International Affairs

 

Not far from my home... trees have been cleared so I took the picture on my epic bike ride on Saturday and not a flag anywhere to be seen.

Obviously this week has been all about The World Cup. One cannot help but get emotional about how one's national team are fairing. This is only natural. England didn't disappointment with the rollercoaster ride of emotion they created in their game against Croatia. Meanwhile, Scotland drank Boston dry - that is an achievement in itself. A musician from Boston, who was interviewed on Radio 4, seemed surprised that all Scots shout out, "I would walk 500 miles..." and jump around while doing so. They certainly don't need to sing it! I think his reaction shows a very limited cultural understanding. What planet has that Bostonian been living on? 

I am not sure about how the next round will play out but Iran looks set to go through. Wouldn't it be funny if they met USA in a future round? We could solve the Middle East crisis with a football match and then no one would get killed. Trumps headache solved! What an idea!

On the home front, Newport Pagnell has been hosting a Football Jamboree this weekend. Parking is at a premium in the entire surrounding area to the sports ground. Often, while we were playing tennis, there were announcements about cars being badly parked. People were shamed for their stupidity and laziness over a powerful tannoy, Yay! There were hundreds of kids playing matches and with the glorious sunshine, it looked like an amazing event. The edges of the pitches were lined with gazebos to keep the spectators cool - they provided a team HQ. There did seem to be an inordinate number of "pink" teams playing and according to an article I read earlier in the week, hot pink is THE colour for a World Cup so the children's team were on trend. Apparently it is only in recent history that pink was for girls. Apparently blue was thought to be a girls colour because of its association with the Virgin Mary. Wow! We live and learn.

As for my brush with international affairs... I had a potentially awkward incident in a carpark in Stony. I wanted to reverse out of a space but a car drew up just past my rear onside bumper and stopped in the middle of the carpark. The memory of the previous bump in a carpark shot into my mind. I jumped out of the car and told the man in the waiting car that I was going to reverse and he must not move backwards while I leave my spot. Then I said I had had an accident in another car park. I jumped back in my car and prepared to reverse. The man came to my passenger window and said he did not hit me. I realised he did not understand anything - he was foreign. He seemed quite upset... Whoops. 

I also had a nice conversation with a Bangladeshi man who owned the garage where I had my front tyres replaced. He asked me what I thought about my Toyota CHR. I told him I had chosen it for its reliability. He told me that cars were more reliable men these days... interesting thought, I'll keep that in mind. 

So, as for Father's Day, Richard made a roast to die for - or to kill me off - it was wonderful. Mattaya and Ezra-Mae sat and ate in a most stately manner! Lovely meal - but something I really should go carefully with as I now have the date for my op. It will be on 16th September. from now on it is "get fit" time.