The Countdown - 5

Quite how days off pass so quickly I'll never know. Spent bits of it reading the book. Decided to skip the chapter on rape. I just could not deal with it. Am on to the section on children.

I'm trying to gain as much from this as possible. Perhaps I should have just gone straight to this chapter rather than wade through the rest of the stuff. I have not really remembered all that much. But it is a good read.

Maybe I've forgotten how to assimilate information.

Nothing wrong with my powers of awareness. I was awake at 5.15am and was listening to the World Service and there was a feature about a conference in Wales about how sport can give a region identity within a larger whole.

There was someone from the Kurdistan High Commission and the Kurdistan sports minister talking.

My head clicked and thought feature for the weekend. I am on to the PR people and the participants should be mine. There's someone from Kosovan basketball federation at this beano too.

Could make for an interesting feature.

At moments like this being up at 5.30 in the morning has its benefits. It's just that by 9.30 at night it's been a long day.

Having come through my tennis lesson unscathed I will wait and see how the calf reacts before starting to psyche myself up for Saturday's run out with the football team.

Am already getting into the mood for Saturday by watching Roma v Bordeaux on TF1. It's nil nil at half-time. And all the adverts are for after-shaves and razors.

Anyway Bordeaux need to win to advance. Roma merely have to draw. Should be a good second half but my eyelids are heavy.