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Friday 27 September 2019

'The best laid schemes o' mice an' men ...

... gang aft a-gley' is a quote from TO A MOUSE by Rabbie Burns, and pretty well sums up how things have gone over the past few days.

When I am on holiday – or when I know that I am going to be particularly busy – I usually write a number of blog entries in advance to cover the period, and then schedule them to be published on days when I will be unable to write one of my normal blog entries. This week was a case in point, so on Monday I wrote two blog entries that were due to appear on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first appeared as planned (my review of Miniature Wargames 438), but I cancelled publication of the second one (which is shown below) when circumstances changed. The reason why will become apparent later.

WEDNESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2019

A busy couple of days

Today I'm off to central London to attend the annual Hertfordshire Provincial Grand Lodge Meeting, which is being held in Freemason's Hall, Great Queen Street.

I must attend a rehearsal at 11.00am, then have some lunch (hopefully with one or more old friends), and be back to get changed for the meeting, which will take place during the afternoon. As I am required to wear Morning Dress, which includes a black waistcoat and tailcoat as well as striped trousers and my regalia, I have a lot to take with me as I don't intend to travel on public transport in full fig.


(Some years ago, I was walking through Covent Garden in my normal [i.e. regular black jacket not my tailcoat] Morning Dress when I was stopped by two American tourists who asked for directions. They then asked me what it was like to be a butler, as they assumed that only male domestic servants and waiters in top restaurants and hotels wore Morning Dress. They seemed amazed when I told them that I wasn't a butler.)

I am being reappointed Provincial Grand Orator (the official abbreviation for which is ProvGOrat, although the Provincial Grand Master has told me that he prefers me to use ProvGOrator) for a third year, and other than parading in and standing up when I am named, I have little to do all afternoon except watch proceedings before going to the drinks reception and after-meeting dinner in the Connaught Rooms.

On Thursday I'll be back at Freemason's Hall for a much smaller meeting, as we are welcoming a new member into the Holy Royal Arch Chapter of which I am an officer. I have a couple of things to do during the ritual, but other than that, I will be able to sit and enjoy the meeting and the meal that we will eat afterwards ... assuming that I can get the words of the prayer right! (I suffer from a stutter, which I am usually able to disguise, but certain sound combinations cause me major problems ... and the simple prayer that I had to give contains the worst of those combinations!)

I never made it to either meeting.

On Monday night, and without any warning, I was struck down by norovirus, which is better known as the winter vomiting bug. The symptoms are very unpleasant, and I spent most of Tuesday in bed or in the bathroom. Unfortunately, norovirus remains infectious for 48 hours after the symptoms stop, so although I felt somewhat better by Wednesday, I have been in quarantine until this morning.

As a result, all my plans for this week have 'gang aft a-gley' (gone awry) ... but that – as they say – is life.

22 comments:

  1. Glad you're feeling better and hopefully on the mend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve J.,

      I am feeling a lot better today, but I still find that I need lots to drink and not much to eat. Hopefully I'll be 100% better by Monday.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Tradgardmastare,

      Cheers! I'm feeling much better today, although I'm still not back to 100% fitness.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Ain't that a bummer, though? At least it wasn't worse, but when you have a lot on that you are looking forward to ... man, that just sucks lemons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo,

      When I was still teaching, catching norovirus was an occupational hazard, but since I retired I've managed to avoid catching it ... until this week.

      I was looking forward to both meetings, and I was sorry to miss them, especially as I gather that both went well. Still, there are always plenty more meetings to go to ...

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. I am reminded of a trip to the UK many years ago, when there were a bunch of my fellow countrymen and women aboard the Pan Am flight to London. The TV series East Enders was enjoying an early flush of success and export to the USA at the time (late 80s). And as strange as it seems, many of the people on the flight labored under the delusion the EVERYONE in your country spoke/speaks with a cockney accent based on various conversations I overheard in the boarding area, during the flight, and in baggage claim at Heathrow.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heinz-Ulrich von Boffke (Stokes),

      On our first visit to the US, I remember one fellow cruiser being surprised that the people he met in Bar Harbor spoke English with hardly a trace of an accent. Seemingly they thought that all Americans had the same accent.

      As a Cockney, I can tell you that most of the London accents featured on EAST ENDERS are not true East End accents! Why I was a child (back in the 1950s) many Cockneys still spoke in rhyming slang. For example: 'I went for a ball down the frog to the rubber, where I met a couple of chinas. I drank a couple of pints of pigs, followed by a gold watch. The trouble turned up, and she had two veras before I took her home. I knew that if she'd had a third, she would have been brahms.'

      All the best,

      Bob

      Translations:
      Ball = ball of chalk = walk
      Frog = frog and toad = road
      Rubber = rub a dub = pub
      China = China plate = mate
      Pigs = pig's ear = beer
      Gold watch = scotch
      Trouble = trouble and strife = wife
      Vera = Vera Lynn = gin
      Brahms = Brahms and List = p*ssed or drunk

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Ray Rousell,

      It was ... but as they say, sh*t happens ... sometimes quite literally!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Hi Bob,
    I thought something was wrong as you were not answering- replying on your posts for awhile there...glad your recovering from the virus- sounds most unpleasant for you. I had this week being fully recovered from the Flu- the Penacillan my Doctor prescribed and the Inhaler certainly did the trick of shifting the illness completly - when other off-the- shelf cold tablets didn't do anything previously. Stay well Bob! Good News! Cheers. KEV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      I always try to reply to comments as quickly as I can, but it just wasn't feasible whilst the norovirus was in full spate.

      Now that I'm feeling better, I intend to have a 'flu jab ASAP. It is supposed to help prevent catching it. It's not 100% effective, but it's better than the alternative.

      Your 'flu sounds as if it was a bad case, and I pleased that you are on the mend.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. A few years ago we had an outbreak of Norovirus at a day centre I used to work at. I managed to catch it at the start of the outbreak and then again a couple of weeks later just as we'd got it under control...nasty stuff! Hope you're feeling better now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alastair,

      You were very unlucky to come down with Norovirus twice in so short a time, but day centres - like schools, hospitals, and cruise ships - seem to be virus hotspots. I've known schools to be shut in a matter of hours as a result of an outbreak.

      I'm feeling much better than I was, and hope to be fully fit in a couple of days.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Yes, we were a couple of cases away from being temporarily closed to try and stop the spread. My general health is much better these days as I work on my own, largely from home, and don't get nearly as many coughs and colds etc as I used to.

      Glad you're on the mend.

      Delete
    3. Alastair,

      The speed a which the virus takes effect is amazing. I've seen people who appeared perfectly healthy become so ill that they were too weak to stand in less than five minutes.

      When I was at work, I seemed to have a cold or sore throat from the beginning of October to the end of April. Since I've been retired, I seem to be far less affected by such illnesses.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  8. I had something much worse than Norovirus a few years ago. The NHS decided I needed to be in an isolation ward for 4 days before it was safe to let me loose on society.

    Hope you are better soon Bob.

    Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim Duncan,

      That sounds awful. Luckily this does of norovirus started and ended within 24 hours, which meant that with the quarantine period, I only 'lost' 3 days; being in quarantine for 4 days must have been far worse.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  9. Sorry to hear of this Bob. Probably a good job it wasn't a couple of days later or it might have affected the rest of the Lodge.

    Provgorat. Sounds like an agency of SPUR from your Winter-ish War.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nundanket,

      You are right. A day or so later could have made it far worse because it could have affected a lot of people.

      I understand that one wargamer does have a Marshal Provgorat serving in the ranks of their Soviet WW2 wargames army, but you are right, ProvGOrat does sound like the abbreviation for an arm of a totalitarian government.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  10. Replies
    1. Ross Mac,

      Thanks, old chap. It could easily have been much, much worse.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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