It's been a month since my last post so time for another update on our activities since then.
29 Oct - Dentist. He told me that were small signs of pus developing where my broken implant is and that I would need to have the broken half removed from my gum within the next year - which has kind of made up my mind about getting a replacement implant - and rid of my rogue-ish pirate look.
1 Nov - the 12th anniversary of my first knee replacement.
3 Nov - attended Wellbeing Gathering in West Church to promote a new initiative for River Dee Radio - Monday Night Live - where we invite representatives from local organisations to come in to the studio to chat about their activities. The last time we did live shows was pre-Covid so it was a real re-education - and pretty scary too.
6 Nov - drive to Glasgow for another catch-up with old school pals. Jo came too as we were staying with Mary and Brian for a couple of nights. This meant she had to drive from Glasgow city centre to Johnstone - with the aid of Sat Nav - but, in an echo of her last visit (with Lucy back in August), she got lost again and it took her about 4 or 5 times as long as it should have, and when she arrived at Mary's she demanded alcohol to calm her down!
7 Nov - I travelled to West Kilbride with Brian and walked round the golf course as he and his pals played a round (my knee's not ready for golf yet). In the evening the Whaley gang arrived and we had a take-away Italian meal:
8 Nov - Aunt Nancy's 100th birthday bash. Her actual birthday had been on Thursday but Saturday was when everyone was invited to her house. Here's the team photo:
Afterwards, Barry, Helen, Dawn, Jo and I went to the Three Craws for a meal and then we drove up the road.
9 Nov - Lucy called and she also sent this nice photo of her and Kendall:
In the evening we travelled over to Westhill to have a meal with Gary and Luca:
10 Nov - My Gym induction. I had been concerned for a few weeks that the rapid progress I made in the first few weeks after my knee op had ceased and perhaps I was even going backwards a bit now? I decided I needed to do some gym work to build up the strength in my legs to support the new knee so I enrolled at the Sports Centre. Why didn't I just use the Unit gym next door? They wanted £50 per month compared to the Sports Centre's £15.
There are signs of activity next door with a surveyor spotted in the back garden with his theodolite. What will the next move be?
12 Nov - our flu jabs. As an over 75 I was also offered the Covid booster. After 7 adverse reactions in a row, I didn't take it in spring, but swithered over whether I should take the winter one. In the end, I declined again.
14 Nov - another gathering of the Headbangers, in-person and remotely
15 Nov - a trip in to Aberdeen for a gig. Anne Mason's brother Tom - the international wine expert - was in a band who were quite niche in the post-punk 80's - they did John Peel sessions. The band decided to re-form decades later and they've recorded a new album and arranged some gigs in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen to promote it. We had a meal in the Noose and Monkey beforehand then descended in to the tiny Cellar to see them perform. I wasn't expecting much but they were pretty good so Restricted Code's new album, Chasing Shadows, is likely to make an appearance on my Xmas gift list - vinyl, of course.
19 Nov - first snows. Not much to begin with but some heavier stuff later and a drop in temperature meant it hung around on the pavements and fields for a few days.
21 Nov - our Friday night crew took the bus to Ballater for some decent ales - something we can only now get in the Legion in Banchory.
23 Nov - I had arranged a visit from Scottish Gas. Some time ago, Jo had re-arranged the "coals" on the gas fire in our front room but couldn't remember how to put them back properly. When she had lit the fire again a couple of days ago, it set off the carbon monoxide alarm. The engineer detected that the real problem was the chimney which was showing signs of debris dropped from above - the bloody seagulls again! As it was a potential hazard, the engineer disabled the fire until we could get the chimney swept - which looks like it'll be next year before we can get somebody to do it. Maybe it's time to replace the gas fire with a wood burner.
25 Nov - I went in to Aberdeen for the monthly CAMRA meeting, courtesy of Ross after my bus didn't turn up.
A few more things to look forward to over the next week or two but I'm sad to report that we still haven't had all our money back from BA after the cancellation last month of some US flights. I've emailed, registered claims and phoned several times, each time being assured that the money was on its way but it never seems to arrive. I'll keep on their case.
To close, a bit of nepotism with Gary's company sponsoring Luca:
