Life Saving

I’m actually getting back into the swing of writing these more traditional posts about my what I’ve been doing. Sometimes events just come together nicely in order to put one of these posts together. And today is one of those times.

The next big UK sporting event of the summer has started and that is Wimbledon. Yep, all the big tennis stars are in SW19 to attempt to win lots of money and lots of glory. So far it’s been a fairly exciting competition. Yaroslava Shvedova won a whole set without dropping a single point (story here), there was the second longest game in the tournament’s history and some of the big stars have been struggling. Roger Federer scraped through from two sets down, Andy Murray fought hard to finish his match before the 11PM curfew and Rafa Nadal actually lost to someone no-one had ever heard of, causing probably the biggest shock in sport this year. My Mother was lucky to be at Wimbledon for that last match. Every year she goes she gets a Wimbledon mug with the year on. Here is this year’s:

We’ve now got a fair few Wimbledon mugs. They take up a lot of space…

^{Mugs from 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. It’s getting silly. Note: We do not have the mugs laid out like this all the time. That would be silly and not at all practical.}

I was also saddened to learn that Rufus the Hawk was stolen from Wimbledon. Rufus is the official Wimbledon pigeon scarer and some bastard has taken him. I sincerely hope Rufus is ok and that he is reunited with his owner soon. But don’t get worried that the pigeons will increase as Rufus’s mate Hector has been called in.

^{Rufus posing for his Facebook picture. He’s a Harrier Hawk if you were wondering.}

OK so that wasn’t really about what I’ve been doing but then again I have been watching a fair bit of the tennis so it’s kind of relevant. On Friday however I did something useful and gave the vampire-like NHS some more of my blood. There is something a little sinister about the whole initiative, especially when you get texts that say “We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday”. They might as well add on the end “Because then we can suck you dry”. But seriously, giving blood is a great thing to do. It’s not very pleasant but then a minor unpleasantry is worth it when it can save someone’s life.

This was my fifth pint of blood they’ve received and they had particularly good biscuits. Perhaps my favourite part is when they ask lots of questions. The conversation goes something like this.

Nurse: Have you had unprotected sex in the last six months?

Me: Ha, I wish!

Nurse: Have you ever been paid for unprotected sex with money or drugs?

Me: Ditto.

Nurse (Some time later): Have you had plenty to eat today?

Me: Yes, there’s no danger of that ever being an issue.

Nurse: And you’re not planning any strenuous activity afterwards?

Me: There is even less danger of that happening.

Yesterday I managed to save another life, albeit a smaller one. I was sat minding my own business when there was a clonk on the window. It appeared a young House Sparrow had got confused and flown into the window. It didn’t look too badly hurt and was just a little stunned so I let it sit on the conservatory roof and recover. A few minutes later it sort of jumped to the ground and it became clear it’s wing was a little hurt. But before I could do anything it vanished and I assumed it had gone under the fence to next door’s garden.

Some time later our cat Sherbet went outside, and being the proficient hunter she is, she soon found the bird. Unlike we most cats it’s virtually impossible to get a catch of her so there was little I could do. Except the bird was still alive and managed to escape and hide right behind a bag of compost where Sherbet couldn’t get to it. Once Sherbet had got bored and wandered off I managed to catch the bird in a small box and took it some distance away where it had the best chance of being safe. It must have realised the box was quite a safe place to be and at first didn’t want to leave but eventually it sort of fluttered/hopped off. Whether it will survive or not I don’t know but I have every hope as the wing wasn’t broken but just damaged. Hopefully the little bird will survive long enough on the ground and in bushes for it’s wing to have healed well enough for it to fly. Either way, I would rather it die more naturally than in the jaws of my cat.

^{That’s the birdie. Hopefully she is out there right now thinking of her traumatic experience and thanking the incredible human that saved her (that’s me). Or she might be dead but let’s be optimistic shall we?}

I can least sit here and think that this week I have done some good in the world. And that’s always a nice thought to have. That’s it for today’s post but I’m working on my new awesome thing which will hopefully appear here over the next few days. So get ready!