A friend of Wendy’s went into hospital to give birth.
Caught COVID there.
Went into a coma because her mother had persuaded her to not have the vaccine, and use homeopathic medicine instead.
They removed the baby surgically, and the baby is well.
The mum is coming around from the coma, a little. The doctor expects the new mum to be wheelchair bound and incapable of self care for the rest of her life.

Sobering tale.
Get the vaccine.

Well who’d have thought it?

It was great actually, brilliant atmosphere, and of course a 2-0 victory over a top club.

It was very different from how I’d imagined. Chris Cats came as my ‘helper’ and explained the rules etc 🤦‍♂️ of being a fan. It’s a whole new world.

The stadium is great, the seat position is excellent ( almost on the half way line ) and the staff were really really helpful.

Good to go with Chris, Glenn, Roy and Frank. All top lads!

So very strange.
I’m actually INSIDE a pub. Well that’s a first for a long time and I feel genuinely nervous because there must be 40 other people in here too.
It just seems wrong.
I didn’t expect to feel this way at all.

It’s also another first. I’m going to see Brentford play football. Well I live here, so I thought I’d buy a season ticket, despite not actually liking football very much, and only having been to 2 football matches in my life – one in Cardiff about 20 years ago, and another 8 years ago. That one is sort of more significant because a week later I was in a coma In Toulon. That game was Arsenal vs somebody, and tonight is Brentford vs Arsenal. That’s a bit spooky.

I’m the first here, of 6 of us. I gave myself lots of time because I have a new wheelchair that elevates me to about 5 foot 8. That’s good! I’m sick of being dwarf sized. Can I say that? Well, it was just … a little… joke.
( unplanned joke, that one, but I made myself laugh, which is the main thing )

Anyway, I ordered a Guinness at the bar and it’s in a paper cup? I asked why, and it’s because the cops told them to serve all drinks in paper cups.
Welcome to the World of being a Football Supporter then…isn’t that a shocker? Everyone in here looks friendly, but I expect I could be glassed ( well, paper’ed now ) at any moment, because I’m actually wearing a Brentford t shirt.
Well that’ll teach me then.

Obvs the favourites are Arsenal – they’re pretty good, I know.

I can’t imagine I’ll be chanting. Coming to a game is a big step from my ‘essence’, but chanting would be wayyy more unlikely.

I’m not sure what else to write. I’m actually way out of my zone here!

Better news than even coming to a Brentford game is that my Triride is back and I’m definitely going to Portugal with the long suffering Gina, on Monday. And whilst there I say my old chum Lee, on my birthday, which is soon! When I had to live in Portugal for a period, in 2018, Lee was my 24/7 help. He’s a top man, and apparently he’s even shaved off his Doctor Livingstone ( I presume ) LLB ( long lockdown beard )
Well TF for that, cos he looked terrible! 😂

And… it’s going to be fixed!

I suggested he use bits robbed of another triride in the sales room… and he did! Probably kinda reluctantly but hey!

Big thanks to Nathan Milgate at Triride UK !

Anyhooo.. there’s nothing a nice cup of tea doesn’t make a little better….

Feeling less than joyful because of what’s happened, it makes it worse that I also had a really dodgy haircut the other day.
I went somewhere different, as my regular barber was closed. Although it cost me twice as much… because it was Chiswick and not Hammersmith… it’s a far worse result.

My ex wife ( God rest her soul ) used to say that if I had my hair cut too short, I looked like a human tennis ball.

Whilst I wouldn’t agree with all of the insulting things she’s said about me over the years… I have to say that on this particular thing, she’s spot on.

Anyone for tennis?

🎾

So as I come back from Fulham… along the river, all of a sudden my Triride starts to make a grinding/ screeching noise. It goes right through me – that sensation of ‘ you really need to stop because you aren’t doing your machine any good at all by carrying on ‘. Except what can I do? I can’t stop, jump out and have a look. I have no choice but to carry on, slowly. I ask a passer by to have a look at it, because I think the left wheel nut has come loose. It has but it just wobbles on the axle but can’t be tightened. I think the axle itself has snapped, the triride wheel possibly just held on by small supplementary bolts. If I go faster and keep the accelerator pressed down the screeching stops, but going faster probably really isn’t a good idea if I’m right about the axle. Oh Blimey.

I’m meeting my friend, Gorana, who is buying me a pre birthday dinner, in Kew, so I get to the restaurant and obviously explain my predicament. We do have dinner, but obviously I’m very distracted. I text several people that may be able to help me, as well as Colin Flounders that supplied the Tri to me. I get replies, which I appreciate, but no one is going to come to my aid, and let’s face it what can they do, as first and foremost I need to get home and get the Tri off.

Gorana is on a bike, so she kindly offers to cycle behind me on the mile home, and keeping the accelerator down as much as possible I get back, and inside, and she helps get it off. Then I have to make sure my spare front wheel device is charging up so that I have another option going forward.

I’m supposed to be going to Portugal on Monday, with COVID tests booked on Sunday. Everything is now up in the air. I can’t go without my Tri. I wouldn’t even be able to get to the airport. Ok well I would in a wheelchair taxi, but then once in Portugal everything would be much more difficult without my Tri, so to be honest I wouldn’t want to go. Everything would be stressful and everything would be far more complicated for Gina, and that’s not fair on her. Stress is bad for any ‘ relationship’ and I don’t want to upset the one between my main helper and I.

I see Wendy tomorrow for the first time in over a year, and she has very kindly offered to take my Triride to Farnham for me, where Nathan the engineer works. At least then I’ll know quickly what the problem is, and know when I’ll get it back. I’d hoped to spend a few hours with her and catch up, but now I can’t, which is such a shame. Anyway, she’s a star for helping me. Everyone that does, is.

The many things I had planned for the next 10 days are now in doubt/ cancelled or more challenging.
On the upside, had the problem occurred whilst miles from home in Portugal, I’d have been far more properly stuffed than I am here, so I should be grateful, right?

Except I’m not really. I was looking forward to going.
Yet again I’ll almost certainly have to postpone my flights … to when I don’t bloody know.

Anyway, I’ll manage, I’m sure.

Lizzy and I went to the theatre again last night, to see Afterlife. It’s nothing to do with the Ricky Gervais series by the way.
It’s a play about you ( the deceased ) going to the next place.
The basic premise was that in your ‘ afterlife’ you would live in a moment, for all eternity, of your choosing. The play features several dead people making their choices, and the ‘ angels ‘
( who are more ‘ admin workers ‘ than cherubic typa angels ) helping to nudge the dead into choosing their for ever memory, and then recreating it for them, before they go off and ‘ live ‘ in it for ever more.

Of course I imagine that I wasn’t alone in the audience in spending the next hour thinking about what moment I would choose for my future eternity, rather than listening to / watching the play properly!
Like everyone I’ve got a lot of memories to choose between, but then all sorts of factors kick in to narrow your list of potentials.

Once you’ve been through a bitter divorce, from a union that covered more than 25 years, then ALL of those memories become tainted ( which obviously is a lot of ‘ once good’ times ) Also all of the memories that involved people that post divorce didn’t treat you the same, also get tainted… and you don’t really want to live for all eternity with those situations.
For me, stuck in a non working body, I’m obviously not going to be in a blimmin wheelchair in Heaven, am I, given the option not to be? Lots of brilliant pre injury sporting moments just surged into contention – scoring specific tries in rugby games, skiing in powder when everything was just technically as good as it got, powering along in a kayak and feeling unbeatable in that moment… all seem like perfectly good ways to spend for ever.. ?
Then you feel guilty that it’s just you ( and nature ) and think more about moments with your children ( and in my case when they were young – and yes pre wheelchair – and still ‘ worshipped ‘ their Dad ). Those memories for me though are also tarnished, given what happened afterwards, and it’s hard to just remove all the after stuff and try to only remember the joy of the moment. Well, if say your best friend of 30 years then stole all your money, for example, you’d find it hard to frame that one time best friend in your positive memory, because essentially they’ve f’d up your default view of them, right ?

So here I am the day after, and I haven’t decided what I’d have. In the play they do make reference to blokes in particular being fixated on living in a sex moment for ever, and yes I can very much affirm that that would be more than acceptable to me ( read lots of guys ) … but I shan’t name partner name(s) here .. but I don’t think it’s ‘ deep ‘ enough, is it?

Having said that, I’m not deep, so I’ll probably go with something sporting or sexy! You only live in that moment, so you don’t have to experience guilt or anything else at all for having chosen it, rather than anything else.

Doesn’t sound too bad, does it, really?

But don’t knock my choice til you’ve done the thought process yourself, dear Reader.

My journey home was a shocker though. My train seemed to have just evaporated, so I got another from a different platform, and asked to get ramp assistance in Barnes station. In my head I was getting off at Mortlake, which IS accessible.
Having been ramped off the train in Barnes though, I found myself on a platform in the middle of the tracks, with only stairs to bridges to get out. Well yes, I’m not entirely blameless, but perhaps the train guard should have pointed out that if he got me off there, I’d be totally stranded…
There I was at 11.30 pm, in the dark, on a deserted platform… unable to escape.

Well I know that society has broken down a bit/ lot but I’m happy to say that angels actually still walk with us and 3 strangers came to my assistance, then got another to help. Finally a group of black youths pitched in as well.
It’s not everyone’s ideal scenario – stuck in a wheelchair and then a group ( that often get a bad press ) rock up.
I’m happy to report though that the Brothers pitched in unhesitatingly and my ragtag group of bearers became The Brotherhood of Man…

With me aloft like Caesar…

I shook all their hands and went on my way, feeling grateful.

In a period where I’ve felt low, I have to say, I’ve thankfully had quite a few Reasons to be Cheerful

Mark 1 was seeing my school buddy, Leigh, along with Pia and Cliff at a pub – still novel !

Mark 2 was seeing my daughter Lily actually ON her birthday. I’ve not seen either of my children actually ON their birthdays for 6 years, and that has weighed heavily on me, I’m not gonna lie ( he says, Love Island styleeee ). She has a new fella in her life, and he came too. It’s good to NOT feel ‘second raté’ this year ( which is how I’ve inevitably felt for a long time ). In my Chair I feel second rate all of the time anyway, so it’s good not to have it underlined this year again! 🤦‍♂️

Mark 3 was seeing my old race mate Ski Sharp. Gawd he was a good cyclist/ runner/ orienteerer. He could run faster in the dark than I could in the light, which was a bit galling. I last saw him in the Lake District, and before that in the Himalayas in the year 2000, where we spent 3 weeks together. He’s not changed a bit – same physique and same big nose ! Thanks to Ski for getting in touch and then visiting with red wine and Guinness!

Mark 3 was seeing my parents, who do visit as often as they can, despite it being a 3/4 hour drive. Thankfully my Dad does love driving ( ?!)
so the trip isn’t a problem. Additionally my mum does love sleeping in a moving car… so it’s a win win … Lily joined us too, so 3 generations together for the first time in 2 years.

Mark 4, and maybe most memorable, was the posh treasure hunt I went on with Lizzy, in west London. The clues led us to upmarket deli’s, who gave us picnic ingredients…. and obviously at the end we had to eat and drink it all. So a really good day out around Notting Hill, with a picnic in Holland Park at the end.
How very Middle Class!

Mark 5 and 6 were seeing the lovely Cress, and the less lovely, but very nice, Toby. They are indeed a crutch to me in the Darker Times ( as has been the lovely Lizzy of course ) and I am very grateful for having such peeps in my life.

Mark 7 was seeing me old mucker, Mr Vinesh Dabba, who for years employed me on Fridays in Hounslow. He hasn’t changed a bit either? Maybe it’s me that has a malfunctioning memory?!

I’d had a break from cranking for a month or more, but I’ve resumed my daily 2 hours, and that’s definitely good for my head!

Soon I go to Portugal too, with Gina G. That should be an experience for the poor girl. I hope she can cope with the staying up late and drinking. Gina, you’ve been warned!
( ok the truth is that since I can’t get into bed without her, I’ve got to go to bed when she says … I’m just writing bravado’ish nonsense
)

I don’t know but maybe the diversity thing has gone too far.

The BBC Olympic coverage doesn’t seem to have any white men left doing it.
Now you have to be black or gay, or both. That’s totally fine if you are otherwise qualified to be a commentator/ pundit. Colin Jackson is both black and gay, so I’m surprised he’s not in charge by now.
I’m sure by the 2024 Olympics it’ll be Ru Paul, Judge Rinder and Julian Clary, with Kaz off Love Island doing all the presentation.

And to think that old and white Des Lynam, who was at the helm of British sport for a decade, actually lost his job 10 years ago because he had an affair with a transgender woman. Now that’d cement his position for ever!
🤦‍♂️🤷