A lovely day today, warm and sunny – even Barton Hill managed to look nice. The golf course would have looked nicer, of course, but the green fees have to be paid somehow, so I was at work. Stephen and I actually had a very nice game last night in lovely conditions. It was the season’s first match in the club knock-outs, and, sure enough, we were knocked out, as usual. On this occasion it was by Andrew and Stewart, who played exceptionally well to demolish us, 5 and 3 (which means they were 5 holes up with 3 to play). So, several years into my golfing career, I have yet to win a competitive knock-out match. Just as well I’m not thinking of turning pro just yet, or else the family may go hungry.

And talking of the family’s hunger… having held out for many years, I’m under increasing pressure to buy a microwave cooker. I regard microwaves as the work of the devil, but people seem to think they are just marvellous – “Dad, just think, we’d be able to have microwave chips, and defrost things, like milk“. Well excuse me, but, quite apart from never feeling the need to freeze milk, let alone defrost it, my experience of things “cooked” in a microwave is that they are always disappointing and often inedible. So, over my dead body will we have a microwave. Trouble is, I think the boys would rather have a microwave than a father, so patricide could be in the offing. If I’m found floating face down in the harbour, this blog should be used in evidence against them.

On a lighter note, we have an all-”English” Champions’ League final, with Chelsea facing Man United in Moscow in a few weeks. I never thought I’d say so, but I think I want United to win, Chelsea having replaced them as the team I want most to see fail. Apparently all 45,000 English supporters going to the final will have to get Russian visas – a nice little earner for the Russians, and bound to be a bureaucratic nightmare for supporters of United and Chelsea (apart, of course, from Roman Abramovich). May I suggest that, in future, any country in “Europe” that demands money from other Europeans to cross its border should not be allowed to host such a high profile sporting event? That said, if it was Bristol City in the final instead of Chelsea, I’d be there like a shot, and I’d be tempted to use the service promoted in an email I received today, offering a variety of charter flights to Moscow for the occasion – one of them, a 10-seater “Challenger 604″ jet, would cost only £70,000 for the day. “Note that the charge is for the whole plane, not per seat, but may be subject to surcharges for de-icing“, says the small print. Take your own de-icing spray, only £1.99 at Halfords.

Anyway, back in the world of real football, City have the final game of the season on Sunday, against Preston North End. There’s still lots to play for in our league, with 5 clubs at the bottom trying to avoid relegation, and many permutations at the top as well, whereas for us it’s simply a case of whether we’ll finish 4th, 5th or 6th, which will in turn determine when we play our playoff games, and against whom. I’ve already bought our playoff tickets, and it’s very odd to spend £28 on a ticket which says “Opponents – tbc, Date – tbc, Time – tbc”.