The excuse seemed to satisfy the masses, but walking in on an established circle in what seemed a tight-knit little community can be a tricky exercise, particularly when people take themselves away for smoke breaks, get claimed by various passers-by and get diverted by other matters.
And you get diverted yourself.
When I went to check the time a while later I found it was much later than I'd thought, and that there'd been three unanswered calls from The Boss, a matter that needed urgent attention, since we were due at the next appointment in about half an hour.
The best option out of there, as it turned out was the bus an hour after the one I'd pencilled in, and a hasty departure was followed by a trip along Ferry Road back to downtown Southport, a hasty conclusion of preparations and a trip back along Ferry Road towards Varsity Lakes, where Ex-House Sitter and Footy Bloke turned out to have done very well for themselves in the Home Unit Stakes.
I'm not the greatest follower of the various football codes around the country, but I can claim to be reasonably au fait with the intricacies of the two Rugby codes, and I can follow Soccer when I have to, though the back and forth passing bit tends to lose me. AFL, on the other hand, remains very much a closed book as far as Hughesy's concerned, though I can see how it could get you in if you gave it the chance.
Ex-House Sitter, it seems, has definitely given it a chance, and while she mightn't be quite as died in the wool as Footy Bloke she's not far off full blown fanaticism, as evidenced by the reaction when the Gold Coast Suns came home with a wet sail to down Port Adelaide.
Well, it was a classy come from behind win, even Hughesy could see that, but the reaction of two local fans barracking for their second team (Geelong loyalties overruling everything else) made for an interesting spectacle.
Actually, looking at it in the cold light of reality, I can ascribe my reluctance to pay much attention to the AFL to the aforementioned fact that it seems like something that could very easily get you in, and my oft-quoted statement that Hughesy doesn't need another obsession.
By nine, however, I was starting to fade, and since we were staying the night I toddled off quietly, leaving the others to chinwag to their hearts' content.