Saturday 7th June 2014

Here I am at twenty past ten on a Saturday night watching a thunder cloud in Miami. England are playing their final match before the world cup finals begin, and there is a storm. Or maybe there is one, and the players have been taken off the pitch, and so on TV all the pundits are gathering talking about thunder and lightning.

Yes, the world cup begins on Thursday, and i saw the first car today bedecked with flags celebrating the fact England will lose to the first decent team they face, which could be next weekend when they play the team that knocked them out of the last Euros, Italy.

I am trying to be upbeat,but since that day nearly four years ago in South Africa when Germany, a young Germany at that, took apart England and showed them to the the below average team they were, nothing has really changed. England have some young players now, but will they be any better than the golden generation? I don't think so, but then who knows?

Today has been a quiet day, the weather forecast was poor, so we went to Tesco, then headed into town. And that was about it, rain was due to fall all day, but that cleared after lunch and just got humid.

At Tesco we picked up my currency for China, 1500 Yuan, which seems a whole lot of money, doubly as beer is 40 a pint. And a meal something like 80, but that was my mate Rob in a rural area, I think where we will be prices will be nice and high to rip of the businessman. Which is what I am now, as odd as that seems. Somehow I have gone fro apprentice giblet stuffer to international quality expert with the company credit card, but no desk to call his own.

We headed out for dinner at the local tandoori house, can't really beat curry on a Saturday night. A lot of people had the same idea as there was hardly a table free. But back home now, and on the tv, pundits are interviewing each other still talking about the weather.