I have a good excuse

Yes, I know I said I would be posting over Xmas but I've been ill. Xmas day was nice, if slightly hectic, with a house of 12 people and everyone sat round together. It helped keep my mind off things (well, dad) but it still wasn't quite the same. I was just glad number one son and My Better Half were there. My Better Half's face lit up on Xmas morning when she opened her present... I got her a torch. (boom tish).
I then woke up at 06:00 Boxing day morning and commenced, every 15 minutes, to crap through the eye of a needle and throw up twice. I was a very sick puppy. I spent the entire day laid out on the sofa wrapped in a sleeping bag.
It's now the 29th and I'm still not 100%. I've hardly eaten, I've lost quite a lot of weight ('D' plan diet rocks. 'D' for diahorea), and I have no appetite. I'm down in London at the moment and will be driving back home tomorrow morning. In the afternoon both Mr. P. Senior (and family) and Mr. P. Junior will be popping over to see us so that'll be good.
I hope you all had a nice Xmas and you got all you wanted. I'll hopefully post again before 2010 but if not have a happy new year.
Peace.

-- Post From My iPhone

3 days and counting

Presents bought & wrapped. Work (what there was of it) completed. Now the wind down can officially start. I'm in the office today, tomorrow and then half of Thursday (until lunchtime) and then that's me done until January 4th. And I can't wait. No more worrying about anger-inducing emails from the U.S. No more getting up early to get into work. Bliss. Although it's only short lived (the time will fly by) I intend to enjoy it as much as I can.

I will be posting over the break (who said "Oh No!"?) but that really will be the only computer interaction I'll be having!

Have a lovely day.

Danger! Danger! Low motivation detected!

Indeed. I can't get going today. I do have two things I need to do. Neither will take me very long. I could probably make them last the day so I'm not sitting here bored but I just can't get going this morning. I'm currently re-reading Douglas Coupland's "The Gum Thief", and all I wanna do is sit here with a cup of tea, put my feet up, and lose myself in the book. *sigh*.

City lost last night. They were well and truly spanked by a very good Spurs side. So football is off the menu today.

I'm working from home tomorrow, and then at last it's the weekend. I have no game on Sunday, Jake might have a game on Saturday if the pitch is OK. So this weekend is going to be a quiet one, gearing up for Christmas by cleaning the house and stuff like that. I might even treat myself to a lie in if Jake has no game.

Jebus, what a boring post. Sorry. Have a nice Thursday.

Zombie weather again today

For all those who are not my one regular reader, I have often made references to 'zombie' weather. The sort of weather that's misty, damp, a bit chilly. The sort of weather you can imagine a horde of the undead shuffling out of toward your window. My new office is on a trading estate, so driving in this morning it enhanced the feeling of being in a zombie movie. The odd person wandering around on their own, darkness, mist, some building lights on. Dead spooky.

There have been a couple of comments about the Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson post... isn't it amazing how these songs have embedded in our conscience? I put the album on I got and as soon as songs like "Mick The Master Farter" and "Dicktaphone" came on, I was singing along to every word. And I haven't heard these songs for years!

In other news...
BIG game for City tonight. Jake has training, and then I'll be back at home sat in front of the footy with a beer or two screaming at the TV. Nerves nerves nerves.

Have a good Wednesday children.

Face like a nest of ants

That's how it feels right now with this beard on the go. I know I said last night that I was going to grow a beard for Christmas (that sounds like it could be a Christmas song) but by Britney's thong it's hard. I do this every time... my stubble starts off very short and prickly and damaging to My Better Half's face. Then it gets longer and softer to the touch, and then it get's to this stage - even longer but for some reason very very itchy. Almost to the point of it stinging. I will give it a couple more days, and if it doesn't improve or gets worse, I will wuss out again and shave it off. I do want to persevere though, as I think it'll be comical to see me with a proper beard. I could then shave it off and just have a manly mustache, like a 70's porn star but ginger.


In other news..
With 10 days left until the holidays, I have all but finished my shopping, which is nice. I have to get something for my mum (I know, what she really wants she can't have and she's not in the mood at all but I have to try and get her something, don't I?) and My Better Half and I need to get a last few bits for number one son, but apart from that I'm done.
I honestly don't know how I am going to feel about Christmas this year. It'll be the first one I have spent away from my parents (I mean ever. Every Christmas day since I've been born I have been with my mum & dad. This year I won't be) and obviously with my dad gone... I don't know. I might be fine and dandy, or I might be a mess.
But hey, let's not bring the mood down eh?

No plans tonight. City on TV tomorrow night (B I G game away against Spurs) and that's about all I've got planned this week.

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone.

Soundtrack of the day: The Bloodhound Gang and The Shins.

An evening post for a change

I just received an email from our manager - I was voted Man of the Match by the opposition on Sunday - so I'm really chuffed. I started the game, played in center midfield which is my normal position, worked hard, did a good job - but I didn't expect to be voted MoM. I could name two or three other players I would have voted for, but in this league, you vote for the opposition MoM so... well, there you go!

Number one son had a blast on Saturday evening - he went to something called the Chill Factore in Manchester. He didn't do the snow boarding or skiing, he did the party thing with the tubes and the luge... but he had an absolute blast. It was chuffin' freezin' though - because it's real snow, it's kept at -2.0 degrees celcius, and when you're stood around in it... Good gravy it was cold. I went to the loo and my nuts were like freeze dried peas. (Too much information Simon. I must work on that. My doctor says I need more control. Sorry.)

Anyway... that's about all for the weekend. This week, so far, not much happening. Work continues to be shite. Oh, and I'm growing a beard. I thought I'd see if I could keep it growing until Christmas. I'll keep you up to date. Maybe I'll post a photo of it as it is so far.

Take care everyone.

Ooh, ooh, soundtrack of the day tomorrow: The Bloodhound Gang - "Hefty Fine" (go to a web site and check out the album cover - it's superb). And, a greatest hits type of album by Kevin Bloody Wilson - those of you my age, from the U.K, will remember him ("Santa Claus you ****" and "Mick Me Mate The Master Farter"). So I should be laughing a lot at work tomorrow. Lord knows I have toss all else to do...

Peace.

It's been a while since I've had a good moan...

... and today's subject is house alarms.

You can probably guess why I'm having a moan about this - yes, somebody's house alarm was going off all this morning. And the pisser is, I actually saw the person who lives in the house leave for work this morning and THEN his alarm went off. How fcukin' inconsiderate. If you're going to use one of these pointless noise makers, at least make sure your house is locked and all windows and doors closed before you set the bloody thing. This one is quite a new one, so the siren is nice and loud and set at the right tone so that it goes right through you to the point of making a tiny little pin-prick of pain right behind each eye, like someone gently sliding hot, chilli-sauce-soaked kebab skewers through your eye balls.

Come someone tell me the point of these things? OK, OK, I know they are to alert people to a possible break-in at their home, but unless they are linked to the local cop shop, are they really any sort of deterrent? I mean, if someone was breaking into this twunts house (and they weren't) they would know that they had a good few minutes to get away with stuff before anyone showed up. And, if it was one of the more common ones that aren't linked to the local rozzers, they would have even longer as most people simply ignore the alarm thinking "Oh, it's gone off for no reason again".

When I lived down in London, my next door neighbor had one, and more than once it went off at stupid times of the night - usually when they weren't in. This was a little different, as the neighbor had given myself and their other neighbor a set of keys and the alarm code, so if it did go off we could go and investigate and shut it down. However, there are a couple of problems with this. 1 - if someone was breaking in, would I really want to confront them when it's not even my house? Fcuk no. 2 - why did it have to go off at stupid times like 02:30 in the morning? If I couldn't be arsed to get out of bed and investigate, it'd just go on and on and on and make sleep impossible. Which means I'd have to get up, get dressed, get armed (see point 1, above) and then go next door to see what was what.
And you know the really annoying thing? Every time either myself or my neighbor went to investigate the problem was an open door which had moved and disturbed the sensor, or a window left open, or once the loft access door falling open and setting it off. So our sleep is disturbed in a most horrible way for absolutely nothing. The ironic thing is, they actually did have a break in once. And the alarm wasn't set. Stupid, eh?

So anyway - if I get home from work before this ball bag tonight, and his alarm has been going off all day (My Better Half will let me know) I will be having words with him.

No post today

Not in the mood. Sorry.

Not much goin' on today

But I have finally finished that docu-bloody-mentation. I have to email the final two documents over to the U.S and then I'm done, done, done with it.

My Better Half is away for a couple of days, the dog is staying with my in-laws, so tonight and tomorrow night it's just me and number one son in the house. Tonight he has a doctors appointment (nothing serious) but tomorrow I think we'll go out for dinner somewhere. That should be good. I can get drunk and the faithful son and guide his legless father home.
I kid of course.

As for the weekend... I think I have a match Sunday, I'm going to watch City vs Chelsea on Saturday afternoon and that's about all I have planned so far.

See? Told you there's wasn't much going on.

Soundtrack of the day: The various albums by Disturbed, and also "The XX" by The XX.

In trouble again

But to be fair, I couldn't help myself. So now I don't think this particular young lady will be saying hello to me when she comes into our office anymore.

Case for the defense: I went upstairs to see the lady I thought was responsible for providing stationary as I needed a pen. I went to her desk and she wasn't there, but there is a young woman who sits next to her who, justifiably I thought, could work with her. So I stood in front of her desk, waiting for her to finish typing what she was typing so I could speak to her without interrupting. Now normally if someone is stood right by your desk while you are typing something you either finish that particular word / number you're keying and then look up at the person waiting to speak to you, OR you quickly say something like "give me two seconds, I just need to finish this while it's in my head" or something. This dizzy little tart did neither. She just sat there tapping away at her keyboard seemingly ignoring me with malice aforethought. "Fcuk this" thinks I. "*COUGH COUGH* HI THERE." She finally deigns to look up at me and say "Yeah?"
"Hi, sorry to disturb you", says I, "but I need a pen - can you help me?"
"No. You need to speak to Dorris". Now the lady's name I actually need to talk to is Karen, but she is known as Dorris. If I hadn't overheard someone else call her that the other day, I wouldn't know that. But I thought "Fcuk you, I ain't being helpful seeing as it seems this is REALLY putting you out" so I said "Who?"
"Dorris. Karen. She does pens". (Pointing at this Karen's desk).
"Oh" says I. And with that she goes back to her tip-tap-tapping on her keyboard.
Now this is where I should have just said "Right, thanks" and walked away. But no. Not me. I leaned down so she had no mistake I was not done with her (not aggressively so, I mean, I'm not a psycho, but I leaned in enough so it was obvious I had something more to say), and with a big, sarcastic, shit-eating grin on my face I said "Thank you very much, you've been SO helpful". And when she looked up at me with a slightly shocked look on her silly face I dropped the smile to a dead serious face and then walked away. *sigh*. So now when she comes down to our office (which she does with unfortunate regularity) I doubt she'll be smiling and saying good morning to yours truly. People eh? Fcukers.

In other news...

Number one son has training tonight, and then City are on t'telly in the Carling Cup quarter finals. So tonight it's a case of standing in the cold and wet watching my little footballer and then getting home in time to crack open a beer and sit on my arse watching the box.

No plans for the rest of the week.

Soundtrack of the day: All sorts. I've been hitting the random button a lot and normally if I'm not in the mood for a particular album, I'll skip it, but this time I'm letting fate decide my soundtrack.
Peace.
Update: I edited this because I seem to over use commas. I must,control,this.... sorry. I must control this urge.

I wasn't gonna moan about this again but...

I hate my fcukin' job at the moment!
I know, I keep going on about it, and I know you're all sick to death of hearing it, but it's my blog and I want another moan.
I am STILL not doing the job I am hired to do - i.e. develop applications. I am still sitting here writing pointless bloody technical documentation that no fcuker will ever read or make use of.
There is still no hint or word of any upcoming work. And one of the worst parts? The job market is dead at the moment and so there is no way out of this current hell. I haven't even got any leave left to take so I can't even take a few days off to escape the drudgery. *sigh*. Moan over.

In other news...
The first frost of the season hit the house this morning - car covered in frost and needing to be de-iced, roads slippery, bundled up in thick coats and gloves... it'd be lovely if it was Christmas morning, but when you have to get to work, it's a bitch.

The only plan I have for this week is taking number one son training on Wednesday night. Apart from that I'll be staying in, and enjoying the fire (which I now know how to light and it's lovely to sit in front of).

So, have a nice Tuesday (those with jobs you actually enjoy!) and I'll post more soon.

Peace.

Update: Forgot, soundtrack(s) of the day: "Behind The Music" by Soundtrack Of Our Lives (recommended by Noel Gallagher) and "Magpie" by Stewart Fretwell. Both exceptional.

Oh Monday's arrival, how I lament thee

You know the problem with weekends? They're only two days long and they are over way too quickly. Oh well.

So my mum arrived safe and sound - although the collecting of said parental unit was harrowing for me, as a pigeon decided to take dead aim and crap on my head. I shit you not. I was stood indoors I might add, waiting for my mum to arrive, when I felt a splash on my head. Now, when you feel something like that, your first thought is "oh crap, a raindrop / splash of water". But then when you put your hand to your head, and it's warm... not a pleasant feeling. So I looked up, and perched on the ledge about 6 foot up from me was a pigeons arse (attached to a pigeon no doubt). Bastard. Now I could have gone after him like a cave man hunting prey and killed the little vermin, but I didn't want people noticing what had happened and so I kept calm, stole some napkins from a coffee place, and cleaned myself up as best I could. Lucky it didn't have the Eartha Kitts really.

Apart from that little episode, we've had a nice weekend. Number one son had a very good birthday (he now has a whole armory of Nerf guns and a scary amount of money) and I think it's helped my mum a little being around him this weekend, although she is still very upset (obviously). I played football on Sunday, in an inter-squad match, and did well. Oh, and I didn't get to see City after all :-( but I'm kinda glad as we drew and apparently it was a shite match.

And now we're at Monday again *sigh*. My mum leaves today (My Better Half is taking her to the station for me), and I have to now start getting Christmas presents organized (I refuse to leave it to the last minute as I have done in the past).

So have a good day everyone.

Soundtrack of the day: Whatever albums I have on my MP3 player by Elbow.

Another weekend is upon us

A special day today, as it's number one son's 11th birthday. Many happy returns fruit of my loins.

Of course he was up with the sparrows fart this morning, bouncing down the stairs and itching to rip into his birthday presents... but he's old enough now to realize checking the cards first is a good move because some people might be generous enough to put cold, hard (well, paper) cash in them.
His main present from us this year is some great big Nerf machine gun type thing. Jebus, the thing is nearly bigger than him. It takes 6 D-cell batteries (which I need to get for him today) and can fire these little Nerf darts quicker than you can imagine. My mum arrives this afternoon in Stockport station, so I'll be going to pick her up and then tonight we're going out to dinner.

I found out yesterday I may have a chance of getting a ticket for the game tomorrow (City v Hull) so I've got my fingers crossed for that, and then Sunday I have a inter-squad friendly in the afternoon. I like playing these games, as there is no pressure, and you can really measure yourself against your team mates and the manager can see how we're all progressing.

So that's it really. Soundtrack of the day is "Electronic Anthems" from the Ministry Of Sound stable... some classic 80's synth tunes.

Have a nice, safe, and peaceful weekend all.

Just a quickie

The light at the end of the tunnel has NOT turned out to be the entrance of the self same tunnel on fire, but in fact the impending end of this documen-bloody-tation I'm stuck on. I have nearly finished another one (will be done tomorrow) and the I have two more to do, before the deadline of 31st December, then that's it. (MASSIVE sighs all round).

Tomorrow, my mum is coming up to spend the weekend with us (it's number one son's birthday tomorrow... he's 11!! Good grief...) so we'll see what the weather is like before deciding what we do & where we go, although the main plan (in Jake's mind) is that my mum will take him shopping into Manchester on Saturday so he obviously can't wait for that.

So that's about all I've got time for today... nearly home time. Have a nice evening everyone. More tomorrow.

Peace.

Guter Tag from Birmingham

No idea why I said hello in German, that's just the kind of crazy fun guy I am, right? RIGHT??!

*cough*

Yes, I am in 'lovely' Birmingham today. It was a short notice thing, yesterday afternoon it was decided I come down here for the day (I nearly wrote "up here" then...but I'm not a southerner anymore, am I?). It's only for today, so I can handle that. So, up at stupid o'clock (after a frankly diabolical night's sleep) and here in the office by 07.30. The journey was OK. Very wet, with lots of cars, but I didn't really grind to a halt at all. However, I did have another occasion where I nearly crashed the car due to laughter - this time listening to a Derek & Clive CD. (For those that don't know, Derek & Clive are two characters played by Peter Cook (Clive) and Dudley Moore (Derek).
VERY sweary (the first track is called "Stupid C**t") and very funny. There is one track in particular I know my friend Mr. P Junior will like - its one simply called "Nurse" and it's Dudley Moore making farting noises and calling for a nurse... but each fart and each cry for help becomes more & more desperate. It's not too strong to say it's comic genius.

Anyway. Here today, then home tonight for not much planned... although I will be watching the scousers get knocked out of the Champions League tonight which will be funny.

So have a lovely Tuesday everyone, and play nicely.

Long time no post

Yeah, sorry about that.

So what's been going on. Well, I've now seen the new Star Trek movie (on Blu-ray no less) and I have to say it was awesome. A very good action movie, and if you're a bit of a trek fan (which I am) seeing famous characters (from the original series - not the Next Generation toss) in 'younger' form is brilliant. Simon Pegg, for instance, plays Scotty and he does it brilliantly. The young Spock is superb, and the young 'Bones' McCoy is also excellent. I highly, highly recommend it.

I actually had an extra copy of the film delivered to me by mistake. I'm waiting to see if I am going to be charged for it (at the moment, I don't think I am) but if I get away with it, I may offer it up for a prize or something. Obviously, you need a Blu-Ray player (or a PS3) but we'll see what happens. Watch this space.

In other news - Jake is STILL waiting to sign for his new team, so again no football for him at the weekend, and my match was called off due to the torrential rain we've been having. So it was quite a relaxing weekend, apart from trying to light a fire.

We have a real coal fire in the front room. And the weather is now horrid enough that the thought of sitting in front of a real fire with a hot drink (or an alcoholic one) is a very nice thought indeed. So I went out to B&Q on Sunday to get the necessary stuff (poker, coal bucket etc.) and some coal. (Result - the coal bucket we bought came with a free bag of coal!) So, I laid the fire, being careful not to overload it, and used some 'paper sticks' made by my mother-in-law. (These are sheets of newspaper folded in a certain way to ensure they light and burn slowly... kinda like fire lighters). But... do you think I could get the bastard lit?? Could I 'eck as like. I must have used £15 worth of matches trying to light the fcuker. No, I didn't have fire lighters, but I think I will have to go get some this afternoon and see if that makes a difference. *sigh*

Anyhoo... this week, not much planned, although it is number one son's birthday on Friday so he's bouncing off the walls with excitement. And my mum is coming up for the weekend to spend it with him, so that'll be nice. (As a quick aside - she's still really struggling with our recent loss, but hopefully a weekend with us will take her mind off things for a little while).

Have a nice Monday everyone.

Peace.

See, you CAN get away with murder

This guy... he's either very unlucky & cursed, or very, very clever...

Man killed wife during a dream

Three & a half hours sleep

So it seems our dog can be a guard dog after all.
At about 12:30 this morning I was snapped awake by some ferocious barking coming from our blobby whippet. (He's a tad overweight... like dog like master I suppose).
It was one of those horrible moments when you're deep asleep and then you're slapped awake, as though someone had stuck an ice cube up your butt (and not in a good, sexual games, 'sod-it-I'll-try-anything-once' kind of way).
I was up and out of bed before I had fully opened my eyes, and grumbling to myself "what the fcuk..." as I bounded toward the stairs. It was only after I had got half way down, and saw the dog standing in the hallway having a right go at the front door that I realized I had no weapon as such, (apart from a case of middle-of-the-night-breath), and if there were someone attempting a break in I had no clue what I would have done. Soiled myself and wheezed on them probably.
Anyway, as it turns out, there was no one even close to the front door, and I think it was a combination of strong winds, squally rain and some debris blowing around outside that caused the dog to wake up and defend his territory. So I ushered him back to his bed, called him a good boy (because he was - that performance is one of the reasons we got him), and then staggered back up to the land of nod myself. Or so I thought.
While I lay there and let my heart slow to just a galloping horse pace, I thought "OK, back to sleep, work tomorrow"... but to no avail. It was another one of those times when your brain just can't switch off. Unfortunately (for her) My Better Half also could not get back to sleep, so we ended up chatting for a while about work and such, and complaining about not being able to sleep, and when I looked at the clock and saw it was 02:25 or something I thought "shit it, I have to get up in a minute".
I think that was the last coherent thought to pass through my brain, because next I remember waking up and creaking open my eyes to see the time reading 06:17... just before the alarm goes off.
So as you can imagine, I'm a little groggy and foggy headed this morning, with another day of documen-fcukin-tation to get through. *sigh*.

I hope your evening was a little less stressful. Have a good Tuesday everyone.

Update: Oh, I forgot to mention, I had a big session on Guitar Hero 5 last night. Favorite songs for playing include - Dire Straits "Sultans Of Swing", Bon Jovi "You Give Love A Bad Name" & T-Rex "20th Century Boy". Rock 'n' Roll.

Hola

Another Monday, another working week to battle through.

So how was your weekend? Mine was OK actually. Saturday, we had a little birthday 'do' for my father-in-law at our house... dinner, drinks etc. with my brother & sister in law and their families, and of course my parents-in-law. I had to be careful with how much booze I stuck away though, as I was playing football on Sunday morning.
So, Sunday. It was only a friendly, to give the 'new boys' in the team (including me) more game time to see how we do. I played in center midfield (which is my usual position) and played about 80 minutes which I was pleased with. Unfortunately, we lost the game, but not for want of trying. We hit the bar twice, the post once, the keeper made two blinding saves... we just couldn't get the ball in the net. Their three goals were a penalty (dubious decision), a break away goal (the fella was offside) and a third break away goal when we were pushing to get back into the game. Annoying. But the manager I think was happy as he got to have more of a look at some of the other players in the squad.

In other news:
I finally received my invite for Google Wave... and I'm slightly underwhelmed, mainly because no one else I know (apart from Russ) is on there! I have some invites to give out now, so I'll be seeing who wants to sign up for it. I'll then see if it's something I will get a lot of use out of.

This week, I have no real plans at the moment. I have to play football again tonight as I've said I would, even though I'm a bit stiff and sore. I think I might have to drop out of the Monday night games, as playing Sunday, then again on Monday, might be a little too much for my poor ol' body. We'll see.

So that's about it so far... more nonsense soon.

Peace.

Update: BTW - Stephen King's new book is fcukin' amazing....

Friday at last

Yes, we've slogged and moaned, cried & laughed, and finally we've arrived at the end of the week. Halle-fcukin'-lujah...

Last night I made a rather tasty beef casserole using rump steak (which, even though I say it myself, was very nice), and had a couple of glasses of cheeky red.

Tonight I'm not sure what's on the menu yet, but I fancy a couple of cold beers to finish the week off, so who knows?

Oh, and it's lucky I'm not superstitious... it's Friday 13th today, I saw one magpie this morning ("one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl" etc.) and I'm sure a black cat ran out in front of me this morning on the way to work. But none of this bothers me, I'm not cowering under my desk for fear of something bad happening. The only thing I don't do is walk under ladders, but this isn't for some silly anti-bad-luck ritual, it's only because I know how heavy a can of paint is and to have one land on one's head from a great height would put a serious crimp one's day.

I've gone back in time a little with my Soundtrack of the day today, with early Blutones.

So, are any of you lot out in internet-land superstitious? Tell iSimon all about it...

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Fcukin' documentation

Stressed today. This bloody arseing shit eating piss flapping documentation project I have to do is getting right on my moobs & under my skin. I know it needs to be done, and I know I'd have nothing to do if I weren't doing this, but by Satan's wizards it's boring. I'm a good coder (even though I say it myself) and my talents are being wasted on this shite. I had a bit of a whinge & moan at my '2nd level' boss this morning, but he can't change anything. I feel as though unreasonable expectations are being put on me, but when I (sensibly & calmly) state my position on certain issues, it's like I'm ignored and just told to get the fcuk on with it anyway. Gggrrrrr.

Anyway, no plans for tonight, or tomorrow / tomorrow night, but then on Saturday we're hosting a little get together for my father-in-law's birthday, so that should be nice. Then I'm playing football on Sunday morning (so not too much booze at the party I guess!) There's still a delay in getting Jake signed to his new team, so he has no football at the weekend, but hopefully in the next week we should have that resolved.

Anyway - nearly lunchtime, and macaroni & cheese beckons. Have fun everyone.

Peace.

Walkman back on today

(To paraphrase Charlie Brooker its not actually a Sony Walkman - I have moved with the times - but it's not an iPod either, it's another brand of MP3 player and I got bored with keep having to type "MP3 Player" whenever I wanted to mention my music player of choice... my I digest...)

For the first time in a while, I'm sitting here at my desk listening to music again while 'working'.
The current soundtrack is Nirvana's Greatest Hits. I posted about this the other day... it's not until I have a break from music, then listen to it again, that I realize how important it is to my life. I love music. (Pauses for drum break in "Smells Like Teen Spirit"...)

In other news...

I bought Stephen King's new one, "Under The Dome", yesterday and it's a monster (yippee!) so I can look forward to a few days of excellent writing, griping plot, believable characters and a fantastic ending. He's one of my all time favorite authors and I have read all of his books. Seriously. All of them. From "Carrie" down to the last of the seven-book Dark Tower series... AND all the books he wrote as Richard Bachman. When I bought the book yesterday, the girlie in the bookshop asked me if I had read any others of his... so of course, trying not to sound too condescending I said "Well yes actually, all of them, and I own roughly 85% of his books also". Smug? Me?

Plans this week include not much... as I have no evening plans, I can sit and relax and immerse myself in Castle Mills, Maine, and the people thereof (it's where the new book takes place, obviously).

Oh, and a quick shout out to my friend Phil 'Junior' Dawson over in crazy Australia. He, and his good lady Kylie, are expecting their first child, so lots of love and congratulations to them. If you haven't checked out his blog do so this instant. (OK, finish reading mine first, and hurry back!) His latest post is about guitars, and how great-super-smashing-fantastic they are, and this got me to thinking that I hadn't picked my own up for a few weeks... this will need to be rectified and soon.

That's about all for now... stay safe children.

The beautiful people

Now, I know that everyone has their perfect partner in the world, and I know beauty is only skin deep and blah blah blah but I just saw this story on the BBC website and I was sick in my mouth a little. Why do these sorts of stories about people bumping uglies never involve, say, Carmen Electra and George Clooney? By Odin's Sword these two are no oil paintings...

Noisy Sex Woman Loses Appeal Bid

Please, don't complain to me if seeing these two, and then seeing in your mind the images the story conjures, makes you give up your lunch.

I'm just the messenger.

Right, internet, answer me this...

As my (admittedly simple) intellect can't seem to come up with a solution to this, I am throwing it open to the unwashed masses of internet-land.
Every night, I set the alarm for the time I need to wake up. The time I set it for gives me loads of time to get up, have a cup of tea, get washed & dressed, make sure my bag is packed etc. I'm not leaving things to the last minute as I used to do. The problem is, I never get woken up by the alarm - I always wake up at least 30 minutes before it's due to go off, and more often than not I wake up more than once in the night worrying about the time. Why?!
It's as though my mind panics at silly o'clock and thinks "you're gonna be late" so it clicks me awake to make sure I'm not late... but of course at 03:34 in the morning even the laziest of students would struggle to be late getting up at that time. I honestly am at a loss, and I can't remember the last time I was actually woken up by the alarm. Frustrating isn't the word. I don't have an excess amount of caffeine before I hit the pit, I'm not waking up with a dodgy prostate needing to pee like a derby winner... so what can I do?? All I want is to be able to get into bed, go to sleep, and then be woken up at the right time. It's not too much to ask, is it?
And quite often, if I've got things rolling around in my head like loose barrels in a storm-tossed sea clipper, I can struggle to get back to sleep at all. More than once I've been woken by some little switch in my head and then still been awake 2 hours later.

So there we go, that's my problem. (OK, that's one of my problems). Answers / suggestions / comments to the usual address...

Peace.

So now we move on

Thank you, to all the people who have wished me well and passed on your condolences. As you can imagine it's been a hard couple of weeks, but as my dad would have said "enough now, get on with it". ('It' being whatever I'm supposed to be doing). And that's what this post is about really... we cremated my father last Wednesday, and so now it's time to move on and get on with life. I'll miss him, and always remember him, but I have a life to lead and a family to support so on we go.

A list of the little things that have happened & will happen

I cut my thumb on the ironing board at the weekend. How the fcuk can I cut my thumb open on the bloody ironing board??
I played football on Sunday and we lost 2 - 1 although I did quite well, getting fitter & better with each match.
We have a chimney sweep coming round today to sweep out our floo's (is that right?) so we can use our wood burning stove & real coal fire... the weather has changed, it was 2 degrees c. this morning and what better way to spend a cold evening that sat in front of a real fire?
I'm also playing football tonight, I now have a regular five-a-side game every week, so that will help with my fitness.

So that's about all so far... more posts more regularly from now on.

Peace.

My Father

Forgive the length of time since my last post. I just re-read it actually, and I can almost see myself sitting at my desk writing it, thinking my world was pretty much OK.

When I arrived home on that day (Thursday, 22nd of October) I was told that my father had passed away.

To say it was a shock is a massive understatement. He wasn't a sick man, or a weak man. He had been suffering from 'flu like symptoms' for about a week, and this had weakened him. It then appears he suffered a massive heart attack, and died at home. The post mortem has since revealed that he had an underlying 'coronary artery condition' that had never been picked up, and because he was weak from the 'flu like symptoms' his heart couldn't take it.

To say we are devastated is an understatement. My mother is of course destroyed, my sister is extremely upset and distraught.

I know you all wish to pass on your condolences to myself and my family, and I appreciate them all, but please don't feel the need to comment here. As you can all imagine, although this is extremely painful for me, I want to move on and not dwell on the misery and sorrow.
I loved my father very much, and I know he would not want me spending longer than necessary feeling like this. I will miss him a great deal, and will mourn him for a long time, but life goes on. I have a wife and son to look after, and a job to do, so I soldier on.

We are holding my father's funeral this Wednesday, so as you can imagine I won't be posting much then, but I will be back, and the best thing for you all to do for me is carry on as normal.

Thank you.

R.I.P Terry Molloy. 12/05/1950 - 22/10/2009.

Like a plastic bag caught in an updraft...

...I am tossed hither and yon on the winds of inspiration and desire.

One day I might be utterly fed up with my profile in the mirror as I stand there in all my (in)glorious nudity thinking to myself "This will not do. Weight must be lost, definition regained" and other days I will feel that the effort involved would be better suited to finding another can of lovely lovely lager.

Or, I might have the urge to write (songs, stories) or paint, or produce some other such creative tour de force, but then the very next day realize I am not that a creative person and can't even summon an interesting blog post.

I want to go buy some fantastic new piece of hardware, reveling in the very act of being alive in this 21st century or wonder and modern technology. And then I realize it's expensive and I would never actually use it.

Now I know a lot of you will have similar thoughts - but the thing that annoys me about my fickle little mind is that my feelings can change multiple times in the same day. How is that sensible and conducive to a sane day-to-day life? Or is it just me that has this??

Great, like we don't have enough of these already

Now 'science' has discovered another bastarding spider: Giant orb web spider found.

Quote: "With a leg span of up to 12cm... and a web diameter of up to 1m..."

Sweet Satan and all his little wizards, these things are truly bowel loosening.

Surprisingly free of aches & pains

I played football again last night... it was a 'short notice' thing, one of the players from Wilmslow Town plays regularly on a Monday night, and their group of blokes were a couple short, so he sent an email out asking for volunteers. As I was one of the first (or maybe only?) to respond, I was asked to go along.
It was good. No youngsters running rings round me, all blokes my age or there abouts and good football played. I thought I might be sore this morning, but I'm actually OK.
I found out there isn't a game in the league for us for three weeks... bummer. So anything I can do to keep the fitness level up (well, improve it first, then keep that level) will be welcome. Although I can't stand road running, I think that's what I'm going to have to do. I did consider getting a push bike, but a flabby, miserable, sweaty, red faced man wobbling along on two wheels is not a sight to inflict upon the fair inhabitants of Stockport and it's surrounding areas. Swimming is also out. I wouldn't want to be seen with my pale, hairy body splashing around by some young, fit & healthy life guard who'd think I was drowning and put me through the indignity of trying to give me mouth to mouth by the side of the pool. And I can't join a gym because a) I can't afford the money each month 2) I get very bored in gyms and d) I wouldn't go often enough to benefit from it. So it looks as though road running is all I can do. Joy.
Plans...
Nothing tonight. Number One Son has training tomorrow night. Nothing Thursday OR Friday night. Then it's the weekend, and on Sunday afternoon we're off back down to London to see my parents for the week. It's half term, see, so my mother will be looking after Jake for the week, I will be working out of my old Uxbridge office, and catching up with my mates. There are also TWO new additions to the extended family that is me and my friends that I have yet to meet, and I'll be doing that also.
Have a safe and quiet Tuesday everyone.

A case of mistaken interest

Just a quickie... there's a guy here in the office who for some reason thinks I'm into Moto GP (the motorbike version of F1 Grand Prix). When I started in this office a few weeks ago, I mentioned, and got talking to, this guy about motorbikes, and the fact I used to ride them etc. And now, for some reason, he thinks I am a massive fan of the Moto GP stuff, and whenever there's been a race at the weekend he comes in and says things like "did you see the race?" and "such-and-such (some racers name I don't know) threw away his title chances" etc. etc. How can I tell the poor misguided fool that I have no interest in the sport?! I just have to smile and say things like "really? Cor!" and "No, I don't believe it!" and stuff... daft eh?

This post brought to you by rice krispies & tea

Good morning children.

And what did we all get up to this weekend? Me? Well...

Jake played in a cup game on Saturday and his team lost 8 - 3. It was embarrassing. The unfortunate thing is, Jake plays up front, so his job is to score goals (which he did again on Saturday) but the rest of the team... well, I don't want to be unkind, but they are not as good as the standard Jake is used to playing, and even he now is starting to become aware of that. He has just started training with another team on a Wednesday night, which is in the division above his current team and play much better football, and if he does well enough there he will be asked to sign with them. So we'll see what happens.

Me, I played on Sunday afternoon (well, the last 15 minutes of the game anyway) and we drew 3 all. We should have won to be honest, we had enough chances, we just couldn't find the back of the net. And City drew 1-1 away from home, with ten men for the last 25 minutes. So that's not too bad, considering.

This week, I have finally got something to do - I've been told by an 'informed source' that it would be beneficial for me to start learning something called Java Server Faces (it's a new type of Java framework). I won't bore you all with the technical mumbo jumbo, suffice it to say I now have things to download and tutorials to follow, so at least I will be busy for a few days.

As for personal time - there's not much in my diary this week. Jake has training tonight, then again on Wednesday, but I have no plans at all.

I hope you all had a nice weekend, and that your Monday is as painless as possible.

Peace.

Another week slain at the alter of the weekend

Just a fancy way of saying that Friday's here at last.
It's been a fairly shitty week if I'm honest - but only because of the lack of work (don't worry, I'm not going to go on about all that again).

Someone here in the office just asked me what my plans are for the weekend, and as boring as it sounds, it could be summed up with just one word - football.
I had the email I was waiting for last night, confirming that I am in the squad for the game on Sunday afternoon (yay). Jake also has a game on Saturday morning so we'll see how he does there. Saturday afternoon I'll be watching football on TV, and then when I finish the game on Sunday afternoon I'll be rushing back home to watch City on the TV. So it is a weekend of football.

I went to John Lewis yesterday, and bought myself a new cookbook - the Wagamama Cookbook.
For those that don't know what Wagamama is, check out their website.
So now I am all enthused about oriental / Asian cooking, and will hopefully get hold of some of the ingredients to try a couple of the dishes this weekend. The two that have caught my eye so far are poached cod with shiitake mushrooms & soy, and a barbecue & honey roasted pork with noodles. P*H*W*O*A*R!

Oh, and I realized last night what's been missing from my life recently... music! I haven't been sitting at my desk listening to music recently, as I have had no need to drown out background noise because there has been none. This has happened before... I get a 'craving' for something, something undefinable, and then I realize my MP3 player hasn't seen the light of day for ages and my car stereo hasn't been switched on for ages, and that makes me think 'music!'. So I might try and rectify that today... I have a couple of albums on my iPhone that I haven't listened to properly, so I could maybe play those.

Anyway... a bit of a rambling post there, but I hope whatever you lot are doing at the weekend, you stay safe & have fun.

Peace.

As requested by Russ

In response to my previous post, Russ commented that he'd like:
A list of my top 10 albums of all time
A short story about a dwarf & a penguin
5 points that may make him think that all MP's aren't old crooks who couldn't run the country for toffee.

First of all, the top ten albums. This is VERY hard, because as most of you know, one album can be your favorite one day because of the mood you're in, one day it's not. But I will try and compile a list of 10 albums that, if I could only have 10 for a year, I would choose (in no particular order)

1. Definitely Maybe - Oasis
2. Sign Of The Times - Prince
3. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
4. Rubber Soul - The Beatles
5. Grace - Jeff Buckley
6. Appetite For Destruction - Guns 'n' Roses
7. Automatic For The People - R.E.M
8. Chutes Too Narrow - The Shins
9. The Bends - Radiohead
10. The North At Its Heights - MC Tunes (guilty pleasure album)

The Dwarf & The Penguin
(a short story by iSimon)

The dwarf was puzzled. He didn't remember leaving the penguin in the freezer, but then again he had put away a fair amount of vodka last night, and this could be another in the list of things he couldn't remember along with where his shoes were, who painted a copy of the Turin shroud on his wall and why his bedroom smelled faintly of cheddar.
It was a large penguin. In fact, given the size of the freezer, it was impressive that someone had actually managed to get the whole thing in.
"Well this won't do" he thought to himself, and so he dragged it out and put in on the draining board next to the sink. It was like handling a very thick, very rubbery, piece of rock. It was literally frozen stiff.
After pouring himself a small sherry as a 'livener', he sat at the kitchen table and contemplated his new house guest. "This won't do at all" he thought. "Is it still alive? Can it still be alive?" well there was only one way to find out. Leaving the poor creature on the draining board to defrost he went and showered and dressed for the day.
Upon his arrival back into the kitchen, he noticed a pool of water forming around his rubbery house guest, and thought "It won't be long now... we'll see. I either have a new friend, or a free dinner". Another few sherry's later, and after a nap (well, a black-out) he was awoken by something tapping at his head. "Oi. Short arse. Up and at 'em". The dwarf's bleary eyes focused on the penguin as it stood there in all it's dinner-suit-looking glory, tapping it's foot and waving it's fins around in a slightly exasperated way.
"You're alive. Bugger." Said the dwarf.
"You can talk. Bugger again". He then said
"Yes I can talk, you silly little creature, and I want to know why you left me in your freezer."
"I have no idea" said our hero "but I'm sure if I put you in there, it was for a good reason."
"A good reason? Well, let's see how YOU like it..." and with that, our vertically-challenged man was bodily hoisted into the air, and man-handled (well, penguin-handled) into the freezer!
The door closed on his weak complaints, and through the door heard the penguin start to speak.
"So you don't remember the night out we had last night? There I was, minding my own business in the penguin park, when along comes you, stinking of vodka and cheap aftershave, singing a song about Japanese air hostesses. 'Hello pengy, me ol' mate' you shouted, even though my name is in fact Brian. 'Fancy a drink?' you asked. Well, of course, penguins don't drink, but that didn't stop you dragging me out of my pool of water and forcing me into a taxi at vodka-bottle point. 'We'll have fun, you'll see' you explained, and the proceeded to take me on a night of debauchery & sin that I don't think I'll ever recover from. We arrived back here, at your little hovel, with you practically falling down drunk, and me scared out of my wits. I was not happy. You then decided 'oh, you look sad, is it because you're too warm? Here, I'll help' and the next thing I know I'm forced into the bloody freezer!" This was quite a speech by the penguin, and by now our little hero was quite chilled to the bone.
"I'm s-s-sorry" the dwarf mumbled.
"Sorry? Sorry is it? You think that makes it better?" The penguin was not happy. "We'll see about sorry".
And with that the penguin walked from kitchen and turned out the lights.
Time passed. The dwarf wasn't sure how long, as all he could measure in the dark of the freezer was how often his teeth chattered between each slowing heart beat.
Suddenly, there was light. "There you poisoned little whatsit, you've had a taste of your own medicine... what do you think now?"
The dwarf, barely able to speak, looked the penguin in the eye and said "Well, I've learned my lesson. I'll never p-p-p-pick up a penguin ever again".

End.

And finally, the 5 points on why MP's aren't all crooks and couldn't run this country for toffee.

1. Er..
2. Um..
3. Uh...
4. Nope. Sorry, can't think of any.
5. Oh, no hang on! They... no. Sorry. They're all crooks and they don't know how lucky they are.

I hope that has sufficiently fulfilled your request my dear boy.

Seconds out, round tw... oh.

So I came in this morning all fired up, expecting some snotty reply from the U.S about the email I sent yesterday... and nothing happened. The person responded with a very reasonable "OK, I'll make the changes in the rest of the code, thanks."

Oh... how disappointing! I was expecting fire and brimstone and the gnashing of teeth and the breaking of bones (as my old music teacher used to say) but there was nothing. Which, if I'm honest, was a little bit of a relief because I'm not in the mood for confrontation today.

Another day of no work in prospect... boredom... depression... not conducive to energetic exploits like arguing and getting angry.

Number One Son will be training with a new team tonight... the team two of his friends play for, so he's looking forward to that. We're not going to be leaving his current team (Stockport Vikings) just yet, but it'll be good to see if there really is a difference in technical ability and team play between the two. Oh, and England are playing tonight, but I couldn't give less than two turds about that.

So that's my Wednesday. Today, I will mostly be sitting here reading a book. For the next 6 hours. Unless someone wants me to do something for them... but I doubt it.

Try and have fun today whatever you do.

Peace.

Must...remain...calm

I received another email from the good ol' U S of A this morning. Long story short, I was asked if I knew anything about a code change, replied in the negative (because I didn't know anything about it at the time) and then this morning received the email that made me want to hurt someone / something.

I won't include the whole email, but the killer line, the one that made me swear like a drunk sailor, was :-

"Could you at least make an attempt to do some research and find out why this was done?"

Just seeing it there again has made me slap the tea lady... The nerve of this fella. The code he was talking about was changed four & a half years ago and he said that my name was the last person who updated it. Also, in the comments of the code, I have written something that tries to explain the change. So yes, OK, I made the change... but does anyone know what they did four & a half years ago, and more importantly, why? So, I did "make an attempt" and "did some research" and found out a couple of things;

1. I still don't know why this change was done. I have no emails or records from that long ago to remind myself why I made the change.

B. I don't think anyone, unless they are so anal they should be committed, keeps records of a little code change they made that long ago.

4. This bloke has no idea how much he wound me up with that comment, but if he did it on purpose, he'd better be out the next time I pop across the ocean to our U.S office.

But, trying to remain professional and above it all, I replied calmly and sensibly, stating I still didn't know why the change was made, but maybe a couple of other people who may have been involved could help. By Merlin's Beard I'm good.

Anyway. In other news...

My hands are still bad, but I haven't yet tried the Apple Cider Vinegar cure (a sad indictment of just how bone idle I can be... the stuff is there, I just haven't done anything with it yet)

I just finished reading Chris Evans' autobiography "It's Not What You Think" and I have to say I was impressed. I know he annoys a hell of a lot of people, and when he was most famous and going out on the lash with Paul "Nuttier than a bag of monkeys" Gascoigne he did get on my boobs too, but now he seems to have mellowed and his book was a darn good read. Recommended.

It's only Tuesday and I'm tired of the week already. *sigh*.

Have a nice day children.

Peace.

This can't be right

OK, I know I keep going on about it, but this morning I finished all the work I had to do by 07:50 this morning. That's it. No more emails to respond to, no code to work on... By Thor's Hammer it's frustrating.

Anyhoo... We had a flying visit to my in-laws this weekend, just an overnight stop, but the BIG difference is that before it could take anything up to four hours to get there whereas now it's an hour away. As a consequence, it's a lot easier for us to drive up there on a Saturday, spend the night, and come back on the Sunday. So that was nice.

I also had a game of online golf with my friend Scott in the U.S, and got my arse handed to me... annoying, seeing as I was 'giving it large' the week before!

Jake didn't play this weekend, as he wasn't well (cold, cough etc.) and I didn't play as we had a break for 'international commitments'.

This week... well, apart from the mind numbing boredom of no work today, I don't have much planned. So we'll take each day as it comes.

So think of me today, as you're working hard doing what you do... you may not like your job and feel like you're too busy to even pee, but rest assured you're in a better situation than me.

Peace.

School days

Last night I had a really good idea for a post. It was funny, intelligent, and above all interesting. But do you think I can remember it now, this morning? Can I bollocks. I'm rubbish.

Anyway - not a bad journey back yesterday. I left Birmingham at about 14:00 and was back home by 15:40. I had time to go get my long wavy locks cut at the local barbers, and then walk the dog.

Tonight, Number One Son's future senior / high school is having an open evening, for potential new students and parents to go take a look around. I still recall when I went to look around my new schools when I was 10 / 11. We had a choice of 4 or 5 schools in the area, so we went to look around them all. From what I remember, it was quite daunting... the sheer scale of the place, the bigger buildings, bigger playground etc. compared to the junior school I was in. It was quite unnerving. I have no doubts that Jake will cope fine with this though, as he's a lot more confident at this age than I was.

I hated school. I know a lot of people say that, but I really did. Junior school was great, but then it's not real school is it, its a doss. Senior school is where the work really starts.

** Confession Alert ** Confession Alert ** Confession Alert ** Confession Alert **

I was bullied for about three & a half years of the five years I was in high school. Nothing overly dramatic - I mean, I was never subjected to some of the horror stories you hear about in the media now days, but I was one of the first to be the butt of the jokes, the one singled out for different treatment from my peers. I know some of it was probably my own doing - I had a big mouth on me that got me into trouble sometimes, but a LOT of it was just the vindictive little bastards in my year at school having nothing better to do than single me out. I was quite small in school (still am, some would say) and I have ginger hair, so you can put two & two together can't you. I wasn't the only one, and in fact became very good friends with one of the other guys who got a lot of stick, and we remained friends for a few years after we left school. But, there wasn't a lot of other people who were treated the way I was. This was a big, massive, part of the reason I hated school so much. And now, as a parent, I am worried that Jake will receive the same treatment. He already knows that his hair color singles him out, and he deals with this really well (as far as I know), but kids his age haven't really developed their vindictive muscles yet... the next three to five years is when that really kicks in. I think he'll be OK though, as he is much more confident than I was, and I know he wouldn't put up with as much stick is I did. He is also a talented footballer, which appeals to the sporty types, and good at street dancing / performing which will appeal to the girls! So I think there is more hope for him.

I just read all that back - I didn't really plan for it being such a big outpouring of what happened in school... but it's out there now.

So... have a lovely Thursday everyone. It's nearly the weekend!

Peace.

Cross dressing - the unknown dangers

There's not much going on in my dark little world this morning, but I saw this story and thought I'd share it with you as it made me laugh.

Picking on a transvestite fail

Enjoy!

On a similar theme... this guy gets his just deserts... Judo style...

Hola amigos

It was a very early start this morning. I had planned to get up at 05.30 (yes, they have a 'five thirty' in the morning too, apparently...) but was actually awake at 05.00. So, ablutions taken care of, I was in the car and on the road by 05.30. Which means I pulled into the car park here in Birmingham at 06.50. It would have been quicker if not for sodding road works and 50mph average speed cameras in THREE places on the motorway. Still, here now, in an empty office with the first cup of God's own drink in front of me. (No, not scotch).

City drew away from home yesterday - a good point, considering that the team they played are also vying for a top four spot. I had a good ol' shout at the TV too, which I don't normally do, but last night I was getting a little *cough* wound up at some of the things going on, and I know the players OR the ref can't hear me, but speak to any football fan and that thought goes out the window... of course they can hear me, they're just ignoring me!

So I have to try extra specially hard to look busy today, as my manager is based in this office and sits behind me, and then tonight I'm going to dinner with my friend John from the Gloucester office. Another night in an anonymous hotel room, and then home tomorrow afternoon after another (half!) day in the office.

My new edition of Wired UK turned up in the post yesterday, and that made me happy.

Have a lovely Tuesday my friends.

Peace.

- Insert Title Here -

Evenin' all.

OK, Jake first. He had an audition for a character called Gavroche in Les Miserables. He goes to a stage school once a week, where he does drama, singing and dance. As part of it, they get notified when productions needs kids for whatever role, and this time Jake was put forward for this character. He went to the audition on Saturday morning, did OK in the first part when he got recalled, but then didn't get picked, which was a shame. However, it's good experience for him, and he'll know what to expect next time, as there will be more productions coming up.

Me - we were well and truly beaten on Sunday. The team we played were quicker, sharper, fitter, and played better football. We were taught a footballing lesson and no mistake. They also had more players in their 30's than we did, which helps. I'm not making excuses, but in my personal defense, this was only the second game I played for this side, I started the game and played for about 70 minutes, so was absolutely knackered, and I'm still getting back up to match fitness, so I did OK. We now have a two week break (for internationals(!)) and in the meantime I am determined to get out there and pound the streets. I need to get my fitness & stamina up as quick as possible, so I'll be running running running (Who said "Run, Fat Boy, Run"?). However, this is going to be hard to do tomorrow & Wednesday as I am in bloody Birmingham again. Shit biscuits.

The rest of this week... City are on TV tonight away at Villa (Come on the blues), as I said I am in Birmingham tomorrow and Wednesday (staying overnight this time, rather than drive back and forth) and then Thursday & Friday I have no plans.

Stay tuned folks, more updates all this week.

Update: The stuff I ordered turned up - the Hairy Bikers cook book looks really nice, and the recipes look fabulous. The Ian Brown album "My Way"... I'm disappointed in it. I bought the EP he released before the album and the four songs on it are also on the album, and they are the best tracks too... so it's a bit of a con and I'm a little annoyed at that. But I also downloaded from iTunes an album called "XX" by a band called "The XX". I know, weird. But the sound is like Portishead, or Massive Attack. Very mellow and relaxing. Recommended.

Friday

Just a quickie.

First of all, I've been picked for the Wilmslow Town squad again for this Sunday. We'll be playing away against Prestfield on Sunday afternoon. This game, I'll be trying to get more involved and relax a bit more and play my normal game, rather than just be overly worried about not making any mistakes.

Tonight, I am off to a popular music recital, or 'gig' as I think the kids call it. The Better Half has two tickets to see Richard Hawley, and as she can't find anyone else to go with, I'm accompanying her. Now, I know I don't exactly sound excited by this, but it's not the fact that it's this Richard Hawley fella (I don't know his stuff), nor is it the fact that it's going with The Better Half... I just don't like this sort of thing full stop. I've never been a fan of this kind of gathering, be it the cinema, a concert, a play... anything with lots of people in a busy place I just don't feel comfortable. Weird I know. But there you go. Even at a City match... while I'm at the game, I enjoy it, but getting there, and getting back, it frustrates me and winds me up a little.
Anyway, that's the plan for tonight.

Tomorrow, Jake doesn't have football as he has an audition. I don't want to go into too much detail yet, I don't want to jinx anything, but I'll update more maybe on Monday.

So there you go. I hope whatever you have planned for the weekend goes well, and you all stay safe.

Peace.

A win for Mr. Molloy!

For the first time in quite a while, something has gone right for me...
I have a Vauxhall Astra, and it has a slow puncture. I took it to the local garage here 'oop north' to get it fixed, and the spanner monkey who took a look at the car said to me "do you have the locking wheel nut tool?".
"What locking wheel nut tool?" says I.
Apparently, when I bought the car last year, it was supposed to come with a locking wheel nut tool - but it didn't. So, they couldn't remove the tire, which means I couldn't get it fixed. I phoned the garage I got the car from last week and spoke to someone who said I needed to check with my local Vauxhall dealer to see what they could do for me, and they would help with any costs etc. because they should have supplied the tool. Bit of a hassle thinks I.
Anyway - I did phone a local garage and they said all they could do is chisel the damn nuts off and then I'd have to order a new set of locking wheel nuts. Expensive. So I kind of forgot about it.
Anyway, today I thought "that's the wrong attitude, get it sorted lazy arse" so I phoned the garage I got the car from again, but this time spoke to someone who actually sounded like he knew what he was doing. He said to me "I'll go and look in our box of locking wheel nut tools, we might still have yours here"... and low and behold, they did! So now he's popping it into the post for me, and in a couple of days I'll have the tool and I can get the tire fixed. In the words of Napolean Dynamite - Sweet.
Oh, and as an aside, speaking to someone on the phone and saying "my nuts are this shape" and "I don't wanna chisel my nuts off" made me giggle.

Chinese remedies? Not for me

For a while I stuck to the regime and really tried to let the Chinese herbs I bought do their stuff. At first, there was no change. Then there was a change, but for the worse. The skin on my hands got even more flaky and sore. So "sod it" I thought. I gave up. Yes, I know, maybe I should have carried on, but when you can't even touch things because if feels like your hands are flaking away to nothing, it's a bit hard to stay positive.

I haven't, however, given up on folk remedies just yet. So.

After a very helpful comment from "Julzes" on an update post, I went to Earth Clinic and checked out what they had to say, and it seems Apple Cider Vinegar is the way to go. It looks as though it's a lot less hassle (I don't have to boil anything for an hour or sit with my hands in it for 40 minutes) and it won't stink up the place. All I need is a 50:50 split of water and Apple Cider Vinegar, then soak my hands for 15 minutes. I can do that! I bought some of the vinegar yesterday, so tonight will be the first go. We'll see.

In other news... I've had a headache since Monday I can't shift, I made the crab pasta last night (which was superb) and that's about it. Have a good day listeners.

I enjoyed that

I went to my first game of the season at City last night and it was a good 3 - 1 win over West Ham. I do enjoy going to the games. It's a pain in the arse traffic-wise getting there and out again, but once at the game, its good. This is the sort of thing that makes me think about a season ticket next year... we'll see.

I've had a hankering for that crab pasta I made a few weeks ago - so I think I'm gonna make it again tonight. I was just trying to find the post I did on it so you can have a nice handy link to the recipe, and do you think I can find it?! Nope. The bloody search tool isn't working for some reason (ggrrr...). And I can't be arsed to search through the 571 posts I've done since 2007. Anyway, if I can find it I'll link to it here.

Apart from that... a quiet night due tonight. There's Champions League on t'telly, so if I can find a decent game I'll watch that.

Oh, and three new things ordered from Play and that should be arriving today:

The Hairy Bikers "Tour Of Britain" recipe book.
Ian Brown's new album "My Way"
Hockey's new album "Mind Chaos" (this one is for My Better Half - note the capital letters. She will now officially be known as My Better Half).

Have a nice Tuesday everyone.

OK, no-one likes a smart arse, but now you know why I've given her the capital letters - My Better Half found the recipe on my own blog for me. I feel slow. Anyway, here it is, which is what I will (hopefully) be cooking tonight. Crab Pasta Recipe

Prison officer fail

So someone is inside for computer fraud. Do you:

a) Keep them away from all sorts of computers, especially the prisons own system?

or

b) Ask them to write a new program for you and give them full, unsupervised access to the prison computer system?

Guess which one they did.... D'oh!

Played one game, won one game.

Yes, my first run out for Wilmslow Town was a success. We won 2 - 0 away against Mobberley Rangers. As I had hoped, I started from the bench as a) it was my first game and b) I'm unfit! and I came on for the last 25 minutes or so. I didn't embarrass myself (I think) and more importantly didn't make any mistakes, which is all you can hope for on a debut. I'm hoping I did enough to be included in the squad for next week, and then as each week goes by and I get fitter I'll take part for longer in the games.

Jake didn't fair as well - he played a game on Saturday & a game on Sunday, and lost both, although he did score two in the second game on Sunday. Between you & me, the team he's in isn't as good as he's used to. He is probably one of the best in the team, even the best - and I know that sounds biased, but it could be true. The thing is, although it's a nice team, with a nice bunch of boys and the manager is a really nice bloke, it's not a good footballing side. So, Jake & I have decided that he'll play for them for a few weeks, see how it goes, but if they do not improve, we may have to look elsewhere. I know, I know, it sounds harsh doesn't it, but to be fair he needs to be playing at a high standard as a) he's capable of it and b) it's the only way he'll improve as a player. Watch this space.

This week - I'm going to watch City tonight for the first time this season, so looking forward to that, and then the rest of the week should be quiet. I'm going to find out today if I have to go to Birmingham this week (hope not!) and if I don't then I don't really have any other plans.

So, how was your weekend?

Peace.

Update: I just found out that Adam "MCA" Yauch has throat cancer. For those that don't know, he's the oldest member of the hip-hop group The Beastie Boys. It made me a little uncomfortable knowing this. I've been a fan of the group for ages, since License To Ill actually, and so I've almost grown up with them, and finding this out... I dunno, it kinda made me sad. However, reading his press release, it looks like he is going to be able to have an operation which will remove the cancerous gland, and he should make a full recovery. So that's good. Their new album "Hot Sauce Committee Pt 1" will be delayed (it was due out on Sept. 15th) but when it does come out I'll be getting hold of a copy. So remember kids - You gotta fight. For your right. To paaaaaarty!

Pick me, pick me!

Yes, I've been picked for the squad for Wilmslow Town for the first time. I play this Sunday, away, against Mobberley Rangers. I am quite excited, I mean this is the reason why I train, but also dead nervous, not wanting to make a tit of myself or let the team down. I know it sounds silly to say, but hopefully I'll start on the bench, so there's not that pressure straight away. Eventually, I want to be first choice obviously, but to start with, I'd like to ease myself into the team. We'll see what happens.

Jake also has a game on Saturday, and maybe a game on Sunday too (depending on timing) so its a big football weekend. And it's also my better half's birthday tomorrow. She's going to be the grand old age of *cough cough*.

Finally, (more football) I'm hoping to get a ticket to see City on Monday night - they're at home to West Ham, and there might be a ticket available. Fingers crossed.

Well, that's about it for Friday. I may post more later, and will definitely post about the game on Sunday, so stay tuned. Have a good weekend listeners.

Peace.

Update: Very funny image: Click here.
Update: By Merlin's Beard, look at the size of these... Unnatural!
Update: City ticket has been obtained. Sweet.

Anonymous hotel rooms? Try hotel bars

This is a guest post from someone who, because they are shy, wanted to remain anonymous. Enjoy.

You made a comment about anonymous hotel rooms, but I have to say that hotel bars are the funniest.
I have just spent the last 30 mins listening to a very amusing conversation, I think what made it funny was the female of the group not only resembled Olive from on the buses she actually spoke exactly the same
They were having a conversation about cheese, nothing wrong with that, thought I may hear the arguments for and against, roeqefort, dolcelata, or something else French or Belgium maybe, but no, cheddar. Waitrose or Liddle own brand to be precise.
Then I found out that the best cheese on toast in the south is in a café in west wycombe as they make sure the cheese is right up to the edge of the bread in order not to burn the crust,bless them.
But here lies the problem what do you do when 3 total strangers who have kept you quietly entertained decide that your opinion is valuable in their “very important debate”
Hotel bars, who needs a book or paper!

Credit where credit is due

My friend Russ commented on one of recent posts about me being in Gloucester yesterday and today. He composed and created a fantastic comment, worthy of Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, the Bard himself. I think it does not belong hidden away in the comment section of my blog, so want to dedicate this post to the comment in it's entirety.

So...here it is, his frankly genius comment. Enjoy!!

In response to Good morning children

"A colleague of mine from the hospital I worked at went to Gloucester once. He said it chucked it down all the way there and, when he was there, he stepped in some of the run-off water and it was so deep that it went up to his waist. He decided not to return ever."

Ta da! A round of applause please... well done Russ, well done!

Anonymous hotel rooms

Yes, that's where I am tonight. I have a dinner date with my mate John tonight (all you can eat chinese buffet - look out waste line) and then maybe a quiet beer in the bar before bed. I'm not sure what time I'll be able to escape tomorrow but hopefully around lunchtime as I have a long drive home.
Oh, and just a quick reminder to keep following me on Twitter. Pics and stuff will be posted all the time.

Peace.


-- Post From My iPhone

Good morning children

I'm in sunny Gloucester today. It was an early start (on the road at 05.45!) but that meant the journey was very painless and I was sat in McDonalds at 07.30 enjoying a big breakfast. Into the office for 08.00 and now a leisurely day learning about a couple of new applications and having an I.S meeting with the CIO (Chief Information Officer) from the U.S this afternoon.
Tonight, I'll be going out to dinner with my mate John who lives down here (see, a few weeks ago, I would have said "up here", but now I'm a northerner... but I digest) and then back in the office in this office tomorrow.

Last night Jake had another training session with Stockport Vikings, and did well again.

And an announcement - welcome to the world to Evvie May, the new daughter of my very bestest friend Mr. P. Senior. Mother, father, baby and big sister all doing well. And Happy Birthday to the father, who turns *cough cough* today! It's all go!

Have a lovely day all.

The (Tesco) Empire Strikes Back

I just read this story.

The last sentence cracks me up... "If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they'll miss lots of special offers."

People are weird, aren't they? Oh, and for those who want to join the Jedi Church - follow this link: Jedi Church.

A football post

OK, I don't normally post too much about football, but I'm fcukin' seething about this so why not? At the weekend, my team, Manchester City, played their local rivals United (*spit*). It was a fantastic game - loads of chances, poor defending on both sides and 7 goals scored. The thing that really got my goat though was the fact the United's winner was scored in the 6th minute of what was supposed to be 4 minutes of added time. This is not the first time that this has happened at United's ground - in fact there is an in-joke in football that when asked how much extra time should be added on to a United game when they're losing or drawing it's "until United score". And this is basically how it felt at the weekend. City had done so well to come back each time United went ahead, and we scored with about a minute or so to go to make it 3 - 3. And then, the ref's assistant held up the board for 4 minutes added time. My brother in law and I (who was watching the game at mine) sat clenched buttocked watching the clock... we got to 94 minutes... then 94 minutes 30 seconds... "BLOW UP REF, BLOW UP!" we were screaming... then it got to 95 minutes... 95 minutes and 30 seconds... and then Owen scored the winner. Pig sick, I think is the term. And now, in all the media, I'm reading reports of "United show City their place"... "We quieted noisy neighbors City"... "We showed them who owns Manchester" blah blah blah... and the fact of the matter is, a draw would have been a fair result and if it wasn't for the cheating red git of a referee it would have been. Bastards. THIS is why so many people hate United.

In other news...

Number one son had a great debut for his new side, Stockport Vikings. They won 11-2 (VERY one sided) and he scored two cracking goals. So he was happy.
My better half is back from her trip today, so I'm looking forward to getting home after work and seeing her. And this week, I may have to go to Gloucester tomorrow and stay overnight until Wednesday. Yah boo sucks. We'll see.

Soundtrack of the day: Anything to drown out the smugness of the red gits in the office...

Update: OK, I've calmed down a little more now, and after reading a couple of other articles, I have realized that we do have cause for optimism. How many other teams will score 3 goals at Old Trafford? How many other teams will be allowed to come back from behind three times at Old Trafford? Not many. If any. So we do have reasons to be cheerful this morning. I think it hurts so much because we were so close getting something out of the game but were robbed of it. Being beaten fair & square is one thing, but not like this. We'll be looking for a reaction on Monday night at home to West Ham now, so fear for the East Londoners...

Tuesdays Headlines

Patrick Swayze dead.

Yes, the iconic star of Dirty Dancing and Roadhouse and Ghost is kaputski. He lost his fight with pancreatic cancer, aged 57. He died with his family at his bedside. I'm not too sure how I feel about this... I mean, I wasn't a fan of any of his big films, and he's not an actor I've really followed the career of. But someone who I follow on Twitter said "It's so weird yet another person I've known my whole life is gone". And I guess that sums it up - most people of my generation would know who Patrick Swayze is, and now we're getting to the age where our heroes are starting to die. It's a sobering thought.

Number One Son enjoys training session with new team

Yes, he trained with the Stockport Vikings last night, and seemed to enjoy it. He started off quite quiet, but that lasted about 10 - 15 minutes, and then he was his normal...er... 'vocal' self! But he looked like he settled in OK, and I think the manager liked what he saw. There was talk of a match this Saturday, so we'll see what happens. Oh, and as I was stood there watching, I was asked to help out another group of blokes who were playing on another pitch (the training took place at a Goals / Powerleague place with multiple 5-a-side astro-turf pitches). They were one short, so dressed in tracksuit trousers and trainers I played with them for 25 minutes or so. Weren't too bad. We won. (Ha!).

Last day in the office for three days

Yes, for the rest of the week I'll be working from home to look after the dog / be there when Jake goes to school / comes home from school. Now, I'm not really allowed to get excited about that, I mean I'm supposed to be working, but when you have no work to do, and you're sat at home with Xbox, DVD... sorry, Blueray player, TV, books... well, use your imagination!

So I'm going training again tonight with Wilmslow Town. Last week, I wasn't very sharp / lacking in fitness / match practice, so this week I really am gonna work my nuts off to make a good impression. The team won on Sunday, as I posted yesterday, so it's going to be hard to force myself into a winning team, but I'm gonna give it my best. But, even if I don't get into the team, I'm enjoying the training anyway.

Have a peaceful Tuesday all.

Soundtrack of the day: I haven't really got one, it's so quiet here there's no need to drown out noise with my MP3 player. Instead, as I'm so quiet, I'll be reading "Generation A" by Douglas Coupland!

Update: Jebus!! Keith Floyd (one of my favorite chefs) has also died... story

New read

I bought Douglas Coupland's new one - "Generation A" - on Sunday. I'll quote you from the blurb...

"Generation A is set in the near future in a world where bees are extinct, until five unconnected people around the world - in the US, Canada, France, New Zealand and Sri Lanka - are all stung. Their shared experience unites them in ways they never could have imagined."

I'm only 53 pages in, but you know when you've got a good book on the go when you're only a little way in but are hooked. It's that good. I think one of the things that make it good is not just the story, but the way it's told. Douglas Coupland has such a talent for telling stories like this. If you've never read any of his books, I'd recommend "Generation X", "Microserfs" & "J-Pod".

Via con Dios amigos....

Easy like Monday morning

Another quiet weekend over & done with. I didn't go and watch the team I'm training with after all. To be honest with you listeners, I got comfortable on Sunday afternoon and couldn't be arsed to shift myself! However, they DID win 5 - 2 so it was a good result.

City also won, 4 - 2 at home against Arsenal, so it was a good footballing weekend.

This week is quite busy what with one thing and another. Tonight number one son is going for his first training session with a new team. They are called Stockport Vikings, and he's gonna go try out with them and see how he does. Tomorrow evening I'm training with Wilmslow Town again. Also tomorrow evening, my better half is going away for a few days, so it's just me and the boy and the dog. So for the rest of the week I don't really have any plans (apart from working from home Wednesday to Friday).

I hope you all had a nice weekend, and I'll update again soon.

Peace.

The weekend approaches

Yesterday's golf 'do' was very good. I didn't play too bad, but I can play better, and so subsequently I didn't finish anywhere in the top 5. But I enjoyed the day, the weather, the company and the not-being-in-the-office!

Another quiet day to get through today, and then it's the weekend.
The only concrete plan I have is 15:00 Saturday afternoon being sat in front of Sport Center on Sky Sports. Apart from that, nothing definite. I might go and watch my new (hopefully) team play their first home game of the season on Sunday afternoon.

I hope you all have a good weekend, whatever you have planned, and I'll update again soon.

Peace.

Oasis

So one of my favorite bands have split up. I remember when Mr. P Senior first got me into them - he played me the vinyl version of Supersonic and we were both in awe. It was so different to anything else we'd heard before. And, a lot of their songs have very specific memories for me, for example:

Wonderwall - one of their great anthems, although played too much in too many bars so it became annoying. But, it was one of the songs of theirs I wanted to learn to play on the guitar (and did) and I remember being in a bowling alley with a few of my friends singing along in the bar at the top of my voice (Mr S. White was there, and he's the one face that stands out in that memory).

Talk Tonight - Another good anthem, and one I really love playing on the guitar.

Masterplan - Probably my better halfs favorite Oasis song

Married With Children - another guitar favorite of mine, and one that brings back memories of playing it in the kitchen of Mr. P Senior at a party and looking up and seeing loads of people all stood round watching and singing along

Live Forever - Mr P. Junior's favorite Oasis song (I think) and when I hear it I always think of him.

Whatever - Brings back memories of the one time I saw Oasis live, at the Hammersmith Palais with Mr. P. Senior.

I could go on - but I'll open it up to the floor, do any of you lot out there have any Oasis memories / favorites?

Terrorism date?

OK, just another quick one. Am I the only person who, when today came round (with the date of 09/09/09 or '999'), thought about a potential terror attack on the UK? There is an article on the BBC news web site (here) that says that today is being used by people who want to get married and use it as a memorable wedding date. Particularly people who work in the emergency services. But the first thing I thought of was the terrible 9/11 tragedy. I'm sure at the time, or a few days later, the story came out that this date was chosen as the day to attack the U.S because of the significance of '911' (the U.S version of '999'). So, when today came round with the date '999' I thought that I wouldn't be surprised if something happened - or if a story broke of a plot being broken that would have attacked the UK. But when I've mentioned this to a couple of people, they've looked at me like I'm mental. So is it just me?

Comments in the usual way...

Football - communication that trancends cultures

I went for my first training session with my (hopefully) new team last night. They are called Wilmslow Town, they are a vets. team (veterans, as opposed to veterinarians) and play in the Cheshire FA's Veterans league. I was nervous for a number of reasons - lack of fitness due to no exercise for Lord knows how long, lack of sharpness due to not playing for ages, meeting new people (something I'm no good at) and about not making a fool of myself!

Anyway - all day it had been a lovely day, and as soon as I got to the training pitch the heavens opened (typical) and the whole session was like it was taking place underwater. So I got a bit moist. But all in all, the session went OK, I wasn't laughed off the pitch, I was technically as good as the rest, I just need to get my fitness and sharpness back and I should fit right in. I really enjoyed it. I will be going again next week, and hopefully I'll make enough of a good impression soon to be asked to go play on match day.

The title of the post - I was struck again by how even though I had never met any of these people before, and I only learned one or two of their names, we could still all communicate and work together as a team when on the football pitch, as the language of football is all encompassing. You know where you're supposed to move, what you're supposed to do with the ball etc. etc. If I was asked to go along to a meeting or something and meet all these new men, I'd probably poo a little out of nerves - but once you're on the pitch, it all becomes natural.

In other news - a much better journey today. It only took about 1hr 15, which was nice.
Half day tomorrow as I'm playing golf. And then it's Friday. Oh, and it's number one son's first day back at school today! Wish him luck, and I'll look forward to talking to him later, to see how he got on.

Peace.

And to think I used to like golf

Jumped up Jebus on a bike, look at the size of this bastard...



Now tell me mother nature isn't a bitch...

Update: I should add, this photo was taken on a golf course - apparently, the guy who took the pic said his mate spotted this 30 yards away. Good God and all his little demons...

Dancing in the sound of silence

There's an interesting article on the Telegraph's website about silent discos.
Go ahead and read it, I'll wait....

OK? Right. Part of me thinks this is actually a good idea - you get the buzz of being with like minded people having a good time to music, but with the benefit of being able to control your own sound track & volume (which at my age means turned down low). There is the comedy element of seeing someone dancing to something completely different to you, but hearing your own tunes, so making it seem as though they are dancing completely out of time, and you don't have to scream your lungs out to be heard if you want to chat - just lift an ear phone!

However, I, like many of my peers, spent their youths in loud and noisy discos / parties where going home at the end of the night with a buzzing in your ears normally meant it was a good night. And many of my patented chat up lines would not have worked so well if they were heard perfectly in near silence. The fact that I had to scream them, and get close to the ladies ear to make myself heard, no doubt helped in my de-flowering of many a drugged up party goer.

So I think that the youth of today (how old do I sound?!) should still go to the more traditional get togethers with loud music and base that makes your heart pound out of sync... but this new idea will certainly catch on more and more and I for one wouldn't mind trying it.

Peace.

A murder on our street

(Warning: This is a little upsetting)

When I say murder, I actually mean an accidental death - a neighbor's cat got knocked over and killed last night. My better half was coming back from her sisters yesterday evening, and she passed the cat lying in the road a few doors up from us. She called me (so as not to upset number one son) and said could I come outside and maybe move it out of the road. The poor thing. It was lying there, not bloody or anything, but still warm, so it'd only happened fairly recently.
So I gently picked it up and laid it on the pavement. We then had to try and find who owned it. We'd seen it before (in fact, it had had a narrow escape from our garden and our dog, who nearly caught it the other day!) but we didn't know who's it was. We knocked on one house, and said "Do you own a black cat?" and unfortunately for them it was theirs. I was of course upset for them - being told by a stranger that their cat was dead is obviously horrible - but we also worried that they thought WE had knocked it down. I mean, you could see why they would think that, couldn't you? But obviously we didn't and I hope they appreciated the fact we told them AND stopped the body being run over and mashed up. At least they could give it a decent burial. That's the problem with cats - very independent and with a 'go where I like' attitude which can often get them in trouble.
So that was a fairly low note to end the weekend on, which otherwise was quiet.
This week:
Birmingham office tomorrow (balls, bum, poo, piss) and then first training session for me with a new football team.
Birmingham office on Wednesday (hell fire & shit cakes)
Half day Thursday as I have a golf society afterNOON (idiot) tournament (really looking forward to that)
and then before we know it, it's Friday again!
Have a good Monday listeners.

Progress on a couple of things

I've found a football team that I am going to go and train with on Tuesday evening. It's a based in Wilmslow (which is about 10 miles away) and they play in the Cheshire veterans league, so I should be playing with / against players of my own age / fitness levels, which means I shouldn't look too much of a tit!

I'm also going to go and try the local driving range after work today. It's about 5 minutes away, and from what I've seen online it looks OK, so we'll see how that goes. As I don't 'do' gyms, I do need something to do once or twice in the evenings, and the driving range (when not too cold) would be ideal.

The skin on my fingers has got worse over the past couple of days. I don't know if this is because I missed two days of treatment (because of visiting parents) or if it's something else, but I'm not happy. I'll give it a few more days of treatment but if there is no change, I might have to give the shop a call and see what they say.

That's about it for today. If I think of anything exciting, I'll post more later, otherwise, have a great weekend everyone.

Peace.