The good, the bad, and the rugby...

Yesterday I was so angry I could barely speak. I came home, cooked dinner, read the paper, and it wasn't until after 10pm that Bronwyn and I went for a walk and I was able to expand beyond, “I had a bad day” and “I don't want to talk about it.” I am moving beyond the white hot phase, but I wish to merely say that I'm OK, that I have had an experience at work that is galvanising me to action, and that I believe in the long run this will result in a positive outcome. For me, at least. More as and when appropriate.

On Saturday I had a great time cheering for England as they won the World Cup. (Bronwyn told me later she was secretly hoping Australia would win.) It is the first time in 37 years that England have been world champions in any sport, so as you can imagine people were pretty excited around here! I've in fact been saying that I thought England were going to be pretty difficult to beat ever since seeing their form when they beat New Zealand a couple of months ago. I'd just hoped it'd be us loosing to them in the final, not Australia! Well, in any case as part of the celebrations they've organised an international friendly match between the New Zealand Barbarians and the England XV to be held at Twickenham here in London on Saturday December 20th. The tickets went on sale today at 9am, via the TicketMaster web site and I guess via telephone or other means as well. I logged in at work at 9:22am after finishing a presentation I was giving from 8:30. After some difficulties due to overloading and many of the tickets having already sold, I managed to secure tickets for Bronwyn and I to go to the game, as well as one additional ticket for a friend. The tickets were pricey, though as a colleague pointed out less than they had paid to attend the World Cup quarter finals in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago... It seems when the All Blacks play in New Zealand it is virtually impossible to get tickets anyway, unless you're a member of a rugby club, so I've figured here's our opportunity to see some of the stars. We'll be rugging up warm for a night game in late December in London though! We're really looking forward to it.

It was Bronwyn's birthday on Sunday. We enjoyed spending the day together. After going to church in the morning we went into the city, where Bronwyn had decided she'd like to visit the Tate Modern gallery. There was a new installation there in the cavernous entranceway, where a giant illuminated sun towers over people below, while dry ice machines create clouds. You can lie on the floor and see yourself as a tiny speck reflected in the distant mirrors on the ceiling above. Quite fun. We enjoyed visiting other parts of the collection too. Returning home we went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant in Wimbledon village, followed by homemade cake back home supplied by and with housemates Nick and Hayley. A good day well enjoyed.