Right about now I should be sat in a car on my way to the midlands with a bag full of equipment, starting to get nervous about taking part in the British Tang Soo Do championships. Instead I’m sat at a desk clock-watching and waiting for the weekend.

I knew from the start of the week that I wasn’t going to be able to go, thanks to a mix-up at work with annual leave, and in a way that’s almost a blessing in disguise. I didn’t break my finger until Monday night and at the time I didn’t know it was broken, but if I was still going at that point and found out that I wouldn’t be able to compete I’d have been absolutely gutted. As it stands I’m more annoyed than gutted. I’m envious that I’m not going up with the folks from our clubs, and I know envy isn’t an attractive quality in anyone, but it’s tough. I’ll be going along to training tonight to show some support for the few left down here in the normal class, but I won’t be able to do very much myself.

I spent my lunchtime up at the hospital in the fracture clinic. I had an appointment at 11:45 and when I got there I couldn’t believe how busy it was and how many people were waiting to be seen. In the end I waited just over an hour for my appointment, an appointment which took approximately ninety seconds. By that point it was more despair than anger at having to wait so long to be told almost nothing. According the specialist I saw it will take about a month for the bone to set properly, and if I catch it wrong before then I’m going to know all about it. He didn’t say I definitely couldn’t train, which is good news, but told me I should wait until I can stub that finger on a table without it being agony before I try anything much. I’ve tried it since. It’s still agony.

As I won’t be able to train at BJJ tomorrow, I’m already trying to come up with ways to occupy myself so I’m not left thinking that I should be somewhere else training or competing. Luckily dog agility has moved to Saturday mornings now that it’s too dark in the evenings, so that’s the morning taken care of. I intend to do a lot of cooking I think; I enjoy it, it keeps me occupied and I get to eat the results . We’re all getting together on Saturday night for a few drinks and some films to try to cheer up one of my good friends who’s had an exceptionally rough time of it lately.

Time to actually choose some music for the drive home. I grabbed a random one without looking from the pile of CDs in my car this morning, and the scandinavian girl singing at me was a real blast from the past and instantly took me back to earlier in the year. Spooky. Spooky and really distracting when driving!