Dong Returns

Ladies and gentlemen. The news that everyone has been waiting for, with breath bated to varying degrees, has finally arrived.

Yes, Dong has returned to Millbrook after his skiing injuries delayed his arrival by, ooh - fourteen or fifteen days. He returned in moderate triumph (well actually it was an aging Renault Scenic admirably piloted by The Little Lush Lewis) just a couple of days ago. Mrs The Millbrooker wielded the wheelchair that had been generously provided by Torpoint and Rame Lions for the purpose of getting the barely-walking wounded into Shazzerooneypoos' mountain top abode.

Since then, Dong has been settling in, sleeping and doing his superb impersonation of limping and grimacing.

Today's task was moving Dong's computer from his pad to within his reach at Chez Shazzerooneypoos. I rather interrupted things by arriving home from work early feeling poorly, but I was allowed to sit in a corner and watch proceedings from a safe distance.

Firstly, Mrs The Millbrooker did interesting things with cables. Including poking them through walls. This necessitated much groping about at floor level.

Auntie Sharon got into the swing of things and enjoyed pushing recalcitrant plugs into their appropriate sockets at the back of Dong's mightily sized monitor. But only after giving the screen a good going over with Mr Sheen.After quite of lot of loading of software packages to allow Dong's machine to work on Shazzerooneypoos' router (make up your own euphemisms, I'm tired), we were all able to celebrate as Millbrook's own answer to Eddie The Eagle (only not quite so talented at ski jumping) sat himself down in his accustomed position to start playing his old game of flogging beermats to people before throwing them at bemused publicans.

Look - almost everyone has to make a living somehow; that's just how Dong makes his

It's unlikely that Dong will be out and about gallivanting through the streets of Millbrook as in days gone by (anytime before December 19th last year, then) for a while yet. But it is good to see him making something of a comeback into the world outside of hospitals and taking the steps towards whatever passes as normality within the notoriously impenetrable Dong psyche.

I'm sure everyone will join me in wishing the Dongmeister a speedy and complete recovery.