This week and welcome to it

Monday was resting and recuperating. Our friends Leslie and Louie were in town and we had dinner with them Monday night at a restaurants in Soho, Chiang Mai. It’s (obviously) a Thai restaurant (Chiang Mai is a city in northern Thailand) and it was just first-rate. I had vegetable tempura and then mee of sort sort (I forget what it was) which was extremely good. More of Chiang Mai later.

Tuesday I again rested, and in the evening attended our Lodge of Instruction, where we tried to rehearse a Passing, but did not really have enough people to do it. We tried our best, though. I must crack the book and memorise the Senior Warden’s part in the ceremony, which is quite extensive.

Wednesday was our Deanery Synod meeting. Usually these are quite teejus, and tonight I was a bit apprehensive as I had understood that four people (including me) were running for three seats on Diocesan Synod. Fortunately, one dropped out, and there were no nominations from the floor, so I’ve been returned again to Diocesan Synod, which allows me to stand again for Bishop’s Council and the business committee of Bishop’s Council. So that was good. I was also returned as representative to the Diocesan Board of Finance, which is one of my favourite jobs—oddly enough. I attended the meeting not having eaten, however, because of the antibiotic pill I need to take.

We heard from the NHS Bereavement Officer for Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Hospital Trust. He was quite interesting, and their program for helping people whose relatives or friends have died in the hospital is quite good. They become a one-stop shop for notifying those who need to know about a death. They also serve as conduits for organ donations, and expedite things for people whose religious beliefs require a swift burial. However, he went overtime.

We then had a presentation from one of the Diocesan Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection people, who spoke of the new guidelines on that subject. She didn’t have enough time to do the subject justice, I’m afraid. It’s a really important set of guidelines to help incumbents, churchwardens, and church members deal with the complex rules and laws now cocooning child/vulnerable adult protection. Luckily, there are diocesan training days for the incumbents and Protection Officers for each parish.

Got back late and we decided to go to Nando’s for a chicken dinner. They were just about to close the kitchen, but we got in just in time.

Thursday was Goliath Chapter in Southgate. I actually got there ahead of time, and the place was packed. For some reason, lots of members and guests decided to attend. One of my Lodge brothers was being exalted, so I felt I should attend to support him. The ceremony went well, and, oddly enough, the food was very good. Our new Assistant Secretary (who is responsible for food) did a super bang-up job and I am grateful that he did. I’m glad he is doing it rather than me.

The Metropolitan Grand Inspector attended, and in conversation in the bar after the ceremony I discovered that he is also a dual citizen (born in New York of a British and a something-else parent) but he travels regularly to the US on his British passport (which lists New York as his birthplace) and does not file tax returns (many US expats don’t). I was surprised, and kind of made a fool of myself telling him that (1) as he doesn’t have a US passport he is in violation of US law, and (2) while he doesn’t consider himself a US citizen, he actually is as he hasn’t formally renounced it. Oh, well. I’m not ambitious in Masonry.

Friday noon I had lunch at Chiang Mai (see first paragraph) with Dr. David, my favourite mohel. He is a urologist with a large circumcision practice in Atlanta, GA. He comes to London two or three times a year and we now get together for lunch or dinner when he gets here. I had Green Chicken Curry and it was lovely–no pea aubergines but slices of adult aubergine, spicy as I like it, really good. We will have to go there again soon.

Friday evening we had dinner at Nando’s in Soho with our friends Leslie and Louie, who have now returned to Singapore but had been here for a couple of weeks. Louie is a shopaholic and brought home a leather harness (he modelled it in the shop for us but I wasn’t fast enough to take a picture) as well as lots of other stuff unavailable in Singapore. He’s a teacher, and his school informed him that as he had been to a place where there is swine flu, he would have to stay away from the school building for a week. Two other friends of L&L ate with us—they were here to attend a friend’s civil partnership. I noticed that the one sitting directly opposite me had his fly undone during the whole dinner. How do you tell a perfect stranger that his fly is undone?

I wrote my sermon yesterday for this morning, and delivered it today. Wasn’t one of my best so I don’t think I’ll reprint it here. However, I was sitting at my computer this morning looking at email before breakfast and saw a shadow on the curtain from outside. I opened the curtain, and there was a fox cub standing on the windowsill! Before I could get my camera he was gone, jumped to the ground and then jumped over the fence.

3 Responses to “This week and welcome to it”

  1. vasilatos says:

    For some reason, having to do with me being a bit of a clown, if I throw it in really quick and it’s somehow ok because I’m a girl, I say, “hey dude, your fly’s open,” it goes over all right, and they say thanks, but I feel your discomfort. It’s risky, but really, you are supposed to say something. The rule is, if they can fix it, you say something. If they can’t, nope.

    Spinach in the teeth, say. Crooked teeth, don’t say.

  2. trawnapanda says:

    oddly enough, I was preaching yesterday too. Judy, rector at Christ Church Deer Park asked me to preach for Gay Pride quite a while ago — and of course I left writing of said sermon until saturday. Half-and-half what’s been happening in Canada / the world re homos in the Anglican Church, and half Pride as evangelism. Second half leant heavily on a Pride sermon I preached in 2003 in Ottawa (guaranteed no one heard both of them)

    went fairly well, I think. I’ve done many many talks on this, but its usually in the parish hall and not in a liturgical setting, as opposed to sermon-from-pulpit.

    it’s been so long since I was in cassock / surplice / hood [and will prolly be even longer before it happens again], photographic evidence was taken.

  3. chrishansenhome says:

    So where’s the photo? Enquiring minds want to know!