Let's do lunch

 Today's main event was "lunch". Lunch with a couple of friends from my days working in the IT industry.

I keep in touch with VERY few of my ex colleagues, but Grandad Jack and Judge Dread are two exceptions. I worked with them both during my years at IBM and, for some strange reason, we clicked. We all come from very different backgrounds, but share a similar sense of humour and are all in our seventh or eight decade.* We all have an interest in the world about us and when we spend time together our conversations range from geopolitics to taking the piss out of each other.**

In a good year we may meet up a couple of times. In a bad year we may not get together at all, and last year was a bad one ... particularly for Grandad Jack. He has been undergoing treatment for a tumour in his neck and as he puts it himself he "isn't out of the woods yet".

He is now over the worst of his treatment, so we arranged to meet up for lunch at the Oak at Upton Snodsbury ... our preferred venue.***

We had a lovely few hours in the pub and gentle leg pulling took place. A couple of gins were drunk**** as we caught up with each others' news. Strangely our conversations rarely touch on our working lives, although the tale of my journey into retirement was covered.

I really enjoy their company and hope that there will be many more sessions like this. Jack has his next scan in February and we all hope that the magic word remission is heard at the consultation that will follow.

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* Jack is now 75, John (Dread) is 66 and I am a youthful 61.

** There is a lot of the latter!

*** Jack lives over in Knowle, so it is a forty minute drive. John lives down in Portsmouth, so it's bloody miles for him. I'm laughing, it's only five miles down the road and Jack generally picks me up on the way.

**** By me. Jack was on the alcohol free Guiness and John was drinking lime and soda .... AND he calls himself a Northerner ... he's spent far too much time down South.