A couple of years ago I happened upon a shop called The Back Shop. I was persuaded into trying out their massager. Afterwards I had the distinct feeling my odd length leg had evened up. But the machine was very expensive, whether to rent, buy new, or buy ex-rental.
The shop was moving to somewhere less easy for me to get to, and I only went back a couple of weeks ago. Another session on the machine made me decide to buy one, despite the high cost, and I have been using it for two weeks, and though it obviously hasn't really evened up my legs, my twice-daily massage sessions are very enjoyable.
I did wonder about laying out so much money, though, just when my bank account was beginning to look healthy. Then I got a call from my teaching agency.
There are agency regulations that mean that when you've been employed in the same job for 12 weeks, you are entitled to the pay and conditions you would have as a regular employee. For various reasons, this had not happened, and 16 months later, after I had finally prompted them into action, the agency had an offer to make me over back pay.
I won't tell you hoow much it was, but imagine being underpaid by up to £50 a day, day in and day out, week in and week out, and you will see that I have a big grin on my face, and my massage machine is more than paid for.