Category: sport

Day 185 – Sad start

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Not much to say today. The drive back from Agulhas was better than it could have been – we cut over the Highlands Pass instead of joining the hoards going over Houw Hoek and saved ourselves a couple of hours.

But United lost again. Three from three now and that same comment from those watching: “They didn’t deserve to lose”.

Sadly, while that may be true (I was driving home and didn’t watch so I can’t say today), you don’t get points for deserving to win. And when you’re playing well and not winning, you wonder what can be changed to make a difference.

I’m tired this evening – physically and mentally. Early one tonight, I think.

Day 174, part 2 – a good day

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Crossed a few jobs off the list today: painted a wall, got the DSTV fixed, organised the piano tuner to come and… well… can you guess?

I’m sure that there was something else as well. Oh yes, had a statement taken from me by the local police about a burglary down the road (I didn’t do it, but I did help catch the guys who did).

Nothing massive then, but sometimes it’s good to clear one’s mind of these menial tasks and so it’s free to concentrate on the important stuff, like writing blog posts and making plans for the weekend (more of that later).

And now I am watching a really brutal stage of the Tour de France. Some ridiculous gradients.

Not only is the scenery beautiful, it’s always nice to watch some cyclists suffering.

Day 171 – Tucked in

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I played some football this morning and then the plan was to do a hike on the Mountain, but something told us that it probably wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe it was the weather forecast promising “heavy showers”. [spoiler: it was the weather forecast promising “heavy showers”.]

Anyway, my leg hurts, so I’m quite happy to stay in this afternoon.

Long story short, it was a good decision and I’m currently enjoying a nice glass of port in front of a roaring fire while the rain and wind outside do their best to remind us that Spring isn’t quite here yet.

There is football on the TV (via the internet) and the only downside is the reappearance of Tim Sherwood on the pundits panel for the upcoming season.

It’s manageable with the mute button.

Day 170 – Of course

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Having quite happily functioned for several (or more) years – including faultlessly just yesterday evening – the DSTV satellite set-top box decided to tell us that it has a fatal, terminal error about 30 minutes ahead of the new Premiership season.

Of course it did.

Fortunately, modern technology being what it is, I can still watch all the football via the internet on the same subscription. And because we have a “Smart” TV, I can even install the DSTV app on the TV and watch on the big, curved screen in glorious HD.

So it could be worse, but still… timing. Wow.

The error is:

“a hardware error suggesting corrupt flash memory, likely caused by repeated power surges, dips and failures.”

Which is odd because we’ve only had loads of that sort of thing, thanks to Eskom’s loadshedding.

You can’t prove it though, and even if you could (which you can’t), it’s not like they’re going to pay for a replacement unit.

Wonderful.

Day 164 – Footy, an afternoon of footy, then more footy

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I played football this morning for the first time since… well… you know what.

Plenty of precautions. Sanitiser, temperature checks (thankfully very early on!) and track and trace all details taken and logged.

It was warm enough and I was not match-fit enough for it to be wholly comfortable, but wow – it felt good to play again. And while the heat of summer is on its way, the fitness will come back too.

Then an afternoon of football: Sheffield United women beating Millwall London City Lionesses 4-1 and Ajax Cape Town winning their first playoff league match 3-2 after a topsy-turvy second half.

And then this evening is Fantasy League Draft night. 12 players, 4 continents: the magic of camaraderie and the internet. And football.