The sun has mostly shone and apart from an idiot throwing a bottle onto the track at the 100m final and the odd train breakdown it’s been mostly incident free. I am talking about the London Olympics by the way just in case it wasn’t clear. I write as day 11 starts and Team GB have 18 gold medals, just one behind the 19 brought back from China.
In the 70s I lived right opposite the front gate of my middle school and I would be up early ready to be there at least an hour before lessons started to play football and swap Top Trumps. At secondary school we also played football at every opportunity.
Little did I realise that we were the lucky ones as Mrs Thatcher and successive Tory governments sold off 10,000 playing pitches between 1979 and 1997. Labour sold off another 100 whilst in power and the latest coalition have sold off 21 so far despite a cunningly worded pledge to seek to protect school playing fields.
Henceforth we can all play the same game and seek to pay our taxes on time, seek to observe the speed limit on the motorways, seek to not to have one for the road and seek to believe everything that governments everywhere tell us is true.
We moved house last week, swapping our 3 bed villa on a postage stamp plot for a 5 bedroom ‘Southfork’ type property in Vera Campo. Previously our dogs were going stir crazy between walks barking and growling at every passing person and wind-blown leaf. Now instead they just bark at every passing person and wind-blown leaf. Rabbits abound here and no walk finishes without a little bunny darting past with our ever hopeful dogs haplessly chasing it. No wonder they sleep so much now thank goodness.
The last time we moved it was also August and we vowed never again, then did it again anyway. No removal company for us as we are made of sterner stuff and our worldly goods and chattels have been ferried in the back of the cars bit by blooming bit. Finally on a baking hot and humid day at 2pm Fritz arrived in his big van to help me lug the sofas and other big items to their new home. 3 hours later with sweat dripping from parts I didn’t realise existed it was all over. Never again will we move house in August.
My dad kindly bought me a ticket for an Olympic event but I could not afford the travel and accommodation costs so he took a friend instead. I was gutted as the play off for 9th and 10th place in the mens hockey event could well be the highlight of the Olympiad. I managed to see the opening ceremony and the first few days as we were still at the old house but here the satellite telly system is broken so until it’s fixed later this week I have to work all day instead of watching the Olympics on the telly.
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