Boxer: Dead!

I had just returned a velvet smoking jacket to the New Plymouth Operatic Society, which I’d used when filming my godson’s welcoming address, see video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JzZgApd1e20QPyGnT3nlNhezA_ZEJzYn/view?usp=drive_web

(Special thanks to Harry Morgan for putting up with all my requests and making helpful suggestions as he edited this)

Setting off for my boxing class something seemed wrong. Had I forgotten to switch on the lights? No. It was just dark, heavy traffic, a tropical rain and I could barely see the way ahead. Muttering to myself “be careful. Be careful. Be careful. Be careful”.

KA-PLOW !!!!

A kiwi lady had pulled out and drove her ute straight into Boxer gouging an ugly wound all down the left side. I was only traveling at about 45 kph but cars do make a hideous mess of each other on contact, even at low speed. No one was hurt, she acknowledged it was all her fault, and being English of course I had insurance (not obligatory in NZ). Sadly she didn’t so it was an expensive day for her. It sounds disloyal, and I suppose it is, but I wasn’t at all upset. Boxer and I had had some good times but I’d used all my free roadside call outs for various old age complaints and this way at least he was going out with a bang. Opting not to pay for a tow-truck I drove Boxer lumpilly to the garage accompanied by the sound of grinding metal. Any further damage done as a result, well, that was now someone else’s problem.

Oh, to have been a doctor in the wild west.

Consistent with a midlife crisis, I bought a 2 seater convertible. Just an MX5, a hairdresser’s car I’m told. I don’t know why an affordable and slightly underpowered sports car is necessarily owned by a hairdresser. It isn’t about the absolute speed though. It’s about the centrifugal forces when you’re coming round the mountain. Public transport in NZ being what it is, I sat on a bus for 4 hours in order to view the vehicle, advertised as a manual, but much to my chagrin it turned out to be an automatic. Having crossed the country however and with no other means of getting back in time for work the next day I had no choice but to buy it (a detail I kept to myself when haggling over the price). Inspired by the serendipitous number plate I christened it Calamity, and the annoying gearbox was remedied by a nice mechanic couple whilst I was in Africa for a conference.

Thank you Motorsport | Afp Tuning | Auckland for charging less than a third of the next lowest quote.

Perhaps in my next post I’ll explain the study budget, and how in the last year I’ve used it to travel to Auckland for a Cannabis Summit, to London for Digital Health, to Johannesburg for Health Africa and this February I’m teaching in The Dominican Republic for the charity Medical Ministry International (yes, their origins are in the missionary service).