Life is unfair. We're ordering cable TV. I tell Marjorie I can do without the sports channels option -- even though I was addicted to watching soccer while we were in Vietnam (there's never any coverage in the US). She says, "Really? I'm getting HBO." (She's loves "Sex and the City".) So I say, "Okay, I'm getting the sports, then."

Cable has been installed. Turns out, HBO doesn't show "Sex and the City" here. Not hard to figure out why. Nor do they show "The Sopranos", or "Six Feet Under", it seems. Maybe it's just off-season.

But I get lots of soccer. And rugby. Mwu-ha-ha-ha-ha...

I guess I should be saying "football" instead of "soccer". We're gradually catching on to the Britishisms they use around here. I've successfully used the terms "taking the piss", "queue", and "lift", but "boot" (for "trunk") and "mate" (for "friend") still sound weird to me.