Well, the vaccinations I had yesterday hit me. I had both the flu vaccine (right arm) and Covid 4th booster (left arm).

At the moment, the fourth booster is for those over 65 and there’s little to no advertising about it. Covid seems to be a long and distant memory (but that’s not really the case). However, as I may be classified as immunocompromised (are asthmatics this?!) maybe that’s why they let me have it yesterday? The cynic in me tells me that people are generally unaware that they need a new booster for winter (because there’s no advertising or mention of covid anywhere anymore) so there may be an abundance of booster so whoever asks for it, gets it.

My how things have changed. I remember how Australia was behind the 8-ball because our government didn’t secure vaccines at the start of this pandemic.

Besides it was more than 4 months ago that I had my third booster and I wasn’t going to wait before I caught Covid.

Thing is, I simply don’t want to catch covid. As much as people say, “it’s only a matter of time!” much like I don’t want to catch flu either. It’s a bugger being sick.

So I get my vaccination and for a day or two afterwards I feel like crap. This time I got the Moderna booster. I’ve had the first two doses of Astra Zeneca, third booster Pfizer and now Moderna. It seems the latter seemed less of an impact on me. Overnight, I had a fever, chills, body aches and pains and woke up today with the worst headache and walking around with shaky legs. I even fainted this morning in the kitchen while trying to make Andrew’s sandwiches. So back to bed I went feeling like I ran a marathon between the kitchen and the bedroom.

Now, I’m feeling a lot better after getting up tenuously to get something to eat. I’ve been drinking aspirins every four hours to reduce the feverish chills too. I’m going to take it easy and just stay in bed all day. It’s such a lovely day out there too so it’s nice to look out the window and see a cloudless blue sky while listening to a CD.

Yesterday I cleared out some CDs and DVDs and came across a CD box set of Little Britain. I loved that show with David Walliams and Matt Lucas. While lying in bed, I listened to the CD where they recounted the story of how they got into comedy. It seems that many British comedian duos have their start with university theatre and revues.

I miss great comedy. It’s the one thing that obviously makes me laugh but what we so need today. I grew up with British comedy and to this day, much of it is still relevant and brilliant as it was then. I can safely say that today’s comedy lacks something. Australia has had some exceptional comedy over the years especially satire on the ABC. However, with funding cuts and our government getting narky about how they’re portrayed in satirical comedy, they put a stop to satirical shows. Just like that, Australian comedy died overnight because politicians egos were fragile.

In the past, my favourite shows were (and I’ve pretty much seen many of their series) the following. It’s amazing to think how much they have shaped me and given hours of north, laughter and enjoyment.

• Monty Python
• Open All Hours
• Porridge
• Ab Fab
• The Goodies
• Black Adder
• Rhys & Jones
• Not the Nine O’Clock News
• Kenny Everett Show
• Dave Allen (loved!)
• Little Britain
• Vicar of Dibley
• Armstrong and Miller ????
• The Office
• The League of Gentlemen
• The IT Crowd
• Black Books (brilliant)
• Fawlty Towers
• Derry Girls (fantastic)
• The In Betweeners (oh so wrong but hilarious)
• Dad’s Army
• Yes Minister
• The Thick of It
• Mind Your Language
• To the Manor Born
• French & Saunders
• Extras
• My Family (bought entire DVD box set)
• Coupling (bought DVD box set – brilliant show)
• Horrible Histories (I’ve got ALL the books AND ALL the DVDs)
• Billy Connolly
• Smack the Pony

Here’s some of my favourite skits I watched today for a laugh. These are what I watch when I want a mood booster.