Up until last year I used to work between the two holidays. Nowadays as a customer focused organisation we are closed . There is some irony in those two things but unfortunately nobody else in my organisation seems to get it. As always I am on the outside looking in.
This enforced holiday is not unwelcome necessarily- but if I had a choice I would work- and this year at least it has got me out of answering the telephone to the customers with burst pipes and frozen roads and pavements (not that these last two are anything to do with us).
Not that this holiday has been uneventful. On Christmas Eve my son went to the local NHS Walk In centre because he has an ear infection. On Boxing Day my father-in-law slipped on the ice and badly cut his forearm. I spent two hours in the General Hospital Walk-In centre with him and he had four stitches in the cut. It left him a bit shook up but luckily there was no other damage. On Sunday my mother-in-law went to the Walk In due to a severe chest infection which hasd been developing since Christmas Eve . My son was back at his GP today as his ear infection has left him a bit deaf in one ear. He got some antibiotic eardrops.
If any of you reading this are from the States- this is Public Health care as it should be i.e. free at point of use. None of these visits cost me anything up front- we even got the antibiotics without prescription. It has its shortcomings but the NHS is a great British institution and something that all us Brits should be proud of.
Not to be outdone by all this, my brother-in-law who is a terrible hypochondriac, took to his bed on Monday claiming to be suffering from a severe sinus infection. The consensus of the family was that he was faking it for attention, which of course his wife- my sis-in-law gave him in spades. I like my brother- in- law but he is a terrible baby and behaves-and is treated by his wife- like a 5 year old. He finds the Christmas visit quite fraught because he doesn't have his wife's full attention.
We went with our son to watch Newcastle v Derby last night. Absolutely freezing cold and a terrible match as well. It's strange that after years of refusing to go and watch The Toon , my wife has been this season quite happy to go along. She says it's because the pressure is off and she can enjoy it.
Music wise it has mostly been the usual Christmas music. But today whilst walking the dog over the frozen tundra that Nuns Moor has become this last week I took my MP3 with me and this song came on. Standing amidst the white snow and ice covered Moor with only me and the dog in sight I sang this at the top of my voice. This is indeed one of Embrace's best ever songs. This version was available on download only.
Glorious Day- Embrace
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