Banking on change

 25th May
Stayed in Monday, then went out Tuesday afternoon to the Croquet Club.  14 of us there.  Played two games, won one, lost one.  I tried practicing for a few minutes beforehand, but the result was I played badly at the end of the first game and the start of the second game.  Go figure.  The Tuesday evening Quiz Night was no world-beater either.  I guessed that from the two rounds which were about prizefighting and video games  --  not our strong points.  We came 7th out of the eleven teams. 

*** 
Thursday 27th May
Out early to get to a doctor's appointment.  My endocrinologist was not happy with my blood test and started muttering about changing my medication.  Vaguely amused when he quizzed me about all the different sorts of medication I'd been on over the years -- I guess it was quicker than delving into the thick file he had on his desk.  Eat less, take more exercise and see me in four months.
He probably wouldn't have approved of me lunching at Pizza Hut with friends, but at least I did walk there and back.
(When I got home I sat down in my armchair to rest for a minute and went to sleep.  Happens a lot this year.)

Infrequent visits to the central business district mean that I often notice changes in the city when I do go in.  Mostly these are minor things, like shops that have become Vegetarian Tea Rooms, but sometimes they are major changes.  All my life the massive Commonwealh Bank building has stood at a city intersection a few blocks from where I grew up. So it gave me a pang of regret to notice that the bank has now moved to a generic shopfront location up the street and its previous headquarters now has a For Lease sign on its frontage.  I wonder what will happen to the decorative frieze in the ground floor's main room.

 

Proust's novel SWANN'S WAY finally wore me down with its long introspective final chapters.  I am giving it a rest while I read CAT WITH A VESTED INTEREST a Sherlock Holmes story by Lyn McConchie.

Saturday 29th May

The coldest morning we've had so far this winter.  When I went out to feed the animals this morning the temperature was 4C  --  but the "feels like" ambient temperature was minus one!  At least the sun was shining when it came time to be out and about.  It's been a while between visits to the City Mission warehouse and they had added a lot of books and movies to their stock since last time.  I even picked up a framed poster for QUATERMASS II: ENEMY FROM SPACE which was the first science-fiction movie I ever saw (back around 1962).

Monday 30th May
36 hours since the first Covid jab.  I seem to be in the group that has no side-effects, unlike some of my friends.  So far so good.   Second jab in twelve weeks.

Tuesday 1st June
Croquet Club had about 14 playing today.  Cloudy but the sun broke through for a few minutes.  I was playing Rod in a singles game.  He beat me of course  -- I have won a game against him a few years ago but I think that was the first and last time that will happen.

Quiz night was a struggle.  We weren't the only team who thought the questions were harder than other nights.  There were ten teams and I think we came in 8th place with 58 points. The puzzle question certainly had us puzzled  --  it turned out the eccentric psychiatrist we had to identify was none other than Hannibal Lecter.  And we would have scored two more points except the picture they showed us was from an animated movie in which the classical monster the Hydra only had one head!  (My sister Julie would have been indignant  --  she always said there weren't enough questions about classical mythology.)

Wednesday 2nd June
It's a mixed blessing.  The benefit I get from visiting my psychologist has to be balanced against the stress of driving to and from her office across the river.  This month the trip back was more stressful than getting there.  The highway seemed full of buses, trucks and vans that blew their horns at me for various reasons, and the wait to get from the river road onto the highway seemed to take a long time.  When I got home I turned off the ignition, took a deep breath and just sat there for a moment.