Where beggars take cheques, and children take credit
cards –
THE COMPANY
Well,
a few weeks since my last blogging attempt, and it’s been a busy time. The end
of April is always a bittersweet time for anyone involved in local rugby. For
some it means a few months off to recharge their batteries, for others it means
trying to find something else to do at the weekends that doesn’t involve all
those gardening or DIY projects you’d promised to get done in the closed season.
When I was still heavily involved with the Youth section at Rams I’d find that
by around about the beginning of March I’d be “Rugby’d Out” and couldn’t wait
for the season to end. Invariably by the end of May I’d be chomping at the bit
to get back underway. Nowadays I’m a bit more sanguine about the whole thing.
I’ve finished my stint on the camera for the 15 a side season with a trip down
to Taunton to watch Rams take on host side. They lost 33-32 in what was a
cracking match, and I was pretty pleased with the photo’s I took on the day.
It’s interesting to see that the shots that get the most “Likes” are usually
those of “People” rather than action, but this shot is probably the best I’ve
produced this season –
The
summer will be spent at various 7s Festivals around the South shooting the
Badgers and other teams. Last weekend my Facebook timeline was filled largely
of posts from folk at the club who’s gone down to Brean Sands for the annual
end of season tournament at Burnham on Sea Rugby Club. We did that four times
with Max and Anna, and only had the misfortune to stay at the Pontins resort
the one time. I think someone who’d been in the armed forces summed up the
accommodation really well “It was better in Helmand”. The one time we did stay
there Carol filled the bathtub for a soak, did whatever a woman does in the
bath, pulled the plug out and the bathroom floor promptly flooded! Oh how we
laughed. The other abiding memories were that you couldn’t open the fridge if
the sofa bed was unfolded, and if you threw bread up onto the flat roofs of the
cells, opp’s cabins, then the seagulls made a hell of a racket coming down at
dawn to get their prizes. I’ll skip over the bit about two coaches who decided
it would be a good idea to do the Zip Wire, one in baggy Y fronts, the other
wearing just a Mankini, my eyes still haven’t recovered.
The
chat, friendship, memories, banter and general support from the rugby community
is one of the things that makes the game great.
One
of my tasks that I’ve set myself for the summer is to set up my own photography
website and move away from the Facebook platform as Hi Res pictures don’t
really show up as well as they should on FB. Any advice on hosting platforms
that offer high storage and don’t cost a fortune would be appreciated. I’m
hoping to use www.s2sphotography.co.uk or something along those lines, watch this space.
Friday
28th April was quite an emotional day for me. It was one year since
I’d been in remission. That’s the good news, the slightly not so good news is
that my voice is barely a croak at the moment. I really hope that the procedure
I’m having in the middle of May will identify what’s causing the problem and
give Mr More Scary an idea of how it can be treated. I met with Martine, the
pre-op assessment nurse last week to run through the questions ahead of my op.
She’s a lovely girl who’s now seen me three times ahead of various op’s over
the last 18 months. The only problem we have is that she’s slightly deaf and
I’m almost mute, so it makes for an interesting meeting. We always end the same
way to “Nice to see you again, hope we don’t meet again”. On Wednesday I
dragged up to Churchill Hospital in Oxford at an unearthly hour for an 8am
appointment. Previous experience had shown that parking is a challenge to say
the least so I rocked up at 7am and found an empty car park. Nil by mouth from
the previous night was the orders so an early appointment made things slightly
easier on the stomach. The service was outstanding, I was in with a cannula
fitted by 7.45, on the machine by 9.30 and home by 11.30, munching on a bacon
sandwich and having my first coffee of the day. The PET Scan process is totally
painless, you just have to lie still for the 40 minutes or so the machine takes
to scan your body. The most unpleasant part was having an itch on my nose from
minute one of the scan and as my arms and head were in restraints there was
nothing I could do about it. Give me waterboarding any day! I should get the results
when I see Mr More Scary on 18th May after the next biopsy.
We’re
just about packed and ready to go off on our hols tomorrow. The lap top is off,
out of office is on and I’ve whispered a message on my voice mail. Seven night
at the Barcello Beach Hotel in Fuerteventura awaits.
It’s the same place we went to last year in September,
a bit of luxury pampering which is much needed, as much by Carol as me. The NHS
will miss her total commitment if she retires in September, they’re taking the
piss out of her goodwill at the moment I’m afraid. So a week of beach, pool,
food and drink should help recharge the batteries. Expect to see a number of
#stalker pictures on my Facebook page throughout the week.
I think this is the first time we’ve left Max to his own devices at
home whilst we’ve been away for any length of time. If any of his mates happen
to read this, THERE IS NO PARTY AT OUR
HOUSE. Anna is still up in Lincoln and taking her final exams. We’ll not
have to drag up their again to pick her up as she’s bought herself her first
car, a snazzy little Citroen C3 by all accounts. So our next visit to Lincoln
will be in September to see her graduate. Proud dad time I suspect.
The
next update will be after I’ve had my biopsy and meeting with the hospital.
Hopefully it’ll be a case of its Saul Goodman
As
always, thanks for reading.
To
be continued…..
#Shoulder2Shoulder
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