London The Great!

"Hey! You're Ron Metcalfe the Hep C Forum inventor aren't you?"



We thought.....
We planned.....
We worried.....
We were excited.....
We were apprehensive.....
We went.....
..... & We pulled it off!

I was hoping for a good day.
As it happened, it turned out to be bloody Great!

And what a day it turned out to be. I alone had some small doubts as to wether it could be pulled off. Maybe we would find it impossible to find anywhere suitable for a venue. Or maybe no one would turn up once we did. And that when we did finally decide on a venue would there be anywhere for people to sit? Will it be rainy, windy and miserable? Would we all be happy with the venue and/or eachother for that matter. I mean strange enough things happen sometimes when people meet on the Internet, let alone in real life;)
But not with our forum folks! It went as smoothly as a greased up Christmas Turkey sliding down a water chute soaked in olive oil.

The weather was perfect being a completely sunny day all day long. It was a little nippy though, but I think this made us appreciate any warmth all the more when we came across some.
As I got ready on the morning of my London train ride into Covent Garden my excitement and some nervousness had doubled since the night before. I just never do things like this and it was a strange feeling knowing that I was going to be meeting with a bunch of people that I new only "virtually" from the WWW. I was mostly ready for it and couldn't wait to meet some of the "names" from the Hep C Forum. There was Ron Metcalfe the creator of the Hep C Forum and MartinB who is as you all know one of the most valuble members on the forum for his info, insight and knowledge in all things Hep C. Then there is Martins Wife CarolJB who keeps things in order over on the forum and amongst some more very important moderating Carol deletes all the Britney Speares nude photos sites too! I know, I know.....no one is perfect eh Carol;) But I usually get to them before she has a chance to send them to the great big boob-Cyber-heaven in the sky;)

Covent Garden was and is a fantastic place, especially around Christmas time. As I arrived to the gardens Piazza I made my way slowly around to the meeting place, mostly through large shafts of sunshine and then into shade then sun again, then winding my way through a small amount of tourists and locals that make this place what it is. There were people carrying crates of food and merchandise to their places of business, shops and cafes, markets and pubs. Others were wearing dirty jeans and steel toe capped boots covered in cement dust no doubt going to the London Transport Museum to help with its massive referbishment.
After carefully making my way over the cobbled piazza of the garden (I had forgotten just how big these cobbles were! looking more like medium loaves of bread made from granite all huddled next to one another in their thousands) I took up my space by the shaded museum and looked around me. I was alone it seemed and the first to arrive. As I waited my eyes were looking this way and that, checking out the people wondering around the place and thought if any of them were part of our gathering. The cafe ("Just Falafs" Where we would eventually spend the first leg of our meet) was just across the cobbles from where I was and the tables and chairs were all completely empty and the cafes staff were still opening up and putting out some Christmas lights around the perimeter of their little section of the square. To my left a Chinese man was setting up his speakers, amps and microphone for his stint as a Covent Garden street performer. The Sun was shining low in the sky and was gently filling a small section of the square with a little warmth and I moved slightly to bask in the Suns very last rays until next Summer most probably.
To the right of the cafe was a giant white dome covered in snow with a Mini Cooper car poking out of the front of it. It too was covered in fake snow and as with real snow on non-competition prize cars it had the words 'also available in red' written with someones fingers across one of the body panels. And between the white dome and the cafe some people were dragging out a rather large amount of clear plastic stuff and started to fill it with air from a generator.
Then I spotted a couple walk across in front of me towards the Asian performer and then back again. The woman was speaking to the man she was with and I instantly recognized her voice as being CarolJB's from the forum. I had spoken to her in the week very briefly whilst she was at the Ipswich meeting. I approached them and said 'Carol?'.

This was the very beginning of the London Gathering and first contact had been made:)

We introduced ourselves and as I shook Martin's hand I was sure I could smell Cornish Pasties in the air;) And as we stood there on the cobbles was the instant that I realized just what lovely and funny people that Carol & Martin are!
Inbetween Martin sparking up his little roll-ups, the clear plastic stuff eventually becoming a giant air filled bubble which Santa Claus would make his grotto for the afternoon and Carol checking her list of possible member attendant's, more members turned up and soon we were a rather modest bunch of Heppers, Non-heppers and ex-heppers alike. I can't remember who was first to arrive after C & M. Yes I can, it was Guy, Minerva and her daughter Amy. Guy was ringing me on his mobile asking me where I was.......at the same time I could see him just yards away talking to me:) Also I had already met with Guy & Minerva a few weeks back and again they proved to be such wonderful, caring and very friendly people:) Ron Metcalfe and his Wife Carol were next to arrive. It was certainly a great feeling shaking his hand! I didn't say anything, but I was thinking about all the good that he has done inventing the Hep C Forum.
Then in no particular order the other members arrived one by one including Wolfie (CitizenSmith), Carmen and her daughter Elsa arrived on their bikes from Battersea. You have to admire anyone who cycles in Central London on a push bike! (Hark at me, who cycles up and down the steepest of hills on my own and in the middle of nowhere;). Then Marie arrived with her butterfly dangly thing hanging from her phone camera taking photos all the while, which prompted everyone else to take pics too. Tonelsh arrived with his motorcycle crash helmet. Simon & Brix arrived too (I think Brix came all the way over from Europe just for the meeting......Amazing!). and we all went to the cafe just across the cobbles. We soon rearranged the tables and chairs into an L shape and were no doubt being watched by the staff of the cafe as we kind of made that section of Piazza our own:) Coffees and hot chocolates were bought and consumed, loads of photos were taken and tons of conversation was had by all. Dripping noses from the cold and spilt coffee from wobbly tables, snuck in Tunnocks Tea cakes by Guy that were very quickly snapped up and digested:) The heat from the stand up heating thingys was strong, but only for the ones right underneath them. Then eventually we decided to move along as the manager of the cafe seemed to be trying his best to put all the tables into their original positions. Plus we needed somewhere a little warmer.
Across from where we were at the cafe, through the inside of the main hall were more cafes and places to eat and drink. We joined a queue for some food in a place called "Pontis". Here we managed to find a whole length of table where we enjoyed some hot food, more coffee, orange juice and more importantly more conversation:) The surrounding area was packed with tourists and performers and made the whole atmosphere very Christmasy. I wish we were all still there right now. We all kept swapping seats so we could all talk to eachother in turn. It was such a great atmosphere! We all had so much to talk about and in so little time. It was fast but fantastic:)
As Martin said to me earlier on, 'It's great that people from completely different backgrounds and who would not normally meet under any other circustances can come together like this'. I agree totally. Hep C does infact have it's good sides.

So after all the wonderful talk, humour, warmth and getting to know one another it was coming to an end! So we all had to say our goodbyes and with great reluctance we did! The time that we all spent with eachother together was nowhere near long enough! A whole weekend in a country hotel would have been perfect! Now there is a thought;) As I said, people began to leave (reluctantly) for thier homes and maybe some Christmas shopping. Some went on to China Town too. I was up for that but new the instant I started to walk that I would never be able to make it! My poor ankle (despite a massive 3000iu of factor VIII before I left home that morning, my ankle joint was screaming for some more! Covent Garden Station was closed because of the sheer weight of people and I had to walk to Leicester Square Station just a quarter of a mile away. You can see the Underground sign for it from Covent Garden station but to me it looked like a whole marathon away. I needed my bike at this stage but nothing was going to stop my ankle from swelling up except a quick visit to the nearest blood transfusion facility, ie my flat in Teddington.
I left the Boss and her husband, Guy, Minerva & Amy et al and went home. I hobbled to the worm like trains underneath the City, got in one and then on to Waterloo and caught the fast train back to Twickenham hoping I would make it back to my car by the station before my ankle said 'enough is enough, I ain't carrying you no more boy!' (I did.....Just!)
My train journey was a strange one! I sat down breathing a sigh of relief and all I could hear was the throbbing pain buliding up deep inside my right ankle! I took out my i-pod and tried to drown out the pain with some tunes. This is where I began to feel a little down & emotional about the whole thing. I had a great time.....sorry, a F*****g wonderful time and now I was going home in pain and far too bloody early!!! I wanted to stay with those guys just for a litlle while longer. But as it has always been the case, my life is cut short in various ways and prevents me from being a "normal" person. But it didn't stop me from trying!
My only regret is I didn't take too many photos as I was far to busy with my new friends. But you can see the photos that Ron & I took here; http://www.flickr.com/photos/22809374@N00/ If you took any photos, by all means upload them to the same gallery as this one.
I have just learned that Topcat590 was there but missed us all. I am so sorry we didn't get to meet TC. Next time I will give you my number.
Plus to any others who didn't or couldn't make it (inc Ivani who was unable to come as her Son was in hospital, but all is fine now), maybe next time eh. You were certainly in our thoughts. All of you! Including our overseas members too.

Jason




(C) JPT 2006