Where coming third is a real success

We came third in the pub quiz last night.  Not bad going as folk round here take the quiz very seriously indeed. Most of the village turns out and the pub is heaving, you have to turn up early to get a table, much to the consternation of passing trade. My claim to fame in these parts is the year Eric, our Quizmaster extrodinairre, was having eye surgery, and I got to ask the questions. A truly great honour!

Our team consisted of a retired banker, a blacksmith, a fisherman and hubby and I. None of us knew anything about football which was a problem, and I got my predessesor and successor to Queen Anne the wrong way around which was frustrating (I blame the pub wine), but I was chuffed I remembered that the voice for Darth Vador was the fabulous actor, James Earl Jones, star of one of my favourite films ever, Matewan.

The beautifully shot film is all about the courage and violence associated with union organising at the turn of the century in the coal mining town Matewan, West Virginia. I have spent some time in that town, as I was working in another, a few miles away trying to help a factory of denim finishers get union status many, many years later. Few people know just how non existant health care is for the poorest in the US, and that union membership is the only means for the low paid to access any health care at all. My years in the States taught me to really appreciate what we have here, where no one is allowed to die for the lack of simple antibiotics, and advocates of union membership don't get shot at.

On a happier note, I limped to my friend, beauty therapist, Angela this morning with my sore foot (I wasn't kidding about the trench foot) and she has worked wonders. Although it's still inflamed it feels much better and I can walk without limping. I'm off for a swim now. Angela recommends sea water for my foot and I recommed it for the rest of me, I saw dolphins in the bay yesterday, I wonder if I will be lucky today?