Mateless

Will I ever get into a routine? Thursday night is pub quiz night with my associates, the Plumber's Mates. In reality, we are not very good. I don't know why but we never seem to do very well on the second half of the quiz!! This week, two of them were going on holiday the next day and the other one rang me when he was halfway to Wales to say he would be there either. There are a couple of peripatetic teams members who come and go so I rang them to say none of the rest were going.

Friday was WWDOP. For the uninitiated, that's Women's World Day of Prayer. Barbara is the secretary for the local afternoon service. WWDOP starts in the Pacific and works right the way round the world time zones. Women of every Christian denomination join together to do a similar service, this year it was written by the women of Paraguay, at specific times during the day. There are services at 2pm and 7.30pm. Barbara was at the local United Reform Church at 2pm so I went as her substitute to the Hull Braves Guild. She normally helps with lunch and so on. I have been going for the last few weeks but still have a lot to learn. There are several other helpers but another of them was missing so I was able to help get the members in and out and do some serving too. There is entertainment every week and this week was a definite star turn. It was eight members of M.I.C.E. (Men in Charitable Endeavour) singing. The members enjoy a good singalong and so do I. Over the weeks I have been going, I have wondered how come I know most of the songs especially as they are mostly pre-Sixties. I can only put it down to the Family Favourites factor. All those Sunday lunches listening to Cliff Michelmore et al when I was young must have sunk in.

However, nestling in my coat pocket as I sat listening to Underneath the Arches and Let there be Love. I'd spent the money I saved not going to the pub for the quiz on the latest album from the Kaiser Chiefs "YOURS TRULY, ANGRY MOB". I couldn't resist after listening to various tracks on various review programmes. When I found that the final track on the album was called Retirement, it was a must buy.