I lost my car keys, my equilibrium and my pride .... the World Cup is HERE!

I don't even have a car ... or equilibrium or money or whatever ... but the World Cup is HERE!

At least I found my pride again. It was stuck under my shoe and smelled funny ... but hey... I found it there.

The title comes from the Tom Waits song "The one that got away'. I did indeed lose my keys yesterday and that put my equilibrium at stake because I had to sleep at Jan's house ... after only realising that I lost my keys at 5am ... Not a propitious start or end to any day.

So having slept in the foreign country called Parkwood ... Jan brings me back to Melville. We discuss flags with his daughter Julia who says that she is trying to convince him to get one and he says patriotism is a good thing for primitive people.

I agree with I think, Disraeli' .... How does one spell that!!!!? How I wish now I said: "I agree I think with Gladstone ... who said: (In politics) patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

But let us move on. I am proud of Joburg and our embracing of the event. We are flagging up big time... We are here ... and when we drive into Melville there are flags everywhere. And everybody is happy.

But flags are not all ... the place is teeming with foreigners ... and they want to talk ... so instead of working I'm talking .... and loving it. THE WORLD CUP is here... but while I'm talking to foreigners I am also drinking and they are all having a whale of a time and I'm AT F"""kin last replacing Windows Vista ("£$%^&********) with Windows 7 and it seems to be a bit better.

One lives in hope.

I speak to two foreigners at Nuno's ... OK they are only from Randburg, but hey.... they are foreign to me. I ask them if their cars (you cannot live in Randburg without at least two cars) had flags on and they assure me that they WILL FLAG UP before the end of the week.

They are Dave and Cathy .... just for the record. Dave is "in the import/export@ business and Cathy ... is "just an accountant" .... I roll my eyes.

But the World Cup is here and Melville is buzzing and I love it.

Meanwhile Amanda gave me a beautiful painting.

A reversible self-portrait of her in hope and despair ... my normal state ...

In hope she blows bubbles on the beach ... in despair she drowns beneath jellyfish ...

OK welcome to MY DAUGHTER TAMLIN (AT LAST), Jaco Wessels, Braam van Straaten, Elize Viljoen and if I missed someone ... Welcome anyway.