So I had this whole post typed out about the signings of Jason Koumas, Michael Chopra, Hayden Foxe and Robbie Fowler, only for it to be swallowed into the great abyss due to the OleOle maintenance schedule. Aargh! I'm not typing it over again, it took me 20 minutes. The world will just have to be deprived of my brilliance.

Instead, I'm going to talk about chips. Specifically, chips and gravy, and battered sausages, which I had for lunch when I walked down to the local chippy. Two things that you don't find much back in the States. I first discovered battered sausages about a month ago when an "authentic fish and chips" shop opened up in North Carolina, and I fell in love immediately. But to combine chips with gravy - that's the greatest "two great tastes that taste great together" pairing since the Reese's peanut butter cup.

I'm not sure about this whole "paying for ketchup (or tomato sauce, if you prefer) packets" bizzo, however. Ketchup should be free! Especially considering how much I eat it.

Anyway, former Socceroo Hayden Foxe signed for Perth Glory this week, and the ex-Leeds defender cited as a reason for his coming to the A-League the fact that he faces about half as many matches playing in the A-League as he would in England. The article then went on to say that this is a factor for him because he's injury prone. THAT'S reassuring.

In other A-League news, Sydney FC, not content with stringing along John Aloisi about the promise of a contract, has decided to turn its attention to God himself, Mr. Robbie Fowler. As much as I am a keen admirer of Fowler's talents (not to mention the fact that he looks vaguely like my brother), I'm not counting on seeing him run out on the pitch at Members Equity this season wearing a Franchise FC strip. It seems that the other suitors for the Almighty's signature include Cardiff, Leicester, and (European football ahoy!) both Rangers and Celtic. Somehow, that had better be a pretty damn lucrative financial package to convince Robbie to move his family halfway around the world. Maybe Foxey can give him a call about the reduced fixture list...

So after approximately thirty hours of travelling by plane halfway around the world, I'm finally in Perth. Miraculously, both us and all of our luggage made it all the way (especially given what happened in Sydney) and there were no major complications (despite United telling us we had been upgraded to business class for one leg of the trip, then arriving at the ticket counter to be told that our tickets weren't eligible for upgrade, oh, and our old seats had been given away to somebody else. But the sorry state of American air travel is another story for another day).

I can't tell you how odd a feeling it is to be in this metal can in the air for the better part of a day and a half, with the sense that the entire world is going on without your involvement. Then this morning, when I was lying in bed because of my malfunctioning internal clock, I realised that it was Tuesday evening back home, and my friends and family were getting ready for dinner, the very thing that I had been doing twelve hours previously. It's weird having a sense of "living in the future" like that.

Obviously, this will take some getting used to. But I'm sure the adjustment time for most things won't be very long.

This weekend, the Socceroos play the mighty Oman in an Asian Cup match. I'll need to get a copy of the TV listings to figure out where to tune it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go cereal shopping. It'll be curious to see what's out there, but I'll probably just stick with Frosties.