18 December 2006

Back from Nationals in Wellington, tired and late (sorry) - 18/12/07

LOCAL NEWS

Well, the story about the pool made the news on Monday and the papers Tuesday. Rory got his picture on page 2 and was even on the front page of the Herald web site for a bit. Competition included a ten year old boy who fought off a small shark whilst surfing in Raglan, without question as to why he wasn't at school.

Another budget surplus for the government, $800m above expectation. That's a lot to be out by, but at least in a good direction.

Some controversy arose about using Australian agencies to regulate the health supplement industry here. I am not sure it matters, it's all bollocks anyway, I think it would hit the news if any of these snake oils actually did what they promised.

Three children died when a cliff collapsed on them in the Manawatu.

A New Zealand security guard died in a blast in Iraq.

Eight New Zealand fire-fighters were hurt while helping in Australia, three are still in hospital.

WORLD NEWS

The passing of Pinochet shows that the world is not always a fair place. I think it is generally accepted that he was a complete scumbag and escaped the punishment he truly deserved.

REAL SPORT

You don't want the blow by blow version of all seven games. Suffice to say that they improved steadily over the weekend. In summary:

Pool A
v Hutt A 9-3 win
V Waikato 11-5 win
Qualified top of Pool A

Pool E
v QE II 17-5 win
v Maranui 9-8 win

Semi Final
v Northsport (who beat them when they were gassed last Sunday) 5-4 win

Final
v Maranui 6-2 win

They didn't lose a game, and were never behind in any game. Rory scored a few goals, first goal in the final. The girls lost in the final, so got silver. Waitakere got the best overall result.

SPORT

Sri Lanka are giving New Zealand a bit of a thumping in second test. Probably finish today.

Aussie look to be in control in Third Ashes test.

Man Utd lost to West Ham 0-1, you have got to be kidding me. Chelsea beat Everton 3-2. Liverpool beat Charlton 3-0. Arse drew with Portsmouth 2-2.

MY SAD LIFE

Things were completely shambolic on Monday with calls from loads of people and calls to everyone in the team to ensure they were okay and sought medical attention if in any doubt. Then after the article on Tuesday there were more calls.

Wednesday, Rory and I left for Wellington and the house became a considerably quieter place. I am not very sure about what happened in Auckland but Hannah danced in four shows.

I kept the teams cellphones in my room. Two had alarms set, one at 3:15 one at 5am. I got woken twice before I ditched them in the lounge. Little buggers. They got up to plenty of mischief, the dodgy swimsuit calendar was hilarious (the boys posed in their swimsuits). They got little sleep last night. We are pretty pleased to be home, and the boys are national champions, which is pretty cool.

Between the semi and the final Rory was in bad shape, having trouble breathing, so we went to Hutt hospital. Turned out he had taken too much Ventolin. He has been fine without it ever since. I thought it could be a relapse of the issues a week ago, pretty relieved when it wasn't.

Sorry it is a bit short, more next week.

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