Let the Games Begin!

Birmingham, September 2021

A busy week after the week's holiday, starting with a trip to see mum and dad that incorporated a Zoom interview with Guide Dogs. I thought it went pretty well, and they sent me a lot of information to read afterwards. I will be invited to the centre in person to meet a dog handler next, but haven't heard anything yet. On a subsequent visit to mum and dad I helped them get to their Covid booster jab appointment. The chap who was checking appointment times and supervising the 15-minute wait recognised mum as the person who had taught his daughter 13 years previously. Just like at the cemetery earlier in the year...

I was intending to do lots for Mr MXF this week, but kept finding more pressing things to do, including another walk with the Leamington History Group, taking another 10 bags of garden cuttings to the tip,  and cleaning the house from top to bottom (it really needed it). But I did get round to a bit of work, and by this week I'd really got to the bottom of one of the problems I was having. Progress at last - Mr MXF always seems delighted at what I've managed to do, even if I do get the impression that he would have been able to achieve the same results in a tenth of the time.

Thursday badminton has started again, and hasn't gone too badly despite the fact that a whole lot of members have decided not to return. I'm one of the younger players in the Thursday club, and I think during the prolonged break many older members found better things to do, and they also are more aware of the risks of returning to serious exercise in an enclosed space. In contrast I'm one of the older players in my Monday club, which seems to be thriving, but I'm still doing the Buddhism class on Mondays so can't go.

I signed up to a whole lot of lectures as part of the Cambridge Alumni Festival, including subjects as diverse as punishment in Victorian workhouses, the treachery of Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor), the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, the latest thinking about Calories, the role of the statistician during a pandemic, the gut microbiome, and the history of computing at Cambridge University. All very interesting, with the oddest thing being the nature of actually listening to a live talk. All programming used to be like this - you can't pause the talk if the phone or doorbell rings - but it's been a long time since I've listened to anything live.

The next phase of the LTRP continues with the pointing of my wall on the pub garden side. While I was away camping, Glf was digging out the old decaying mortar, which generated a vast amount of dust. While in the wilds of Yorkshire with no phone signal I missed several calls from the pub manager followed by a very cross message saying that the dust was all over his pub furniture and he was going to charge me for cleaning it. I managed to get hold of Glf, who was very apologetic and agreed to get in touch with him, after which I got another message from the pub manager asking me to ignore the previous message as he'd calmed down a bit now. Glf was back this week to do the pointing, and it all looks very lovely.

The most interesting thing to happen recently has been my interview for the role of volunteer at the Commonwealth Games next year. It started badly due to the train sitting at an intermediate station for a whole hour ('a fault on the track'), but the kind volunteer at the venue (Birmingham's Central Library) fast-tracked me through so I didn't miss my time slot. 

First there was an exhibit all about the different venues that will be used, with cases showing things like medals and videos showing highlights from the last Games. Then there was a ridiculously over-the-top video which stated that without question the Commonwealth Games would be the greatest event that the world had ever seen and would end all disease and war and bring together the whole nation/Commonwealth in a frenzy of joy and positivity. I'm not joking - at that point I truly thought that if they wanted me to reflect this level of enthusiasm I would have to withdraw my application. 

Luckily the interview itself was much more sensible, and all I had to do was come up with some examples of times when I had e.g. been interested in sport, showed some initiative, communicated within a team, put myself forward for something a bit challenging etc. Running a conference for RNIB, being thoroughly obsessed with badminton and volunteering to be a Covid vaccinator provided plenty of satisfactory material. Then I was measured for a uniform (including hat), had my photo taken, and that was it. I'll find out in the New Year whether I've been picked, and if so, for what role.