Flagpoling and Crabpoling

Was awoken at 9 which seemed early until I found my stage door call was at 10, then it didn't seem early enough. But still, we got there dead on time and I had a good show with a medium-sized audience (all the taller people come to the evening shows) and several players coming on stage well before or after their cues, and this is not because I wasn't stage manager this time.

I had been promised an easy afternoon off and it's so easy to promise, less easy to deliver. The Scout Leader had asked for a new inside flagpole for the church hall and over the last few weeks, we have obtained, cleaned, and painted one. Today was installation day and I held the 12 foot pole steady in the car and Father Paul, the actually quite groovy Priest in Charge, came out and told us exactly where we could shove it.

Because they use the church hall all the time for old people and brats alike, it had to be hidden in a corner behind the wheelchairs and trestle tables. All we have to do now is sort out a buffer to stop over-eager Scouts slamming it back against the radiator pipes or taking out the overhead lamps. Even I can move it on my own because it has wheels.

And we were just doing the installation while arranging a playdate with Ben, when Sydney rang in and said come crab-hunting with me, for they hadn't had much luck at Canoe Lake and Langstone is much better. I have been crabbing at Langstone twice: once we could pull crabs out of the water with our fingers, the other time I borrowed a reel of baited string off an unknown fellow bystander, threw it in without remembering to hang on to the actual reel, and lost it (beating a hasty and embarrassed retreat).

This real-human contact proved of more interest than yet more Minecraft Youtube videos and I got a better coat and went.

There was an old culvert with brick-built bridge that was too high at lower tide for even Sydney's long-poled net to reach. We tried and tried but caught no prey, although I reckon that one of her cast attempts was so accurate it gave a crab concussion. But you know, 3 hours of honest messing around with girls in a secluded environment and not catching crabs was OK with me because of the sunshine and real-world activity. I did get my MineWorld time and double-upgrade pasta surprise so no complaints from me.