Have Your Cake and Eat It

[Fairblue]

"Do you think i've been too hard on him?" He asked Algy a short while later.

[Kismet]

Algy shook his head. 'You did what you had to. Ginger's being too hard on himself. He's his own worst enemy at the moment.'

[Fairblue]

Biggles agreed. Ginger had to work out the correct balance for himself.

[Kismet]

Ginger wasn't thinking about work-life balances. Ginger was battling the elements to get the ruddy hanger to stay up. Every time it looked like the job was going smoothly something happened which he needed to troubleshoot.

[Fairblue]

But he went to bed that night feeling better than he had done for a long time. Like Biggles he was never one for sitting idly and he relished the challenge which had been thrust into his lap.

[Kismet]

He slept heavily for half the night, then awoke, worrying that he hadn't updated any of the manuals.

[Fairblue]

So he got up and got in a couple of hours before breakfast. He still hadn’t managed to begin to learn the bits of the regulations Biggles had told him he had to know. That would have to wait, he thought. The hangar, or rather, his part in the building of it, would be finished in a couple of days. He wasn’t overly concerned, for he had a quick mind.

[kylie_koyote]

At lunch, Algy took him aside and asked him how he was progressing and if Ginger wanted anybody to quiz him on it.

[Fairblue]

Ginger confessed to Algy that he hadn’t even looked at it yet.

[Kismet]

Algy resisted banging his head, or preferably Ginger's, against the table. 'You need to get properly organised,' he suggested. 'Do you want me to help?'

[Fairblue]

Ginger hesitated, wondering if Biggles would think that was allowable.

[Kismet]

He decided Algy wouldn't offer unless he thought Biggles would be ok with it. 'Please,' he agreed, rubbing his aching head.

[Fairblue]

"Right," Algy said briskly. "I'll separate the sections into manageable chunks and you can learn one at a time. And since Biggles didn't give you a time limit for the amendments you shouldn't spend much time on them just now. Your priority should be the regulations. You've only got five days left for those."

[Kismet]

Ginger nodded, winced and yawned. 'That will be a help, thanks.'

[Fairblue]

Ginger went off back to the hangar, thankful that the winds had subsided a bit. Now they could get the roof on. A regiment of engineeris were coming with their specialist equipment. Wirh a bit of luck tonight would see his part in it finished.

[Kismet]

The flight sergeant had a dreadful cold when Ginger arrived. Reluctantly, he ordered him into the warmth and said he'd look after things.

[Fairblue]

Without the Flight-Sergeant's keen eyes Ginger had his work cut out. He couldn't blame the men. The work was heavy and it was cold. He himself managed to keep warm while walking briskly from one side of the hanger to the other and told everyone that the quicker they did everything properly the first time the quicker it would be finished.

[Kismet]

Mostly the men didn't believe him. They knew that the faster they finished this job, the quicker they got the next.

[Fairblue]

But this work was heavy and cold and in the most exposed part of the airfield. Most places bad to be better than this.

[kylie_koyote]

At last it was done and Ginger gratefully returned to the warmth of the mess.

[Fairblue]

He arrived just in time to wash before dinner. He was tired, but it was the tiredness of physical exertion, not the draining tiredness of two days ago. Biggles, glancing at him, noticed the difference and was glad.

"Have you finished up there?" He asked as the steward placed his meal in front of him.

[tiffinata]

'Yes,' Ginger yawned. He took advantaged of his open mouth to shove food into it.

[Fairblue]

"Mind your manners," snapped Biggles.

[tiffinata]

Ginger chewed quickly, and washed it down with a glass of something he was handed.

[Fairblue]

After dinner, when Ginger was thinking of going to his room to start on the regulations, Algy accosted him and handed him several sheets of paper. "Learn one of these at a time," He told him. "and now you're not playing with the large mecanno set at the top of the field, you'll have more time. I've also done a timetable which you might find useful, although operational requirements may put paid to that, but you might be in luck. The bad weather just might continue." He winked at Ginger and moved on.

[kylie_koyote]

Ginger stared at the lines of writing on the paper in his hands. That was a lot to memorize, he thought glumly.

[tiffinata]

Maybe something to nibble or suck on might help him concentrate.
He looked sadly at the well chewed end of his pencil.

[Fairblue]

Ginger got the books that contained the Regulations and began to look at the references Algy had scribbled down. Bite-sized chunks, he had said. The print was tiny and it swam before his eyes. Using his well-chosen pencil and referring to Algy's scrawled notes, he marked lightly the beginning and end of each section. At the end of his notes Algy had written in large letters "Get a decent night's sleep!!"

[Kismet]

But now he was no longer physically exhausted, Ginger couldn't get a good night's sleep. He awoke from a dream where small books of regulations were chasing him, snapping and biting at his ankles.

[Fairblue]

Henry throwing a pillow at him didn't improve things. He decided to get up and put the time to some good use.