Well seasonal greetings. The wonderful news is that Anna and I are grand parents. Isabella Isla was born on December 7^th to Sophie and Harry at 7lbs & 3oz. She’s beyond beautiful and I’m looking forward to future days when we can have some fun together. I’m sure her mother will draw up a long list of proscribed foods and activities!

I tend to make dentist appointments when I have a problem. Routinely turning up for check ups has never appealed. However an email came through from the practice and suddenly becoming intelligent I picked up the phone and made an appointment. It was a Wednesday and knowing how these things work I expected something in a month’s time. To my surprise I was offered 12.10 on the Friday.

On the Thursday I received a call from the practice reminding me that I had an appointment and was I planning to attend? I think it was possible that I was brusque with the caller given that I’d made the appointment only 24 hours earlier and the appointment was actually tomorrow. I planned to discuss cost saving ideas with the practice when I attended i.e. don’t waste my (and their) time calling me!

So on the Friday I’ve set off on a planned 50 miles bike ride and as I’m trundling along near Leeds at 10.30 I have a proverbial light bulb moment and remember the dental appointment, 14 miles away, in York. Shit. Anyway the training aspect of the ride picked up as I pedalled frantically to get back home. Arriving there at 11.40. I literally walked through the shower, jumped in the car and got to the practice at 12.12. On the drive to the appointment I decided possibly not raise my irritation at the reminder call.

In a posh café in the centre of York a young chap on the adjoining table to ourselves was sat looking at his phone with a coffee. Around us were other older folk sipping their flat whites. As the waitress started to unload plates onto his table we looked up inquisitive as to what he’d ordered. (After all older people look longingly at cholesterol drenched breakfasts thinking of the long gone days when they could eat such delights without wondering if your close relatives had an undertaker in mind for you.) We were more interested when the waitress enquired as to whether the person who’d ordered the second dish was about? “Oh no, they’re both for me.”

Well, surrounded by lots of chatty folk he was interrogated as to why he was having two meals. Out numbered we established:

• He’d had a boozy night and was now countering his hangover with a large bacon sandwich and a plate of eggs benedict.
• He was not alone but his girlfriend was back in the Bn’B sleeping off her excesses.
• No, she wouldn’t be joining him!
• They were down from Scotland for the weekend.

Sadly little else was found out as his mouth was full of breakfast, which he preferred to eat at the speed of a labrador to facilitate an early escape rather than provide other information about his private life.  When he did finish (6½ minutes) he got up to return to his paramour. Given his light snack I did volunteer that the cakes were very nice and he could maybe take the edge off any lingering hunger with a purchase? I suspect he’ll not risk meeting us all again and now avoid the café.

In other news I have flights booked for Manchester to Sydney and then a month later Adelaide back to Manchester. Regular readers may be unsurprised to learn that the c1,000 miles between Sydney and Adelaide will be covered on two wheels via Canberra. An escape from the English winter and to ride my bike is a delightful prospect. There are some big distances and hot weather to negotiate. I have been out this way before in 2020 on a bike and I have a good idea of what I’ll experience. I’m camping mostly and have been checking all my kit. In the winter most cyclists drop off their mileage but I’ve tried to keep it going and have been towed around the Dales by an old work colleague, Nick Feasey, to maintain some fitness. As we get nearer to the departure date I’ll be sharing more with you.

So Merry Christmas and I must get to publish my ‘end of year’ list for music heard and acquired in 2023.