue. So off to the photographer at the entrance to the Licensing Department. Four photos for R50 later and we were back at the door to the booking office, luckily not having to wait in the queue again. He is now booked to do his drivers test on January 18, 2011.

Tuesday I mainly stayed home and kept busy in the office. The day was horrifically hot so we all kept a low profile.

Today was off to the dentist with Dael. His front four teeth are badly damaged and he will have to have them removed. He was apprehensive about this and had probably psyched himself up for the onslaught only to find out that he had to go and be fitted for a plate which will have to be made first before any teeth are removed. So we went straight off and had that done and then went shopping. You think its cheaper with boys. Think again. Five minutes into our shopping, Dael had chosen two pairs of shoes, both of which he wanted. The one pair was R139 and the other pair on special for R99. I was eventually persuaded and we went to pay. The shoes on special rang up to R29 instead of R99 so we got both pairs for R170. After stopping for a few groceries, it was Home James!

I cant relax and enjoy time off because at the back of my mind is the necessity for me to secure my future income. Which will happen, of that I am sure. I think that once I get all the details sorted out and all the queueing over and done with I'll be able to clear my head a bit and relax.