Good week so far

Alright the weather has been crapola, but there have been some good things so far this week.

1) Monday morning I flicked on the TV to discover we have ESPN America, one of the channels that Virgin is putting in our package now that Setanta has died, and that means WALL TO WALL BASEBALL (woo!). Pretty much any time of day there's baseball on. Which means I always have tube candy in the odd five minutes between stuff or at breakfast.

2) Then later on Monday I discovered the Tragically Hip are doing a small European tour in the autumn. Woo again! I'm seriously thinking about taking a week to follow them round the country. Anyone want to join me?

So all in all, not a bad week so far. I just hope this post hasn't jinxed it.

Bye bye Ryan

Ryan Giggs' retirement probably added about 5,000 or so to the gate, but there were some large echoey spaces in the Millennium Stadium for the 0-0 draw with the Czech Republic. Of course Rowena jinxed it by saying she hoped it wouldn't be a 0-0 draw. I'm not overly superstitious, but you know when someone says something like that, what the result is bound to be...

The game itself summed up Ryan's international career. There were moments of brilliance (Bellamy's free kick hit the bar) and frustration (as yet another short corner didn't work). Wales might have grabbed some glory, but they didn't, and so this match became another one of those 'could have been' moments that Wales excel in. And for Ryan, a standing ovation from both sets of fans probably won't help him shake the feeling that his international career was one long 'could have been'.

And I reckon Wembley one weekend and the Millennium Stadium the next is spoiling me in time for the New Meadow's official opening.

An hour in NYC and we're talking to the NYPD

Here's a rule I always stick to - never, ever say how well your journey is going until you get there.

Unfortunately we are travelling with someone who doesn't obey the rule. After a hassle free entry into the good old US of A, with a very friendly immigration officer who had a wonderfully authentic New York accent, and picking up a cab easily, we made very good time into Manhattan itself, heading towards our hotel.

"Blimey, we're making good time..." remarks Ab, at which point me and Cath both say "Nooooooo, aw, you've jinxed it now." Then at the next intersection a crazy ass cyclist decided the best thing to do with his time (and ours) was to cut up our cab and get himself knocked off. Four police officers, a fire truck with a complete crew, and an ambulance all turned up, even though the guy was OK (although he developed a suspicious limp and stopped demanding money from the cabbie when the cops turned up). "You guys alright to wait?" asks Mr New York Cop, then came the questions. "First time in New York?" "First time you've ever been in a cab that's run over a cyclist?" etc. etc.

We got on our way eventually, after sitting there like lemons for about 45 minutes. Ironically it meant our cab ride took as long as the guide book had warned us it could take. That's the thing about jinxes. There's a level of irony at work at a deeper level in the universe. As we sat there waiting for the cops to let us continue on our way Cath remarked: "Well, at least it isn't raining."

Guess what happened next.