As funny weeks go this one’s been right up there, not in a “ha, ha” way, more in a “what the hell’s that all about” way. At the start of March I had a phone call from work asking if I could go back to Brunei at short notice to fill in for someone who had dropped out over Coronavirus concerns.
At the time it looked like Brunei was going to be a bigger risk than the UK, and after a bit of discussion between work, myself and “The Emma” we came to an agreement that I would indeed step in. To that end, I found myself boarding a flight Monday evening for the 14 hour journey, just as the UK descended into toilet roll hoarding mayhem. Look’s like a lucky escape there thinks I, no toilet roll concerns where I’m going, and how ironic, Brunei now looks safer than the UK. Result! By the time I arrived in Brunei, 14 hours later, the situation had changed somewhat. Within minutes of my arrival the Brunei Government had added the UK to their high risk, no entry policy. I avoided being Quarantined for 14 days by about 30 minutes and scraped into the country by the skin of my teeth. Looking good so far thinks I as I settled into my new palatial accommodation, whilst eyeing up the abundance of toilet roll available and wondering if I had time to get a container load back to the UK. Things however were about to take a turn for the worse. Within hours Royal Brunei Airlines had announced that they were suspending flights to the UK for the foreseeable future, triggering an urgent call back to the UK to say “If you don’t get me out of here ASAP, I’m going to be stuck indefinitely”. Luckily, work managed to get me booked onto the last flight out, having decided that I was probably more use at home than stuck in Brunei. So, 28 hours sat on one of Mr Boeing's finest products, 4 airline meals, 3 airports, 2 books read and 14,000 miles later, I’m back home again, having achieved a grand total of nothing! I told you it had been a funny week. The week’s not been a total waste though. I did manage to get a few running miles in over the couple of days I was away, so from a training perspective it’s been OK, although it’s blinking hot and humid out there. I’ve also managed to catch up on a load of work and some outstanding blog posts so that’s a positive too. On another positive note, I’m also back in time to resume greenhouse duties on the allotment. These next few weeks are when everything really starts to get going and are one of the best bits of the year as far as I’m concerned. It’s nice to be back in time to see the fruit trees blossom and hopefully pick the first spring Rhubarb in a couple of weeks. All rare treats after what seems like a long winter. Where we go from here though is anyone’s guess. Audax UK have announced a cessation of all Audaxing for the foreseeable future and the couple of organised runs that I did have lined up have been either cancelled or moved to later in the year. I suppose we will just have to wait and see what happens over the coming week’s and plan any adventures on an “as and when possible” basis. To that end I’m off out for a run whilst I still can. Oh, and if anyone’s got any spare bog roll can they send me a couple of sheets, some cocky sod thought they would be in Brunei so didn’t bother stockpiling any!
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
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