In which there are no Turtles

Wednesday 24th October

A brief respite from Turtle-orientated activities to spend my regular Wednesday at DSL and, much as I enjoy assisting at DSL, much as I'm learning vast amounts from working with Philip, much as the physical workout does me good, and much as it's the one day of the week when I treat myself to lovely fresh soup and bread from the Lovely Health Food Shop, I found myself strangely unwilling to abandon my Chelonian charges to other hands for a day.

Still, one great thing about doing five of the same class in succession is that I get five lots of stretching and warming up, which does wonders for my car-seat-damamged back. And other bits, I assume. Excet the bit that always makes a loud cracking sound somewhere in my right shoulder.

After classes I headed over to Finchley Road to see Jonathan, President of the BASSC
and all-round good chap, to get some class logs signed off and pick up a load of gloves to sell at DSL. Jonathan is a terribly nice chap with that enviable quiet and effortless authority that comes from having lived a full and varied life and seen more of the world and its ways than seems possible for someone who has only just turned fifty. Being, like myself, a worker of long hard hours and familiar with the early hours of the morning on a regular basis, he can sometimes carry a weary aspect and a slightly grim demeanour, a bit like Daniel Craig's Bond. In fact, he has that rare mercurial quality of appearance that make him a bit like lots of people. He is also, for example, a bit like Patrick McGoohan whilst, weirdly, being a bit like Jeremy Vine, without really being much like any of them. He is, however, an understatedly warm and supportive friend and colleague, who took it upon himself to ply me with food and wine this evening and also made me a gift of a Rapier and Dagger of my own. All of which, food, wine and genial company, put paid to my plans for an early night as it was gone 11 by the time I got home.

On my return I found that my hire car for tomorrow is a Ford Focus. Bit of a come-down from the Seat.