in brief

There has been a bit too much real life to have any time to post anything recently. Yes, it's the annual "sorry I haven't blogged for ages" post!

My phone is full of scrabbled notes of things I did want to post, however. So let's clear them up!

• Thanks for the comments on my last post. Some of you will be pleased to know that, far from being retired, the sexy grey (Eastern Bloc) walking stick has now been joined by its twin. Double the sex appeal!
  Hilariously my love for these sticks was only increased when I saw that the company that supplies them is called SimplyMed. 
• New Years Resolutions. I absolutely don't agree with them. However on New Year's Eve me and the divine Mrs D had a nice quiet night and went through some questions from a dinner party set - where was the best place you went to this year, that kind of thing.
  Although it sounds a bit like organised fun, it was really nice to look back on the year and everything we've done. Obviously there were some resolution sheets and questions about things we wanted to give up. As a mostly clean-livin' sort of fella, I've promised to GIVE UP LESS OFTEN. 
• This was mostly prompted by watching my daughter. We had a couple of days in London over Christmas and she is SO FEARLESS and TENACIOUS. I genuinely don't know where she gets it from, being an "if at first you don't succeed, give up"-kind of guy. So there's that. Plus swimming more regularly, continuing with my physio, maybe even eventually the dreaded WALK TO WORK. Gah, that old chestnut. 
• A couple of weeks ago, we had a meeting at work with an associate who I've met her a few times and always enjoy seeing - she's kind-of spiky and brusque but always good value. I was having a wobbly day so was walking with a stick and using the lift to get to the room. She clocked my stick and asked me what I'd done, I used my usual "it's just something I need to use"-line which I assumed would close it down. But bless her, she was like a dog with a sore tooth - she could not leave it alone. I took a seat while everyone else went off to drinks (as she travels up from London for our meetings she always eat through them as it's the only chance she gets). And she just would not let it go -asking my work colleagues for more information which made them very uncomfortable. Eventually they said that Steve has a long-term health condition which should normally have shut it down) but she kept pressing.
  Eventually, my colleague said that she was really uncomfortable saying anything but Steve has this THING and if she wanted to know more she should talk to him.
  Cue the associate steaming into the room, giving me a huge hug, apologising profusely and asking loads of questions.
  It was great but I'm just glad that I only used one stick on this occasion. God knows how she would've reacted if I'd gone in with both sticks blazing.
• David Bowie died. It's been weird, I've never been so affected by a 'celebrity' death before, but this has floored me. What an amazing career, what an incredibly artful way to manage one's own death, what a legacy.

So that's that all cleared up. And the only reason I've got THIS done is because I'm on a Residential Course for my job - putting myself  "out there" a bit more for work and being more proactive is another resolution thing I've decided to do more of this year.

So now I'm going to sit and watch this Panorama MS special and probably have a bit of a cry.