No need to be embarrassed

It was good to have a great day today, all of which helped to take my mind off yesterday's experience with the urologist.

I'd arrange to lunch with one of the guys from the music group, one I've rather drifted away from over the past year or so and who hasn't been seen anywhere as frequently as before at our music sessions. I was a bit early getting in to town, and was walking along the side of St Stephen's Green when I spotted these three guys crossing the road. I followed them into the park, thinking that I might just get a blip. Sure enough, they had no problem at all when I half ran after them, asked them why they looked as they did, and asked them if I could take a photograph.

It turned out that they were fund-raising for Engineers Day (students from Trinity College, most likely). Just how they were raising money was all a bit unclear, though I got the general impression that it involved racing other groups of students from pub to pub, or something iike that. I later spotted some other groups of student types, but these guys had made the greatest effort to attract attention. (They mentioned that things went a bit pear-shaped when their board got broken, but didn't actually say how that happened.)

Tom and I had an okay lunch in a Chinese restaurant, then met a mutual friend who occasionally works in the classical department in Tower Records. We browsed a bit, and I actually came away with a box-set of real, physical CDs. I stayed in compnay with the other two, initially "just for one drink" but then one turned into two and into three, and before I knew it there was no time for me to get back home and then back in t town again to go to the National Concert Hall for a two-piano performance by John O'Conor and Finghin Collins (a master-and-pupil pair who are among the guiding lights of the music world in Ireland).

I met two other acquaintances at the Concert Hall and went across the road afterwards for a final drink and a great old chat about the music scene, joined by a friend of theirs who has her finger firmly on the pulse and is in no way reluctant to pass on juicy bits of gossip. Just as time flew in the pub before, it flew again in the Conrad and a mad dash to my bus stop was of no avail, since I missed the last bus by about two minutes. So I had to get a taxi home to finish off a really enjoyable day.