The Rich Variety of Life

It's good that my life includes a variety of both routines and exceptions that, in juxtaposition, can provide both pleasure and adventure.  After a very enjoyable weekend, the highlight of which was an unusual celebration, this week has seen an exciting new development.

The routine of the weekend was a 'normal' Sunday, with bell-ringing, helping with the singing and other rota duties at the church service and an afternoon and evening listening to radio and clicking away at the computer.  The complementary excitement came on Saturday afternoon, when I joined in an rare event being celebrated by one of my friends from church.  This week marks the twentieth anniversary of my friend's putting into effect her decision to come and live in this country.  In that time, she has developed - to a remarkable extent, in my opinion - her skills in our (very strange!) language, found a husband and become a very settled mother-of-two and significant contributor to our church family life.

The test match series might well have finished, but the cricket season is far from over.  While I was working, the radio would be on all day and, during a test match, it would be tuned to Test Match Special so long as I had a radio that would receive it.  Since my retirement, I hadn't listened to very much cricket, despite having a DAB radio on my sideboard.  This year, though, my interest has been re-kindled and I think I have listened to at least part of every day of the five-match series against India.  Alongside this, I have discovered that this wonderful facility is not confined to the test matches but, with all-day network links that rival those for coverage of League football at the weekend, all the Spec-savers Championship games have been broadcast live on local radio and relayed - according to which matches are most exciting - on TMS!

So I've been filling my listening hours by following this in-depth commentary on a sport that I never played apart from as a very green schoolboy ... with skill that eventually led to my being appointed scorer for the school team!  As I've done so, I've discovered that there is a very definite distinction between things I can and cannot do while there is cricket commentary in the background.  Something that involves intricate work with a spreadsheet is quite feasible, for example, while anything that requires reading and/or thought has to be postponed.  As a result, on occasion, I've spent long hours playing sudoku or snooker on my phone while other things have been 'parked' ... and then felt guilty about wasting my time!

A few months ago a friend made a passing reference to her voluntary activities in connection with a well known hospice based in our town and tossed out a comment about the variety of 'jobs' that are available there for willing volunteers.  Following my abortive exploration of a part-time job with my former boss the other week, I remembered this conversation, and decided to 'push another door'.  After a couple of misdirected phone calls, I struck lucky on Monday, and accepted an invitation to pop in for a chat.  After a description of all that goes on in their warehouse and a conducted tour, arrangements were made for me to go along for a 'taster' shift this morning. 

So far as I know, the operation is entirely self-funding, and to raise the necessary finance, the nearby towns support a chain of shops which both receive and sell a broad variety of donated goods.  As well as providing storage facilities, the warehouse is a base for distributing the goods between the various shops, so my chance to see the system in action involved being a working passenger on a van visiting a couple of the outlying high-street stores.  Next week, I shall hand in my application forms and decisions will be made whether, and in what way, I might make a regular appearance there.