Q1

And so we bid farewell to the first quarter of 2011. As usual it has been a pretty hectic few months, but the good news is that there is lots to look forward to in the next three months. In the immediate future I have next week off, which will be great for the simple reason that we have no particular plans, but can enjoy spending time together. Then, more to look forward to including trips to Paris and IOW, sporting events with executive box seats for the final day of the season at White Hart Lane as well as tickets to see the Harlem Globe Trotters, and plans for meals out with friends.

Thanks to my week off plus all the bank holidays, I am only working for 13 days in April. Lovely.

Ragtime

The hotel I am staying at is about a hundred yards from the Pavilion Theatre in Brighton, and I wandered past it this evening on the way out to get some food. If memory serves, a little over 20 years ago I went to a concert there to listen to Joshua Rifkin play Scott Joplin. Up until then I thought I did a decent job of playing a few Ragtime pieces myself, but I remember thinking as I listened, "OK, so there're supposed to go that fast are they!"

I came to the concert with Nan, Rew and Frances, and for reasons that I can't remember, I was the designated driver for the evening and had borrowed Mum and Dad's Montego estate. I particularly remember driving home, the cross country route, it seeming to take forever, and not particularly enjoying it. It can't have been all that long after I'd passed my test.

It also reminds me of another trip to Brighton - one of a similar vintage, and one that Nicky came along for as well. It was a choir trip, and I think we were singing a service in a Brighton church. I can't remember a single thing about that, but what I do remember is going to the seafront afterwards, and persuading Nan to come on some fairground rides with us! Fantastic.

Vocab

And so another day of workshopping is complete and we've all been out for tapas together this evening. I am back at my hotel watching the second half of the England friendly and perusing the paper.

Re the football, it is entertaining to see that Capello has caused a bit of a stir (again) by suggesting that having a grasp of English which extends to 100 words is sufficient for his needs when it comes to communicating with the team. Obviously, the journalists have pounced on this as a great opportunity, and today's paper has two separate articles which suggest what that vocabulary should be. Both are good, but the first one had me laughing out loud, so I have listed the suggested words here to amuse:

Captain
Telephone
Super-injunction
Adultery
Nil
Congratulations
Germany
Goalkeeper
Butterfingers
Take
The
Positives
No
Easy
International
Games
Even
When
You're
Playing
Part-time
Algerian
Plumbers
With
A
Side
Full
Of
Millionaires
Prostitute
Text
Naively
Assume
Remains
Private
Sick
As
Parrot
Lampard
Or
Gerrard
Air
Pistol
Practice
Penalties
Whoops
I
Slipped
It
Flew
Over
The
Bar
Beck ham
Sideshow
Circus
Russian
Linesman
Long
Time
Ago
45 years
Of
Hurt
Football
Isn't
Coming
Home
Unless
You
Live
In
Qatar
Eliminated
At
Quarter
Final
Stage
By
First
Good
Team
We
Face
WAGs
Wayne
Rooney's
Metatarsal
If
Only
He'd
Been
Fit
FIFA
Envelope
Used
Note

Very funny!

Since starting this blog the football has finished and I've caught up with the news from home. Sounds like Jake had an impressive parents evening.

(As to the football, I thought that Ghana deserved their equalizer - and who can begrudge them given that they were the unluckiest team in the World Cup last year. We were all rotting for them against Uruguay. From an England perspective, a typical waste of time friendly. Most of the first team weren't even there!)

Deja vu

Remember all that time I spent in January staying at Myhotel in Brighton? Well, I'm back in the land of the curvy walls again this week. Set off from home this morning in the dark (early start plus the only drawback of the clock change) and was in the office before eight. We have client staff from all over the world here this week so that we can work on a global project together. I was kinda hoping that the workshop would be held in the US, but they all decided to come here. (Not that I want to be away from home, but I spend too long in Brighton already, it would be nice to see somewhere new.)

We finished just after six this evening and so I was checked into the hotel and unpacked at about seven. No group dinner tonight, so I went along the road to the Giraffe restaraunt for dinner. I was the saddo in the corner - table for one, doing the kenkens in the Times!

News and pictures from home were entertaining today. We had a visit from the mobile pet parlour. A new experiene for Barley, and by all accounts one that she didn't particularly enjoy!

Census

Today is an important day, as we all account for ourselves to the 2011 Census. It is amazing to think that in a hundred years from now, just as information is available to us now from the 1911 Census, so people will be able to look up our details. Perhaps a great great grandchild will go looking for us as part of a genealogy project. It'd be nice to think so.

I am sat here typing as a way to avoid packing bags. I need to get a case down from the loft in a while and put some stuff in there to last me for the week, as I am off to Brighton until Friday, staying in the hotel of curvy walls.

Paul has been with us today, and has just headed for home - off to continue with doing up his flat ready to put it on the market. Nicky had a read of his script as well, and was impressed. We both want to read episode 2 soon to see what happens to the characters.

A bit of trivia for Kate if she is reading this, as I am reminded of her game "Who is going to pay for a new kettle?", as referred to in this post. Well, it turns out that we have a similar game in this house, but the rules appear to be rather different. Yesterday morning I made myself a cup of coffee, and the kettle was fine. Then a little while later I went to make a cup of tea for Paul, and the blue light came on when I switched the switch on the kettle, but there was no sign of water-warming taking place.

Being the practically minded soul that I am, I stared at it for a while, I switched it off and on again (clearly a career in IT is calling me!) and I tried putting some more water in it. None of these inspired moves made the slightest difference, so I declared it broken, and went in search of the emergency, stove-top kettle, and after a while was able to provide Paul with a hot cuppa.

Then, when we went off to play pool for the afternoon, I mentioned in passing to Nicky that we seemed to have a kaput kettle. Scroll forward a few hours, and we get back from our sporting afternoon to discover that we have a new kettle in pride of place on the side in the kitchen. Well, I say kettle, it is actually some whizz-bang device that boils and dispenses somewhere between a small cup or jug of water at a time depending on how you adjust the dial. All very flash indeed.

So, as I say - same game - different rules!

Clocks

So, a sporting Saturday today. One England victory (in the football against Wales) and one England defeat (in the cricket against Sri Lanka), and also a victory for the dark blues on the Thames - as it should be!

We've been doing our small part for the sporting theme with a trip to the pool hall. For the first time Jake came along on the trip, and we played winner stays on! Jake did very well, winning a few games along the way, although as always he is desperate to be at an adult standard already. Being a great player for his age is never quite enough. (And if I cast my mind back enough years, I really should be able to sympathise!)

Let it be recorded here, that in the main event I am up by 8-5, this being the first attempt at a fixture since at least 2007 - on the basis that Paul doesn't remember meeting Barley before. Goes to show it's been too long. Hopefully we will get a chance of at least one more session this year, unless Paul's plans move along quickly and he ends up fleeing the country sooner rather than later.

Watched Quantum of Solace again this evening. Despite having seen it before, I'm still pretty much in the dark as to what's going on throughout most of the film. Hopefully when making the next one they'll remember to squeeze in some semblance of a plot in amongst the fighting and explosions.

Read episode one of Paul's TV show this evening - not bad at all!

Off to bed soon - after all we lose an hour of sleep tonight. Still, no church and no football in the morning, so lie ins allowed.

Visit

Paul here.

Pizza for tea.

Jake played Fifa and Kameo.

Nicky back from Ideal Home.

Late now.

Time for bed.

Nearly

Feels like it ought to be Friday evening now, but sadly it isn't. I think that it is a combination of a busy week so far, plus the fact that I am mostly working from home tomorrow. I do have to go to Ashford for a meeting in the morning, but then I'm back here. Partly this is because Nicky is off to the Ideal Home show tomorrow (watch out tomorrow for updates about useless gadgets acquired!) and so I will be picking up from school. Also it works out well as Paul is coming to visit for the weekend, for the first time in ages, and should be arriving after his long journey from Wales some time in the afternoon.

Tired

Nervous yesterday, tired today!

Early start this morning, and I was in our London office by just after half past seven. Much to my relief, our seminar went well. People turned up, the presentations went down well, and we had some good feedback. Phew!

After that I got the train over to Kingston for a meeting. I got there at lunchtime, and the walk from the station to the office took me a little way along the river path which was packed out with people enjoying the warm and sunny weather.

Then this evening I was home just in time (hopped out of one car and straight into the other) to go and have a look at a house down the road that is on the market.

House very large and very impressive, but not sure if it is right for us. The only snag that we have at the moment is that we took Jake along with us to have a look, and now he's dead set on moving!

Nervous

Bit nervous this evening. Over the last couple of months I have been organising a seminar at work. It is taking place tomorrow morning, and hopefully I will have 30-40 people coming. I will be one of three speakers, and will be talking for about half an hour.

Fingers crossed that it goes ok!

Best be off to bed now, as I need to be up and out by about 6:30 in the morning.

Wish me luck ...

Seasons

For me, 21 March equals the start of Spring, and today we had a lovely bright day to mark the new season. No doubt we will have a few more cold / wet / frosty moments yet, but the days are getting longer, BST kicks off at the weekend, and we can look forward to increasing temperatures and sunnier days. Doesn't the world seem a better place when the sun is shining!

The other exciting piece of news I noticed today was that today (finally) marks the start of filming of the Hobbit films, which, after much argument, delay and general bother, are being filmed in New Zealand and directed by Peter Jackson. Looks like a large number of the LOTR cast are back for the prequels, including Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lee and Elijah Wood - it'll be fun to find out how Frodo manages to pop up in the Hobbit? No doubt there will be some moving back and forth in the Middle Earth timeline as the stories unfold. As well as the characters we came to know and love from the trilogy, we will have some new ones to enjoy as well - Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Richard Armitage as Thorin. Can't wait until part one appears, hopefully towards the end of next year.

Reading news: finished Solar by Ian McEwan last night - the story of Michael Beard, a fascinating combination of Nobel genius and seriously flawed individual.

Nearly

Another mild day on the touchline today, and Jake's team continue to get better. They nearly won, but ended up surrendering their 2-0 lead and losing 4-2. And, Jake nearly scored a goal as well. It'll happen soon enough if they continue to improve.

Popped out this afternoon to have a look at a couple of car garages. Not much closer to making a decision on what to do when the IQ has to be replaced. (Actually, Nicky's just looked over my shoulder as I type this, and apparently we are, considerably closer!)

Moon

Today warrants a slightly longer post, after I could only manage a single line yesterday as I was engrossed in Red Nose Day on the TV. I thought that it was fantastic - and raising £74m during the evening was just unbelievable, breaking all previous records. If they get a similar amount as last year added on when getting to the final total, they might just break into 9 figures.

Three things from yesterday evening in particular brought me close to tears, and for very different reasons:

- Smithy's sketch. Once again he stole the comedy show, having roped in the great and the good, including George Michael, Gordon Brown, Lord Coe and Paul McCartney, all of whom seemed to be quite happy to be shouted at by the Essex plumber.

- Esther's film. The little girl of only nine who cared for her mother as she died of AIDS and looked after her baby brother. Heartbreaking. The presenters made a point of reassuring us that the film-makers had looked after her, but how many more like Esther are there?

- A little voice from next to me on the sofa, asking: "Dad, when you phone up to donate some money, please can you add £x from me." Proud parent moment.

As for today, the sun has been out, so as last week, Jake and I were off to the tennis court for a game. He continues to get better, although at times needs a fair amount of convincing of how good he actually is!

Thanks to the clear skies, we were able to enjoy our tennis in the sunshine, and similarly thanks to the clear skies, we have a great view of the full moon this evening.

Having read one of Kate's recent blogs I have learnt that this is a special full moon, as it is coinciding with when the moon is at its closest to us along the elliptical path that it travels.

To mark this, I have attempted to take a photo of the moon. Turns out that it is a really hard thing to do! Here's my best effort.

RND11

No time for blogging today - glued to Red Nose Day 2011.

News

The news continues to make for some tough viewing at the moment as the world continues to go mad around us. In Libya, fighting goes on, and it looks like we are about to get involved dependant on the outcome of a vote currently taking place at the UN. In Japan, the situation goes from bad to worse - earthquake, tsunami and nuclear fears all combining to make for a nation on the brink, and yet the people there seem to bear it all with amazing fortitude.

Mad world.

Harlem

Not a whole lot to report from today, so here's just a few snippets:

- I wandered into town for a bit of fresh air on my lunch break today. Was pleased to see that Waterstone's had the new Carl Hiaasen for half price. Must make sure that I read it soon - I'm always cross with myself when I buy a hardback and then fail to read it until after the paperback has been released.

- My boss told me his story of going to look at cars at the weekend and ending up spending a fortune on a Porsche. Time is ticking towards decision time for me as I will need to order a car reasonably soon given that my work lease runs out in the summer. Keep changing my mind between getting something nice but practical and that does an impressive mpg (given the amount of miles I cover combined with the truly upsetting price of fuel) versus having a bit of a splurge on something a bit more flash - Nicky keeps dropping hints about TTs or something similar.

- Nicky has booked us tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters at Wembley. Should be lots of fun - watch out for the 2 May post for a report.

Reading

Started the day with a little bit of work at home, before heading off to Reading for some meetings this afternoon. Meetings went on a bit, so I didn't leave there until after eight. Home just before ten and beans on toast for tea!

I finished off Theodore Boone earlier on. It is Grisham-lite, or Grisham for beginners, being a simple tale about a 13 year old would-be lawyer, but even so, he can't help but write a good story!

Being home so late from work today, I didn't get a chance to speak with Dad, but was pleased to hear that Nicky spoke to him a little bit earlier on. Dad - been thinking of you today, and pleased to hear that things went ok, even if it wasn't much fun.

I'll leave you with something that I read earlier. The colleague in Reading whose desk I borrowed for some of the day today has one of those tear off joke-a-day calendars, and the page that it was on told the story of a vicar who was visiting a parishioner. He knocked on the front door, but got no answer. It was obvious that there was someone at home, so he carried on knocking for some time, but no-one answered the door. Eventually, he gave up, and slid a note through the letter box which read "Revelation 3:20". Well, the next Sunday, after the morning service, the vicar noticed that someone, had put a note in the collection plate. So, he opened it up, and it simply said, "Genesis 3:10".

The version of the joke that I read had kindly included the references, but it's more fun if I leave you to look them up ...

Paris

It has been a long time since we went to Paris - especially if you don't count Disneyland as part of Paris, which I guess you shouldn't really.

Our last trip was in the summer of 1997, when Nicky and I stayed in a little hotel to the east of the city. If I'm honest, we didn't have a great time. Firstly, it was very hot, and most of the people who lived and worked there had cleared out for the summer, and so loads of places were closed. Our hotel was rather basic - no air con and a room that measured about one foot longer and one foot wider than the bed. Our hotel wasn't exactly central, so we had a pretty long walk to get there. We saved up one of the things we were looking forward to most, at trip to the Musee D'Orsay, to our final day of holiday, which was a Monday.

The museum doesn't open on a Monday.

Oh yes, and to top it all off, Paris was also enjoying a visit from Pope John Paul II at the same time as us. As a result, a few million of his followers had decided to descend on the city at the same time. Whilst they weren't following the Pope around, they were filling up every available tourist destination to bursting point.

Well, after 14 years, we've decided that the time is right to give it another try, so for a long weekend in May, Nicky and I will be Eurostar-ing through the tunnel to try out Paris in the Springtime.

This time we've splashed out on what will hopefully prove to be a better hotel. It comes with 5 stars, and is just down the road from the Arc de Triomphe. We will not leave it until Monday to go to the museum.

Right, I'd better go and have a rummage in Google to see if the Pope publishes his travel plans ...

(By the way, as pointed out on the radio this evening, today should be called "Pi" day, but probably only if you're American and write the date the wrong way around. Worth making a note for 4 years time, as it will be an even more special Pi day then!)

Footie

First up today was a trip to church. I have to confess that I was supposed to be there last Sunday as I was on the rota, but I failed to show up having completely forgotten!

After much apologising I agreed to play this week. Turned out to be a baptism, and we had a full house. However, the increase in numbers wasn't quite matched by an increase in volume of singing. A couple of good hymns on today's list: 124 (Give Thanks) and 120 (The Servant King - one of an extremely small number of hymns I know well enough to be able to play and sing at the same time!).

Then, home for brunch (after an emergency trip to the Co-op as we were out of beans). Just can't beat a fry up!

The reason for brunch today was that Jake had a lunchtime kick off. The game went well, and his team played tonnes better than last week, and Jake is really improving. They lost 2-0 but were unlucky not to get a couple of goals themselves. Jake's coaches obviously noticed how much he is improving as they gave him the Man of the Match award. Hopefully this will keep his motivation up and he will be determined to keep doing better and better.

The other good thing about today's football is that it felt about 15 degrees warmer stood on the touchline!

(Reply to Kate's reply: I don't know which Brennan novel includes a trip to Israel - none of the ones I've read. But now that I've started at no. 1 I will be working my way through them so will get to it sooner or later!)

Spring

I'm sat here in the conservatory bashing away at the keyboard and listening to the rain come down. Fingers crossed it dries up a little overnight and tomorrow morning so that the football doesn't turn into too much of a mud-fest.

Earlier today, the weather was sunny and mild, and Jake and I were outside in short sleeves kicking a ball around. A sharp contrast to last weekend. Maybe Spring has sprung?

To continue our sporting day, Jake and I went for a game of tennis this afternoon. I think that I might ache a little in the morning - he had me chasing the ball all over the court.

Just finished the first Tempe Brennan book (Deja Dead) by Kathy Reichs. I first enjoyed her stories thanks to the listening choices of Singapore Airlines a few years ago. A flight to Singapore was very nearly long enough to listen to a whole book, but I did have to wait until the flight home to hear the last couple of chapters. Then, on our cruise last summer I borrowed a couple of her books from the Independence library. So, I decided I should go back to the beginning to see how it all kicked off.

Number two in the series is Death du Jour - I'll have to put that one on the wish list.

Wave

In early 2005, I was lucky enough to travel to Indonesia and Malaysia with work. Whilst I was there, I went to the island of Penang. At one point we were driving along a road which had essentially been made into a dual carriageway by having huge concrete blocks being placed along the middle of the road.

This was only three or four months after the Boxing Day earthquake just off the coast of Sumatra. One of the people I was travelling with, who lived on Penang, explained to me that the concrete blocks, which must have weighed well over a tonne each, had been swept away by the force of the tsunami that followed the earthquake.

I looked at the concrete, and struggled to understand how a wave could do this.

Watching the television news today, things become a little easier to understand, but no less shocking.

The wave in Japan was filmed, presumably by a helicopter news crew.

Unstoppable. Relentless. Devastating.

Jobs

Great week for job news.

Two sisters - two new jobs.

One starts in the summer - off on another leg of the never-ending training that is being a doctor. Clearly last week's challenges didn't go as badly as feared. Well done you - lost in admiration here.

The other starts back at work tomorrow - no hanging about - offered the job one week, start the next. Back at work for the first time as a Mum, with no doubt all of the trepidation that goes along with this change. Knock 'em dead.

And, I think a certain someone may be looking forward to spending the morning with Mikey tomorrow!

Idiot

It's been a long time since I was quite this pleased to see a 0-0 draw. But, tonight, in a nail-biting encounter, Spurs managed to keep AC Milan out, and so that away goal from a couple of weeks ago holds up and sees us through to the quarter finals.

Uncharted territory ...

As for my day, well I'm the idiot of today's title. It all started off well enough - I went to the office this morning, but then this afternoon I had a meeting in London. As per my new routine, I drove round to Ebbsfleet and got the train in to St Pancras. Timed my arrival fine and the meeting finished off at just after 5.30. Still so far so good.

Got the tube back to St Pancras, and as I came up the escalator realised that I would be just in time to hop on a train that was leaving at 6.10. So I dashed to the platform and made it with only a few seconds before departure. It was only after I'd been on the train for the usual 18 minutes and there was no sign of slowing down that I realised my mistake.

I got off at the next available stop.

Ashford!

Waited 20 minutes and got another one back from whence I came, this time thankfully stopping at Ebbsfleet so that I could retrieve the car and drive home.

So, my cunning plan of dashing onto the first train at St Pancras rather than waiting a few minutes to get on one that actually stopped at my station cost me around an hour.

Idiot!

Pancakes

Easter is a complicated business, or at least the date of it is, all based on lunar cycles. It always falls between 22 March and 25 April, so this year it is very nearly as late as it can possibly be.

This means that we've had to wait longer than usual for pancakes.

Today is Shrove Tuesday (Shrove meaning to absolve sins through confession and doing penance) and is the last day before the start of Lent.

Lent is a time of going without, and so today we are supposed to be finishing up all of the extravagant foodstuffs that we have in the house by making pancakes (this is why it is also known as Fat Tuesday, or, in French, Mardi Gras). Well, like so many other traditions and festivals, we enjoy the trappings (Christmas = presents, Easter = chocolate eggs) but forget the significance.

So, I will be enjoying some pancakes later on this evening, but perhaps I should also take a moment to decide on what I should be doing to mark Lent this year.

For many years, my flippant answer to anyone who asks me what I am giving up for Lent has been smoking - easy because I never started.

This year, maybe I won't give up anything, maybe I will try to do more of something. Something important.

Pictures

I have a photo frame on my desk at work, bought for me as a Christmas present from Nicky when we were celebrating Christmas at the Happiest Place. It is a black leather wallet with a Mickey silhouette on the outside, and inside there is space for two 6x4 prints.

For the last couple of years it has been on my desk with the same photos in it, and so today I decided that it was time for a refresh. Not that I didn't love the pictures that were in it, I most definitely did and still do, but I realised that Jake had grown a bit!

The pictures that I've enjoyed for the last few years were these ones, both taken on our Christmas holiday in 2007:

And after much deliberation, I have swapped over for these, which will be taking pride of place from tomorrow onwards (the first one taken in Santa Barbara last spring, and the second taken on our cruise last summer):

Cold

Jake's football kicked off at midday today. It was an away game, but only a few hundred yards from their home turf. The most notable feature of today's game for the spectators was just how cold it was being stood on the touchline. When we got back in the car, the readout claimed that it was 5 degrees, but with the wind chill factor included, I reckon it was officially freezing.

Once we'd thawed out and Jake had had a hot bath we popped out to the shops to grab a few provisions. I managed to sneak a trip to the PC World superstore before we went to the supermarket, and I have still got my eye on a MacBook Air, although I can't quite find a good enough excuse for the expense yet. Nicky wants to get a Flip camera or something similar, and I agree that we should definitely get one it time for the summer holidays.

Tea with Nanny and Granddad (roast pork) and a nail-biter between Spurs and Wolves which eventually ended in a 3-3 draw.

Hope it starts warming up soon.

Full

I'm full.

This evening, we've been out for a meal to celebrate Nanny's birthday and Jake's good news about school that came through this week.

The pub that we went to was very nice, and the food was great, but the portions were enormous. Nicky and I agreed that if we go again we will share a starter and share a main course, then we may possibly have enough space left to share a dessert. As things were today, pudding was out of the question, which was a real shame having seen the menu!

Baker

As Dad has just reminded me, they were called Baker days when I was little. Jake has enjoyed a bonus day off school today whilst the teachers have been doing their training. Good timing, as apparently it coincided with the release of a new DS game he had pre-ordered, so he was off to the shops this morning to collect it, as well as trading in his old DS for a new black special edition one.

Then I think that most of the rest of the day has been spent on the sofa with a combination of TV and computer games. Cool!

Plates

When I was little, 1 August was a date to remember each year. Many times we would be on our summer holidays by then (88 days and counting until the boys go on tour to the IOW) and I remember being out in the car scrutinising each car that passed us on the road to see whether it had a new number plate.

The plates in question would have been ones that either ended in a letter towards the end of the alphabet, or as time progressed, flipped back to the beginning and moved the age identifier to the start.

(I can still remember the number plate of the V reg Renault that we had, as well as the numbers of Uncle Andrew's A reg dark blue Maestro - the one with the weird econometer - and our B reg light blue Maestro. Weird, especially when I can never remember the number plate of my current car!)

For the last ten or so years we've moved on to number-based age identifiers, and to smooth the peak in demand that came round at the start of August, we now have two changeover dates, one at the beginning of March and one at the end of September, so on Tuesday we moved over to the '11' plates.

Whilst I didn't go anywhere on Tuesday, it took until I was nearly home this evening (so two journeys to work and back adding up to about 180 miles) before I spotted my first 11 plate - it was on a shiny new Jag that came tearing past me on the motorway.

The lease on my car runs out at the end of July, so I will no doubt end up with an 11 plate in a few months time.

A song to finish today. This one was played on the breakfast show today and I thought it was rather good.

There - I've admitted it - I'm a closet country fan!

Catcher

What on earth is going on with the cricket World Cup. First of all we just about scrape by against the Netherlands, and then we have something of an epic battle against India. We start off letting them get a huge total, and then spend most of our innings getting excited about the world record for the highest score in a run chase in the world cup. But, in all goes sour when Strauss and Bell are out in consecutive balls, and we end up with a nail-biting draw.

Then today. We post a decent 300+ total against the Irish, and early in their innings have them with not too many more that 100 on the board and 5 wickets down. It's all over ... isn't it.

And then, the talk of world record breaking run chases comes back to haunt us, with a fastest ever world cup century thrown in for good measure. I listened to the last few overs on the iplayer at work, lost for words!

To keep my reading record up to date, I finished The Catcher in the Rye last night. Took a while to get used to the first person, stream of consciousness style, along with some of the turns of phrase that were used - everyone being "phony" and every other sentence ending with "and all". Holden isn't exactly the most like-able of characters, although I did end up feeling rather sorry for him.

Maybe I'm too old to appreciate it properly now - should have read it when I was a teenager.

Being the literal (rather than literate) soul that I am, I spent a fair amount of the book wondering where the title came from. I had kind of expected the book to have a rural setting rather than being based mostly in Manhattan with that title, but goes to show what I know. Holden overhears a boy singing a song in the street (well, mishears an extract of a Robert Burns poem) and this gets him to thinking. Later, he explains to his sister Phoebe:

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy."

Anyway, I'm off to marvel at the cricket highlights.

School

And the waiting is over.

We were supposed to get an email sometime after 4pm today. Nothing had arrived by about six-ish and Nicky was tearing her hair out. Messages were appearing on Facebook and by text that lots of Jake's friends had heard the news, but we had nothing.

Then, Nicky was told via Facebook that we could also log on to the admissions site and the answer should be there.

So, with much trepidation we logged on, and sure enough the selection was showing.

As I think the whole world knows by now, it is good news. Jake gets to go to his first choice school, and yes, the traditionalist and proud parent in me is rather pleased that it is the same school that I went to and the same school that Dad went to as well. Lovely!