Day 19 - Best Bib and Tucker

I had no idea where the phrase "best bib and tucker" came from until I looked it up on-line - and if you are interested, all is revealed here.

It's of relevance to me today as I sit here in my Black Tie outfit, ready to head off to dinner to represent Burhill Club at an event being hosted by the Captain of the Royal Automobile Club, in Ashtead.  This was the very first invitation I received as Captain, so of course I said "yes" straight away.

Since then a number of others have arrived and I think I shall need to take Pip Elson's advice to heart: "one of the things the Captain needs to do is to decide which invitations to accept and which to refuse, with the priority on the latter"...

That being said, I am looking forward to what I hope will be a good evening tonight, a tasty dinner with a glass of something on the side: all perfect preparation for meeting up with my Nations Cup team at 07:45 tomorrow morning....

Post Script

Just back home from the RAC. I hadn't been quite sure what I was letting myself in for but it turned out to be rather a grand affair, with almost 200 people attending. I was even more surprised that I found myself on the top table and being clapped in at the start of the meal. Great to see the respect that the RAC hold for Burhill and the other clubs whose captains were also there.  As I had anticipated, we had an excellent meal, with some very good wines too. 

What I hadn't been expecting, after the obligatory speeches, was a 45 minute stand-up routine from comedian, Bob, "The Cat" Bevan.  Very impressive how, with no notes, he managed to meander through a long list of vaguely on message one liners and wise cracks. 

I clearly enjoyed this more than the person next to me (who shall remain nameless) and who, half-way through, lost his battle to stay awake and snored gently for the final 20 minutes or so. 

My lasting memory is that of the RAC Captain, to this gentleman's right, squirming in his seat and trying to position himself so that the speaker couldn't see his other guest's increasingly relaxed looking pose!  Some of the others present did get their phones out though, so I fear that some photographic evidence exists...