Anni, have some flipping patience. I know you live only to read my wit and intellect as it is directed at these pages, but hold your horses if I miss a day once in a while. Sheesh. I went from work to the Beeb, to Norwich and back again. As such, I collapsed in bed when I got home at some silly time this morning and have only just struggled into the light now.

I’ve not heard “me” on radio yet, though the Beeb have very kindly said they’d send me a CD of the broadcast shortly. I didn’t get to do a proper “QA” interview, as the chap who presents the show in the afternoon wasn’t available to pre-record earlier in the day so it’s apparently a bit “soundbitey”.

Sharon listened to the broadcast and said I sounded “very professional”, although I confess that due to lack of sleep I may have blundered on a point or two. I’m flipping paranoid and will be until I hear what it was I said when I get the CD!

Must have been my day for it, because I also got collared by Sky TV outside the Norwich game for a quick interview. In which, again, I fear I got my words muddled at one point…

I have now slept. I hope this does not happen again.

Good luck to Norwich, by the way. Their fans were very welcoming, though I still find it weird to go to a ground and see one stand full of people clapping and singing (not including us), but the rest sat on their backsides doing nowt. We felt sorry for them – as we did with Man City last season, so gifted them the extra three points.

Honest.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to go and get ready for work. Is that OK, Anni?

Tomorrow at 2:35pm (subject to change, apparently, but between 2:00 and 4:00), I’ll be on BBC Radio Leeds doing a brief interview about Douglas Adams, and more specifically The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. The premier of the (awful-sounding) film is tomorrow and they needed a “local expert” to talk about it. Sadly, he was busy so they had to settle for me.

You can also listen live online, so you can catch it that way if you’re foreign (i.e. anywhere outside of West Yorkshire).

It’s been years since I was on the radio (for those who didn’t know, I used to be a rock/metal DJ and a ******* fine one at that) so I’ll probably waffle a load of crap. Hang on. That’s the whole point… If you’re really nice, I’ll encode the tape they’ve said I can have and pop it up here somewhere for download.

It’s a pre-record rather than a live broadcast. By 2:00, I’ll be on the way to Norwich so we had to shift it.

Hey, can you swear on the BBC?

This means you, Sharon. It’s about blood and stuff and I know as of today you’ll have had enough of that! *HUG*

OK. Stop reading. Now.

*sigh*. Fine. On your own head be it.

First of all, to explain to our American readers – we donate blood over here. Nobody buys it off us. The National Blood Service is a charity and we can donate every 16 weeks (pint at a time) or 4 times a year for platelet donation. The second involves sitting in a whizzy chair where they suck the blood out, shove it through a machine that pinches the platelets and then squirts it back into you again.

I just do the normal thing. I’ve missed a few over the years – I had to skip a year each time I went to Nigeria because of the malaria risk and so on. But today was my 25th donation, for which I get a nice certificate and a silver brooch in a nice box. Oh, and a cup of juice and some biscuits. They even have crisps and sometimes cake at this one as well.

All went fine. To start with. You get the questionnaire, they triple check your ID (I’ve yet to figure out why – I mean who’d pretend to be someone else just to give blood?), stick a pin in your finger to check the blood for iron content then start to suck it out of your arm with a big needle.

Now, it doesn’t hurt, it’s not uncomfortable and the staff are fantastic. Five minutes to fill the bag and a couple of test tubes and you lie back for 3 minutes putting pressure on the hole where the needle used to be. Then they pop a plaster on, sit you down and feed you the aforementioned nice beverages and biscuits.

This is where it went a bit wrong. Normal procedure dictates that you finish the drink, wave goodbye and go on your merry way. What you’re not meant to do is to continue bleeding from the little hole in your arm and gush it all over the table, floor, chair and your own clothing.

Silly me.

So, a 20 minute trip ended up taking over an hour because I kind of went all light-headed and had to lie down for ages afterwards before they’d let me leave. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to dig out the Vanish and pop my jeans in the wash before the blood chemically bonds to the fibres.

Well, at least I was expecting it. And I’ve had a good weekend, courtesy of Anni and Andy – ta, folks! I can just about remember our trip to Metro – cracking club and recommended for anyone heading to Cardiff who wants an “alternative” night out instead of the trendy clubs. Open till 3am, cheap drinks till midnight, and free toast at 1am!

The match was – surprisingly, given the result – rather enjoyable. Best atmosphere at a game for ages. Well, in our half of the stadium anyway. To quote one of our chants: “Your support, your support, your support is ******* ****”. The usual bunch of pathetic, crap, uncommited, glory-seeking tossers who only bother to make a noise when they score. Complete shower. Fans like that don’t deserve the success their team gives them.

It was also a great chance for Nicky Butt to play with his old team-mates again. A shame someone forgot to tell him he’s no longer on their ******* side, the stupid ****. Two of their goals were directly attributable to him just handing the ball off, he continually ignored Taylor on the left wing and he went straight down the tunnel at the end, unlike the rest of the team who had the decency to applaud the supporters.

So, another London derby for the final. I’ll personally be crossing my fingers for the Arsenal mob – their supporters were great on the Saturday. They actually deserve something this season.

Right – apparently I’m off for dinner now. Catch you when I get back home!

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Liberal Democrat

Your actual outcome:

Labour -28
Conservative -15
	Liberal Democrat 36
	UK Independence Party 21
	Green 53

You should vote: Green

The Green Party, which is of course strong on environmental issues, takes a strong position on welfare issues, but was firmly against the war in Iraq. Other key concerns are cannabis, where the party takes a liberal line, and foxhunting, which unsurprisingly the Greens are firmly against.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

I’m getting all ready to head to Cardiff and also plodding through maths work, so this is the lot for today. Actually, I think I’m the first person I know of who’s had anything other than “LibDem” as the result on this test. Give it a go – only 23 questions.