Tempus Fugit

I'm going through a phase at the moment where my body clock seems to have reset itself, so I will go to sleep shattered and wake up 'hours' later. But when I look at the clock, I discover that I have been asleep for less than two hours. I then have the problem that I feel like I have slept for hours and can't get back to sleep again.

One of the advantages that I do have with my new iPod is that I can access YouTube wirelessly, which I did last night. Bizarrely, whilst surfing through the music on the site I saw a song that I hadn't heard for a long time. I clicked the song and as the first notes came through my earphones, the last twenty five years vanished. By the end of the song, I was once again 17 and (reasonably) problem and stress free.

There are many things that can elicit memories, smells and sounds particularly, and it fascinates me the way in which the brain processes these memories, giving a feeling of euphoria if it relates to a happy memory, and the sadness that you feel if it relates to a less happy memory. The song last night resulted in both responses, the euphoria because of what it related to and the sadness due to the outcome.

I've said before that there is very little that I would change if I could have my time over again, but it would be nice if we could occasionally go back and explain our actions and mistakes with the eloquence and maturity that we possess as the adults that we have become, rather than brashness and immaturity of the teenagers that we were. However, I suspect that some of my friends who have known me all of that time would argue that I have neither matured nor learnt eloquence in the last quarter century!

It is odd to look back and remember that when this piece of music was significant to me, I was younger than my eldest son is now.

Alec is now back in the UK, but is hoping to be flying out to either China or Senegal to complete his 'gap year'.

Unfortunately, his time back has not gone smoothly. Firstly, the people who were to collect him from the airport had a problem with their car, so, although he arrived back at 0700, he wasn't collected until 1900, by me.

Having collected him, I drove him to his mother's house. The following morning, there were numerous messages from his mother, and Alec, on my phone. The upshot was that she had thrown him out and he was staying with one of her friends.

Sadly, it will also be awkward for him to stay with me as we have rearranged the house since he left and he would no longer have a bedroom of his own, and it makes far more sense that he stay at his mother's, as that is where all of his belongings are. But she has put her carnal desires ahead of her son, again. She even gave Drew, Alec's brother, a hard time for allowing him into the house!

Hopefully, he will be able to meet up with the staff from Project Trust and head off to one of the other countries early in the New Year.

As I said before at the time that Alec was leaving Guyana, I was otherwise engaged.

The mess dinner went very well and I did fit into my mess kit (just!) It seems that I've put on most of my weight around my chin(s!)

The dinner was excellent, and the concern that there had been about the chef, this being the first function that he had cooked for since doing his chef's course, proved completely unfounded.

The menu was also very good, the starter being butternut squash soup. I'd never had this before and was surprised at how spicy it was. The main course was beef wellington, with sauté potatoes, green beans and carrots. The beef was also cooked to perfection, and I was actually unable to finish, although that was partly due to the concern that my mess kit was becoming tighter by the minute!

Desert was key lime pie on a ginger nut base, and then the usual coffee, mints and port for the toasts. All present seemed to enjoy themselves and were full of praise for the chef. The next dinner will have to be a guest night, or there's the risk that m'Julie will throttle me.

Oddly, I woke up on the Sunday with a bit of a hangover, but that had gone by the time I collected m'Julie a headed back to the Sqn. From there we headed into Maidstone and to coffee in the Mayor's parlour, prior to my separating from m'Julie and making my way, with the rest of the Mayor's party to the cenotaph in Maidstone and the Service of Remembrance.

Following this was the first visit this month to the church in Maidstone for the more formal service, before returning to the Sqn for a lunch.

The reason that this was the first visit this month was that I returned to that church last Wednesday for the funeral of the Warrant Officer who had died on 29th October.

The church was packed and there was a very large turn out from the Sqn. His son spoke, showing maturity far beyond his years, and many of the Sqn joined the family at the wake after the cremation.

So now it’s the build up to Christmas, which, unfortunately, has been building up on the TV for weeks with all the adverts. Hopefully, it will be good, particularly as all of the kids will be at ours. Now where's my Bah! Humbug hat?!?