And so the sister is at last off on her honeymoon – six months and more after her wedding. She and the new brother-in-law have chosen to visit Australia but on the way have planned some rest and relaxation in Thailand. Lucky things.
Now the younger brother is something of an expert on Thailand and the numerous pleasures that can be purchased there. He has visited several times and always admits to feeling much better for the experience. He was keen to offer guidance (and some rather dubious names and addresses) to our new brother-in-law who declined the information and I understand that the conversation ended with the brother declaring “I’m sure that when I go to Thailand, I have a much more pleasurable time than you”, to which the brother-in-law quipped back “Maybe, but I don’t have to pay for the pleasure!”.
That aside I’m a little bewildered by the timing of the holiday. I mean the sister goes all the way to Australia and misses out completely on the Australian Open tennis at Melbourne. I’m sure that if England’s cricketers had been playing a Test series in Australia around this time, then the brother-in-law would have contrived to be in the right place at the right time.
Back in West Sussex it is the daughter’s birthday. She and her gentleman have finally ceased to be lodgers in our house having acquired a new property in Portsmouth and we have invited her round for a celebratory meal. The sister-in-law is also present and by way of pre-dinner entertainment the wife decides to check all of our blood pressures with her electronic machine. Now if there is one thing I am pretty good at it is blood pressure and when my turn comes I, of course, produce an exemplary reading. Congratulations are heaped on me by wife and daughter. After a lengthy pause the sister-in-law adds her comment “Of course your blood pressure is good. You never move. You’re just like a big sloth”.
