My morning so far...

Got up, led morning prayer, unfortunately coughed a lot.

During the period of silent prayer, there were two loud thunks, and the Dean and Subdean, sitting either side of the aisle, looked down in bemusement at a scurrying brown creature ("I suppose it might have been a mouse. If it had been taking steroids," said the Dean, afterwards).

Then both the Dean and the Subdean forbade me to go into work today, and the Subdean more or less ordered me to go and see a doctor. Evidently my cough sounds really bad... ("And when you've seen the doctor, go to bed and have lots of fluids and don't come back to work till you're better," said the Dean, paternally).

I suppose I ought to go and see the doctor (I may not owe either of them canonical obedience, but...), as I would like to get rid of this damn cough, and the Subdean is right that I ought to get rid of it before we have an outbreak of swine flu around the Abbey and I get that as well, but I confess I am somewhat sceptical as to the likelihood of medical science being able to do anything. It's a cold... And the Dean's prescription is all very well, but I'm not actually ill, I just have this wretched cough.

On the other hand, it is nice to have caring employers, and for once I don't mean that sarcastically.

I wonder if it was a rat?