If you know the musical "Les Misérables", you may recall the song that gives this post its title, sung by the innkeeper Monsieur Thénardier, in which he notes all the little extras he manages to slip onto his guests' bills. Meat goes a lot further if you can add the occasional cat, and it is quite reasonable to charge for the wear and tear guests put on the mirrors.
There are times when I wonder whether his descendants work for utility companies. I can understand that there is always a bit of uncertainty about the estimates, but there seems to be a practice of not including items that were going to be needed, if they don't form part of the main work. Thus, you get a quote for a certain amount, and then they tell you later that the necessary safety testing will be another £500.
This strikes me as a cracking wheeze, but unfortunately there is very little scope for pharmacists to do the same. For example, we can't make up someone's antibiotics and then tell them it will be an extra 20p for us to put a cap on the bottle.
The building is beginning to move quickly now. The necessary pillars have been beefed up or built, and the new steel girders are in place, so the last time I looked in the men from Highshore Construction were busily framing out the ceilings. No doubt the next twelve weeks will pass all too quickly.
We've seen a few people pushing their noses up against the windows to see what is happening. There's no need - we'll post photos on here from time to time to keep Truro posted on its new pharmacy and café
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