Another rock video post (well we were due one)

You may have guessed that I wasn’t a private school schoolboy; I’m glad about this, God knows what those luvvies got up to. On one of our non-uniform days (our public school was slighty posh as there was a dress code) at the end of term, pupils were encouraged to bring in some music and it would be hooked up to a player. Somebody brought in a Genesis LP that put us all to sleep. We were awakened by this rocker from the Destroyer album. That was the first time I’d heard this song and I still love it to this day.

GONG. In breaking Metal news, Kiss will be bringing out a new record in October of this year. World tour to follow.

Need I say it. Play it loud.

Another little local difficulty

After the Solomonic Solution which rewarded a Japanese gymnast who fell so very nicely, we have the ticklish question of ‘making a bone fide effort’ while participating, which led to the disqualification of some badminton players earlier in the Games. Continue reading “Another little local difficulty”

Citius, Altius, Fortius (Take Two)

As bells ring out unto the world
And fires are lit and flags unfurl
The Gods in heaven lean back and roll the dice
To see who’ll win and who will lose,
As sparks ignite the Olympic fuse;
Each man, each woman taking part,
Linked by molten rings in unison do cry
“Faster, higher, stronger – we can but try.”
They stride the track and kingly turf
Each in pursuit of their own true worth
And not for money or stately prize
But in selfless sacrifice.

A grand day out

Yesterday, Mrs FEEG and I trolled along to the Olympic Stadium to see the morning athletics session. It was great fun.

The journey there, after getting up at silly o’clock, was easy; a Thameslink train to St Pancreas, and then, using the Travelcard provided with the Olympic tickets, the Javelin High Speed Train to Stratford International. Very quick and easy.
Continue reading “A grand day out”

Citius, Altius, Fortius,

JM – I have been struggling here this morning but will settle for this.

As bells ring out into the world
And fires are lit and flags unfurl
So God in heaven leans back and rolls the dice
To see who wins and who will lose,
As heroes spark the Olympic fuse;
Each man, each woman taking part,
Linked by sporting rings and crying
“Faster, higher, stronger” – it is their noble art.
They stride the track and golden turf
Not for money or kingly prize
But in selfless sacrifice,
Each discovering their own true worth.

(Soutie and Boadicea, I will try for a linky thing but please help me if I fail.)

(Done ;))

In need of luck.

The first week of August has come to its conclusion. The flight has been booked for some time. A flat has been secured, courses secured, a small job secured, books ordered. In short,
Everything seemed to be fitting together nicely. The entire process of moving to Minnesota has gone so pleasantly, in fact, that I was able to worry about tea cups, coffee makers, and even arrange for such minor necessities of life such as tooth paste, razors, and a drying rack for dishes to be delivered in advance of my arrival in order to avoid any difficulties or stresses.

Things went so well, in fact, that I did not make sure to review all my paperwork. Oh, paperwork I’ve reviewed
in large quantities. Forms I’ve filled out aplenty. Long, dull, soul-sapping heaps of legal documents have been filled in and completed, turned in well before the due date. Then something came to my attention today…
My financial documents for the next year, while turned in early, missed one minor detail… Namely, I seem to have failed to tick a button. Now this does not seem to be a matter of grave concern. It’s several weeks yet before the term starts, the university has noted that I completed the forms and has not yet cancelled my course registration. But the deadline was last Friday and only this evening did I notice that something was amiss. I ticked the button and filled out a minor form, something which I will either fax or send via express mail in the morrow.

Well, how about that?

Today was the day I’d been waiting for, with equal measures of hope and dread.   Following the MRI scan and a few other tests, the chief neurosurgeon consultant was finally to deliver her verdict and my sentence.

As it happens, she was away on maternity leave, so I was seen by her deputy, an austere and awe-inspiring gentleman by the name of Brunovski (or something equally mid-European); he was as Aussie as they come, however.   We sparred a little and he told me that my grasp of medical terminology and anatomy were crap.   “Not so bad for a software engineer, though”.   He ignored this and brought up a succession of images from the MRI on his computer display.

“Look at that,” he cried.   “Can’t you see how absolutely normal it is?”

I couldn’t even see what it was, let alone judge its normality.

The bottom line is that I am no more likely than any other normal person to have another subdural haematoma – and no less likely either.   “Forget it, put it behind you and carry on like any other normal person.   Of course you can drive again.   No, no paperwork necessary.   Goodbye, good luck – and I’m quite sure I shan’t be seeing you again.”   He had the grace to grin broadly as he shook my hand and ushered me out of his office.

Boadicea and I were stunned.   It’s true that this is the outcome we had been hoping for, but it was so rapid, so clear-cut and so definite that we couldn’t take it on board immediately.   Five months to the day, exactly, and life has returned to normality.

Wow! 😀