Friday 27th July 2012

I remember the moment when London was awarded the games; I was driving down the A1 on the way home from a holiday in Scotland with my Mother, she had been snoozing off for a couple of days but had rejoined the world of the conscious for the announcement. When the announcement came, there was a pause it sunk in that London and not Paris had won it. Next day four deluded young men from Northern England travelled to London and committed suicide bombings on various parts of London’s transport system, and the feel-good factor from the day before melted away.



Since then, work got on steadily and all the venues and transport infrastructure got planned and built. Without fuss or accidents or getting huge headlines in the red tops; people just got the job done. It was such a shock when the breakdown in the employment of security staff went so awry. That it was nothing to do with the government, LOCOG or any official organisation. It was G4S, a sub-contractor that screwed up. I suppose I could mention the ticketing that wasn’t always popular, but then no matter how the tickets had been sold there would have been someone very unhappy.



Anyway, tonight at 21:00 hrs, the whole things begins with the opening ceremony. Only it has already begun. The football began on Wednesday with the British women’s team playing their first game in Cardiff, and the British men played last night in Manchester (it rained). And today the archery has begun too with two world records broken before it was time for elevenses. There will be regular breaks through the whole fortnight for elevenses, tiffin, high tea, G&T and a Horlicks nightcap. As its being held in Britain we may as well do things just how we want.

Anyway, lets hope all goes well and it is a memorable games for all the right reasons, that transport does not grind to a halt, the venues all look great and we see lots of sporting records and derring do.



Away from Stratford (an other places), life continues on. This week the season has been mainly summer, with day after day of unbroken sunshine. This we have had to observe through the glass windows of our office, and now that the weekend has begun the clouds and heavy rain have returned. But we may be lucky tomorrow, sunny intervals and not too hot and humid.

After working out and a dinner of baked beans and cheese on toast, I went out for a walk towards Westcliffe, just to take advantage of the glorious light. It was still humid, and by the time I reached the chapel and then walked back, I was hot and sweaty, and considered another shower to cool off. Instead it was a cold bottle of Wobbly and a sit on the patio watching the birds fly to their trees to roost.



One thing I did not mention last time was the shallow end in the living room. On Saturday, for some reason I was barefoot walking through the house instead of wearing slippers and I could feel dampness. And when sitting at the table it was downright wet underfoot. Seems that the old radiator had finally let itself go and was emptying itself on the floor. We tried to put bowls under it to catch the water. The plumber came round on Wednesday and isolated the rad, he disconnected it and we took it outside, and now we are waiting for the carpet and underlay to dry out. The cats now see the bare floorboards as a constant source of interest, especially when they drop a mouse down and watch it try to burrow under the rolled carpet.

So, the weekend is here, time to chill and relax, and head to Tesco for some hunter-gathering action……