11:30 p.m. - 2024-01-16
TV's and Trouser Presses

I struggled to breathe because it was so cold it hurt as I went outside into the icy morning. It did also snow but it was only a light flurry that didn't last. Jamie showed up at my place around midday with a van full of what appeared at first to be contraband. Did I need a new TV, a trouser press, a coffee table or a brand new bed and mattress?

He's just take on a contract to clear a local posh hotel that went out of business recently after a multi-million pound refurbishment. Everything was being cleared out for another new makeover by new owners. I was a bit wary of his offer but he assures me it's all legit and above board.
I didn't take anything, and the last thing I need is a brand new trouser press. I couldn't think of any use for one other than lying it flat on the floor to make giant cheese toasties. I haven't ironed a single thing in five years excepting my suit for my dear aunt's funeral at the end of last year.

Roddy, the amazing saxophone player who jammed with us at the end of year big jam session late December has now joined our new band project. The depth his playing brings to the whole band is stunning and as always, playing with a good musician always ups my playing game. Big Blue also got her first outing in a long time and she was a joy to play.

Everything was going great at the studio tonight until right in the middle of a cracking rendition of Born In Chicago, our new drummer Alan just keeled over and fainted. He landed on his hands and knees and started breathing strangely. There was a bit of panic before he quickly regained consciousness. He said he was fine and just needed to rest a moment. He'd missed his evening meal to get to the rehearsal and felt weak. Some fluids and a Mars bar got him back on the level but I insisted he pack up and go home if he thought he was ok to drive.

He did so and messaged the group to say he was home safe and would have an early night. I've never seen someone look so pale before, well except for a few dead people I've seen in the past. The colour just drained out of his face. It was quite worrying and I thought about a similar instance that happened in a local bar a few years back where a drummer keeled over, banging his head off a rock crash cymbal on the way down like it was the end of a song. In that case it was for him. He was dead before he hit the floor and had died of a sudden massive coronary.

Without sounding too morbid, it made me think about how I will eventually shuffle of this mortal coil and whether I might also be performing at the time. At points in my life I thought I might be on the way out after having my heart broken into a thousand small shiny red pieces. And maybe on at least one occasion, I thought there was no way to recover from having it ripped out of my chest and then left for dead.

But i'm still here and as long as I don't over exert myself or have it broken again, my GP tells me my heart might hold out for a few years yet. I live in hope and falling in love again has I know helped me so much on the road to recovery and a healthy heart.