SAY THANK YOU, MR CUCKOO

Well the legs have just about stopped aching.

My knees sorted themselves out first, followed by my hips (I couldn't navigate stairs at all for the first couple of hours), and then finally, the calf muscles returned to normal. I even ran for the bus today without a crunching pain from each stride! Always a plus, being able to move like a regular human.

And so the week fills out into its usual flumpy self. Meanwhile, in a weird moment of self-awareness, I've realised that I say 'thank you' like a cuckoo.

I just heard myself say it: "Thank you" cascades from a 5th to the 3rd, like the opening two notes of the Westminster Chimes. Every time I get off the bus it's there: a chirruping, melodious cadence ringing through my head like a sitcom doorbell. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Still, I bet it annoys me more than it does the bus driver...

Oh! Speaking of annoying the bus driver... last night, I really did annoy the bus driver. And not by saying thank you.

I was trying to learn a tune (for a gig I'm playing on Saturday) and, with headphones in and hood up, I was silently tapping out the bars on the side of the bus. It was taking all my concentration (the syncopation is mad), and I hadn't noticed that the bus had suddenly slowed to a halt.

I saw the driver leaning over his cab and mouthing something at me. So I stopped the track in my ears and looked blankly at him. He muttered something and went back to driving the bus. At the next stop, I got off and he just growled,

"It's very distracting sir, very distracting."

I gave a sheepish sorry and hopped off.

I suppose I could try a different interval if I don't want to sound like a cuckoo. Maybe in reverse - a sing-song 3rd to a 5th? That's thank you to the tune of 'so long' from 'so long, farewell...' from The Sound of Music. Thank you, thank you... auf weideirsehen goodbye...

Hmm. It puts the emphasis back on 'you', but the 'Neighbours' uptrail makes it sound like a question. Thank you? Am I sure I want to thank you? Could be misinterpreted. Especially by angry bus drivers.

8th to a 5th? Sounds like a train.
2nd to a 1st? Jaws theme.
7th to 8th? Ascending. Nice (jazzy) but hard to remember.

I think I'm going to have to stick with the cuckoo. I suppose it's tried and tested, and I'm probably not going to be able to help it anyway. Or maybe I should go with a good old fashioned one note 'thanks' or even a 'cheers'.

You can overthink these things.