THIS CHAIR...

...had my name on it today!  After seeing the roofers onto the site so that they can sort out the last bits of work to be done, we told them we would be out for an hour as we were due to have our “Oldies’ Booster” today.  

We thought as we had appointments at 9.50 and 10.10, it would just be a case of walking in, jab done and out again, but there were dozens of other oldies there too!  These chairs were around the outside of a large room and I rather liked the colour - and of course, got some funny looks from those around - I mean, who takes a photograph of a chair?  

As we stood in line with about 30 people in front of us, I took the time to read the leaflet we had been given and saw that we were having a vaccine called “Spikevax”, which sounded a bit strange to me, as I had never heard of this one.  

When I was called in and sat down, I told the two ladies I would like to ask some questions - and they were fine about that.  I said that being a legal secretary for most of my working life, I liked to read anything I was given.  They said that another lady who was a librarian had said the same thing, she always read what she was given!  However, they said that not many people did!

After answering several questions including whether I had had Covid in the last 28 days, Carol told me that “Spikevax” was the Moderna vaccine and it was fine to have it even if our previous three jabs were Pfizer.  She then got ready to vaccinate me.  I did tell her that I had read if you smile whilst having an injection, it doesn’t hurt, so she asked me if I was smiling before she did it, and I confirmed I was. :-) 

All done and dusted, and having thanked them for all they are doing, we went into the library and stocked up on books - Mr. HCB has said he’s not doing any pottering in the garden today - so now we have plenty to read.  

When we got home Phil and Tristan were beginning to clear up and it’s looking good.  We had just sat down with a cup of coffee when the doorbell rang;  Phil was standing there with a can of Newcastle Brown Ale in his hand, which he said he had found up underneath the fascia boards on our roof!  The price on the top was 66p - four would now cost £5, so it has almost doubled in price in 35 years, which Mr. HCB says isn’t bad.   On the back of the can was an offer to buy a Swiss Watch with a closing date of 31/7/1988 - I wonder if it would still be valid if I wrote to them?  The only trouble is you also needed to send 10 ring pulls and we only have the one!  

We’re not sure if the Newcastle Brown will have stood the test of time, but have decided not to try it - however, I always used a bottle of this ale when I made Christmas Puddings many years ago and they always tasted good.  Apparently, Newcastle Brown Ale is still brewed in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire for the UK and some EU markets, and also in Holland for the export market.  Just in case Mr. HCB was thinking of imbibing, I looked up whether it was safe to still drink the 35 year old ale and Mr. Google told me, “The short answer is that beer expires, but saying that is a bit misleading; it doesn't actually become unsafe to drink, it just starts to taste unappealing or flat.”  I guess it would be as well to bin it.

“Life is too short 
     to drink bad beer.”
Anon

P.S.  I realise that these are the colours of the Ukrainian flag - I have just started following this Blipper, Max_Blazer, a Ukrainian with first-hand knowledge of all that is going on in Ukraine.  There are some dreadful scenes in his Blips, but it's good to support him.