… going so well towards the end of the evening too.
I’d had some soup and, much to my surprise, it managed to stay down. That °C to save a couple of Euros. cheered me up somewhat and I was starting to feel a little better. And I eventually crawled off to bed and to sleep.
By 01:30 that was that. I was wide-awake again and that’s how I stayed right the way through until the alarm went off. And the nausea was back as well and I was feeling dreadful.
Mind you, I’ve no idea what they must be putting in this medication that they are giving me because in that short time I’d travelled miles. Startig off by chasing a young girl aound a ski slope (and not the usual ski-slope of our nocturnal rambles either) and how upset was I when she took to her skis? There was I at a ski resort with no skis to hand. That’s the story of my life. So I watched her in her bright blue jacket disappear into the distance with her mother and I trudged back with my friends to our hotel. There were 6 of us sharing a room in this hotel and I’ve stayed in some desperate hotels in my youth, but nothing quite like this. Just an old pot-bellied stove in the middle of the room to keep us warm in 6 feet of snow. The girlfriend of one of my mates told me that she had overheard this girl’s mother say that she wasn’t going to wash during the whole time that they were there and how that would save them some money. I didn’t understand the significance of this so when I enquired, the aforementioned girlfriend just gave me a conspiratorial wink. And I was still none the wiser.
From there I moved on into central Germany or Austria to a city that might not have been Vienna. I was staying there somewhere and I’d gone out for a meal but someone stuck a very old greasy guidebook into my hand suggesting a place to go so I made my way there. It was like an amphitheatre where you entered at the top and walked halfway down, where you were met by some girls in a brown body-wrap, with stained brown skin and hair (although they were West-European). Apparently you were supposed to take hold of one and she would take you to your preferred stall where you could order your meal and sit on a bench. But me being me, I was too busy trying to identify the cutest and in the meantime everyone else was pushing past me, leaving me stranded. these girls were coming and going quicker than I could find a nice one and after about 10 or 15 minutes I gave up and went home.
Next morning I fancied visiting Dornbirn and that involved taking a train at 09:00. So there I was at 07:00 and I’d actually called a taxi to take me to the station. What actually turned up was a man leading a donkey and this was my taxi. So he led me off and I hadn’t gone more than 200 yards before I realised that it was -9°C out here and I was just in a tee-shirt and jumper. We could go back for my coat – time was no problem at all – but that would cost more money so I pushed on regardless. All day out in -9°C and the snow to save a couple of Euros. So we arrived at a kind of saloon door arrangement thing and my guide led the donkey through, almost knocking me off in the process, and then asked for €15:00. But I couldn’t see the railway station. This was the bus station, full of all of these German coaches from the late 40s and early 50s. But he pointed me back over my left shoulder to a pink stucco building and that was the station. And then I realised that I’d been here the previous evening on my way for this chaotic food arrangement, and why I hadn’t noticed all of the cafés and restaurants around here I really didn’t understand
As I have said before … "and on many occasions too" – ed … if only my real life were even a quarter as exciting as what I get up to in the evenings.
I crawled out of bed with the alarm, had my medication and collapsed onto the sofa. And eventually I went off to see the doctor. I was the only one there and he took some time with me. He too didn’t think much of what had happened at the hospital but he gave me a good going-over.
And here’s an object lesson for you. Never eat hot soup after taking a painkiller. It seems that I’ve burnt my tongue. But he’s identified what he thinks is an infection in my mouth that’s causing all kinds of problems. So I now have some more antiseptic mouthwash and nausea tablets.
My weight loss isn’t significant as yet so he doesn’t think that an intravenous drip is the answer at the moment. He’s confident that if I take all of this medication as and when I’m supposed to, I’ll be able to be back on real food in four or five days. If it’s still not working, go back and we’ll watch my weight loss.
But we’ve heard all of this before. And I remember a couple of people who existed for a while on a diet of grape juice, so round to the Casino and the apartment is now flooded out with the aforementioned, as well as a few more supplies.
Back here, I hung on for a while but I was soon under the covers again. After all, no sleep last night (well, almost).
Ingrid rang for a chat, and so did Rosemary, and one or two friends on the internet too. And much to my surprise, I managed to finish off yesterday’s soup. Without burning my tongue.
So now I’m feeling a little better, just like I did last night. Let’s just hope that we’ll see a sustained improvement tomorrow because this is really depressing me now.
