Friday - Monday, June 11 - 14 2010 (diary)

My mind is being distracted from writing at present for a number of reasons : my health, my car, the FIFA World Cup.
Probably as a result of the sudden change in weather from humidity to the sudden arrival of the dry season I have picked up a cold. It has been working his way down from nose, via throat to chest, where it is lingering at present. I feel OK again, it is just this annoying chest cough.
My car too is still not restored to good health and has made several visits back and forth to the garage. Several parts have been replaced, but so far all of them the wrong ones. Most frustrating. It will have to go in tomorrow again.

The FIFA World Cup started with a great match between South Africa and Mexico which ended in a deserved 1-1 draw. South Korea had a very convincing win against Greece (2- 0) and Australia was predictably overwhelmed by Germany (4-0). Will the Socceroos make it to the last 16 ? It will be very difficult.

Tuesdayday, June 15 2010 (diary)

Not much happening at the present, I do much reading and watching World Cup football ("soccer" they call it in Australia) on TV. I seem to be getting over my cold.
I dropped my car off at the garage again in the afternoon and picked up their hire car, a small Proton. I hope they finally find the fault this time. I feel uneasy as long as this issue is unresolved, for the longer it takes the more expensive it becomes.

I made a few enquiries concerning my upcoming trip to Europe. I checked out the travel insurance, but the cost these days is so horrendous (AU$ 850, more than a one way airfare to Europe!!) that I won't bother. I will have only carry on luggage (I posted all my warm clothes in February by sea mail to my sister) and am happy to take the risk with sickness, missed flights, etc.
I will take a short contract with Vodafone however for wireless online access in Europe. Although their global roaming is not cheap it is very convenient and I will use it as a backup when needed. It gives me peace of mind to be sure to have instant access to my Jazclass customers and online students.

I had a good game of bridge again last night playing with Sybil, my Monday night bridge partner while Mairead is away in Ireland. Sybil is still a relative beginner, but she is intelligent, picks things up quickly and makes her decisions quickly (like I do), so she is a pleasure to play with. We came 3rd in a field of 16 pairs, not bad.