Sporting heroics in Summer, 2008

I have just watched Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, receiving the handover of the Olympic Flag in Beijing. I like Boris Johnson as he has that certain air of scruffiness about him, and his unkempt appearance and slight eccentricity blends well with his public schoolboy accent and haystack hair. He is likeable, terribly English and proud to be so and I think he will prove to be a brilliant Mayor. After Spain´s fabulous defeat of Germany in the European Football Championships, followed up by Rafael Nadal´s historic Wimbledon win against Roger Federer and Team GB´s outstanding performance at the Olympics, this summer has been a dream for sports fans. So here´s looking forward to 2012 and I am confident Britain will live up to all Olympic expectations. Oh and the 2010 World Cup Finals are nicely wedged in the middle in South Africa, which England will definitely win under the excellent guidance of Fabio Capello.

Tell me why I don´t like Mondays

Ok well the first thing to say is big congratulations to the Spanish footie team who won Euro 2008 last night! The best team won for sure and it should have been 3 or 4-0, against an inept German team. Now I can understand the car horns blowing and the parties continuing throughout the night - particularly in my complex where there are lots of Spanish families, and all the celebrations seemed to be good natured - which might not have been the case if thousands of marauding England fans had been rampaging through the streets. So, bleary-eyed I stumbled into the shower this morning to prepare for another Monday morning at the office, and although I would rather have stayed in bed, I got up early to go to the bank before work. I arrived promptly at 8.30am and joined a queue of three other people waiting for the doors to open. We were greeted (for want of a better word) by a grim looking assistant who managed to shake his head and mutter ´dios mio´ before slumping back into his chair behind the counter. The lady in front of me was trying to pay some sort of domestic bill and the guy behind the counter could not manage to enter the details. The lady insisted she had paid the same company every month for the past 18 months from the same bank and couldn´t see the problem. Eventually he came out with the immortal words ´computer says no´ much to the delight of the Brit bankers and fans of Little Britain. After another 5 minutes the manager sorted the problem and the lady left - not with any apology obviously but at least she managed to pay her bill. I then went over to the local ferreterria to have a key cut. The lad behind the counter swore audibly and continued to complain loudly about the fact he had had no breakfast and why does every ********er want their keys cut on a Monday at 10.am? I then went to a large DIY store to ask if they had any clothes rails. ´No sé´ replied the assistant at the information desk. ´Who might know then´ I asked. ´Everyone´s having breakfast´ she replied with a shrug of the shoulders. ´Oh Good´ I thought - ´I hope she´s taken the miserable bugger from the ferreteria with her.´
A friend of mine never ever calls companies or business associates on a Monday unless absolutely necessary - and I can see her point. Leave everyone to get back into the working week at their own pace - even if their football team did win Euro 2008 the night before.