Thursday 29th June : Day 8

I get more and more tired as the week goes on . By thursday I am exhausted and on Friday night I am a zombie . A few months ago I fell asleep at the wheel on the way home so I try to stick to a healthier lifestyle these days , but fatigue is my constant companion .


Andy Murray looks the way I feel : tired . He should finish off Benneteau tomorrow .

Wednesday 28th June : Day 7

Ok, so Tim didn't win . Disappointing but not the end of the world .

I played after work today , just a hit and some tie-breaks against Mrs.F . Very happy to report she won none of them , quite a rare occurrence.

Charles Clarke's comments about Blair are entertaining , but embittered ex-employees always struggle for credibility , particularly the fat puffed-up witless ones .

I do not intend to discuss Big Brother , save to say that it is the lowest form of entertainment we have.

There was a time when our role models were leaders ,humanitarians or philosophers . Now its Jade Goody . I think that says a lot about where this country is right now , not to mention the 150 England 'supporters'arrested by German police at the weekend .


In modern Britain you will be fine as long as you can afford private education and health , don't need running water and get your opinions from a tabloid newspaper .

Must stop ranting now.......back soon.

Tuesday June 27th : Day 6

Henman's result never in doubt. Bring on Federer! And Greg can enjoy a two week holiday during Wimbledon .

Martina Hingis came to the club today to do some filming with James Cracknell . Very surprised I didn't get the call .

Its about a year since Live8 inflated the egos and profiles of a bunch of self-obsessed pop stars and where are we? Infant mortality and poverty in Africa are much the same , but album sales are up , so at least something was achieved .

Probably the most offensive aspect of the project is having to be lectured by the millionaire U2 frontman Bono.Is there anything more ridiculous than his attempts to change the world? Stick to your music , houses , yachts and Swiss bank accounts mate , and let the clever folks do the thinking .

Back tomorrow.

Monday 26th June: Day 5

So Warren Buffett has chosen to give away a large amount of his wealth to the Gates Foundation . I have always been under the impression that true philanthropy is an act of noble generosity meant to assist the recipient . Having a self-congratulatory press conference does not fit that definition .

There is also an interesting moral question here . By structuring his estate in this way Buffett has avoided a massive tax bill , and whilst the concept of this donation is fine, there is a level on which it leaves a bad taste in the mouth .

The truth is that this is just another example of the wealthy being able to indulge their own agendas and egos ,even in the act of giving . Warren might not want to fund Bush government programmes , but in a democracy that is not his choice .

So come on, Warren, stop grandstanding and stand up and really be counted!

Sunday 25th June : Day 4

England 1 - 0 Ecuador . Great result and we march on. But one thing that worries me is the wives and girlfriends (Wags) . What is it with these vacuous tarts? Are they really only capable of shopping and getting trolleyed? Has it not occurred to the FA to take them to one side and suggest that they tone down their act?Otherwise they are not the ambassadors we want . And like it or not, they are ambassadors .



Suffering a little with Sunday night blues, but after 16 years I really should be used to it .

Come on Tim!


See ya soon.

Saturday 23rd June : Day 3

I lost . End of . Tomorrow I've got a really good hit with an ex-pro lined up and there's plenty to work on.

Mrs.F thinks I'm boring . I have to agree , although she is plainly trying to goad me into ranting . I'm beginning to get the feeling this could end in tears .

Anyway, England vs Ecuador tomorrow . I'll check in again after that .

Friday 23rd June: Day 2

The sun is out and the drive home was OK. I am calm . This is quite rare ; I am naturally a pretty stressy , tense sort of a person. As I sit in front of the telly and take the few short moments to empty my mind I feel quite serene . This is in stark contrast with how I will probably be tomorrow morning when I play tennis against a friend of mine, Tim . He is far better than me so I am pleased he asked me to play .

I'm looking forward to France vs Togo tonight . The tournament needs France , but I can't help thinking an upset would be good fun . I am not a football fan , but I have to admit the World Cup really captures the imagination . If Ronaldo gets going Brazil will be tough to beat .

Ofcourse for me the big sports event of the month is Wimbledon , and living quite close to the tournament is good fun . A swiss player called Stanislas Wawrinka just walked past the window . To most sane people that would be an unremarkable happening, but to me thats a big deal .

Being Friday , it's fish for dinner tonight . I've been doing weightwatchers (online) for a few months and have lost about 2 1/2 st . Eating is a constant battle for me . I love food and Mrs.F is pretty handy in the kitchen , so I have to be careful .

I gotta go now and watch the tennis from Nottingham I've Sky +'ed.

Sad? You ain't seen nothin' yet!

Thursday 22nd June: day 1

So , this is a blog? OK,lets get on with it . Since this is my first entry I guess an introduction is in order . My name is Andrew Vladimir Finkelstein. I am 37 years old and work at a bank . I am married with zero children . My wife's name is Leona and she is very patient . I am morbidly obsessed with tennis,so you will have to indulge me on that one . Anyway,its nice to meet you!

We are bombarded daily with images of sports stars and celebrities from the world of entertainment . We hail these figures as heros and watch them accumulate untold wealth . But do you know who the real heros are? Its you and me . Why am I going on about this...? Because I get up at 5.45am every morning and go to an office where I spend roughly 11 hours staring at a computer screen like a zombie. How long do you think Wayne Rooney or Brad Pitt would last doing that?

Anyway , I digress because all I wanted to point out was that Monday to Friday my life is dominated by the office. I live in London, and admit that I am fortunate to be able to drive to work . I have a four year-old BMW . I love Beemers , but must say that driving in London can be quite stressful . Its quite tough to drive when one hand is on the wheel and the other is in a contorted fist pounding the dashboard in rage .

So I get to work and do my job . It involves the stock market . Stuff goes up , stuff goes down and stuff doesn't move. Pretty good, huh? Anyway, sometimes these things dictate just how hard I'm gonna be punishing that dashboard on the way home .

Home is always a release . I hand my brolly and bowler hat to my wife ,who gives me a peck on the cheek,and......oops, parallel universe . Normally I place my exhausted carcus on the sofa and behave like Homer Simpson for a few hours .

Sometimes, however , I play tennis ,and that is a whole new world of pain, suffering and self-loathing . I do not have the time or space to tell you how bad I am . But sometimes I enjoy it. I've been playing for about 25 years and without tennis I would not have met Mrs.F , so I have a lot to be grateful to the sport for .


Thursday is mens team practice night . So I trooped along . My footwork is so bad that the short walk from the car to the clubhouse can be quite perilous but tonight was OK. Had a pleasant doubles,playing with three guys who are all better than me , and guess what? My partner and I lost the set we played!


The club I play at is called The Wimbledon Club , and is right next to THE Wimbledon . Its like any club really: a random assortment of unsuited personalities precariously held together by mutual interest in a pastime .


Anyway , it was steak and chips as my reward for coming second . When I got in I watched a recording of the Murray vs Seppi match from Nottingham . I think Muzzer wll be disappointed with that one, he really should have beaten the guy on grass .


Anyway ,thats a flavour of me and my life . Its not very representative , since my existence actually revolves around my wife , but I'm not going to get too soppy here .


At this stage I have no idea how often I will be updating, lets just see how it goes .