A Long Involved Week

Last week was very busy. We were rum bo’suns, so had to be at the tot every evening to set up, collect fees, and run the show. In addition, WW performed with his jazz trio at the HotHotHot Wednesday-night dinner. Prior to this, of course, there had been numerous episodes of his vanishing for a few hours to practise. It was during those times that I would go ashore and blog, since the Internet connection on Django was beyond pathetic.

At some point during the week, WW finally became terminally fed up with the Internet issue, went into St. John’s and bought a modem/router. We now have great Internet on our own private LAN, provided (for a fee, of course) by the cell company Digicel. Hurrah!

On Thursday, we had a very light turnout for the tot—just eight people. That’s always nice and relaxed. We should have known it was a warning...

I’ve managed tots with as many as 30 people and eight to 10 guests, each of whom must be poured a special measured tot. That’s in addition to preparing glasses of water for all comers. It can be pretty hellish. Well, on Friday, we had more than 40 people, 21 of whom were guests. Fortunately, our fellow Tot Club members leapt into the breach and we started more or less on time. We had three of the Row2Recovery rowers as guests, with a number of their supporters, which was a great honour.

The other big news on Friday was: our engine is ready! Due to the busy social whirl, we decided to head to Jolly Harbour on Monday.

Saturday was Burns’ night and I was emcee because of my excellent bad Scots accent. There was an option to drink whisky instead of rum for the tot.

Rum bo'sun Yr Humble Correspondent, in vaguely Scots attire,
with fellow Totters Mike and Joe.

 This was followed by Anthea’s homemade oatcakes topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Then there was haggis (imported by a guest from England and hotted up by Life-on-the-Corner’s chef Jill—a real actual Scot) with champit tatties and neeps and, naturally, whisky. Very fine whisky, in fact, that had been presented to the Tot Club by the Talisker rep after our marathon Friday evening invitational. Everything was most delicious. I had the honour of reading Tae a Haggis as the assembled tucked in. [There will be photos, but Anthea hasn’t sent them yet. No pressure.] [Update: As seems obvious, Anthea has come through.]

Haggis, tatties and neeps seen through rose-coloured iPad.

On Sunday afternoon, our friend Claire had a house chilling party. She had had a small conflagration in  her kitchen last year and had finally finished the repainting and repairs. Unsurprisingly, she served chilli. We dined aboard, having completed our bo’sun stint. No one who has done that for a week wants to attend the tot on Sunday. Early to bed in preparation for reclaiming our engine.

Thanks to Anthea Beck for the photos.