(no subject)

The doctor said my chest was clear now, and that it had just been a cold-type virus that passes with time. I explained I'd thought it unusual for a cold to last a fortnight, and he said while it is rare it's not unknown. For next time he recommended bedrest, and squeezing half a lemon into a mug then dropping the lemon husk in, adding a heaped dessertspoon of honey, topping up with hot water and adding some brandy. "It won't make you get better quicker, but it'll make you more comfortable."

(no subject)

Went over to Patrick's for Norway v Oranje. At least that was the plan. Gillian, not a football fan, legged it to bingo almost as soon as I arrived, absolutely forbidding anyone to say 'good luck' or any variations on that theme. Patrick put the beers I'd brought in the fridge, handed me a can from his own supply and turned on the TV - to be faced with a blank screen.

Disaster! His pan-European satellite was on the blink. For an hour and a half he tried various things with the TV controls as well as on the internet. After 45 minutes he'd cracked the problem - his DNS account had expired. And so he tried renewing his account and e-mailing his friend Marcel who knows about these things, while we kept in touch with the football via the latest scores page on Dutch MSN. Very intermittently, in between Patrick's efforts at fixing the problem, we talked, and had his very tasty home-made onion soup with cheese topping followed by (Lidl) Tiramisu.

Finally Patrick got the satellite to work in time for us to see the last nine minutes of the game. But at least we won 1-0, and we saw the goal during the post-match discussion.