Dear LPG,  

For a retired person it is not the most critical question in the world but, have you ever noticed that every time we have a bank holiday the rest of the week gets all confused?   

It was a while ago now but I was once present when a nurse visited my father and asked some of those test questions they use to work out if there are any hints of dementia to worry about and, ‘What day of the week is it today’ was one I remember.  

To be honest I have nearly always had to stop and think about where my week is up to, especially when there has been a bank holiday, and that bothers me a bit but, when I think about it, I have always had to think about where my week is up to although a couple of minutes thought usually gets me to the right answer.   

Obviously you have to not be able to answer a lot more questions than that one to be diagnosed but I did not have to get to retirement age to have a mental block about the significant seven.    

I took a look at what the internet had to say on why a person might forget where their week is up to, and something that was mentioned was that an unconventional set of life habits or lack of routine can make knowing where the rest of the world is up to become a bit blurred. 

Apparently I have nearly always had an excuse for not being able to give a quick response to this question because, when I did have a job, it was one where I worked weekends and all times of the day and night with random days off each week.  Knowing where I was up to on the rota was more important to me than what day of the week it was back then, but since I retired I am getting much better at remembering.   

This has to be because there are things I do on particular days of the week and the base line for my routine is now what day of the week it is.  I now do voluntary work each Tuesday, look after my grandchildren on Mondays and Thursdays, meet up with a couple of my neighbours Saturdays and go to church on Sundays.      

So ironically, for the most part I am now well and truly grounded week-wise and can answer that, ‘what day of the week is it question’ at the drop of a hat, and that can only be a good thing.  But Christmas or Easter or one of the other bank holidays only has to come along to throw the whole thing out again.   It can be argued that bank holidays don’t really make much difference to pensioners anyway, and please don’t think that I would rather not have them, but it is at those times that this insignificant poser can become a problem.   

Dustbin days change in those weeks when such a holiday occurs and I nearly always forget to put the food bin out on the right day.  Gone are the days when you got a little note from the council, but now it can be a guessing game and two weeks of food waste is a horrible thing.  Just in case this is something that affects any other reader I would like to remind everyone to check their council’s dustbin plans a week or so in advance of any celebration.  

NP, Dartford.