Last week should have been a fairly uneventful one, I had one measly appointment at the local small hospital for my feet to get measured for some orthotic shoes as my ankles are severely pronated and very painful. That was it. But nothing in my life is that drama-free these days!

My appointment was at 11 so being aware of how painfully fucking slow I am I got myself ready and left at 10. Luckily, the hospital is opposite to the MS centre and I’d already asked them if I could park in their car park, which they said was fine. So I parked up and proceeded to get my wheelchair out of the car which was decidedly more difficult than usual. So much so that one of the nice office ladies popped out just to make sure I was okay. Twice. Anyway, once I got my fat arse into my wheelchair quickly wheeled into the MS centre and said hello and then proceeded across the road into the hospital for my appointment. Being that it was at the small hospital my appointment was actually on time, Ihad my feet manhandled by a rather imposing lady who kindly offered me the children’s catalogue to choose from so they weren’t massive, clunky, hideous boots. Unfortunately though, having removed my shoes, the eodema in my feet and ankles quickly refilled meaning that I couldn’t get my shoes back on 🙄 All done back out I went back across the road to the MS Centre, barefoot, had a quick chat and then proceeded to try and wrestle my wheelchair back into the car and attempt to heave my now tired self back into the drivers seat. However that was a FAIL and one of the kind gentlemen that works at the centre came to help me and put my chair in the boot. Noticing that I had very little fuel in the tank I figured it was about time I put some petrol in. I’ve had the car for almost 3 months and haven’t put a drop of fuel in it so it was about time. And that’s where it all went to shit.

I’ve seen the little signs on the pumps before about a service provider called fuelService. I’ve never used it before, I’ve never needed to use it before, but I thought now is the time to give it a go. I pulled up at the local Shell garage where I normally fill up and download the app which, in theory is a very good idea.

You choose the garage that you wish to use and then you notify them via the app that you wish to come and have fuel put into your car for you and they can either accept your request or refuse it if they don’t have anybody available. That was sadly what happened forcing me to go to the Esso garage up the road who are notoriously shit for everything. But they accepted my request so I headed down there pulled up at pump number seven, advised them via the app that I had arrived and waited.. and waited… and waited some more. A total of 25 minutes had gone by when a kind man in a van asked me if I was okay as I was just sitting in my car at the pump doing absolutely fuck all. I advised him of the situation and that I’d been there for quite some time and he offered to go into the shop and ask them if anyone is going to come out and help me seeing as I’d been there for ages! He came back out swiftly followed by a member of staff who marched over to my car and barked “Diesel or Unleaded?” at me to which I responded “ I need unleaded please but hang on a minute. I need to tell the Esso app which pump I’m at so that I can pay.” he did no such thing and proceeded to lift the pump and stick it straight in my car and start pumping fuel. Fucking brilliant. Once he was finished, he then asked me how I would like to pay. My response to that was simply “I don’t fucking know. You lifted the pump before I told you it was ready and now all I have as means of payment is Apple Pay on my phone.” it was an almighty fucking hooha after that which culminated in him telling me that I’d have to come back at a later time with my card so that I could pay. But that the shop isn’t accessible and I’d have to pay at the night window. What an absolute piss take.

I think a more effective way of listening to the story is the video blog that I added to my Instagram account which I will put below here:

Once I got home, I went to get out of the car only to realise that when the nice man had put my chair in the boot, he hadn’t actually handed me my sticks. So I sat there for a minute thinking how the fuck do I get out of the car and into my front door with no walking sticks? There was nobody around, my street was completely empty and devoid of cars so I was gonna have to do it on my own. Which I did, using the car door I managed to shimmy along and get to my front door knowing full well my Walker was just inside of it. I open the front door, I’ve got my keys in my bloody mouth as I need my hands to hold onto everything that I can get hold of only to be then joined on my journey through the front door by the neighbours fucking cat!! Those of you who have been here for awhile will know that I have a dog. Who at the time luckily was closed within the kitchen-diner otherwise that would’ve been a whole other situation! Cat effectively shooed away and disaster averted I got hold of my walker and shuffled down the hall to open the door to my canine companion. He was very happy to see me seeing as my 20 minute appointment had turned into a three hour bloody saga.

I called my husband and he offered to pay on his way home so then I then had to phone the garage and tell them that he was going to call-in and pay for it which they informed me was fine. Well! Thanks a fucking bunch, so very kind of you! At least the police won’t be knocking my door for fuel theft! I then sat down, utterly frigging exhausted by the whole ridiculous rigmarole.