J's birthday

Well, kind of. Her birthday in NZ as I write, but not yet in England.

We have spent Easter weekend trying to get our trip sorted and still haven't managed the first hurdle - our accommodation in Abruzzo. It is hard to understand why this non-tourist area can be demanding E500+ a week when we only pay E900 a month for our apartment! At least Mum has confirmed her flights although they were a problem for her and I think she's paid a bundle.

We went back to Glastonbury, this time in the daytime. We climbed the Tor and felt the cosmic energy rippling down the ley lines into our chakras. Actually I just felt puffed, and feckin' cold. The town is full of shops selling magic and new age garbage, which didn't seem to help the lamb roll I bought which appeared to have been made using the same principles as naturopathy - the presence of lamb had been so diluted it was only the memory of lamb that remained. The Abbey was quite something though, again more for the memory of what once was than for what was actually there. For more 'Glasto' pics follow the link on J's page.

Other than that outing we didn't get up to much at all. In fact I stayed in my dressing gown for all of Easter Monday - how decadent, but strangely familiar to some!

JP has sent the latest version of the manuscript to read, and I have nearly finished my own article, save for bits that can only be written after the Italy trip. My own test readers haven't done a great job of reading the draft of the Cassino chapter from my book for me, so get a move on lads...

Last week I installed a laptop screen for our Italian neighbours so A is doing some letter writing for me in return. I hope to get into 'The Crypt' at Cassino if at all possible this trip, so we are writing to the Institute of the Sisters of Stigmata for permission. I rang L as he hasn't returned emails since we left last year. He wanted us to stay in his house but that is the one thing we have managed to arrange in Italy so far so we had to say no. I'm not sure if he's read that bit yet - it may be another year before he checks his email!

The Ides of March

Considered the start of Spring by the Romans, and their new year, we all know it wasn't too good for Julius Caesar. A better day for Dad as it was his wedding. I managed to get through to them after ringing the reception twice and a wrong number once. It sounds like a nice day for everyone and we expect to see plenty of photos from the family.

J and I have spent all day trying to sort our trip out, and basically have got nowhere. We've arranged accommodation in Cassino, and have narrowed down the accommodation near Orsogna to around three main possibilities. We didn't hear back from any of the real estate agents we emailed so we've had to go through holiday home sites which may end up quite expensive. Trying to sort out meeting W&R&l has been put in the too hard basket for now...

Wales won the 6 Nations and the Grand Slam, although England at least got a win. We've all but lost the 2nd test so the next one will have some interest. I haven't seen the scorecard for our first inning, but it can't have been good reading.

Nothing really happening over here, although it's coming up J's birthday and our wedding anniversary too. Better buy some presents I suppose...

And a sad weekend for English sport

So England bats, and collapses. The attitude over here is that NZ is a team of easy beats - 'tries hard, but not much talent' our report would read - and I think that's what the Poms have in their heads.

Then the rugby team put in an inept display to lose to Scotland. Go figure.

And finally, the big name teams are out of the FA Cup. Great for Barnsley supporters I'm sure.

At this level the players usually have no shortage of talent, or they wouldn't be there, so it must be what goes on in the head that makes the difference. The Australians have their heads right, even if it comes across as arrogance. When the Indoor Cricket World Cup was here last year you could always hear the Aussies pumping themselves up. It was a stark contrast to the quiet teams they played, and I think it is not a coincidence that Aussie won every game. The Poms have their heads wrong, and until they can sort that out they will struggle to win consistently. So how does a coach do that?

Our holiday break is sneaking up on us so we've been trying to find accommodation in the areas we're visiting, as well as trying to coordinate with W&R who are over here in June and July. So far all we have are tickets to Rome, so there's a bit of work to be done. Thank geeks for the internet.

I'm still in love with Google Earth (J will tell you I spend more time with it than her recently). I have been overlaying photos and maps, and mapping the places photos were taken. This way I can create maps on demand when I get there that will help me be more efficient. GE has also helped me find some of the series that I will be writing about in my own article, and all from the discomfort of the chair in our apartment!

Got to go. I'm trying to write a macro at work that will cut out a lot of fiddly cutting and pasting between spreadsheets. Wish me luck.

Sad day

On Friday the police helicopter was over the harbour again and we commented about another person drowned. On Monday it was announced that one of my colleagues (a developer in the greater team) had been found drowned after a night in town. He was a nice bloke and had spent some time in Dunedin a few years ago. RIP Andy.

At the team meeting that day it was my turn to provide the cake. I made a pav, but it was a flop. It looked OK in the oven but collapsed and ended up with the marshmallow bit about 2 cm deep. Anyone know what I did wrong? Anyway, they made the right noises.

After a couple months of Colonel Blimp being an arse about it I have finally received a copy of the contract I signed. How unreasonable can a person be? J gets it every day from her workforce, and had an example today of someone on the train simply refusing to pay his fare. "I got no money, what are you going to do about it?" Society depends on people acting reasonable and it can be quite a shock when you find people, like Colonel Blimp, who do not. But then we create lawyers who are paid to be unreasonable on your behalf.

BTW, what's the latest on the VC theft?

The first test was off to an indecisive start, with the Pom's claiming the best of the first day. I congratulated my co-workers on the fact that England haven't collapsed yet, purely because they haven't batted yet. We'll see how many runs the tail enders can put on.

That's all for now.