Yesterday, I had on of those moments when I wonder if I really am a mature grown up. For many years now I have been heading off to work every morning in the traditional attire of the office worker, suit, shirt and tie. So why was it, that I should be standing in front of a mirror for about 10 minutes, being completely unable to put my tie on. Of course I could put it on, but it would either end up somewhere by knees, or a slight adjustment in the starting position would result in a complete reversal of roles, with the wider front portion of the only just making it past the point of my shirt collars! Suddenly all those years of successful tie management counted for nothing. Pretty soon I could not even remember the basic manoeuvres required to complete any sort of knot let alone being able to venture into the world of the Windsor knot, the Half Windsor or the more straightforward Four In Hand. Ah, you ask yourself why does this man know the different names for the way in which his tie is presented to the world. Well, I have to confess that it’s not the 1st time that this malaise has affected me. So imagine my delight a few years ago, when I found a series of detailed, step-by-step illustrations and descriptions for the successful resolutions of tie related problems. Unfortunately, this appeared to complicate matters further. I spent so much time worrying about which way I was bringing the long end over the short end that I would inevitable end up with something that looked liked two pieces of badly knotted spaghetti around my neck. It really is one of those things that is best done on instinct at breakneck (not literally!) speed. As soon as I pause to consider exactly what I am doing, all is lost!

I’ve been really enjoying a book called Under The Frog by Tibor Fischer recently (thanks to Bill for another excellent recommendation). It has the unlikely premise of following the progress of a couple Hungarian basketball players from the end of the Second World War up to the revolution in 1956. It’s full of crazy situations as they try to pick their way through the chaos of a post war eastern block county, doing as little as they can.

BCFC managed to pick up another victory at the weekend. The 1-0 win over Peterborough and the failure of the teams around us to win, means that we are once again only 3 points off one of the automatic promotion places. In truth it was a desperately poor game, but the win does keep us on track.