A Toast to George

It was a busy day here, as I got up early to get to the gym so I could loosen up my leg before my appointment with my surgeon.  I of course didn't get to the gym as quickly as I'd hoped, and then spent a bit too long there, as I was racing to get to my surgeon in time (and in fact was a few minutes late).

However my surgeon seemed happy with my progress, and told me that I was doing "very well".  He could understand my frustration with the lack of range-of-motion, but told me to keep doing what I was doing, and that things would improve.  According to him, far too many of his patients didn't want to put in the necessary work or effort, so he was sure that with the amount I was doing, I was sure to be in fighting shape before too long.

I then went over to the Young Dutchman's flat, where we sat for a few hours while I got some of my own work done, and tried my best to keep him on track with his thesis.  I've never seen somebody with such an amazing penchant for procrastination, that boy really hates working!  Felt a bit too much like being somebody's mother, trying to keep a distractible teenage boy on task, so I tried not to get on his case too much.  It's his own damn fault if he can't manage to do the work.

I reviewed some of what he'd written, but too much was really in outline form, so I couldn't really say much, he needed to honestly sit and write it.  Still, it was nice, just standing there behind him, my chin resting on the top of his head, working through the thesis.  I found it funny, talking to him later as I walked out to the Tube and he joined me, as he talked about the importance of hugs.  Apparently we need at least eight hugs a day to maintain our dopamine and endorphin levels, and hugs and physical contact are what strengthen relationships.  Funny, as it kind of explained what I've already known, that I always desire being physically close to him, but it's not in an intimate sense at all.  It's just all those hugs, getting up our dopamine levels!

I then when to physio, where I had my first appointment with a new guy (since my regular physio has gone back to New Zealand for six weeks).  This guy wasn't as strong with my leg as she'd been, but it was still good to get a different perspective on how I'm doing and what I should be doing.

Then it was back to my flat, saying hello to Margaret briefly, before running out to the Lansdowne for the "Toast to George" event being held that evening.  You see, a friend from the club, George, had suddenly passed away in his sleep a few weeks ago.  No warning, no indication that anything was wrong, but a 24-year old guy just died.  And so we decided to have an evening where we shared photos and stories of George, his family came along, and all of his friends basically got together to remember him.

I spent a lot of time chatting with Sophie, who I hadn't seen in far too long, and also ran into a guy Preston, who I know from my running club.  Actually it was funny, as it was the Young Dutchman, doing his hyper-socialisation thing as usual, who said, "Hey, is that Preston?" but when we went to say hello, Preston was much more keen to see me!

I also at one point discovered that both Kellogg Boy and Canadian Balliol Guy were there, but I barely got a chance to talk to them.  However, Canadian Balliol Guy did tell me that he'd quit smoking, which made me very happy.  I hate it when people smoke, mostly from the perspective that I don't like the idea of people I like dying early from lung cancer.  (In addition to the fact that it's a gross and disgusting habit).  So I was very excited to hear this news, although I worry that Canadian Balliol Guy thought it was just the gin talking.

I ended up congratulating him on FB the next day, which led to a hilarious exchange where we all pretended we were congratulating him on being pregnant.  Made me laugh my head off.

But most of the evening, I just ended up chatting with Sophie and Preston.  Preston particularly was in a very good mood, as he'd apparently changed jobs to work on a trading floor, rather than be stuck in law, and had been dating a lovely girl since December who made him blissfully happy, who he thought might be "the one".

Every time we finished our drinks, Preston kept buying new rounds, until I barely slipped out of there just after midnight.  Was having so much fun catching up with Sophie and Preston, I barely noticed the time.  Luckily caught the train home at the last minute, although I later heard they all went on to Dover Street and had quite the night.  My hangover was bad enough in the morning, I think I did well to head home then!