
While J. Alfred Prufrock measured out his life with coffee spoons, I prefer to chart mine with the daily passing of one hundred pounds. Hence, and though there must be many ways to evaluate one’s existence, I feel my days are best quantified as follows:
Monday: Scented candle, £16; bottle of moisturiser, £30; horse physiotherapy, £50.
Tuesday: Train ticket, £3.80; food shopping, £40; petrol, £55.
Wednesday: Congestion charge, £8; lunch with a friend, £35; dinner with a friend, £60.
Thursday: Car MOT and service, £119.
Friday: Horse x-rays, £110.
And so on. I grow old …I grow old …I shall go into overdraft and then fold.
But I know what you are thinking. There are items here which look a bit extraneous, items of equine expenditure which cannot be put down to the everyday cost of normal living.

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