Visit to New York completely consuming my thoughts. One of my friends on IM pointed out tonight that it was a little on the cold side. I pointed out that when the other half and I were out there last year, we had a picnic in Central Park during the first week of December, it was so mild. However, having checked the forecast, I can’t see us doing that this year!

Update on the Macy’s Parade, which I found on the NYCVisit website. At least I now know what I’m doing!

PS - Less than 80 hours and counting (and yes, I could get really, really boring about this over the next few days!).

OK, the news. I’ve been completely ignoring it for a couple of weeks for several reasons and I feel that I should now explain why.

1. Royal Crap - The whole Princess Di’s butler, male rape at the palace, tabloid hysteria has just left me cold. Why should this not only take over the front pages of the newspapers I don’t read, but also those that I do. More than this, the TV has also been full of it. Is anybody really that interested? We know that money talks in this country, and to be fair, no-one has much more money in the UK than old queenie. Therefore, if she wants to get away with something, she will and so will her family. “NEXT!”

2. Firefighters - Yes, everyone deserves a living wage and I don’t want to deny anyone the right to strike. However, three points.

In South Wales, £21k is more than a living wage. I know that this isn’t the case in London, and possibly some of the other major cities around the UK - that’s why wages should (and for London are) weighted in the public sector. Add to this the fact that, due to the shift system they work, a lot of firefighters also have ample time both to have a social/family life and take a second job or run a business (our local limo guy is a firefighter), then they do have options.

Second point, if you don’t enjoy your job, or you think the money is bad, then move on. Do something new, develop your talents elsewhere, in something that is more financially rewarding. Having worked in the public sector for most of my working life (and as an NHS Manager, let me be clear that no-one is going to take your side when you say your pay is bad), money is something I’ve chosen to forgo on the basis of doing some good.

Third (and finally) why, if the life is so bad, did the South Wales Fire Service have thousands of applicants for less than a hundred posts when they advertised recently? A lot of people are obviously quite happy earning £21k for a job that they think is rewarding. “NEXT!”

3. Iraq - I don’t even know where to begin. It’s so clear that this is Bush’s (I don’t want to tar the whole country with just his brush) way to ensure that when the history books are written he has a major chapter in them. It’s also having power over the oil reserves in the country.

Yes, Saddam is a lunatic, nobody can possibly deny that. I read the book written by the head of his nuclear research programme who has defected and the stories of rape and murder were truly horrific. However, this is something that Iraq and its people have to work out for themselves. What good is it really going to do for some imperial power to go in and “rescue” the people - it so worked in Vietnam, and more recently with the peace-keeping in Yugoslavia, didn’t it?

The leap from Bin Laden to Saddam as the major terrorist threat was completely glossed over by the media, whether in the UK or USA, and that I find alarming. There are so few voices that are actually being given a platform to speak out against the possibility of war.

I’m not saying that I know what the answer is. I’m out in New York at the end of this week, and unlike last year, do intend to visit Ground Zero. We were in the Battery Park area last December during our visit, having taken the Staten Island ferry. It was a strange feeling, knowing how close we were, and seeing the dump trucks rolling by. In saying that, I couldn’t go and gawp. Its just not me. No-one deserves to die in such a violent way. However, isn’t that what we’re ensuring happens to millions of innocent civilians if we go into Iraq?

And that concludes this edition of the news at midnight(ish). I’m sure there have been other stories, but who can tell. I’m sure there has been something with Posh and Becks, the birth of some IT girls baby and a soap star falling over drunk in the street, but, lets be fair who gives a shit?!

OK, so we only drew today, and are still second in the league to Arsenal, but its good to know that Houllier came out fighting. Was more concerned when the first line of this report said that he was also scratching his head at the loss. Which was it - scrapping or scratching? Make up your mind.

On a realted note, it turns out that Michael Owen and his other half are expecting their first child. Young lady is apparently four months pregnant, which means child is due in April, just when we need Michael to be on top form to ensure that we win the league. Not being selfish or anything, honest…

Had yet another lovely weekend - and one that was not (quite) so alcohol consumed as the last two. The other half’s birthday brought with it two excellent meals at local restaurants (one with family, the other with rather loud friends, but it is a bring your own wine place, so I’m sure they’re used to it).

Spent both Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the pub watching sport - rugby yesterday and the dire Manchester United game this afternoon. The Welsh rugby team beat Canada - but in the most unconvincing way. I sat there with some friends worrying already about our chances come the Six Nations. With England beating Australia and Scotland beating South Africa, things just aren’t looking good.

With all the lovely food over the last two days (the deep fried brie I had to start on Friday night standing out particularly)I just know that I’ve put on pounds and inches, which doesn’t go well for the shopping expedition the other side of the Atlantic (only four days to go, but am not saying too much - got booed at the table at one point last night, so feel I may have been over-doing it a bit).

Oh well, off to eat more! Did you notice how I managed to completely avoid the Liverpool result. Oh damn, did I just say that out loud?

Saw this just now. As the other half said “don’t try and tell me time travel doesn’t exist.”

Well it is his birthday!

As its the other halfs birthday tomorrow, I thought I would put a link up just for him. This site combines two of his favourite things - films and science.

Thanks for the link must go to Adrian Sevitz’s, whose site I found this on.

Another site that I’ve found over the last few months is by Troubled Diva. It gets a special mention, not only for the Shirt Project (how large is this guys wardrobe?), but also for his round up of the best number 1’s over the last fifty years.

The real problem with living in a rainy place, such as Wales, is you do tend to come down with colds, flus and infections on a regular basis. I’ve just got my first one of the season. Naturally, its the other half’s fault (he got it first, and sneezed near me several times), but has resulted in us both having to have time off work, which really is most unusual.

Time off work to me is accompanied with a sense of guilt. I’m being paid, and hence given that I am still breathing, should be in the office. Today, I just couldn’t do it. I did get out of bed, I did go and have a shower - but that’s as far as I could go. I ended up back in bed, ringing the office from under the duvet.

I would normally spend a few hours in bed, and then get up to watch crap day time TV, which ensures that I go back to work the next day, as I’m so completely bored. Today, I didn’t even surface until nearly 2pm. I must be ill. However, I had had my emails forwarded to my private address, so did spend some time clearing them, in the hope that I could actually get on with some real work when I get into the office tomorrow. I now have only four and a half more days in the office until my holiday - and about ten days work to do. Sickness could have chosen a better time!

Just a really quick post tonight. Most of the evening has been taken up planning our forthcoming trip to New York. Only nine days to go!

The other half and I were going to go down to Washington for the day. However, it works out at about £150 for about five hours actually in the capital. As we still have so much to see in New York - and with my shopping list getting ever longer - we decided to leave a visit to the capital for another time, when we can do it justice.

One thing that I do need to know is about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Does anyone know the start/finish times (even approximately)? We’re thinking of going to Cafe St Barts for Thanksgiving Lunch (they serve it in a heated tent - for which I’m reading marquee), but I don’t want to miss the balloons! Also, if anyone has any advice on good places to go, things to see, etc, please leave a note.

Anyway, off to bed with my guide books. For the guys I go down the pub with on a Thursday, all I can say is this - holiday fever has well and truly taken hold!

Well, what a weekend! Am just about to collapse into bed, but just thought I’d update you before I go.

Took Friday off work, and had a wonderful day at the spa, with two really good mates. I had a Thalgo Wrap, which seemed to involve smearing a green looking porridge over my “problems areas”, which proceeded to set to a most peculiar, rubbery consistency. One of my friends had the Indian Head Massage and Hydrotherapy Bath (the Head Massage being particularly good) and the other had a massage and facial. Got to have a good old bitch in the jacuzzi, a nice lunch and then a few drinks in the attached hotel bar, before we came home.

Friday evening was no more than a few drinks down the local with the same mates. My other half and all the boys headed into Cardiff for a stag night. Literally had to force other half to go - and was assured that he - and the others - would definitely be on the last train home. Was not surprised when he called me, sometime after midnight, from a club in Cardiff and then finally staggered in around 2.30am.

Saturday was the day of a friends party, and most of it was taken up in helping her prepare, and then getting myself ready. It was themed - a black and white night - but not to complicated. Stayed sober until well after 9pm, so that I could pick some friends up from the train station in Cardiff. Unfortunately, this was the weekend that Railtrack had decided to do some “essential maintenance” both at Cardiff, and in Barry, so other than asking them to get on a bus, felt I should go in and collect them. What staggers me is the planning, on behalf of Railtrack. Both this weekend and next are rugby international weekends in Cardiff - with the associated rise in people visiting the capital. They also did it for some of the football matches last season. Surely someone should be reading the up-coming events listing at the Millennium Stadium and not clashing the two things?

The party was very good - although, as always, we ended up sitting in the back garden around a roaring fire (under cover as, surprise, surprise, it was raining). Had my Stolli Bolli cocktail on arrival, and life felt much better. Conversation bounced from talk of gays in the military to Christmas planning - via the cost of going to lap-dancing clubs and the building work that the hosts had had done. There was also some discussion over the music, which seemed to result in hearing about twenty seconds of a track before it got pulled off the stereo. Did have a couple more of the cigars that had reared themselves the previous weekend - hence my lungs were not feeling too clever this morning.

Ended up chatting until well past 5am, and then having coffees with mates who were staying over, when we finally got home! Fell into bed sometime around 6.30am, which completely wrote today off. The other half ended up making a very large cooked breakfast sometime after 1pm - when some friends came down to share the gossip from the night before. Ended up reading newspapers and drinking lots of coffee all afternoon.

Next week looks horrific. Not only is work very busy, but have my fathers birthday, a friend visiting from Birmingham, a meal with family and the usual social things to fit in. It’s also the other half’s birthday next weekend - we’re thinking of organising to go out for a meal, to deflect from another purely drunken two days (one of the local restaurants has a bring your own bottle policy, which should also keep the cost down). As we’re off to New York in under two weeks now, the song “No Sleep ’til Brooklyn” keeps popping into my head - can’t think why!