  I've been working my fat ass off on the Seminars thingy and its dragging on due to the mathematical nature of the copy. I'm sure it would be more interesting if I understood what it all meant, but its bad enough having to lay insurance copy on page without having to read it. There's enough Greek symbols in there to keep even the most classical scholar happy but sorry it ain't for me Plato darling! Anyway yah boo to that! Working for myself eases the pain of having to do the odd (dreadfully) boring job, and I do get the sunshine streaming in through the open window as I work, and despite the fact that there is a near-constant drone of traffic, I get to watch a lot of local wildlife – blackbirds, robins, thrushes, pigeons (but clean ones) and that nice bird from the first floor. Most nights the foxes will come by searching the undergrowth in front of the block for whatever may be hiding there or the odd piece of discarded Kentucky fried chicken. There's tons of foxes around here, though one less as a car hit and killed one about a month ago, pity. I know people give out about them but I love them, as it reminds me of my rural origins, without the lack of electricity and the freezing of pipes in winter.
We've even got a fox that sunbathes on the roof of platform 1 in Denmark Hill station, and you can watch him there from the main part of the station before you get your train. He's a rather scrawny little fellow and looks like a fairly young adult, so he's probably fighting for some territory, hence why he's settled on the station itself. Fairly clever if you ask me, as long as some idiot doesn't fancy a target for his airifle. Anyway, I managed a good deal of work today though I stayed in bed until 9.30 as I hadn't been sleeping well recently. As stated earlier the project is dragging on as I get to grips with the intricacies of the insurance world, but the feedback from the States has been excellent, and I'm well on target to be completed before schedule. So, feeling rather enthusiastic about things but also finding myself in the early throws of cabin fever I went running again tonight. My last time had been 35 minutes constant running, but tonight I managed 1 hour 2 minutes!!!! My theory of not having a pint at lunchtime paid dividends, though I think we all knew it would. Having only before managed to get to the park then go round it once, this time I completed 2.5 circuits, which is a hell of a jump. I'll go again on Friday, but it'll surely be difficult to go any longer. Still, its a good feeling knowing I can do it, and the rate of improvement is just the thing to drive me towards that marathon next year, that I might run, I'd like to run, I intend on running, but I ain't promising anything.
Well, chr*st I rant about nothing. Now for my daily Euro 2004 watch – did you see that the hosts Portugal finally won a game having been handed the advantage of an extra man after the ref rather kindly adjudged the Russian keeper to have handled the ball outside the box? Despite this helping hand the Portuguese huffed and puffed until finally sealing the victory they desperately needed by scoring a second goal with only couple of minutes to go. Go on yah Portugal – the game is better with you involved, and where else can we see the Camel cigarettes Camel (whats his name? ) in the guise of Luis Figo? He just looks so incredibly miserable its worth having him in there just to cheer me up, and if anything he's a great incentive to give up smoking, or at least to smile a little.
Greece and Spain had earlier drawn 1-1, though Spain really should have won on the superior performance they gave. Morientes grabbed a beauty after clever linkup play with Raul before the Greeks battled away and grabbed a cracking goal on the break with some tanned geezer called Charisteas planting one in the old onion bag.
I would have thought the success of the Greeks is causing an extra nightmare for the authorities back home as its robbing the workforce of tens of thousands who could otherwise be sent to lend a hand finishing all those stadiums and other assorted Olympic infrastructure which remains seriously behind schedule. Still, its a commendable effort and they remain favourites to finish top of the group while Spain and Portugal must fight it out to qualify for the second round. All this and we still have Engerland to play tomorrow! Come on my adopted country!! I suggest a worldwide boycott of Nestle if the Swiss get a result.
Dammit we're already boycotting them. Oh well. So good luck to Beckham and the boys, there's an Irish man in South London who's cheering for you. So, with that I'm off to do some work and try and get some sleep as my flippin knees are killing me. I've got an old skiing injury that might ache a bit now that I'm getting fit (or at least making an effort). But thats another story, and a good one, at least better than the crap I've just been waffling about. But then again thats what blogs are about, right? You get to write whatever you want, for no reason except that it makes you happy. I like that. G'd night. 
