Two Much Better Results

The winning goal


Charlton 1 Blackburn 0

The Quiz Team 2nd out of 5 and 100% spot prizes for the first time ever

I'm late reporting on Monday's activity as there was, and still is, rather a backlog of ideas and observations arising out of my recent trip to the UK. Not only that, but deciding that I would like to add a photo of a Class 334 train to my blog about Glasgow Airport cost me a lot more time. The system for adding pics to blogs couldn't be simpler, if you believe the documentation with the software that the Blog people provide for this, but I found that, whereas uploading your photo was straightforward, downloading it to the blog was only easy if you were prepared for it to be a new item, and adding it to an existing one was quite complicated, especially as it simply would keep coming out full size and pushing the sidebar down to the bottom of the whole thing. This took most of Thursday afternoon to sort out, and we are due back at work at the Centre on Monday for a new academic year, and I don't even know the contents of my timetable as yet. Indeed as I type, an Induction Day is going on, but older teachers like me, who have different contractual terms, are exempt, though I could have attended had I wished, and at one time even thought I might, but in the end I haven't.

So, having only returned to Madrid the night before, I arrived at the pub at 9.15 on Monday for the quiz, which I was looking forward to, and the Charlton-Blackburn game, which I wasn't all that much. I watched the last half hour of the first half in dismay, as Charlton were awful. Fortunately Blackburn were no better, but it didn't make much of a spectacle. My team-mates arrived and jokingly asked if I was going to abandon them in order to watch the second half; obviously not.

We were almost at full strength, and did well enough to get second place, which in our quiz means a small amount of money. Each individual in the room coughs up 1 euro at the beginning. This is then counted and the pub makes it up to double the amount. It is then divided by three and the winners get two thirds and the second-placed team one third between them, which meant about €3.25 each for us this week.

The quiz always concludes with spot prizes: eight questions asked to the room as a collection of individuals, rather than by teams, the first to shout out the right answer being presented with a small green ticket which is worth the price of one drink at the bar. Once you have your green ticket, you cannot participate further.

For the first time in almost ten years of quizzing, every one of the five members of our team won one of these, so by and large, the evening was successful, and of course the news that, whether deserved or no, Charlton had nicked it 1-0 was the icing on the cake for me.

Reports generally tended towards Charlton having been a shade lucky, although the erudite Mr Grant takes a different view. But then he is a Charlton supporter, and might see more than most.

Next up, over the weekend, the Great Imperial Leather update, and are more people reading me than I think?