I follow Hull City from this little corner of the Czech Republic. I was born in Hull and lived about the first 18-years of my life there. Occasionally, I get back to see family.

The funny thing about reading stories in the media about Hull City is that if these lazy fat bastards who write this drivel were to be believed then Hull is some grimy, smokey pit filled with barely literate natives who are to be pitied for their misfortune. I suspect a good percentage of these idiots have never left the big smoke down south and wouldn't recognize Hull if it fell into there beer filled laps.

I watch CNN's coverage of the inauguration yesterday and almost blew a gasket. All those sill self congratulatory platitudes about democracy - the 'greatest' democracy even - and those statements about a peaceful transition of power.....

OK. I lived in the US for over 15-years. I have a US passport and I pay the IRS every year. I experienced American democracy first hand. Being European though I can tell you I am thankful that I was not born in America and can compare and contrast America with other countries.

Let's revisit those CNN statements just a little shall we....

This morning I feel like ranting so I am going to. Am I the only one who thinks that the Israeli Government and Hamas both act like spoilt kids seeking attention? I would be laughable except that innocent people are dying and suffering. I would frankly lynch the leaders of Israel and Hamas both. They are both a bunch of terrorist thugs trying to manipulate world opinion at the expense of their own people.

I just spent a week in Houston, Texas and flew BA there and back. It is the first time I have flown BA in years and probably the last time I will fly BA in years too. The problem is their customer service. After many issues with their service and having observed their attitude towards my issues and complaints I realized that BA have a policy towards customers and it seems to add up to .... Listen, smile, be polite and completely ignore them.

I won't go into all the ins and outs of my complaints save to say not one of them was resolved. Not one. Flights late that were never posted as late meaning everyone forced to wait in that god awful Terminal 5, entertainment systems that didn't work, food that was still frozen solid when served.... need I go on? And each time I complained I got a nice smile and the words 'I'm sorry, there isn't much we can do about that."

These days the internet is a great place to get a date. Dating sites abound as so social forums where you can meet folks, chat and eventually date.

However, you need to be very careful. Nice small, free software programs also exist to help potential dates edit their photos. No, I'm not talking photoshop or anything. Simple and careful editing and cropping can be very effective as my example shows....

See?

The Internet. What would we do without it? You can find anything on the Internet and it seems as if nothing has gone unthought of when it comes to websites. I noticed a Google ad on this site today where you can vote on pictures of ugly people and help decide who is the ugliest! Who thought that up I wonder?

FROM: Steve Reynolds, Human Resources Manager

TO: All Employees

DATE: 4th November

RE: Christmas Party

I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols...please feel free to sing along.

And don't be surprised if the Managing Director shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1.00 p.m.
Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets.

Guy Ritchie apparently thinks Madonna should dress her age... I agree. In the UK we have an expression that is used to refer to older women who dress much younger...mutton dressed as lamb. Madonna is clearly in great shape from a fitness point of view but she looks stupid dressed like a young tart. She also looks old frankly and worn around the edges.

I'll admit that don't like Madonna. Ambitious, pushy and egotistical. What has she really contributed to the world?? Certainly not more than the average anonymous mother her age. Indeed, I hate superstars that come believe their own PR and behave rather stupidly as a result....

I came in this morning feeling like I hadn't yet woken up only to be faced by more bad news as markets tumble - it's Armageddon out there right now. As I open my email - more bad news and delays followed by conference calls in which I am caught out by unexpected questions and feel like I am stumbling around in a daze of confusion. Yep - its a bad day at the office.

Bad days make me stressed. I can feel it in my head - its a dizzy sort of feeling as my heart palpitates and my underarms feel moist. Suddenly, I cannot seem to function normally and, as a result, I make mistakes that compound the feelings of stress.

Regular visitors will know that I am a Hull City (The Tigers) fan and have been all of my life. Last season, Hull gained promotion to the EPL for the first time in their 104 year history and so all of us Hullonians were to say the least excited. Funnily enough, no one else was.

In pre-season - no - as soon as our promotion was secured, out came all the experts and pundits to declare that Hull City would be immediately relegated and would do a 'Derby' - a reference to last seasons disasterous EPL campaign by Derby County. Hull's pre-season schedule results only seemed to confirm to everyone that this was a self fulfilling prophecy.

Funny.... people like me were quietly confident that they would all EAT their words. I didn't expect that to happen quite so soon however.....