Some weeks, life is bloody difficult.
Not necessarily in any grand, catastrophic sense.
Just the relentless business of things going wrong, usually at considerable expense, without reprieve from everything else that needs doing.
Our secondhand Nissan Qashqai has spent more than five years consuming a sizeable portion of our monthly budget.
Just as we thought we'd made the final payment, we discovered an outstanding balloon payment.
How we missed it is another story, although I'd be interested to know how a final payment of that size escaped our attention for five years.
The car itself has been equally expensive. Oil problems, tensioner belts, air-conditioning, steering and an engine replacement have kept us intimately acquainted with the motor trade.
An online search eventually revealed numerous complaints about the same model.
Useful information, though it arrived several years and a replacement engine too late.
Last week, the engine started misbehaving again.
More oil trouble, apparently, along with a loose water pipe that isn’t in stock.
The Qashqai remains off the road, and so do I. Here’s why.
We had the use of a beautiful old Chrysler, a 2002 model affectionately named Veronica.
But the day after the Qashqai gave up the ghost, Veronica developed problems of her own.
So, we're without a car, despite maintaining both vehicles, driving sensibly and seldom venturing far from home.
Meanwhile, my banking app froze and my profile disappeared, leaving me unable to make payments.
A few hours later, my knee seized up. And after a deep condition and careful scrunching, my hair expanded into Hagrid frizz on wash day.
There are people who respond to setbacks with admirable composure.
They accept what can't be changed, concentrate on what can and refuse to waste energy on frustration.
I've always admired them, though I'm not sure I'd enjoy being trapped in a broken-down car with one.
The rest of us occasionally need to complain.
And perhaps we should be allowed to, without somebody reminding us that other people have worse problems.
Of course they do. That's always been true.
It doesn't mean a succession of smaller difficulties can't leave somebody feeling thoroughly defeated.
Psychologists have long recognised that everyday hassles can contribute significantly to stress.
It's not always one enormous event that overwhelms us, but the accumulated effect of problems demanding attention when we have little left to give.
Most of us know somebody who's having a difficult time, though we may not know the half of it.
People carry on working, shopping, making appointments and answering cheerful questions about their weekend while privately wondering how they'll manage the next expense.
I don't have any particularly useful advice this week.
Our car is still broken, the bills still need paying and my knee is clicking.
But if you're having one of those weeks yourself, I hope somebody gives you the opportunity to have a proper moan without trying to improve your attitude.
And if you happen to know where I can find a water pipe for a 2014 Nissan Qashqai, I'd be delighted, thank you.
