done and dusted
we submitted the first draft of the work I've been slaving away at for the past few months. About 200 pages all told, plus appendicies. I had been working some long hours trying to get my parts wrapped up so I'm very glad that it's finished (for now). Thanks to Reen for her encouragement and patience, you rock!

Soccer news:
1) Revs are in first place in the East and have been looking good.
2) Beckham is here but still injured. LA v. New England is in 10 days...will he be coming to Gillette?
3) Freddy Adu has left MLS to play for Benfica in Portugal. From what I can tell, this is an excellent move for him. The style of soccer they play fits him very well and the club has a history of developing young players. Despite the 'failure' label which has been unfairly placed on Freddy, he's still only 18 years old.
4) Manchester United just signed a 9 year old kid. Here are some highlights of his play



Reasons this video is awesome:
i) about 30 seconds in (3:30 or so) he sends his buddy through on a breakaway and then sprints (at least the 9 year old's version of it) to support the play. As luck would have it, his teammate is tripped and the young lad is there to take the ball home himself. Most everyone else, pros included, would have made the pass and then stood back to watch.
ii) when he gets repeatedly fouled, he just keeps getting up and trying to play. No sitting and whining to the refs.
iii) none of the defenders foul him on purpose. They foul him because they lunge and miss. Each time he puts a move on a kid and skates past I keep expecting the defender to drop him with a forearm to the chest or take out his legs from behind. The game is much nicer to watch when the defenders aren't hacking down every guy that gets past them.