Paul’s blog

Whilst travelling back from my parents to sunny High Wycombe, we passed the grisly site of many a dead animal on the roadside. All sorts of the animal species were lain in their final resting place beside the A40. Approaching Witney, Évi commented on this fact, and what a terrible site it was. At this very point I espied two pheasants flying from right to left across the path of our car. Seeing what was destined to happen I applied the brakes sharply to hopefully miss the bird in question. Alas it was too late, the kamikaze pheasant was on an intercept course. The next second the pheasant careered into our car bonnet, causing it to barrel roll onto the side of the road as the next statistic of the road of doom. Poor Évi did not know to laugh or cry.

I follow Forest Green Rovers, and even attend the odd game when I am home, however I must admire the dedication of Chris Barrett who travelled all the way from North Carolina to watch the Rovers in action after years of saving up the required funds for his journey.

However to his dismay the game had been cancelled!.

Barrett, a 36-year-old American school teacher, was putting on a brave face on Saturday, saying he had enjoyed the trip nonetheless, despite not getting to see Forest Green Rovers take to the pitch.

“They have given me signed shirts and a scarf and all sorts of memorabilia. They’ve put me up and me and the vice-chairman are best chums now,” Barrett said.

Source: www.iol.co.za

His love of Rovers grew from playing the computer game Championship Manager, where he chose Forest Green Rovers. Here he aimed to guide them from the lowly Conference to the high reaches of league football. If only Rovers could climb those lofty heights, instead of being embroiled in a regulation battle.

After picking Forest Green Rovers, Barrett soon developed a genuine attachment for the team.

“From there I started to look at the club website at the time when they were trying to stay up (in the same division) at the end of the 1999-2000 season. It was a really fun time and from there I was hooked.”

After gradually saving up, he booked the flight to England and made his way to ‘The Lawn’, the club’s home in Gloucestershire to watch them play regional rivals Hereford, only to find out just before leaving that the game had been called off.

He decided to go anyway, and was well looked after by the committee and fans alike. He now plans to make the journey again in a few years when he has saved up for the journey. A bit of advice though, it’s best to visit in the summer. The English weather can be notoriously unpredictable!

I woke up this morning to find a blanket of snow covering Walters Ash. This was not strange in itself as it has been snowing on and off for the last week or so, but the layer was deeper than usual. My first thought was that it would be a nightmare to get to work as I commute daily to Halton, which is a 20-minute drive. So I left the house earlier than usual to clear the snow off my car and in anticipation of a slow journey. Luckily the snow had not frozen to the car so it was easy to clear. I drove cautiously through the village on the snow-covered roads as bad as I had feared. I got to a notoriously bad bend to find a car had crashed. It must have been unable to steer and had careered into the opposite verge, I did not stop as the AA were there and in the process of rescuing the stranded vehicle. The strange thing happened a few yards past the accident – the snow disappeared! The snow had only landed on the hilltop, which I reside on, from there on the roads were clear. Bizarre.

Last night I played 5-a-side football. I had played the night previous as well; it is all part of my efforts to lose weight before jetting off the Goa in April. I played quite well, but the only problem I have is my lack of vision without the aid of my glasses. This problem was exacerbated last night as I forgot to take off my glasses an hour before playing so my eyes could adjust. It gets quite embarrassing passing to the opponents for the first 20 minutes or so.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to wish my old friend David Large a Happy Birthday. It has been too long since we last met, and I still got your Medina wine.

In Russia there is talk that the weather forecasters who wrongly predicted the recent bad weather will be fined. I first thought this was a bit harsh, after all to err is human as they say, but on reflection I am thinking that many people are fined for not doing their job properly.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov promised to punish the Moscow weather service for what he said were unreliable forecasts that frustrated the work of various municipal services and disrupted people’s plans. Speaking at the weekly meeting of the city government on Tuesday, the mayor said the Moscow Weather Bureau would receive no more funding until it signed an agreement with the city that introduced “financial responsibility,” allowing the city to impose penalties for inaccurate forecasts.

Talking about the weather, it always amazes me how the whole of the UK grinds to a halt when we have a little snow. Why are schools closed? In Hungary the only time they close is when the pupils and teachers cannot physically get to the school, i.e. 10 foot snow drifts!

Well I have finished my last night shift here! hooray
I picked up my clearance form today, however my flight back to the UK still hasn’t been confirmed!! I have to phone tomorrow to check.
Off to Port Louis tomorrow for a look around. There are only 3 houses there but it used to be the Falklands capital before it moved, lock, stock, and barrel, to Stanley. Its a history trip!