When I was a machinist in the car industry I avoided night-shift like the plague. Fortunately, my mate on the opposite shift loved working night’s so I only ever did a total of a couple of months in my 8 year stint machining crankshafts.  Now I’m on duty 24/7 with an endless hours’ contract: when duty calls I have to deliver.

At around 1.30 this morning I heard Maureen on the move.  I joined her downstairs to find her looking out of the window.  She was concerned that the car was about to be stolen:  even my reassurance that it was quite safe made little difference.  She was convinced there were children and a dog in her vehicle.

Almost an hour later I’m hoping that she is bedded down on the sofa and this will allow me to be on standby for a few hours.  It’s unlikely I will risk going back to bed because if she could wake and panic because she is unsure where she is..  What I intend to do is tidy up for a while and then doze in an armchair close to the sofa.  I didn’t need to do that after all as Maureen decided that it was too cold to stay downstairs and went back to bed.  She’s been sleeping like a log for a couple of hours now.  A couple of hours later I went back to bed and have just woken after some more welcome rest

I hope to be able to talk things over with our G P today.  It is difficult to consider sleep after some of Maureen’s latest antics.  However, I need to develop a strategy to let events wash over me, as I do when she launches into a verbal attack. I need to take a leaf out of Maureen’s book and fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.  If I don’t begin to do this soon I’m going to be in real trouble and that is something neither of us can afford.