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Sep. 8th, 2007 08:45 pmTo the sorting office this morning to collect my half pound of Apple Crumble Fudge from A Quarter Of. I was fifth in the queue when I arrived and had a wait of over ten minutes before my turn came, as the postman on duty totally failed to find the parcel belonging to the bloke who was at the front when I arrived, despite going and looking for it several times and phoning the postman who tried to deliver it. Eventually the postman had to take the guy's phone number and promise to chase his parcel up with regional office on Monday and phone him if he heard anything. To his credit, the bloke was clearly feeling bad about holding the rest of us up.
Second in the queue was a very attractive lady, who was quite friendly, but though I managed to give her just one or two smiles and one brief bit of the old chat, I was labouring under the handicap of being three back from her, and she was getting quite a rapport going with the man at the front with the elusive parcel. In any case a glance at the letter she was carrying for ID revealed her to be a Mrs.
Paul drove round at lunch time for the trip to Quins RL v Salford. We had a smooth drive up, during which we discussed football and rugby league at length, until Paul made the mistake of following the sign for Twickenham instead of sticking to the directions he'd printed from online. As we proceeded through Twickenham town centre, our conviction that we'd taken a wrong turning increased, and was confirmed by a glance at the directions. So it was back to the roundabout a couple of miles back, to take the right turning this time.
We parked in a college car park designated for 'Rugby Parking' at £5 and walked across the college sports field to The Stoop. As we'd arrived at the turnstiles for the Lexus Stand, which are on the opposite side of the ground from the East Stand bar where most of the fans drink, we ended up in the Members' Bar instead and missed meeting![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
whalefish. After a quick drink we headed out into the ground where I queued for a burger and chips, while Paul, who wasn't hungry, made for the Harlequins Shop and came out proudly carrying a bag containing a Wales sweatshirt.
The game was all Paul could have wished for for his first live match. Exciting end-to-end stuff, Quins went behind three times thanks to suicide passes leading to tries but always equalised not long after, then a late try by Ricky Sherriffe gave Quins the win in their last home game of the season. All us home fans made sure to give Paul Sykes a tremendous reception, as it was the last time anyone not making the trip to Perpignan next week would see him play for us. Paul, used to watching live Premiership football at Fratton Park, was very struck by how different the atmosphere is at a RL match - you can have a drink while you watch the game, and bring big containers of your own food, and it's all very genteel (the announcer asked a few fans who booed a Salford try not to make offensive sounds) and family-friendly though the fans still create plenty of atmosphere. I think he rather liked the 'Harlequin Hearts' cheerleaders :) When Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook's name was announced, Paul remarked on its length, then, when the players came out, on how it takes up two lines on the back of his shirt. When Louie scored a try Paul was amused by the chant of 'He's got the longest name in Super League'.
On the drive back we agreed we'd team up again to go to a game in late June next year, after we're both home from our holidays. Paul tuned in to Radio 5 hoping to hear the England football match - and got the rugby union. Surfing stations, he didn't find one carrying the football until BBC London Live. So we listened on there until we lost the signal, which wasn't until after Petersfield; by then 5 Live were broadcasting the footie.
Home comfortably in time for X Factor 4. I'd like to salute 70-year-old East European Maria. Although she had no singing voice, she was a real character and put a big smile on my face. Her self-penned song was called 'Wild And Sexy' and I have to say : Maria, you are one sexy lady.
Sad news : ITV4 have aborted their run of Spitting Image repeats after just two episodes (the very first and the very last, which makes me wonder if those two were all they ever intended to show). Boo.
Second in the queue was a very attractive lady, who was quite friendly, but though I managed to give her just one or two smiles and one brief bit of the old chat, I was labouring under the handicap of being three back from her, and she was getting quite a rapport going with the man at the front with the elusive parcel. In any case a glance at the letter she was carrying for ID revealed her to be a Mrs.
Paul drove round at lunch time for the trip to Quins RL v Salford. We had a smooth drive up, during which we discussed football and rugby league at length, until Paul made the mistake of following the sign for Twickenham instead of sticking to the directions he'd printed from online. As we proceeded through Twickenham town centre, our conviction that we'd taken a wrong turning increased, and was confirmed by a glance at the directions. So it was back to the roundabout a couple of miles back, to take the right turning this time.
We parked in a college car park designated for 'Rugby Parking' at £5 and walked across the college sports field to The Stoop. As we'd arrived at the turnstiles for the Lexus Stand, which are on the opposite side of the ground from the East Stand bar where most of the fans drink, we ended up in the Members' Bar instead and missed meeting
whalefish. After a quick drink we headed out into the ground where I queued for a burger and chips, while Paul, who wasn't hungry, made for the Harlequins Shop and came out proudly carrying a bag containing a Wales sweatshirt.The game was all Paul could have wished for for his first live match. Exciting end-to-end stuff, Quins went behind three times thanks to suicide passes leading to tries but always equalised not long after, then a late try by Ricky Sherriffe gave Quins the win in their last home game of the season. All us home fans made sure to give Paul Sykes a tremendous reception, as it was the last time anyone not making the trip to Perpignan next week would see him play for us. Paul, used to watching live Premiership football at Fratton Park, was very struck by how different the atmosphere is at a RL match - you can have a drink while you watch the game, and bring big containers of your own food, and it's all very genteel (the announcer asked a few fans who booed a Salford try not to make offensive sounds) and family-friendly though the fans still create plenty of atmosphere. I think he rather liked the 'Harlequin Hearts' cheerleaders :) When Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook's name was announced, Paul remarked on its length, then, when the players came out, on how it takes up two lines on the back of his shirt. When Louie scored a try Paul was amused by the chant of 'He's got the longest name in Super League'.
On the drive back we agreed we'd team up again to go to a game in late June next year, after we're both home from our holidays. Paul tuned in to Radio 5 hoping to hear the England football match - and got the rugby union. Surfing stations, he didn't find one carrying the football until BBC London Live. So we listened on there until we lost the signal, which wasn't until after Petersfield; by then 5 Live were broadcasting the footie.
Home comfortably in time for X Factor 4. I'd like to salute 70-year-old East European Maria. Although she had no singing voice, she was a real character and put a big smile on my face. Her self-penned song was called 'Wild And Sexy' and I have to say : Maria, you are one sexy lady.
Sad news : ITV4 have aborted their run of Spitting Image repeats after just two episodes (the very first and the very last, which makes me wonder if those two were all they ever intended to show). Boo.
