I finally arrived in the back-up café just after 14.45hrs, my back playing up again. I took four pain killers yesterday. I’m not sure what’s going on. Perhaps Saturday evening’s two games of Star Wars football played a part in that. Maybe I need to start playing in a table? As one of that generation of Subbuteo (solo) players who played on the floor, I grew up playing on the floor, and breaking loads of Subbuteo players in the process before Star Wars football began to become the dominant game in my life post-’82. My dad always thought my nose issues (he was obsessed with my nose – hence the five nose jobs) were down to me playing so close to the floor and inhaling too much dust.
I ran a lunchtime 10k today, securing another PB, but I suspect that might have aggravated the back issue too. It’s that time of year now when the park, a public space, starts getting carved up as we hit music festival season and we see the return of the tall barriers erected to keep the non-music wankers out. This impacted on my route today and will do for the next couple of weeks or more.
You couldn’t pay me to attend a music gig if you tried. I don’t think I could’ve dated someone who was into music festivals either. When you see concert footage and some guy has his girlfriend hoisted atop his shoulders, I’d dread to be in that situation. Not just because of my back. But seriously, am I meant to watch the entire concert with someone on my shoulders? How can you enjoy a gig like that? And what if the people behind you have their view of the stage blocked? That could bring about a confrontation.
Here in the back-up café, Muscular’s mum and sister are in with his admittedly striking year-old huskie. Unfortunately, this means staff and customers alike are stroking the dog and certainly the staff aren’t washing their hands afterwards. Nostril Flarer has his entire right hand buried in the dog’s coat.
Last week at football, after one of my team mates took a pre-match leak in the trees, I made sure I squirted some fragrance-free hand gel in his hands before we kicked off. I’d love to do the same here with the staff after their dog stroking. I’m working towards that.
“My dog’s sister is like David Bowie,” Muscular tells one curious customer. “She has two different coloured eyes.”
Muscular asks how I am. I tell him about my run and how while I can compete with the youngsters, running and playing football every week, it’s the recovery that kills you at this age. I wasn’t able to do much at the weekend owing to being shattered. I did well not to run on either Friday and Saturday and the legs felt much better today. I really couldn’t take a step on Saturday without wincing. I think it was more the football rather than the two 10k runs last week.
I tell Muscular my back’s been playing up. He tells me about the arthritis in his knee and how winter is a nightmare for him. I feel this is how friendships are built. You exchange details of your chronic ailments.
15:28hrs
Flarer sees I’ve finished my decaf. He does his usual substitution-turnaround gesture, signalling if I want another one.
I tell him I do.
15:42hrs
I’m still waiting for the latte.
Maybe I should have my own gesture, a puzzled shrug of the shoulders denoting my bemusement as to where this latte is. These guys seem to have a collective dementia when it comes to my orders.
In other news, I finished the last of Ray Celestin’s magnificent City Blues Quartet and Sunset Swing may be the best of these. I’m not sure. It’s certainly in the argument. I was reading it in stretches of 100 pages, the sure sign of a good book. I was even reading it in the flat. This doesn’t often happen with library books which are usually reserved, with their heavy borrow history, for my commutes. New books and anything on the Kindle are usually first choice in the flat.
16:39hrs
I sip my third decaf. The coffee hasn’t been good today. A little too strong for my liking.
I’m off now to tonight’s gig in Shoreditch.
It’s been a busy and challenging few days but I’ll be back with another Patreon-only audio show tomorrow.
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