Tuesday the day after my 28 day jab and a really crap night. My injection site and the right side of my belly hurt, hurt enough to keep me awake and when I move. Its a a bastard. I get up to make a fizzy paracetamol and go back to bed to try and sleep. I have gone down with a severe bout of NSGS. (Non Specific Grumpiness Syndrome). Nothing is right with the world and my recently retired partner is innocently in the cross hairs of my irrational grumpiness. As I lay around in bed waiting for the paracetamol to kick in she busies herself ready for the day and to be host to her friend who is coming later in the day. No matter what I do I am uncomfortable and I cannot sleep, which increases my NSGS. After a while l try taking my vitals and they displease me, they are not what I would have liked, not bad but not good either. In the end I resort to trying to write poetry.
443
Its the morning after
my 28 day injection,
right side, the worst,
and I'm fucking sore!
Not been this bad for
a while.
Early morning paracetamol
has been downed
while my partner
spruces up for the day,
shower, shorts
and then tidying,
even round me.
How irritating can this woman be?
Bloody irritating is the answer.
Especially to a man with
Non Specific Grumpiness Syndrome.
This retirement transition can be difficult.
Expectations about joint adventures,
building social networks
and all the unexpected consequences
of not having to be useful, productive,
structured and contributing,
lead to tidying, cleaning
and all the things feminists
railed against!
My old preserves of garden
and garage invaded,
if I am not careful
I won't get first go
on the new power washer.
I am feeling crap in the middle
of domestic hygiene
and another's search
for meaningful days
and meeting of
unmet needs.
For God's sake woman
will stop dusting the
head board before
I get up!
The truth,
the truth is
this moving on
is tricky for us both.
443 29-04-2025
The poem goes in a direction I do not expect but it is true that adjusting to retirement together can be tricky at times and its made no easier when I am on one of my bad days. So I languish in bed for a long time trying to get comfortable and hoping the paracetamol kicks in soon. I think I might have drifted. Eventually I get up eat and do the crosswords in todays paper I make an effort to tidy up a bit before retreating to the recliner with my laptop, a bag of nuts and a Red Bull to draft the blog while my partner and her friend sit in the garden and chat before going out to eat.
My plan for what remains of the day is to receive and squirrel away the Tesco deliver later in the evening whilst watching football and then to get myself to bed early in order to face having my nails re-gelled at noon tomorrow.
