and after all that , after having to put up with spats neurotic fear of being discovered as devoid of possessing an ounce of humour , having pasted his hair with tomato ketchup that had now congealed and stuck to his clothes and face and made him stink , having been the butt of mamba point jokes around charcoal embers till midnight and the idle gossip of the international community at every meeting for the next week , the embassy barbeque was no better .