Heaven

DAY 150 SATURDAY 15 DECEMBER 2001

7.30 am

I now have to work seven days a week, as there’s a surgery on Saturday and Sunday. It’s a small price to pay for all the other privileges of being hospital orderly.

Not many patients today, eleven in all, but then there’s no work to skive off on a Saturday morning. Sister leaves at ten-thirty and I have the rest of the day to myself, unless there’s an emergency.

11.00 am

Spend a couple of hours editing Sons of Fortune, and only take breaks for lunch, and later to watch the prison football match.

2.00 pm

The football manager and coach is a senior officer called Mr Masters. He’s proud of his team, but when it comes to abusing the referee, he’s as bad as any other football fan. Today he’s linesman, and should be supporting the ref, not to mention the other linesman. But both receive a tirade of abuse, as Mr Masters feels able to give his opinion on an offside decision even though he’s a hundred yards away from the offence, and the linesman on the other side of the pitch is standing opposite the offending player. To be fair, his enthusiasm rubs off on the rest of the team, and we win a scrappy game 2-0.