Almost

The conservatory is so nearly finished. The men have been around to fix the snags. Or almost all of them. The skirting is in place, window replaced, frame mended. So nearly all. What is left. Well, around the door from the ex-dining room into the conservatory they haven't fitted beading. They are now saying that they don't do beading. Which would be fine if only they hadn't done it on the door from the conservatory to outside. Both the doors are identical. I'll show you. Look at the pictures. First door without beading:

Then door with:

In fact, looking at it, I think that there is a bit missing from the second door as well, but there is definitely beading running down the side. You can see it. You are my witnesses (would you mind a trip to court on my behalf, no, good). I cannot believe that we should be able to see screws and chalk marks.

Making a Stand

Boots will now allow men to buy Viagra over the counter. I do note it says men, so many women are going to remain disappointed, even though the launch is planned for Valentines (now, allow women to buy the tablets for their men and then you HAVE got clever marketing). 4 tablets only, for the cost of £50, so dinner may be off the menu then.

They estimate that only 1 in 10 men who may benefit are actually being treated. I am trying to get my head around the fact that some marketeer thinks men will be more willing to walk in off the street, go up to someone they don't know and start discussing intimate details, than to speak to their own doctor. Gives a new meaning to something for the weekend (actually maybe they could do starter packs, 4 tablets and 4 condoms as a special offer).

Light Up

So Cameron may, or may not have, had drugs while he was at school and/or uni. I can't believe the amount of press this is getting. He was a kid, get over it. I would be reasonably sure most of us did things as teenagers which we look back on and wish we hadn't done. It isn't as though he took us into an illegal war (oh no, that's the other guy, the one people keep voting for). I am sure that the reason people feel outraged is because it manages to raise the fact he went to Eton and then people think "elitist". It really does not matter one iota whether or not he indulged. It has no impact on his ability to lead a country. In fact, we could think that maybe he is more qualified to talk about the horrors of drugs as he actually might have some experience and not be talking from an ivory tower.

One Day Final - Sydney

This is definitely turning into a strange weekend for sport. After England struggling against Italy and Wales loosing to Scotland in the rugby, the focus now shifts to cricket. And a team which, two weeks ago, was on its knees and lucky to get into the finals manages to win the second match in a row so that the finals don't even need to go to the third match. Of course the weather and the Duckworth-Lewis system may have helped but that doesn't change the fact they won. Ther last few matches have rested squarely on the shoulders of the few, and Collingwood has risen to the moment. Plunkett has also come on wonderfully.

I hope they don't go into the World Cup thinking they are better than they really are. They are going to need some hard graft from here on.

Scotland 21 Wales 9

I really did not expect to be posting this. After last weeks performance I thought Wales would be fine. But the forwards crumbled. The line out was attrocious, the scrum struggled. Scotland ended up with over 70% of the possession. In fact it bodes badly for Scotland that they weren't able to turn such dominance into tries. All the points in this match were penalties.

Too disappointing, I can't say any more.

Night

Clear night
Moon shine
Star crisp
Nothing moves
Dreams fly
Reaching high
Entwine lovers
Across miles

Clear night
Moon shine
Star crisp
Nothing moves
Dreams falter
Wings lost
Falling
To earth

Drifting

As he watched the driftwood
Floating by
He thought of reaching out.
So simple to save
Himself.
Arm
Hesitating.
Hand clenched.
Watched
Until a speck.

One Day Finals - Melbourne

I heard the words "collapse" and "Australia" in the same sentence today. By the end of the Aussie 50 overs it was looking good. They had folded. Then England started off badly. 3 wickets for 15 runs in the first 5 overs or so. It looked as though England were going to bottle it. But wait. This doesn't seem to be the same team that we have been seeing for the last two months. Collingwood pulled it out of the bag, with some help from a good supporting cast.

Matter of Priorities

This may say something about me. There have been two "celebrity" deaths today that I am aware of. The moment I heard of Ian Richardson dying I knew who that was. I am still trying to work out who Anna Nicole Smith is! I couldn't even remember her name for this blog (I had to search "death" in the celebrity section). No-one at work believed me but even looking at her picture doesn't ring any bells.

Snow Zone

I battled my way in to work today, refusing to be overwhelmed by the snow. I suspect "J" is sick to death of hearing me say things like - "this isn't snow, when I was young we had real snow", "I don't understand it, we have less snow now and cars are better, yet the whole country still grinds to a halt", "why is everyone acting so surprised, it's winter, can't we expect snow", "I had driving lessons in snow worse than this" etc.

So while "A" had the day off ("what, because of this, we got through snow drifts ten times this deep in order to get to school" which got the reply "well your parents were just cruel then") I went to work. The drive that normally takes 25 minutes took just under two hours. This threw my day enough that when someone asked if I was going to lunch I turned around and said "what do you mean, bit early, it's only just gone ten" before I realised that the morning had, in fact, disappeared.

Of course, while I was working, some people had better things to do.

A Different Kind of Service

I know I should resist this. I really do. But I can't.

Today was V day. Richard Branson has decided to branch out further and will now provide a media service. This is on top of what was previously known as "three-play", ie broadband, mobile and landline. They have decided to call the new service "quad-play" as a slight departure of nomenclature.

You can see their point. The image they want may not be that you can now pay a virgin to give you fourplay.

Fluctuations

Gosh, but shares are slippery little things. I suspect that I probably shouldn't buy any at all, and I would be the first to admit that I just dabble, not investing enough to make it worth while. But things take my fancy and I decide it might be worth a punt. I only look at the relatively small companies so that I can actually buy more than one share! Anyway, why slippery. Well about a month ago I was interested in Oxford Biomedica and I set a buy order in the evening. I set it slightly lower than the finishing price as I felt that they would probably dip first before going up. I was wrong and didn't get any. So I raised my price again but still below the end of day price. Again missed them. I kept the same logic going for two weeks until I gave up and bought them at the end of day price. Had I originally not planned on a drop then I would have made money. So last week I had my eye on two more companies, Allergy Therapeutics and GW Pharmaceuticals. Again on the first day I set my buy order slightly below the end of day price in the hope that they would drop. They didn't, but rather than play cat and mouse I just decided to bite the bullet and raise my offer to the end of day price. So I bought them and the price then dropped. I think there may be a touch of irony there somewhere.

Another Hunt

One of my international colleagues has a blog. He has promised me a pint if I can find it. I think he even dropped a hint when he mentioned a recent excursion to dental wonderland. So if anyone comes across a blog, based in Holland and describing a nightmare at the dentist, please let me know.

One Day Match

England finally seem to be bringing it together. All a bit late for this tour but maybe the World Cup doesn't look so dire. But the bowlers have a lot of work to do. They nearly give the game away with so many no balls. It must be difficult batting as well as you can, posting a good(ish) score then in the first two overs see 22 runs given away to your opposition. At the moment it is ahrd to know if winning was a good thing though. Three more matches against Australia could break this team.

The Cornish Trilogy - Robertson Davies

Davies weaves his way through the characters, linking them together through one man, a man who is dead. Gypsies, monks, teachers and priests all come together in a complicated tangle. At times sad but always with a sense of humour. It is a philosophical work in many ways, looking deeply into how people are motivated. A priest who cannot but help turn to a gypsy to have his cards read. A monk who cannot find peace within himself without a drastic and chaotic act. A young girl torn between her childhood and her future. And as the books develop so do the characters.

Super Bowl

To be honest I don't follow American Football and I can't really tell you anything about the game. The only reason I am blogging this is because of the radio this morning. Now, I am willing to admit I probably wasn't fully awake as I drove in to work. So I was surprised to hear that the Coltas had won and this was the first time there had been a winning "black haired coach". I started thinking that this was a statistical impossibility, there must have been black haired coaches before. Then I realised that what had actually been said was "black Head Coach".

Six Nations - First Weekend

The first weekend of the 2007 Six Nations is over. How was it?

Well, the two games on Saturday were nothing special. In both matches there was a completely dominant team and there was no doubt after the first 10 minutes who was going to win. I think the only thing to comment on is Jonny Wilkinson. I was one of the skeptics who felt that picking someone who had only played about 3 hours competitive rugby in the last 3 years was dodgy to say the least. It certainly does not send a good message to the other players that England could call on. I felt that Jonny was being picked as a mascot. I still think he was a mascot but, my, he was a mascot that was worth his weight in gold, he pulled the best out of his team.

Then todays match. Wales vs Ireland. History shows that Ireland travel well to Cardiff. I have seen them live there a number of times and it is always the same. But what a good match. Wales played the more exciting and more exhilarating game. The result so nearly could have been different. Some very poor decisions against Wales didn't help, but not worth complaining about as, on another day, the decisions will go the other way. We just weren't able to capitalise on position. Sadly Czekaj was outclassed, he looked confused by the speed of the game unfolding around him. And it was fast, relentless throughout, even in the last minutes. The welsh gamble for a heavy pack didn't pay off, Ireland kept them at bay, but Peel put constant pressure on the irish and didn't let their forwards ever start to dominate. Wales are stunning to watch, showing the ability to think ahead and make a running game but are just let down by too many errors. Had Wales had just one more secure back, such as Shane Williams, Gavin Henson or Gareth Thomas, this would have been a very different story and I believe Ireland can consider themselves lucky that their aspirations have got off to a secure, if not strong, start.

A Different Hunt

After our brunch we went for a walk to try and feel a bit more righteous (and I don't need to be told how far we would have to walk in order to get rid of what we had just gained). We went to one of the local woods. "A" was running ahead when she suddenly announced that she had found treasure. She waved a plastic bag in our general direction and happily called out that there was something in it. Now, I will simply say that a lot of people take their dogs and then leave it to your imagination what the treasure might have been!

Food Hunt

What a disaster. We don't have anything in the house for breakfast. We are just going to have to go out to Buddies for a brunch. Of course none of us want to, it is only out of neccessity.

Aggreed, Agreed, Agreed

The last 24 hours saw a quick trip down to Cardiff. This morning I had a meeting to present my preferred list of officers for the forthcoming year to the past masters. I am pleased to say that my choices were accepted so now I have to send out letters formally asking my choices to accept. In addition I presented my ideas for adding a little something to the festive board. My idea seemed to go down well and was in keeping with the lodge, I just have to do the fine tuning to turn it from an idea into a reality. I am especially grateful to those who were willing to turn out on a Saturday for a meeting at rather short notice.