Blog of a Twentysomething

This blog sucks

2010-11-03T15:52:00.000Z

Well it's been a long time. I'm officially back from my longest hiatus since I began blogging, though who knows how long for. It's not even going to be a particularly long entry either. I have been aware of my lack of posting over the last seven months and the guilt has indeed got to me at times, though I just couldn't come up with anything convincing to blog about. And don't get excited, as this post definitely isn't about anything convincing. Rather, I'll just feel a bit better about myself if I finally write something.

Looking back at the last few entries before I disappeared, I can see that once again the media's prediction of a boiling summer (see my post on 1st April) cursed us all and gave us yet another miserable July and August. Every year without fail. And for the record, whilst I'm blogging, I might as well state my prediction that we'll have another brutal winter - lots of snow over late December, Jan and Feb. Mark me on this in a few months time.

I'm nearly done I think. I'll include one mildly entertaining tidbit before I go. I added a girl from work on Facebook months ago and she never accepted my friend request. I'd met her and flirted with her quite a bit and was gagging to look at all her holiday snaps (read: bikini shots). I was reliably informed that she was single too, but it was a lost cause when she never accepted me. So I logged on to FB today and, for once, had a new notification. She had accepted my request, woohoo! My eyes drifted a couple of inches further down the screen so I could catch up on all the goss on my mini-feed... the very first line was an announcement that this girl was now in a relationship. AARGH! Why accept my friend request now you slut!!

Until next time.

Beautiful Day

2010-04-10T11:34:00.001+01:00

It's a beautiful day here in London and I'm delighted to say that I'm off work. I'm not suffering from last night's festivities, which included six pints of lager and a large kebab. So my tennis with Loz will hopefully be better than previously anticipated. After that we're meeting a few of the others for a civilised coffee like the yuppies we are, and who knows what after that.

I woke up this morning to find that I've been bitten... on my face. Not good. No scratching this one, no touching whatsoever in case it ends up scarring me and I look like Carlos Tevez for good. I'm hoping it will die down a bit, but at the moment it's pretty red and fresh. Ugh.

Quick entry

2010-04-09T19:29:00.001+01:00

I'm going to Watford with the boys tonight and right now I'm waiting for Simon to pick me up. I'm up for copious amounts of drink, but if we end up drifting anywhere near that Oceana shithole I'm off to get the tube home. I'm playing tennis with Lawrence at 12 tomorrow so it might be one of those occasions where I have to grind out a couple of sets, reeking of last night's hooch and struggling to swing the racket let alone get the ball in court. I can't wait.

Double shift tomorrow

2010-04-02T22:54:00.002+01:00

I've just got in from work, where the heavens opened upon me just as I the staff bus dropped me off in the car park. I was exposed to the rain for about 1 minute as I ran across the monstrously big car park towards my car, and got duly DRENCHED.

To cheer me up, I have a double shift tomorrow, 0530 to 2230, which should be fun. Especially in a damp uniform.

I guess I should be going to bed about now, but I'm not remotely tired. Alarm set for 0400.

Night folks.

Dominated, but somehow drew

2010-04-01T11:11:00.001+01:00

We all know what happened in the match last night so I won't bother writing about Barcelona's breathtaking display in the first 20 minutes. At 60 minutes and we were 2-0 down, I had that all-too-familiar sinking feeling that I'd experienced at the United game last year. Somehow the Arsenal managed to get themselves back into it though, and miraculously we're still in with a chance of qualifying next week.

Why is it so cold at the moment? I thought the weather had turned a corner. Over the last fortnight I've played tennis a number of times in shorts and t-shirt and was looking forward to April, the month which always has a heatwave and makes everyone start predicting the 'hottest summer ever'. Yesterday and today however have been bloody freezing. How is this? What is wrong with this place? And just to cap things off, yesterday I heard the first mention of a record-breakingly hot summer on the cards. Do the weather forecasters honestly think anyone is going to believe this? Three years on the trot they have said this, and all three years have been spectacularly wet, dark and depressing. I'd be more excited if I heard them predict a cold, miserable summer because in all probability it would turn out to be a scorching, unbearably hot August where the very old and the very young all perish and civil war erupts on the streets as the survivors fight for the remaining drops of water.

Until tomorrow.

Arsenal v Barcelona tonight

2010-03-31T12:10:00.000+01:00

It's the big day; Arsenal v Barcelona. I'm going to the Emirates with Alex (big thanks for the ticket mate) and Carl, and I think Daz and Loz are going to watch the match in a pub near the ground so we can meet up with them before and after. We're heading down a bit early so we can drain a couple of pints in a Gooner pub in Finsbury Park before ambling down to the ground - the weather is looking absolutely gash however so a soaking could well be on the cards for us. If the club wasn't encouraging people to wear red I'd definitely be wearing a waterproof jacket, though on this special occasion I'm going to have to wear the shirt... but if it's really chucking it down when I leave I might have to reconsider. Weatherwise it's a sobering comparison to last year where I remember going to the Emirates to watch the Villareal game in glorious sunshine donning jeans and t-shirt.

I'll have to let my 'no beer' diet slip today as it's just not the same going to the footy and not drinking pints of lager out of plastic cups in a packed boozer full of people you've never met before but feel like you're best mates with simply because they're in Arsenal shirts. The real challenge for me will be resisting the kebab or fried chicken later in the evening. Be strong J, and come on you Gunners.

Sober night

2010-03-29T22:48:00.002+01:00

Damn, I forgot to write an entry yesterday so failed in my ambition to provide daily material after only a couple of days! Not good enough. I have no excuse, it was just sheer laziness so apologies for that.

I just got back from the tennis club where I didn't drink alcohol. It was tough. The temptation was there, goading me every second to ignore my diet and just have one cheeky Magners. Which in all probability would have led to a second, and a third and so on and so on. Vodka and coke simply isn't in the same league as beer and cider in terms of refreshment so I didn't bother with that either. I was also tired from my early shift today and still feeling a bit jaded for some reason. It's been a pretty sobering week since I got back from Malaga and the annoying thing is I can't even put my finger on what it is that's actually hanging over me. Anyway, life goes on.

Disappointing day of sport

2010-03-27T20:22:00.002Z

A hugely disappointing result for Arsenal tonight, which I think finally puts an end to a spirited bash at the title. Twice we were written off earlier in the season and we clawed back an amazing amount of points. After we'd been beaten handsomely by United and Chelsea a few weeks back it was clear that if the Gooners were going to stand any chance of winning the league they'd have to win every remaining game. They got a nice winning streak going and even topped the table last week but after this latest setback you just can't see them pulling any more rabbits out of the hat. Of course, United and Chelsea could still drop points but I can't see them letting us back into it for a third time.

It's also a disappointing day because my bet on the Emirates Stadium having the most premiership goals of the season seems to have all but turned to dust now. The Emirates had been top of the goals list for near enough the whole season, but today's pathetic performance by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge where they conceded SEVEN bloody goals would seem to have put some pretty big nails in the coffin on that wager.

I've also just seen that Andy Murray has lost to Mardy Fish at Key Biscayne (where he won the championship last year). Great work Andy. The year I back you to win at least seven titles, you pull out of Doha which you won last year, then capitulate to Federer in the Aussie Open (fair enough, Federer was playing incredible tennis), then bottle it in Dubai, then roll over in Indian Wells (finalist last year), now this shit. The only time I ever supported you!

Back at work

2010-03-26T08:53:00.001Z

A quiet day to report on in the life of this Twentysomething. Yesterday I was back at work for the first time in two weeks, and duly developed a sore throat / tickly cough towards the end of the shift. This morning this has developed into one of those really annoying throaty splutters that means you can't utter more than two words without having to clear your throat. Which should be a lot of fun later on for me and for the passengers who come across me at work.

I had a quick look at the odds for the Arsenal/Barca tie and was pretty shocked to see Barca as low as 1.39 to qualify. I'm still tempted to put on a large(ish) bet on that, just as insurance against the Gooners bowing out of the competition. However I swear if I was a normal, unbiased punter then I'd be laying the shit out of that 1.39. I just hate backing Arsenal in games like these (or any game for that matter) as it doubles the pain of a loss.

Tomorrow the cabin crew strike at work recommences, leaving us ground staff with a quieter and much easier four days ahead. I wasn't at work for the first three days of the strike and thought that T5 might have been a bit like Hell on Earth, but by all accounts it was very peaceful due to the reduced schedule. The vending machines for hot drinks in the staff rooms are also put on free vend during the strike, which means I'll be having about 30 cups of tea, coffee and soup per day. During the snow disruption over winter the same thing happened and I was incapable of walking past a coffee machine without taking a free drink. I was drinking cups of black coffee and lemon tea that I didn't even want. So I'm actually, dare I say it, excited at the prospect of having an easy four days at the office. Of course, now that I've mentioned this, there will probably be biblical carnage at Heathrow. Who cares, at least I'll get a free litre of tomato soup out of it.

Doing a Gibaut

2010-03-25T13:42:00.000Z

I just visited the drinkaware website to use their useful calorie counter for alcoholic drinks and it would seem that clear spirits have about 50% less calories in them than beer. Thus swapping beer for spirits seems a reasonable direction for me to head in on my quest to lose weight, so I'll be taking a leaf out of Gibaut's book and drinking a few more of those vodka diet cokes rather than God knows how many Magners / snakebites / you name it. I remember trying a similar tactic two years ago where I vowed to drink white wine instead of beer, which had some pretty amusing consequences.

Alex managed to grab some tickets to the Arsenal v Barcelona game next week and luckily for me I'm one of the chosen ones selected to accompany him. Last time I went to the Emirates was the Champions League semi-final last year where Manchester United pissed all over us. So at least I know it can't be any worse than that. I think Sol will score against them like he did in the 2006 final, and this time there's no Eto'o or Ronaldinho to ruin things. I like the sound of that script.

Until next time.

Unfit

2010-03-24T11:10:00.001Z

It's been a while, I know. What's been happening? Not much. I still haven't found that million dollar idea but I'll sure as hell keep trying - God knows I don't have much else to do. I got back at the weekend from a week in Malaga with a few of the boys and the truth is, I feel like shit. Not in the hungover sense but just the disillusioned, low kind of feeling that comes after every trip away with the lads. It wasn't even a particularly heavy-going holiday but I've had two weeks off work now with alcohol involved pretty much every day and it's got to the stage where I actually want to get back to work rather than sitting around on the internet all day every day followed by drinks in the evening.

I played tennis yesterday with Alex and I felt so unfit. I've put on weight and had no energy whatsoever. Couple this with the jaded feelings and I think it's time I gave my body a little breather over the spring. For the next few weeks I'll be making an effort to eat relatively healthily and I'll definitely be cutting down on the booze.

Apologies for letting my blog down over the last few months, I don't know what's happened! For those of you with twitter you can follow me using the link on the right, I certainly tweet more than I blog though I'll try to make an effort to update this more regularly. Thanks for reading

To nod or not to nod

2010-02-02T20:04:00.001Z

A random blog entry. This happened to me earlier today.

I was on an early shift at work, had finished my first job of the day and was going for a well-earned coffee. I was going to a particular coffee shop in T5 which was right down the other end of the building to where I was, just because their drinks are always hot rather than the tepid stuff that you normally get anywhere else plus the fact that it has a nice quiet area to sit down in. So I got there, ordered, and waited at the end of the counter whilst the drink was being made. As I waited, I had a look towards the seating area to survey the scene. I vaguely noticed some guy sat down, and he made some kind of nodding movement to someone behind me. I looked back at the counter to collect my coffee, but then realised that the guy might have actually been nodding at me. I looked back and saw that the guy was a colleage of mine but not one I'm particularly friendly with or anything, just an acquaintace. However, if he had indeed been nodding at me as a polite hello then I had just completely blanked him. Thus, he probably thought I was an arsehole.

As I looked back, his gaze kind of drifted back in my direction and this time he was definitely looking at me. Did he nod at me the first time? Or didn't he? Do I nod at him now? What if I nod at him but he didn't nod at me first? What if he did nod at me first and now I'm blanking him yet again? Did he not nod at me the first time and is now blanking me (in which case he's being an arsehole, but I'm doing the same thing so he thinks the same about me?)

I decided to nod. Just as I nodded, he started to look away again and raised his coffee to his lips. What an arsehole!! But at the last second he must have seen my nod, because he suddenly looked back at me and lowered his coffee, and nodded, and gave a kind of awkward smile, then quickly sipped his coffee and looked away.

I still don't know what actually happened. In any case, I could no longer sit down in the nice chairs as planned, so I had to take my coffee and walk all the way back to the other end of the terminal and drink it in the noisy restroom.

Adventures in Europe over (for now)

2010-01-19T16:32:00.003Z

Hello to you all from a very gloomy North London. Just when I thought all the snow had finished, I see that more is scheduled to arrive tonight or tomorrow. The forecasters here have been ludicrously bad lately however, so I don't know if that means it is more likely to be clear than snowy. I certainly hope so because I'm at work tomorrow in one of the worst zones I could be allocated during disruption. Fingers crossed that the Met Office have screwed up the forecast yet again.

I got back from Berlin yesterday after an enjoyable weekend with Daz. Last week I went to Madrid with my uni buddy Sam, experiencing the more civilised aspects of Spanish culture as opposed to the dumps I'm accustomed to in the Canaries. Both cities were colder than I expected, with Daz and I having to dive into a cab to escape freezing to death, similar to an episode in Toronto last year with Gareth where we hailed a cab to take us the remaining 100m to the hotel.

Some of you will know that I always like to get to the airport nice and early before my flight. Yesterday we were due to depart at 1920hrs, so Daz and I got to Tegel shortly after midday. That was a bit early even by my standards, but the fact that we had to check out of the hotel at 11 and then carry our bags around in snowy conditions meant we had few other options. Of course, one consolation was that we could spend all day in the business class lounge, which we did sure enough. It actually went quite quickly in the end, and the alcoholic intake of our extended lounge stay was added to when a friendly member of cabin crew decided to ply us with champagne we didn't even ask for. Looking back on the Berlin trip my mind keeps skipping to a poignant but entertaining conversation I had with Daz in a 'tropical' cocktail bar with real sand all over the floor (!) where we had a pretty candid discussion about (a) the chances of me getting a wife and (b) the type of woman it would be if I did. The line that's been making me laugh repeatedly to myself since we got back was Daz saying something along the lines of... "My God, I would bloody love to meet your girlfriend. I'd say, 'Hi, I'm Darren, nice to meet you. What the FUCK are you doing with James?'" Undoubtedly that won't sound funny on the blog but it's got me chuckling just writing it. It stemmed from Daz telling me how I'm too selfish to have a relationship and that any girlfriend of mine would have to be "thick-skinned" to say the least. It sounds pretty harsh writing it down but it had me laughing at the time and it still does now; Dazzy you're a star!

Before I started writing this post I was in a bit of a morbid mood because I had to get the exhaust fixed on my car and I was expecting to be handed a bill of a few hundred quid. Thus I was also going to turn this entry into a dark, emo post about my previous experiences with girls. However, I was plesantly surprised by the size of the bill and I'm no longer in such a mood, so onto other things...

So far my non-drinking quest has been going with moderate success. I say moderate because I've flouted my rule about not drinking on UK soil (with the exception of airports) twice; I had one beer with my Dad when we went for a curry and I had a few drinks with Sam when he arrived at my house the night before we left for Madrid. Tonight it looks like I'll be going out with Daz, Loz and whoever else wants to come along and this will definitely be my biggest test to stay sober yet.

Ok, my fingers are aching. Until next time.

2009 end of year post

2009-12-30T12:00:00.003Z

Here is an excerpt from my 2008 end of year post:

"I remember writing a New Year's post this time last year on my old blog. It said something like 'maybe by the end of the year I'll be a policeman and will have developed things with Marie-Claire'. Lol, no success whatsoever on those goals then!Setting goals for this year.... it's a shame because I can't actually think of anything big. Of course I'd like to develop things with Marie-Claire so that's one. But other than that, I suppose the major goal will be to move on work-wise in one way or another. Another thing is to travel to a few more new places in 2009, that will be exciting. Gareth and I are currently on the cusp of organising a trip for February but no announcements yet."

So, I had zero success with Marie and zero success with my career. I did manage to visit a few more places though so there is some degree of accomplishment there. What goals can I set myself for 2010? I really don't know. I'm going to write a separate post soon on my job as part of the 'Issues' series of posts I'll be doing so I won't write too much about that here, other than I can't see much changing. As far as girls are concerned we all know about my luck / attitude, and similarly I'll be doing a post on this topic too. If I set myself a woman-related 'target', it will almost certainly be an epic fail so there is no point going down that road!

However, I think there are a couple of things I can set out to do. Firstly is the standard New Year health kick. Everyone has some kind of healthier lifestyle in mind when a new year begins so here's my token resolution... with the exceptions of my weekends in Madrid and Berlin, I am aiming to keep January an alcohol-free month. My group of friends and drinking buddies, which was once large and out every night in the golden year(s), has been becoming gradually smaller and less prolific over the last six months. This was one factor which led me to start doing late shifts only at work since October, as I wasn't missing out on much banter by doing the early shifts and keeping the evenings free. What with more friends now working / moving on / dating / ill / still studying / you name it, I still haven't really been missing out on much doing only the lates. So sod it, I'll try taking January off the booze and see what happens then. I have to confess I'm not really doing this with a healthy ending in mind, rather I'm doing to with an expectation that February will be big and messy with me returning to the fun, if there's anyone left that is. Anyway, for the time being it's a step in the right direction.

Secondly is the thing I've mentioned previously on this blog many times, that elusive moneymaking idea. Come on 2010, be the year in which I get some ideas together and lay the foundations for my own business.

Finally, I want to re-commit myself to tennis. I used to be good and with some consistent court time maybe I can become an accomplished (relatively) player again. I managed to get a lot of practice in over summer and the beginning of autumn, but November and December have been so bad weatherwise it's been impossible to get out there. In December I haven't managed to play once, what with the courts being snowed under and it pissing down with rain the rest of the time.

There we go. Have a good one everybody.

Issues

2009-12-16T12:22:00.002Z

This is part one of what will probably be a series of posts. There's nothing 'wrong' with my life at the moment per se, though there is a grey cloud that seems to constantly lurk at the back of my mind. The cloud isn't about one thing in particular I don't think, rather it envolopes a number of issues that are consistently bugging me even though on the surface things are ultimately ok. I think the cloud is essentially the fact that I am treading water in life; I'm not going down, but with the the lack of other job opportunities at BA at the moment I'm certainly not moving up. I'm not even moving sideways. Anyhow, my job is a story for a later post in this series.

This post is going to concern the first issue that niggles me, which is the one of living at home. I live at home and there is no end in sight. I do not want to move out and pay rent, and I don't have the funds yet to take out a mortgage. The idea of a mortgage was always something I hated - I hate owing money, no matter how small the sum, let alone having to shoulder a sizeable debt for 25 years. Lately I've been coming round to the idea though; it certainly beats renting. I can imagine if/when I do get a mortgage I will go into super repayment mode, with the aim being to pay the thing off as quickly as possible. I'd pay as much of it back per month as I possibly could; living frugally for years until this objective was completed.

However, I think to myself, why struggle? Despite earning a poor salary, life is good whilst I live at home. My living costs are limited, I get on well with my parents and things are fine. Of course, at the back of mind my mind I know that the longer I leave it to move out then the more I will be regarded in life as a loser. Chances of getting a girlfriend diminish even further as my image in society as a cool, young eligible bachelor gradually disappears with every day I remain here. The clock is ticking, and with every second that goes by I am becoming less cool. This is the sacrifice I make in order to be not skint and to have a relatively disposable income. In the last twelve months I have been on seven holidays and have trips to Madrid and Berlin coming up in January. If I didn't live at home, this would not have been a remote possibility.

To move forward in life, I need to get my foot on the property ladder. The sooner I own my own place, the better. By living at home I am treading water but living comfortably at the expense of being viewed favourably in society. But I suppose I should be thankful I am not sinking.

Gunners back in the title race + BA strikes

2009-12-14T17:44:00.001Z

After beating Liverpool at Anfiled yesterday courtesy of a cracking strike from Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal are now right back in the title race after everyone had written them off two weeks ago after getting destroyed by Chelsea the Emirates. I just hope the Gunners can build a good run of form and give the title a good crack of the whip. I'm not saying I think they'll win the league but I'd be delighted if we just gave Chelsea and United a run for their money. If we beat Burnley on Wednesday then we're only three points behind Chelsea at the top, with over half the season to go. Come on you Gooners.

What else has been happening.... I broke my run of losing bets by backing over 2.5 goals in the Liverpool v Arsenal game and I'm itching to back South Africa to beat England in the First Test coming up so we'll see what happens. Tonight is my last night out before heading back into work for seven late shifts on the trot but there aren't many people about so it will probably be a drab evening.

Speaking of work, it was revealed this afternoon that BA cabin crew have plans to strike for twelve days from 22nd Decemeber to 2nd January. I'm in work for six of the those days but not for the first two, so hopefully if the strikes actually go ahead then there'll be some kind of contingency plan in action by the time I turn up on the third day. Even better, the crew will destroy the whole operation and I actually won't have any work to do at all whilst I'm there. I shouldn't really say things like that because ultimately if BA go down the toilet then I'll be out of a job, but the prospect of turning up at work and there being no flights is still appealing to me.

Barnet time

2009-12-04T17:56:00.001Z

Today's blog entry will be all I can squeeze into the last few minutes before my mum serves dinner. I'm starving and I'm about to go out on the town in Barnet so I need the food. I've never been to Barnet before so anything could happen, perhaps it could even be my lucky night, Lord knows how long I've been waiting for that night to come. I don't know what 'my night' actually means but whatever it is, I don't think it's happened yet, or hasn't for a long time. I know I'm babbling; I'm out of touch with blogging but I'm eager to rekindle the love affair. I've been more active on Twitter lately. I didn't like it too much when I first joined a few months ago but it's been growing on me.

Yeah, so, tonight I'm going to Barnet with Alex and Gibaut and tomorrow all of us (fingers crossed) will be heading into Covent Garden for the the 2009 Pointless night. For those of you unfamiliar with what a Pointless night is, it's where we all meet up, have a few drinks and then separate for two hours and go drinking by ourselves. During that 2 hour window you are not allowed to speak with anyone else in the group nor drink in the same establishment as them - if you bump into someone you must immediately leave the place or change direction. It's a bit of a strange idea, hence the name 'Pointless', but the times we've done it in the past it has been hugely successful with some high levels of drunkeness and general debauchery.

I can smell dinner so I'm going to go now.

The 'not shaking hands' debacle

2009-12-03T13:09:00.000Z

I want to try to get this blog back into proper action again but I haven't had anything interesting to write about lately and I don't want to blog just for the sake of it. Anyway, I got back from Miami yesterday after a good trip and went out to watch Arsenal lose to Man City in the Carling Cup. Arsene Wenger refused to shake Mark Hughes's hand at the end of the game so I can blog about that today.

I know I'm an Arsenal fan but I back Wenger on this. Firstly, Mark Hughes is a tosser and I can fully understand Arsene not shaking his hand after the abuse the Welshman was dishing out all game on the touchline, even coming out of his technical area at one point to get closer to the Gunners boss. Secondly though, there's too much 'fair play' bollocks in sport these days. Let's face it, sport is so much more fun and interesting to watch when people are fighting / loads of fouls / loads of disagreements and so on. Wenger not shaking hands is good! It adds a nice little subplot to everything and will make future Wenger v Hughes confrontations all the more spicy. I'd really love it if a trend started where managers didn't shake hands with each other unless the game actually was played in good spirit / there weren't any disagreements or anything like that. So if managers DID shake hands it was actually a rarity.

That's all for now, hopefully I can think of something to blog about again soon. By the way I'm still racking my brains for ideas to start up a business / moneymaking schemes; this has been dominating my thoughts for several weeks now and although I haven't thought of anything I'm still pleased that this is happening as it increases the chances of me having a eureka moment... any million-dollar ideas feel free to comment.

England win by 1 run + biased media + wind + Miami

2009-11-14T11:33:00.002Z

Yesterday I put a big bet on South Africa to beat England in the first Twenty20 game. The Saffers were well on their way to reaching England's total when the rain came and the match had to be decided by Duckworth-Lewis. Of course, England won by one run. ONE RUN. The loss would be easier to take if it was by twenty or thirty runs, but one run... for God's sake, why me? Why do I lose every time I put a big bet on? Why can't I WIN by one run? Every single time I put some proper money on something it goes tits-up, against the odds. Jesus Christ.

Anyway that's enough of that, what's next on the agenda.... oh yeah, pro-British bias in tennis media. I've been having some exchanges on Twitter with David Law, who is 5 Live's tennis commentator. Some of his tweets are just ridiculous. A while ago he made a huge song and dance that some 17-year-old British girl had been beaten by the world number 65 in three close sets. I asked him if he should really be making such a fuss about this seeing as Maria Sharapova had already won Wimbledon at age 17, just to put the whole thing in perspective. He replied that no, she's not the same talent as Sharapova but still worth being optimistic about. What's to be optimistic about - she just lost to the number 65 in the world?! Great achievement. Anyhow, the other day he posted a bitter remark about Radek Stepanek being the 'over-achiever of the decade' after he beat Andy Murray. Absolute bullshit. I won't bore you with the whole exchange but you can access my Twitter on the right-hand side of this page. It really sickens me how biased the British media is towards its own athletes, it's just crazy. I'd kill for a bit of neutral commentary at Wimbledon but I doubt we're ever going to get it. It went to a new low last year when Sue Barker started banging on about Laura Robson, who was 15 at the time - yes, 15. That's how bad British tennis is, that we have to start getting excited over juniors. Give me strength.

On top of this, it's 80mph winds outside which might make for a really shitty day at work if flight start being affected.

Lastly, on a more positive note, I'm off to Miami in a couple of weeks with Gibaut to hook up with Gareth who's no doubt been having the time of his life in Raleigh the last few weeks.

That's all for now.

Agassi - even more of a legend

2009-10-28T23:27:00.000Z

Today I read some excerpts from Andre Agassi's new autobiography. The thing about him taking meths was an eye-opener but doesn't reduce my admiration of Agassi at all, in fact it probably makes me like him more for showing his human side. The drugs aside, there was some pretty inspirational stuff he wrote about when his father trained him as a child, making him hit 2500 balls a day (the required rate for him to hit a million balls a year). The funniest thing is that Agassi hates tennis! As a tennis player myself I can empathise with him; it is definitely a hatable game. It sounds weird but I guess you have to play tennis to understand it. Although maybe with Agassi's father forcing him to play there is a bit more of a logical explanation for him hating the game, but it's still amusing how someone who hates a sport and takes meths halfway during his career still came out as one of the all-time best players and with over $30m of prize money.

On a separate note, I've been booking some trips away lately. At the end of November I'll be going to Miami with Gareth and Simon and in January I'm going to Berlin for a short trip with Daz. It's nice to have some trips planned to look forward to; it gives me something to work towards.

Until next time.

24 today

2009-10-07T16:04:00.003+01:00

It's been a while so thought I'd write a quick entry on this dark day. Another year gone. I'm writing at the same time as playing two tables of poker so excuse any typos.

I can't think of anything specific to write about so I'll just note down the state of life at the moment.

- I got back yesterday from another week away in Turkey, the same hotel I went to in June but this time with a mate of mine from work. It was a good laugh though I'm still tired from a dreadful flight home (uncomfortable, really early in the morning etc)

- I'm really feeling like I'm getting old, it's like a grim figure looking over my shoulder. Hopefully this feeling will pass at some point (at least temporarily) but for now it has its claws stuck in good and proper. The gloomy feeling is always accompanied by an urge to somehow get an inspired idea and set up my own business so I can get my life going. As always, I'm still waiting for that eureka moment.

- Things are changing in my group of mates. Gareth and Chris have moved out and now have a flat together in Putney. I haven't seen either of them for weeks now - guys, I miss you. Daz has also been Mr Elusive since he's started his job. Daz - I miss you too buddy.

So there you have it, a bit of the birthday blues written just for you!

Getting old

2009-09-14T13:30:00.002+01:00

On Saturday I got back from a draining week in Gran Canaria with seven of my bestest buddies, and in this blog entry I'm going to provide a simple review of the trip. I'll start with the bad bits then move onto the good.

The bad bits

1. Gran Canaria is a dump
At least, the bit we were staying in was. We weren't expecting heaven on earth or anything, and we've been to some notorious dumps before (Magaluf, Tenerife, Ealing) but Granny C steals the title of biggest dump by a country mile. You couldn't move an inch on the street without being offered drugs or someone trying to lure you into a whorehouse. There were pickpockets all over the place and two of my mates had their phones nicked (agreed, they shouldn't have taken their phones out but still). You had to go a long way to find a restaurant that served half-decent food, so once again most of us ended up hugely malnourished.

2. The weather was crap
We were unlucky on this one. The first two days were scorchers but it went downhill from there. The rest of the days had a bit of sunshine in the mornings but quickly went overcast and stayed that way. It's no fun sitting around the pool when the skies are grey, and on one afternoon it rained and we stayed inside and watched an entire womens football match (it was that bad).

3. Long journeys
We had to connect at Madrid both on the way out and on the way back, which was a pain in the ass especially on the way back. Due to a combination of Iberia staff being grumpy and unhelpful plus Madrid airport being designed soooo badly we had a complication on the return leg and there was a lot of cursing / borderline panic going on. We didn't know whether our bags would make it back but thankfully they did, which prompted some joyous celebrations at the Gatwick baggage belts.

4. I can't hack it anymore
This is probably the biggest of the negative factors - I simply don't have the energy I used to. It wasn't the amount of drink that was consumed but the lack of sleep that did me in. It's a well-documented fact that I don't like clubs/dancing and I even went home 'early' on a couple of nights when the others all headed off to the clubs, meaning I got in by about 4 o'clock rather than 6 or 7. I always try to get up early on holiday too so I was normally out of bed by 10, or 11 latest. I even had a night in - yes, a night in - whilst the others went out, just because I wasn't feeling the going-out vibe. I always have the most fun when we start drinking in the apartment from about 8pm to midnight, our own music in the background and everyone's chirpy and getting into the mood. It's also good in the first couple of bars where the banter continues and we get tanked up. Then it usually goes downhill for me because the banter stops and the dancing starts - that's not a dig at the lads at all but just the way it is for me. It's my fault for being an anti-dancer / lover of verbal banter.

Ok, enough of that, let's get onto the better stuff.

The good bits

1. No one fell out
Our holidays in the past have seen some epic bust-ups but last years was blissfully peaceful and so was this year.

2. Great stories
There's more of a 'what goes on tour stays on tour' promise amongst us this year than ever before which prevents me from going into too much detail, but there were some great tales from the holiday. Chris, making his holiday debut, set a record for the drunkest anyone had ever been (which took some beating let me tell you). Our thongs provided much entertainment for ourselves and others unfortunate enough to be sat around the pool (don't ask, we're not gay, honest). And we all agreed that the first night was the best first night from all the holidays we've had - wrestling, late night swimming, singing, extreme drunkeness, high spirits all round. The memories will be cherished.

Thanks for reading.

I need something to do

2009-09-02T16:24:00.002+01:00

My life is just ticking over at the moment and lately I've developed a feeling that I really need something to get my teeth stuck into, a project of some kind. The monotony of my work routine just makes every day feel the same and looking back on my last 18 months of employment, it's flown by (no pun intended) and not in a good way. At this rate my life will have soon passed me by.

Stuff I'm interested in doing:

- Playing a lot more tennis and getting to a decent standard (though will be tough as the weather gets worse)
- Possibly being Social Secretary at the club with Alex
- Writing another novel (I nearly wrote a whole book whilst I was unemployed and released it chapter by chapter to the guys, it was an unfinished thriller!)
- Thinking of an idea for a business and pouring all my effort into making it work

The last idea would obviously be the best if I made it happen.

So, what's coming up in the forseeable future? I'm off to Gran Canaria with the boys on Saturday, that will be good fun as always but it will be taxing on the body, soul and especially the liver. I might be going to Austria for a few days at the beginning of October with some people from work. I might be going to the States sometime in November with Simon and Gareth and anyone else who fancies it, but that's all up in the air at the moment. And finally my Christmas party at work might be in Berlin this year. So they are all the possibilities, it will be interesting to see what I actually end up doing!

Until next time.

Untitled

2009-08-21T12:06:00.003+01:00

Well, it's been a long time. The lack of blogging hasn't been anything to do with laziness, it's just that my life the last few weeks has been completely lacking in any blogworthy moments. One of my main reasons for doing this blog is to give me something to laugh about in years to come when I look back on the idiotic things I got up to, but I haven't even done anything (too) idiotic lately.

On the gambling front I had a nightmare on the Third Ashes Test and have had a break up until the last couple of days. I've backed Australia in the final Test at 1.83, so of course the Aussies have come out to bat and are having an exceptionally nervy start. Watson's just survived three LBW shouts and the score is 4/0 off five overs. Having said all this, I don't mind losing this bet so come on England. Now that I've written that, this game is almost certainly going to be a draw :-(

Football: I watched Arsenal's first game of the season at the RE Bar with Alex last week. Before the kick-off I said that Arsenal need to get off to a flyer this season and that it would be nice if we got to Christmas without dropping a point. So, off to a flyer we got. 6-1 away to Everton and 2-0 away to Celtic. Couple that with United losing to Burnley and Liverpool losing to Spurs, surely we have the league in the bag??!! Of course, I jest. But maybe...

I'm off on holiday to Gran Canaria with the lads in a couple of weeks so I will do my best to update this blog more often before I head off.

A blog neglected

2009-08-01T11:40:00.002+01:00

Well, it's been a couple of weeks. The truth is that I haven't had anything remotely interesting to blog about. I could have done small updates along the lines of "I'm bored" etc etc but I thought I'd leave it for a bit.

At the moment I'm sat waiting/hoping for play to get underway in the third day of the third Ashes test. I've been doing a fair bit of both punting and trading lately and it's been going well. I had a bit on Mark Webber to win the F1 World Championship when he was at 33/1. I've never had an interest in F1 before and have always found it boring. However, it's bloody good fun to watch a Grand Prix when you have money on it. I've also had a bet on Newcastle to finish bottom of the Championship on a handicap market; again this was inspired from Kickingbets.

I've been betting on most of the international and domestic cricket this last month and that's also been going alright. Lots of small wins add up in the end. Having said all this, I'm royally screwing up this third Ashes test. Gambling on the weather is not fun. My position at the moment is a big lay of the draw at 1.38, hopefully there'll be some play today and a few wickets will fall if conditions suit the bowlers. I heard an interview a while ago with Rudi Koertzen though and it doesn't sound too good - apparently the ground is in worse condition than it was on the first day (which was awful).

One last thing, for any other keen gamblers out there there is a new social network where there's a lot of debate and chat about sports and trading etc. Check it out: The Sports Exchange

That's about it for now, I'll keep trying to do smaller updates on Twitter.

Don't play roulette (nap)

2009-07-14T14:21:00.002+01:00

I just went into Pinner to run a couple of errands and felt a strange complusion as I passed the Coral shop to go in and try my luck. So I put a pound in the roulette machine and put it on red. Black came up. Another pound in, on red. Black came up. I left. Note to self: don't play roulette.

This reminded me of the golden days in 2004 when online gaming was still a relatively new phenomenon. Lots of the major online casinos gave sign-up bonuses and monthly bonuses. The sign-up bonuses were usually for £50, sometimes more. The money would be transferred into your account once you had staked ten times the amount of the bonus. Example: I deposit £50, therefore I have to make £500 worth of bets before the £50 bonus was put into my account. Now this might sound like a lot, but it wasn't. Most people would just spunk the money all at once, but you could just sit there and play 500 games of blackjack and stake £1 on each hand. That's your £500 of bets done, and it would take about an hour. I was pretty lucky I seem to remember and usually finished a bit up on top of the £50 bonus itself. You'd have to be desperately unlucky to lose all £50 if you were only staking £1 per hand, and I don't think I ever even came close.

The same would then happen every month where the casinos would do a 'monthly reload' bonus, which were usually around £25 per casino per month. Easy money. The reload bonuses earnt me about £250 a month, and the one-off signup bonuses probably netted me about £500 that year. This was all when I was 18 and still at school, so it was a lot of money to me back then (it would still be a lot of money now). I've said it before, 2004 has been the best year of my life so far and will probably stay that way. Obviously the casinos wisened up to the fact that people were doing this, and these bonuses are few and far between today.

Earlier on I felt like finally having a day off the booze after a heavy weekend in Bournemouth and another couple of sessions since I got back, but sod it I'll be down the tennis club later with Daz to watch the matches. Back at work tomorrow.

Btw I'm going to start using Twitter a bit more so watch out.

Thanks for reading.

Function?

2009-07-07T08:19:00.002+01:00

I should really update the blog more often as it will be fun to look back on all this in 30 years time and probably laugh my socks off at how stupid I was. A lot of the time I sit down to write an entry and then think 'nah not blogworthy' and then move on to something else. I'll have to try to just include all that stuff from now on. The standard of the blog might go down, but let's face it it's hardly a must-read website anyway!

This bet I put on Fabian Cancellara to win the Tour de France is looking interesting, he's still at the top and his price is now down to 50/1 with most bookies. I only put a small amount on so I'll just let the bet ride and hope for something special to happen. I have no knowledge of cycling whatsoever, I just followed Chris's tip over at Kickingbets (link on right). The chances are Cancellara will quickly fade, but it's a bit of excitement for the time being.

Last night I went down to the club after work and there were a good few heads down. The night finished up sitting out on the veranda with some cocktails Tom Lewis had been making. Alex and I got into a discussion about hosting our own function down there, something like a disco where we'd bring along a laptop and do the DJ-ing ourselves for free. That way there could never be any criticism of the event from a financial perspective as it would be guaranteed to make a profit. We could then just go bananas on the publicity front and tell as many people to get down as possible and hope for a decent crowd to show up.

Three more days and then we're off to Bournemouth for the 'tennis tour'.

Update

2009-07-05T10:02:00.002+01:00

1. I backed Cancellara at 100/1 to win the Tour de France, see Kickingbets for the reasons.

2. I spent an hour on a bike at the gym the other day and pulled my arse. Won't be spending that long on one again!

3. There are still a few things I want to mention from the Roddick v Murray game:

Andrew Castle is the most biased commentator I've ever heard. He must be getting paid to make so many pro-Murray comments, even when they're entirely unwarranted (ie he's playing badly). Why can't the BBC just give unbiased coverage?
I'm fed up of hearing how 'young' Murray is. It seems whenever he loses they keep going on about how he's 'only 22'. Well let's just compare Murray to his main competitors. At age 22 Roger Federer had already won Wimbledon, whilst Rafael Nadal had won four French Opens plus Wimbledon. Novak Djokovic had won the Aussie Open. So can everyone stop telling me how young Murray is please.
An example of a stupid Castle-ism from the Roddick game: "the pressure is showing on Roddick here; you can see the amount of sweat dripping from his cap". It was a scorching afternoon, was Castle actually serious?
John Lloyd then started saying that Roddick's groundstrokes were the best he'd ever seen them. Fair enough, they were very good. But I hate these ongoing conclusions the commentators keep making that if anyone takes a set off Murray then they're automatically playing the best tennis of their careers, or they have the best backhand in the world, etc etc. Also, why is John Lloyd so pro-Murray? I thought he'd dislike him seeing as he's always pulling out of Davis Cup games.
Last thing: it was hugely annoying how Murray kept celebrating literally every point that he won. Fist-pumping, shouting 'yeah' each time. Then the BBC would show us a tornado-cam of Murray doing the fist-pumping, or shouting! For God's sake, at least use the tornado cam to show him doing an actual tennis shot!

Some notes on Andy Murray

2009-07-01T20:09:00.003+01:00

I hardly know anyone who likes him, yet the BBC this year is acting like the country is in love with Andy Murray. This is definitely incorrect and it's a bit embarrassing to be honest. Some of the ridiculous questions Sue Barker asks the other pundits are cringeworthy. Example, to John McEnroe: "how do they regard Andy Murray in the US?"...... what an idiotic question. Imagine it the other way round, an American presenter asking Tim Henman what the UK thinks of Andy Roddick. It's just a meaningless, trivial and stupid thing to ask. What is she expecting him to reply? Mac always looks as though he's struggling to think of a diplomatic answer, when inside his head he is obviously thinking something along the lines of what I've written above. In this case he replied that in the States they show Andy Roddick on primetime, but Murray definitely gets featured. What a waste of time for everybody watching, and for John McEnroe. Why not ask him something proper instead of that crap?
Why is there such abundant footage this year of Murray's mum? Who gives a shit about her? I find her more annoying than I do Andy himself. Get her off my bloody screen. Unless.... they start showing footage of her when Andy has lost a big point, rather than her doing that gut-wrenching cheer she always does when his opponent nets a volley
Is anyone else thinking that Murray hasn't really done much to impress in this tournament? Yes, of course he has played well to get this far. But Wawrinka, an average opponent, took him to five sets. Wawrinka also had a number of break points (can't remember the actual total but it was over ten) - if Murray is struggling to hold his serve against this kind of opponent than how is he going to stand a hope of facing up to Federer? I also found it laughable that as soon as Wawrinka started to play well, the commentators all started saying that he had the best single-handed backhand in the world. Come on - REALLY? Yes, it was very very good. But is it seriously better than Federer's? Or Gasquet's? I doubt anyone who saw Gasquet destroy Roddick in last year's tournament would say that Wawrinka has the better backhand. On the day, Wawrinka let himself down by not taking his chances on the huge amount of break points he had. If this was against a better opponent, Murray could have been gone in straight sets. Likewise today against Ferrero - yes Murray won in three, but he was struggling out there in the first two sets. The third set was a breeze because Ferrero gave up the ghost and was putting in shitty second serves which Murray could hammer back with interest. Hopefully Roddick will give Murray his first true test.

T5 Chaos

2009-06-29T08:16:00.002+01:00

A combination of conveyer belt failures, bad weather abroad plus air traffic control failures over Ireland have resulted in a hell of a lot of disruption at T5 over the weekend, the last 24 hours in particular. What a day for me to go back to work.

Shit.

Back

2009-06-28T11:04:00.003+01:00

I'm back from holiday but still lacking that million-dollar idea. The quest continues.

Having been away from English-speaking news channels for a week, I had no idea how any of the sport was going. No idea about what had been happening at Wimbledon, or with the Lions, or cricket, nothing. I also forgot about my small bet on Michael Sim in the golf, and would have been able to lay off for a handsome profit if I'd had access to a computer. Was pretty annoyed about that. Anyhow I'm straight back into the gambling and have followed Chris Trinder's tip to back Mark Webber for the F1 World Championship at 33/1. Fingers crossed.

Now today is a Sunday, it's sunny and I'm back at work tomorrow. I think that calls for a beer garden. However it is only 11am so I'll give it a while before I try to rally the troops. Was out last night in Covent Garden with Al Loz and Gibaut and I ended up going home around 12 with Loz. Bloody rail replacement bus services. Nightmare, had to get a cab home after being dumped off at Ealing Common with no other options. Why can't they just keep the tubes running properly at weekends?

Time for a break

2009-06-18T12:35:00.003+01:00

After a very quiet couple of weeks on the blogging front, this weekend I'm going away to Turkey with my family for a week. Looks like it's pretty hot out there at the moment so touch wood it will be alright.

Mark, as always thanks for your comment. Sorry to hear about your folks, but good luck on the money spinning ideas. With any luck I'll come up with a million-dollar idea whilst looking out over the Aegean Sea with a pina colada in my hand, then come back here refreshed and ready to bring in the bucks. Reality will probably be I return sunburned and heavier.

Gambling-wise, I backed Michael Sim in the US Open as tipped up on Kickingbets. Will be a nice litter earner if that one comes in...

Ok. I'll be back blogging in about ten days. Until then.

Think... think.. think...

2009-06-12T20:58:00.002+01:00

No updates lately because my life this last week has been a bit of a void. Nothing doing. Can't wait until next week because I have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off and these will hopefully be filled with banter because Alex is back. Daz has also finished uni, so he can no longer pull out of drinking sessions legitimately.

The vegan diet has been going fine. On a couple of occasions I know I have had un-vegan stuff, but unavoidably so. Example today, I ordered a soya milk latte in the canteen at work. Eastern European girl behind the counter, and from the look on her face I knew she didn't understand a word I'd said. Nothing I can do about that.

Anyhow, the title of this post comes from the fact that at work lately I've found myself sat staring out of the window desperately trying to think of a money spinner. Any kind of idea to set up a business of some sort; a project to get my teeth stuck into and something to steer me out of a lifetime working at that place. I've felt at times like I've been on the cusp of cracking the nut, but then my mind goes blank. So just like Winnie the Pooh, it's time to think... think.... think....

PS. John I will write an article for the site, I just have to get some inspiration first!

BA in deep trouble

2009-06-06T10:11:00.002+01:00

For the last six months or so at work we've all been frequently updated on the effect the financial crisis is having on the business and it's not good. BA are losing £2.7m a day and there is no end in sight apparently. However, the unions have a bit of a stranglehold over the company so there is no way for it to take immediate effective action. Yesterday we were told that there are crunch talks happening with the unions which will end on June 30th. The company wants to shed 1000 staff of my grade, the vast majority of which are based at Heathrow. Willie Walsh, the Chief Executive, has said that if no action is taken then in two years time there will be no BA.

There are all sorts of rumours flying around at work about what will actually happen. One thing is for sure and that is that some people (unclear how many though) will be leaving. They are offering voluntary redundancy and unpaid leave and all that jazz. If not enough people take those options (and there's no way that enough will) then something's going to have to give.

My record at work is basically unblemished. I've never been off sick and I've never been late. Although in the last couple of days it has been made clear to everyone at work that our jobs are unsafe. I'd like to think that my record would put me in good stead to keep the position but there's always that 'last in first out' method of culling staff. In this case I think that method would be stupid though, because I earn next to nothing and getting rid of me would have a negligible effect on the company's losses.

In any case, I believe the airline will survive. Whether it does so with or without me is in question at the moment. This blog might be returning to a theme of unemployment sooner than expected!

Last day in

2009-06-05T11:31:00.003+01:00

Last day in today before my three days off. My hayfever is playing up today which will be a pain the arse, sniffing all day and having bloodshot eyes. People will think I'm on coke.

So Mark hit the nail on the head the other day with his comment. Not just about the diet, but a couple of things in life too. Will probably refer back to his comment when I have a bit more time. Indeed, cutting out alcohol would be the ultimate way to lose a load of weight, but doing the vegan thing (which is going well by the way) at least offsets the alcohol intake a bit. I've lost weight this week so something is going well.

The tennis last night was knackering. All the sets were close. First was a tiebreak that finished 14-12 to the opposition, needless to say we had numerous set points. Second was a hard-fought 6-4 loss. Then the last two we battled to 6-3 and 7-5 wins. We were on court from 6.30 to 9.30 with no breaks, whilst the rest of the team were off court for probably half the night waiting for us to finish our sets so we could move on.

Might have a third team match on Monday which would be nice, even though I'll probably get hammered.

More on my days off.

Awesome comment

2009-06-04T14:40:00.001+01:00

Thanks to Mark Bellew who made an extensive comment on the last post - essential reading for all young pissheads!

I'll do a more detailed response later

J

Coping so far...

2009-06-03T17:30:00.002+01:00

It's day three of the diet and although I'm hungry quite a lot of the time it's bearable. I've certainly been eating a lot more fruit than normal, and have had several helpings of beans on toast. I had an interesting dump earlier too, it was a kind of yellow colour. Bet you're glad you checked this blog today.

I have a tennis match tomorrow for the 5th team which I'm not looking forward to one bit. My partner is shit and according to Gareth, who played with him earlier in the season, his serve is absolutely awful (there to be gobbled up) and he can't put volleys away. See how I'm already blaming my partner for the inevitable loss? Damn right.

Loz has a match at Uxbridge tomorrow too and there's a chance he might be playing with Rigor, who I think is the worst player in team tennis at Lowlands. Just awful. How the hell he's playing 4th team is beyond me.

Time for some pasta and tomato I think...

Guest Blog

2009-06-01T10:47:00.003+01:00

Area of improvement is obvious

By Jamie Wright

Arsenal’s season came to a close on Sunday with a comfortable 4-1 victory against over-achievers Stoke City. They finished the season on 72 points, 18 behind leaders Manchester United who took their 11th Premier League title.

As Theo Walcott stated in an interview this week, it is easy to see where Arsenal need to improve to challenge for honours again next season.

Walcott believes Arsenal need to learn to do ‘the dirty work’ if they want to challenge the likes of Manchester United next season. Looking at end of season statistics it is easy to see where the England international is coming from.

Throughout the season Arsenal only lost one match against the ‘big four’ teams. This means that it was the matches against the smaller teams that hampered their title credentials.

Looking at champions Manchester United, they only won one match against the ‘big four’, so it highlights the importance of taking points against the smaller teams in this league.

Walcott re-illustrates this in his interview. “The so-called littler clubs, away and at home, they are the points you have to make up... We have to do the dirty work, like we have learned from this year, and take that into next season.”

Arsene Wenger knows that over the summer he will need to strengthen his team and make sure they are more ruthless next season against teams like Hull City, Sunderland and Burnley. They need to turn their dominance and possession into goals, as they did on Sunday against Stoke.

Arsenal ended the season on a high, with 5 of their 6 defeats coming before Christmas. Their season included an unbeaten run of 21 games that went slightly un-noticed due to the gap between themselves and the top of the league.

The big argument is whether Wenger is going to add to his squad this season and if he does, will he generate some more revenue through the sale of any squad players?

There have been many reports of the possible sale of Emmanuel Adebayor this summer. This could boost Wenger’s ability in the transfer market if he did want to strengthen the team in order to be more consistent over the course of the entire season.

Next season Wenger will want to repeat their record against the ‘big four clubs’, but hope that their killer instinct against some of the relegation candidates improves and they find themselves challenging more competitively at the top next season.

Sunny...

2009-05-31T13:18:00.002+01:00

Is this the beginning of the hot summer that's been tipped? Let's hope so. Unfortunately I'm back at work today until next weekend so I'll probably miss all the good weather.

Yesterday was good fun, played cricket in the park and went to the Oddfellows in the evening. The beer garden in that place is amazing, you'd never guess it was so big. Great music too.

Tomorrow I'll be starting a vegan diet as a weight loss experiment. Until then, ciao.

Random ideas

2009-05-29T13:10:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I was spectacularly bored. Thursday night, a night which is usually steadfastly reliable as a time to get together with the boys, turned out to be a total washout. This has happened rather too often lately and I was quite low as a result. When I'm at work for six days on at a time, I always look ahead to my days off and hooking up with the lads in order to keep me going. I have to stop doing this because it makes it all the more disappointing when no one is around.

Anyhow, as my mind wandered in my quest to find something to do, I came up with a couple of half-interesting random things that I might be able to blog about.

1. Vegan diet
In order to continue my weight loss and at the same time do something other than just not eat, I thought of embarking on a vegan diet for a trial period. This would definitely not be for a sustained amount of time, just a couple of weeks or something. It would also have absolutely nothing to do with me taking a stand against killing animals or whatever - I love meat and cheese and milk and all that stuff. It's just that I think I would definitely lose weight if I went vegan - it's basically only eating fruit, veg and grains isn't it? In any case, I was thinking of starting this in June - stay tuned.

2. 'Hikes'
The writer Will Self (makes regular appearances on Have I Got News For You) has gone on random 'hikes' before and then written about his experiences. This includes walking over 20 miles from his house in South London to Heathrow Airport, before boarding a random transatlantic flight. I found this idea quite amusing and inspirational - next time I'm strangled by boredom to the extent that I was yesterday, I might go on a 'hike' of my own and record what happens. (At present my longest hike has been walking the seven miles home from Watford in the pouring rain, and another time dressed as an old man... I must aim to beat this)

Slacking

2009-05-28T12:18:00.004+01:00

I've slacked off the blog in the last week which is a shame because up until then May had been the most-frequently-blogged month in the history of this blog (could I fit the word blog in any more in that sentence?)

I was unfortunate to have some late shifts over the course of last weekend which ruled me out of a big night of banter in central London for Loz's and Alex's joint birthday bash. I heard from Gareth though that he bought something like a vodka & lemonade and a gin & tonic and it came to £17.95... when he said he'd pay by card, the price went up to £19.95!! So in that respect, maybe I had a lucky escape!

I've been emailed another guest blog which I will put up soon. I just thought I'd better make a blog post myself before I put someone else's up...

On the gambling front, I had a lucky evening on Monday when we went to Wembley Arena to watch the final night of the Premier League Darts. I'd put a cheeky score on Wade to win at 5/1 as we passed the William Hill on the way to the tube station. Collected it this morning :)

Might have a look at the French Open this afternoon, probably a bit of poker thrown in too.

PS. Hleb didn't even make the bench for Barcelona in the Champions League Final. Another big player to have left Arsenal who has failed

Newcastle

2009-05-22T13:24:00.002+01:00

I haven't blogged yet about Newcastle. It's quite simple, it would be brilliant if they go down. Please, please let them fail against Villa at the weekend.

If the Toon go down, unfortunately that means that Hull stay up. Today Cesc Fabregas has been cleared by the FA due to lack of evidence (read: no evidence) of those spitting charges. Phil Brown just made that up after the FA Cup quarter-final at the Emirates, what an idiot. If Newcastle stay up then I can't think of a nicer team to go down than Hull.

That's all for today. I'm missing a couple of birthday bashes this weekend because of work, but someone has to keep BA running in these hard times.

Backed Delhi to beat Deccan this afternoon too.

Ciao

Weather pt 2

2009-05-21T12:07:00.005+01:00

The weather in London is fine at the moment but up north it is bad. As a result the England v West Indies ODI is delayed, which is very annoying as I have £140 at stake on it (nothing to do with Dheeraj). So for the time being I'm just sat here twiddling my thumbs.

Later my dad's band has a gig at the RE Bar. Could be a good night, depending on the outcome of the cricket.

The Flyers website

Update: the cricket has been abandoned. Stakes returned but no fun.

Get off your iPhones

2009-05-20T15:35:00.004+01:00

What is it about iPhones that so totally engrosses people? An iPhone owner just cannot put his iPhone down, even if he's having a conversation with someone. He can't resist the temptation to whip out the phone, at any time. Give him half an excuse to get it out and my God it will be out faster than you know it.

The only thing worse than an iPhone owner is a group of iPhone owners, all sat there umming and aaahing over the latest application.

Even Daz now has an iPhone, meaning nearly all of my friends join the ghastly race described above. I hope this doesn't mean all our get-togethers are now going to turn into iPhone wankathons.

Till tomorrow.

Weather

2009-05-19T10:34:00.002+01:00

In the last week the weather has been crap. Overcast skies, wet and certainly not warm.

Looking back on my blog at this time last year, on May 26th I wrote: "Dreadful weather here in Northwest London today. It's nearly summer. Why is this happening? I'm not sure if I can stomach another summer like last year's."

We all know how last year's summer turned out, and the one before that. This year I've read several articles in the papers about how it's going to be hot in 2009, and each time I've read this I've said that I'm not going to be holding my breath. Long-term weather forecasting is notoriously unreliable and more often than not just plain wrong, so if anything these forecasts of a hot summer have actually dented my hopes of having some sun.

Today it's the first of three days off for me and I'm looking out the window at yet more unacceptable weather. In less than two weeks it is going to be June, which is offically summer. What the hell is going on? Why can't we have normal summers any more? I thought global warming was meant to result in hotter weather. Maybe I'll go out the front and leave my car running for the day, that might help. And I'll go and squirt all my CFC aerosols into the air.

Daz, I know you're a fellow sufferer of SAD. What are your thoughts? You must be getting jittery by now over the prospect of ANOTHER shitty summer.

Wtf

2009-05-18T11:51:00.002+01:00

Why is this headline news on the Lowlands website? Who gives a shit?

Sorry to anyone who's reading and isn't a member of the tennis club

To dance or not to dance

2009-05-15T09:31:00.004+01:00

I might do some more holiday previews in the near future, but let's face it we're going to end up going to some Spanish dump so there's not much point in me looking at tropical paradises! Thinking about it it will probably be more fun to preview a shithole so I'll definitely keep that idea in mind.

Today something a little different; an analysis of that strange human ritual, dancing. If I was to write a book on dancing (which would be akin to Ronaldinho writing a book on orthodontics) there could be many chapters. Rhythm, tempo, technique, seduction... the list goes on. The focus in today's serialisation is that vital step that precedes any of these factors - that initial decision to engage in dancing in the first place.

Now, some guys just love to dance. You just can't stop them. Step into a bar with a beat and that's it, they're off. Whether they pester you to go join them on the dancefloor or they just take off like a bat out of hell - the music simply intoxicates these guys and once they hear one of their fav tunes come out over the speakers, a transition is made.

For me, I can normally sniff out the nights where I suspect it will all culminate in dancing. Throughout the night I might put on a good show, but deep inside I'm nervously waiting for it to all begin with a grim mist of inevitability seeping through my veins with greater pressure as the evening presses on. It's like walking on a tightrope across an abyss of embarrassment, cheesey attempts to impress people of the opposite (or same) sex and no banter. Then finally, at long last, that one tune comes on and off the tightrope they fall.

Those who know me know that I don't even step onto the tightrope. I stay firmly on the edge. The thought of stepping foot on a dancefloor makes me sneer even as I sit over my keyboard this second. It all brings back bad memories of being trapped in the middle of a heaving crowd in some shitty nightclub, elbows jousting my sides and philanderers surrounding some slutty girl who knows that everyone in there is drooling over her. Everyone in there but me.

Note to self, another blog idea is about the girl who is hot but knows it. Total turnoff. Thanks, for showing me your entire cleavage, but no thanks. You cocktease. You'll never fool me.

I have the feeling this blog is getting out of control. I'll carry on for just a minute more, where was I.... yes, the moment when everyone steps onto the dancefloor - for me, that is the moment when any night ends. Whether I actually choose to leave or whether I (foolishly) decide to stay, the night is over. Dancing is not something I enjoy doing, and when I stand on the fringes sipping my beer I often wonder why there is such a compulsion to do it. Sure, I enjoy the music as much as anyone else. I just don't like to go and make weird movements over in front of the DJ whilst it's playing.

I might find the girl of my dreams on the dancefloor? Give me a break. I might pull? I doubt it. I lack the resolve, the fight and the motivation to pull on a dancefloor. I can't be bothered to compete with the jerk in the jacket who's doing his best Michael Jackson impression, or the div in the vest who's trying to act hard in front of that drunken slapper in the Hen Night sash.

By the way, there is no implication there that whilst off the dancefloor I go in the pursuit of women. If one comes and speaks to me then sure I'll do my best to entertain her, but it's often just too much effort to keep screaming down her ear above the music and just smiling and nodding at whatever she says in return without a clue what she actually said.

Again, there is no implication there that women do come up to me. And there's definitely no implication there that if one does actually come up to me, the chat is pleasant. "Who did your sideburns........" haha!

Anyway, that's enough.

PS. No I'm not gay

Halcyon Cove

2009-05-14T10:08:00.002+01:00

So, I was asked to provide a review of some potential holiday destinations this summer for our lads holiday. Here's one place then, Halcyon Cove in Antigua.

To fight the global recession and keep tourists heading there, this month the Antigua Tourist Board is offering a £120-per-adult discount on all seven-night (or more) trips to the island. Halcyon Bay works out at only £3 a night (room only) and you can take the holiday at any time in 2009. So for around £500 you could have flights and accommodation for a week in this Carribbean paradise.

The obvious downer on this one is that £500 is still a lot of money for the students in our group, and that doesn't even take into account the spending money.

In any case, in the buildup to booking your holiday I'd recommend keeping an eye out for bargains in the West Indies.

What shall I blog about?

2009-05-13T12:28:00.001+01:00

Someone leave a comment and suggest a topic

Expensive day

2009-05-12T17:57:00.005+01:00

I took the car for its MOT today and thought I'd treat it to a full service as well. The guy called me up this afternoon and told me it needs a new tyre, a new fuel filter, plus an oil leak needs fixing. All in £366. I knew the car needed some tweaks made but it was still an ouch.

After I'd dropped the wheels off at the garage I had a walk into Harrow and bought a couple of things. That set me back another £50.

I've been looking in on the Punjab v Mumbai game too and it looks like I'm going to lose another few quid on that.

So an expensive day but I'm still in quite a good mood for some reason.

Drinks later with Daz and Simon.

Guest Blog

2009-05-11T17:35:00.003+01:00

Trophy-less four years...what needs to be done at The Emirates?

By Jamie Wright

I doubt that many Arsenal fans would have thought that watching Patrick Vieira lifting the FA Cup in 2005 would be the last time they witnessed their captain lifting a trophy. A barren four years later there are questions being put forward to the board and management about what direction the club is going in to bring the glory days back to the Gooners.

Since taking the helm, Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy has been to sign un-nurtured talent and develop them to suit his own style of attractive football. Time and time again, Wenger has proved he canun-earth talent in the shape of Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira (to name a few) and develop them into household names.

However, during the last four years, Arsenal have replaced some of their experienced players with youngsters who haven’t quite been able to deliver the performances expected at a ‘big four club’.

Departing players such as Henry, Vieira and Gilberto Silva have never been replaced since leaving, so that, according to Wenger, the younger players can develop into their positions. As an Arsenal follower I feel the only young player to be extremely successful in this regard is Cesc Fabregas.

Vieira’s transfer to Juventus paved the way for Fabregas to make the position his own and he has arguably developed into one of the top three central midfielders in the world. Mathieu Flamini also became an integral part of the Arsenal first team but with AC Milan calling, he decided to jump ship and has been a major loss to Arsenal’s engine room.

In comparison with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, Arsenal’s central midfield really does lack the experience needed to challenge for honours. Alex Song, Denilson and Samir Nasri will be great players but for instant success they are not the answer compared with Gerrard, Alonso, Lampard, Essien, Carrick and Scholes.

Maybe it is time for Arsene to dig deep into the transfer kitty during the summer? The signing of Andrey Arshavin went against Wenger’s typical transfer policy and his immediate success of 6 goals in 12starts may well force Wenger to delve into the market for a few more experienced players.

I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that if a bit of experience was added to the youthful squad they already possess, Arsenal could be on the brink of brilliance once again. However, given Wenger's history, don't be too quick to use your next football bet backing such a situation to occur.

Interesting night

2009-05-10T23:31:00.002+01:00

Just got back from an 'interesting night' at the tennis club. I don't want to say too much about it because it involved a genuine psycopath and quite a lot of physical aggression, the likes of which I'm hugely unaccustomed too. The guy concerned is a real nutter who has been sectioned before so I don't want to go into too much detail as he may well be trying to find out who we all are.

Email me or facebook me for more.

Bullet points are good

2009-05-10T11:48:00.002+01:00

- Alex's blog post yesterday was hugely entertaining. Can't wait for today's update.

- The money I had on the cricket yesterday was on the IPL, and two out of the three bets won. Up £70 on the day. In response to Alex's comment - no this was nothing to do with Dheeraj. When word gets out about 'the match' I'll ring you mate.

- Last night. Gareth's. Very good, very late. Got in about 4. Night was slightly marred by the immaturity and fiery gob of a younger girl.

- Today. There's a lot I think I want to do but I'm still a bit bleary from last night. I really need some new clothes. I also want to play tennis and maybe have a pint or two in the bar afterwards. There's also two IPL matches today which I'd like to have a look at. And I want to play poker. Life's too short.

That's all for now.

What's happening:

2009-05-09T11:59:00.004+01:00

1. Alex has announced he has a new series of blog posts he'll be putting up this week, which is something to look forward to.

2. I have over £200 on the IPL cricket today. Update on that next time.

3. I'm working this afternoon and then off to Gareth's tonight. Should be good.

4. I've been approached by a sports writer who wants to 'guest blog' on this site... it would appear my readership might be larger than I thought (not that much larger though). Stay tuned!

John Terry first goalscorer

2009-05-06T12:50:00.003+01:00

I'm not going to write about the game last night.

Onto tonight.

I'm following the advice of tipster Chris Trinder at Kickingbets (link on the right) and have backed John Terry at 20/1 to be the first goalscorer in tonights Champions League semi against Barcelona.

Rome?

2009-05-05T14:26:00.002+01:00

Tonight is the biggest match of the season for the Gunners, and the biggest match so far in the history of the Emirates. Alex Ferguson has billed it as the biggest match ever between Arsenal and United. We will be there.

UP THE ARSE

Bank Holiday Monday

2009-05-04T18:57:00.002+01:00

I had a dreadful session of poker earlier where the Poker Gods definitely conspired against me. Shouldn't get too despondent though because my betting lately has been going pretty well. Long may that continue! The upcoming England v West Indies series will hopefully be profitable too... if what Dheeraj says is true then maybe we could all make our first millions in the next few weeks!

I've just been on a live chat with John the Gambler on his latest venture, the Gambling Exchange. To join, go to John's blog (http://john2e.typepad.com/my_weblog) and follow the instructions. Should be an interesting project.

I'm off to the Emirates tomorrow with Alex and Carl to see the second leg of the Champions League semi. Huuuuuuuge game. It will either be an awful evening or the best night ever. I'll also know tomorrow whether I'll be booking a mini-holiday to Rome at the end of this month. I was going to back United to qualify for the final but their price is 1.33.... is that not a bit low? I'm tempted to lay it. It's only 1-0 after all.

Arsenal haven't lost at home in Europe since that defeat to Chelsea in 2004 (truly awful night). They're unbeaten in 21 league games. Haven't conceded at home in Europe this season..... COME ON YOU GUNNERS

Crash dieting

2009-05-03T11:41:00.003+01:00

So a controversial topic to discuss today, that of crash dieting. I basically embarked on a crash diet a fortnight ago, losing three quarters of a stone in a week. It was the first time in my life I'd actually tried to lose weight and I went about it in pretty drastic style. I'd better say from the outset that I know it's not healthy, far far from it. I had quite a long conversation with Daz about it last night and he also suggested going on the Cambridge Liquid Diet (or something like that), which he’d be happy to introduce me to. For all those young and impressionable readers out there, Daz is (nearly) a qualified Dietitian. Do not try this at home.

I think I might go on another crash diet in a few weeks just before I go on holiday with my family. I’ll use this blog to chronicle my progress. Essentially it will a week or two of extreme malnutrition, hopefully with rapid results. Similar to what Ricky Hatton does to drop 20kg of excess weight he puts on between fights.

Anyway, enough for now.

Barbeque at Gary’s later.

No one home

2009-05-02T13:06:00.002+01:00

It's a beautiful weekend, plenty of sunshine and I'm off work for all of it. All week I've been looking forward to it. However, the all-too-familiar problem of nobody else sharing my excitement has once again bitten me. Alex is away, Gareth went to Aberystwyth, Lawrence has gone to Billingsworth (wtf), Covey is in pain, Daz didn't come out but offered no explanation.

I'm sat watching my bet losing on the cricket. Come on Deccan, you can do it.

Someone text me, please. Please.

Early bird

2009-04-30T10:42:00.001+01:00

There have been no updates for a while; sorry for that. I'm still feeling P'd off at Blogger for deleting my last entry. Needless to say I'm heeding Alex's advice and writing this entry in another programme.

What's happened since last time?

1. I've had a haircut
2. I've played a bit of tennis
3. Arsenal lost to Man Utd

On the tennis side of things Gareth and I had a hit at half seven on Monday morning, in the rain. This was mentioned in a team email that was sent round by Dr Dave who must have seen us / been woken up by us in his house across the road. My ultimate aim is to get an email sent to every member (or a sign put up) just reminding everybody of the 'no play before 8.30' rule, which is another rule I can say I've broken. I don't think there can be many left to break. As it's getting brighter and brighter in the mornings now, hopefully my hitting can get earlier and earlier - if I can find someone who'll play.

More on the Manchester United game next week - once again I'm going to the Emirates with Alex and Carl (cheers for the ticket Al)....

Flirting with power

2009-04-26T11:02:00.002+01:00

Just wrote a huge post on last night. Blogger, the piece of shit that it is, deleted the whole thing.

Briefly...

- I was dragged onto the dancefloor last night and danced with the chairman's wife last night (also mother of my ex-fiancee)
- I was commended for this by the Secretary.

This is now probably my worst blog post ever.

Another aeroplane dream

2009-04-25T10:40:00.003+01:00

I had yet another dream last night concerning an aircraft.... and yet again it crashed! This time however I wasn't flying it, instead I was an engineer involved in its design and construction. The plane was a Soviet Tupolev TU-144 (the Russian Concorde). The dream centred around building the first prototype, which crashed on a busy motorway on its maiden flight.

I know, I'm weird

Bets for tomorrow

2009-04-24T22:04:00.002+01:00

Another Friday night sat in by myself because everyone else is busy. The only thing I have to blog about is the bets I have on for tomorrow's IPL.

Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders: Matthew Hayden top Chennai batsman

Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians: Mumbai to win

I ended up evens today on the Bangalore v Punjab game. Pietersen out for a duck, again. Definitely the most expensive player due to marketing reasons only.

Wretched tennis form

2009-04-23T13:05:00.002+01:00

I went for a run this morning before playing tennis with Gareth at 8. We played a set, which I lost 6-3. This continues my run of pretty unimpressive form, which goes like this:

v Loz lost 6-7
v Alex 4-4 (play suspended)
v Gareth lost 3-6
v Gareth lost 3-6

The 4-4 result against Alex is obviously the most impressive considering he is a regular 2nd / 1st team player at Lowlands plus a coach. Needless to say he would have beaten me 6-4 if we'd had time to complete the set.

Regarding the run I mentioned.... I am desperately unfit. I struggled to complete two laps of a very small block. Not good.

To finish off, here is a transcript of a conversation that happened at the tennis club between Tony (the bar manager), Gareth and myself:

Tony: Gareth, have you played tennis tonight?
Gareth: Yes.
Tony: You don't look like you broke a sweat. Look at him! [gestures towards me]

[all those within earshot look at me]

Tony: James... you used to be quite athletic. [pauses, waiting for me to acknowledge this. I give a nod, knowing where this conversation is going] You look TERRIBLE

Cheers Tony.

Wasting the sun

2009-04-22T10:04:00.002+01:00

I have three days off now and the weather is set to be fantastic. I want to go outside and do something but everyone is at work or up north or revising (God, I hate that last excuse, yuck). I'm struggling to think of what I can do other than go out for a walk, which I will do at some point though obviously I want to do something else.

I've just texted Gareth to see if he fancies playing tennis tonight but I think he'll say no because of the United game.

Help.

Cold Turkey

2009-04-20T09:55:00.002+01:00

Since Wednesday's indulgence I haven't been out, spare a cameo appearance I made for an hour late on Thursday after work. I haven't had any alcohol and to be honest I feel a lot better for it. The last few weeks (arguably months, arguably years) have been crazy. I haven't made up my mind whether I'll drink tonight if there's anything going on after I've finished work, but if I do it will definitely be either wine, gin or vodka (see Alex's last blog post about this, LOL) - I'm going to try to stay clear of beer for a bit.

Nothing else to say for the time being.

Weight + Gambling

2009-04-16T12:31:00.002+01:00

Good result for the Gunners last night. Now we might have to play Man Utd four times before the end of the season, definitely three times. It's going to be very stressful.

On a completely different note. A few things lately have made me turn my attention to my weight, which is definitely too much at the moment. I'd made an effort in the last week to change my eating / drinking habits but let myself go yesterday for the football and had a disgustingly unhealthy day. I'm struggling to think of a way of losing this weight without doing something quite drastic for a few weeks (ie cut out drinking altogether). I know that when Alex leaves at the weekend to go back up north there will be an inevitable slump in the amount of people going out, even despite the unbelievable turnout on Monday night where it was standing room only at Lowlands (10+ heads). Therefore if I decided to go on this detox, Al's departure might be a good time to start.

Anyway, enough of that for now as I'm sure there'll be a lot more written about that if I go through with it. The next thing I wanted to mention was gambling. I've got back into it lately, and because I have a fairly disposable income at the moment I've upped the stakes. My bets have been nearly entirely on cricket and many have been in the region of £60 to £100, which is positively huge for me. I've had mixed results so far though I am up at the moment since I turned over this new leaf. My bets have all been based on a lot of reading I've been doing on the internet and on various forums etc etc, though it can be a mighty task sorting the wheat from the chaff on the forums sometimes. Anyhow, with the start of the Indian Premier League this weekend I'm sure I'll be having a fair few punts over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.

Bye for now.

Today should be good

2009-04-15T12:13:00.003+01:00

Today we're going to the Emirates to see the Arsenal v Villarreal game, and we'll be going to a Gooner pub near the stadium this afternoon to 'soak up the atmosphere'. Alex, Carl and I are the ones actually going to the game whilst Daz, Loz and Gary will stay in the pub and meet us there afterwards.

If all goes to plan it will be a great day and we'll be meeting Porto in the semi!

Tim Horton

2009-04-14T12:46:00.002+01:00

I'm going to start writing a few memories from some of my trips away over the last year. I haven't done any specific posts covering Toronto or Dubai but hopefully I can bring back some of the good times I had. Today's post concerns Toronto, specifically its awful coffee.

Gareth and I found ourselves in frequent need of coffee. This was partly due to the extremely cold temperatures (windchill brought it to about -28 degrees one day) and partly due to our constant tiredness after staying up late. On the afternoon of our first day there we were just returning to the hotel after 'doing' the CN Tower and the waterfront when we ventured into the coffee shop across the road from where we were staying. It was a branch of a chain called Tim Horton, which can (thankfully) only be found in Canada. We were both freezing so marched in there and had a look at their coffee menu. In fact, you could only order 'coffee'. It wasn't like Starbucks where there are a million kinds of coffee available, here it was simply 'coffee' and that was it. So we got a couple of coffees. We asked for no sugar, and were treated to some staggered looks from the staff. They went off and poured the coffee straight out of a jug which had been sat on a shelf at the back of the kitchen. No machines here. They only cost just over a dollar in any case so we didn't care. We were both gagging for some kind of warmth and chugged the coffees down in double time. Thanks a lot Tim, you're a lifesaver.

The next morning we had to get the metro to go and meet Gareth's mate Mike before we went to Niagara. En route to the station we legged it across the road and picked up a couple more of Tim's finest. This time we weren't suffering from frostbite quite as badly and had more time to actually savour the taste. Unfortunately it didn't taste quite so good this time. Gareth was the most vocal with his disapproval but I agreed that it was bad. We'd also noticed that Tim Horton was everywhere. Branches every few hundred yards in Toronto, adverts everywhere - I mean everywhere. TV, radio, billboards, and a sponsor of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Every hockey game we saw had Tim Horton adverts all round the rink. Even the public rink that we had a skate on had free Tim Horton baseball caps to give away. Crazy.

That evening on the way back from Niagara we all needed a coffee so we pulled over at the first available place, which was - you guessed it - a Tim Horton next to the freeway. Gareth ordered his, had one look at it and then asked if I wanted it. I obliged and took a look inside. The coffee was distinctly orange (weird) but I drank it anyway. It was horrible. This was the last Tim Horton we had, and hopefully the last we ever will. When we complained about it to Mike, he couldn't believe it. "Dude, they have a fifteen-minute freshness policy in there" he said and looked at us like we were idiots. We asked him if that meant that the coffee I just drank had been sat on the side for fifteen minutes. I think he then understood the problem.

Needless to say, we were Starbucks-only from then on.

Dream

2009-04-13T09:35:00.002+01:00

You might have seen on the Twitter updates that I had another dream the other night about flying World War II aircraft. The first one was a few months ago and I also blogged about that. I have nothing else to write about today so I may as well jot down the details of this other dream.

It begins with me flying a Spitfire, though unlike the first dream this time I'm actually high in the air and flying it proper. However, the outcome is the same because I still crash it although I can't remember any specifics about the crash. All I know is that I'm suddenly up in the sky by myself with no plane, sitting on a cloud, my feet dangling over the edge.

I'm looking down towards the earth, though there is no sign of any actual ground, just plain blue sky. I keep thinking that it looks to be an awful long way down and I'm slightly concerned about falling off. Also some of the debris from my crashed Spitfire is still flying around me, including one of the propellor blades which is circling around like a boomerang. Somewhere around me is a voice commentating on the crash. The speaker is unseen, though I know it to be Willie Walsh (LOL), who is saying "there is still some crash debris up there and if that blade hits that young man then it will be bad news indeed".

Sat up there on the cloud I am waiting for somebody to fly by in another Spitfire and pick me up. All of a sudden Alex materialises out of nowhere and he is just walking along. Unlike me he is walking on bare blue sky. I'm shocked because I'm nervously perched on the cloud and worrying about falling off it, and there is Al just walking along on thin air. He greets me enthusiastically and says that he's crashed his Spitfire too. "How the hell are you walking on that?" I ask him, pointing at the nothingness beneath him. He spreads his arms and shrugs. "Fuck knows!" He then beckons me towards him with his arm. With one last look below me I pick myself up and step off the cloud.

End of dream.

It's worth noting that at no point during the dream was there any feeling or awareness at all of death. It was not a nightmare. Of course, when I woke up and re-lived the dream in my head, the connotation of death is pretty obvious. As to what it really means though is anyones guess!

Thanks for reading.

Blogging can change the world

2009-04-12T12:37:00.002+01:00

We've seen in the last few days how powerful blogging can be. The Guido Fawkes blog has been instrumental in forcing the resignation of the PM's former press adviser Damian McBride over a smear campaign against the Conservative MPs.

So I'm asking myself the question; what can I do to make this blog more revolutionary? Making the content a bit more interesting and readable for a start. Maybe I could start by making some political comments about the committee at the tennis club. Once I claim a scalp there then I can move on to Westminster.

That's all for now as I have work shortly.

Disaster

2009-04-11T19:57:00.001+01:00

A blog I ALWAYS follow today tipped a 33/1 winner at Kempton, which I missed because I was at work.

Why.........................................................

http://kickingbets.blogspot.com

Twitter added

2009-04-11T08:43:00.001+01:00

That's right, this cutting-edge blog now has another feature to keep you entertained. You can read even more about my life on the Twitter updates bit in the top right.

Plans scuppered

2009-04-10T18:44:00.002+01:00

I had managed to get tonight and tomorrow evening off work so I could go out with the boys, but it doesn't look like much is happening tonight after all. Tomorrow they're all off to Strawberry Moon in town which isn't my cup of tea. Sunday I'm working. So right now I'm staring down the barrel of three days of nothing, which is awesome beyond description.

Happy Easter

Back at work, thank God

2009-04-07T11:24:00.002+01:00

So after five consecutive nights out I'm finally back at work and I have to say that I'm actually relieved. A legitimate excuse not to go out tonight! A few of the others are going to that sports bar on Haymarket again to watch the Villareal v Arsenal game. I had another hit with Alex this morning and the poor guy didn't look too up for tonight. I feel sorry for him, I really do.

Having said that, I am a bit annoyed that I won't be able to watch the game. I'll just have to keep track of the text updates on the BBC website at work. However, we're going to the Emirates next week for the second leg (cheers Al!) so hopefully that will make up for it.

I mentioned that I had another hit this morning. Again it was woeful, and I mean properly bad. Neither of us could move properly after the exertions of the last few nights and if the ball wasn't hit directly to me then I just left it. There was an amusing interlude when Alex announced that he had to 'drop his guts'. He went round the back to get into the clubhouse but the cleaners hadn't arrived so nobody had unlocked the door. He came back on court and battled on for a few more minutes but it appeared he was pretty desperate. He mentioned the possibility of taking a dump round the back of the clubhouse, or in the floodlight box (??!!) or even knocking on the Knights' door and asking to use their toilet. In the end, he legged it (I mean properly ran) all the way home to use his own bog and then ran back. Of course, one minute after he left the club the cleaners arrived and unlocked. Hahaha!

BFN.

Tennis

2009-04-06T15:46:00.002+01:00

Earlier it was another fine morning and I had a hit with Alex. I definitely got off to a slow start (read: I was playing absolutely shite) and couldn't seem to get a ball over the net. There was also a period of about five minutes where every single one of Alex's shots was landing on or near the baseline. I don't even know if he knew about this. I was effing and blinding with literally every stroke because I was pinned back about six feet behind the line.

I got a bit better as time went on but there were still some glaring weaknesses in my game...

- Every time I went for a big shot I screwed it up, often badly. There was one drill we did where I had to attack his weak second serves, which culminated in me hitting four consecutive forehands into the net before demanding to change the drill.

- Misjudging the bounce of the ball! This is a really basic requirement for any tennis player and for some reason I failed miserably at this today. Several times I was faced with a completely unchallenging ball, only to majorly overestimate how high and fast the ball would reach me at and end up struggling to hit it before it bounced twice (or most of the time it actually did bounce twice). This resulted in even more cursing. Al, I don't know if you even noticed that but it was REALLY annoying me!!

There you go, a blog entry with nothing to do with alcohol. Just in case anyone is interested in all that though, we're heading to the club later where Megan will be covering for the much-hailed Lucy, and maybe even to Watford again :-S

Bye for now.

Lots of drinking, lots more to come

2009-04-05T13:12:00.002+01:00

Alex hasn't disappointed since his return, with two big nights out already. Friday we went to Watford for Lucy H's birthday and yesterday went to her official party. Friday morning I was hungover after my dad's gig at the RE but recovered in the afternoon after some beers with Alex in the sun. I left Watford earlier than the others on Friday because I couldn't be bothered to go to Area, so I was in good condition yesterday before heading to Harrow for the party. Today however I was hungover again but a microwave tikka masala sorted that out and now I'm ready for more action. It's been a banter-filled few days and I'm sure there will be some very entertaining stories appearing on the others' blogs, as there is much to report on. I'm looking forward to reading their entries!

I think I'll be watching the United v Villa game with Alex at the club and I'm unsure what result I want. Obviously United winning would be the best result for Arsenal, but I would love to see United throw the title away after all this crazy hype about them winning five trophies. Also a Villa win would maintain the tiny, tiny chance that Arsenal still have of winning the league - I know, I know, but Wenger still hasn't officially conceded the title so nor will I!

Reading back that first paragraph, these last few days have obviously been hideously unhealthy. What I've written is probably a textbook example of how not to live. Oh well.

Ciao for now.

Acceptable amount to spend on a night out?

2009-04-03T12:44:00.003+01:00

What is an acceptable / appropriate amount to spend on a night out?

What do YOU normally spend on a night out?

I had quite a big night at the RE Bar yesterday and it stung my wallet to the tune of £60. I was in a rare good mood and was buying drinks for others (family, the Knights) without expecting anything back. £60 for a Thursday night in the RE is hugely excessive by my standards but what is the norm?

In all probability I'm going to be out the next four nights as well, so maybe I should start looking for a second career if this keeps up.

On a different note, apologies for the lack of blogging. I'm going to be getting back into the swing of it.

Mark Bellew, thank you for your ongoing comments. All feedback is greatly appreciated. I would love to give a decent blow-by-blow account of Dubai but it really wasn't that exciting; without a doubt the most unremarkable holiday I've been on since the dark old days of being forced along to rainy Devon with the folks when I was younger. It wasn't a bad holiday, just not very good for blogging about.

Until next time, adios.

Back to blogging

2009-03-30T12:07:00.002+01:00

I'm back from Dubai and back to the grind at work. In the end it only rained on one of the days I was out there so it wasn't half as bad as first expected! I was going to do a big post on the trip, but thinking about it I don't actually have that much to say. When the sun was out it was very hot, it's very multicultural, it's very urban and developing (cranes all over the place), and everything was very cheap apart from alcohol (£7 or £8 was normal for a beer).

I'm in the mood to write a big entry. My fingers are itching and ready to bash the keyboard but I'm suffering from a spot of writer's block.

Normally I get by the post-holiday blues when I arrive back from abroad but I feel fine this time so can't write about that. In fact at this moment I feel like I'm in a bit of a vacuum and have nothing to say. Very weird. I feel open to doing something new but I don't know what. I'm just writing the thoughts that are coming into my head, excuse this all being very disjointed....

Alex is back on Friday for a fortnight and I know it will be good.

Amen.

Would you believe it

2009-03-22T22:34:00.003Z

I was reading a tourist guide to Dubai earlier. When discussing the climate, it couldn't state enough how beautiful the weather was and that the sun was ever-present. Apparently on average it rains in Dubai on only five days per year.

So of course I check the forecast for next week again and this time it looks like it's going to be HEAVY RAIN on THREE DAYS.

I was speaking to the guy I'm going with and we were so close to just cancelling the trip. In the end we thought sod it let's just go, but bloody hell I just cannot believe it.

Dubai

2009-03-21T10:38:00.002Z

I'm going to Dubai on Monday with a guy from work for a short break; back at the end of the week. I'll be using a staff ticket for the first time which involves going on standby; I'm not too concerned about getting out there but it will be interesting getting back... hopefully my next post will be written from the UK once I've returned, rather than a plea for help from the UAE!

We've chosen Dubai for the sunny weather. I've just looked at the forecast and Tuesday is set for 37 degrees but heavy rain showers. Honestly I think I must have sinned in a previous life.

Bye for now

This one's for Alex

2009-03-20T00:05:00.003Z

So, tonight was Thursday B, our fond abbreviation for 'Thursday Banter'. Thursday B used to be a gathering of at least six or seven heads on a Thursday night for multiple Kronenborgs at the RE Bar and onto Champers across the road. Over time however, Thursday B has descended into little more than a farcical gathering of whoever can be arsed to turn up. Ok, at the time of writing this I'm a bit merry but on the whole I'll stand by what I write.

During this week I'd been led to believe that there'd be the usual lineup on Thursday, but I found out at the final hour that that wasn't to be. It was left to Chops and I to prop up the bar and cheer on a couple of accumulators on the darts, and thankfully it turned out to be a good night after all.

I just want to give a mention to Alex for setting my night up perfectly. When I arrived at seven I was still fuming from being let down and sat down by the TV in a huff for the first half hour. Chops was due to arrive at 8, so after Jenkins had beaten King I went to the bar to get a drink. This was when I was informed by the barmaid (Hilton) that Alex had phoned ahead and ordered a pint of snakebite for me on him, and to give me a rendition of 'One More Time' by Daft Punk. Needless to say this made my night in one second and all the ill-doing of earlier was rectified. Alex, I owe you one.

Thanks for listening.

J, the Grumpy Old Man

Phil Brown - you're a liar

2009-03-19T11:29:00.003Z

The picture above is of Phil Brown shaking hands with Arsene Wenger at the Emirates in September after Hull won. There is also a video on YouTube of them shaking hands when Arsenal beat Hull at the KC Stadium.

Of course, Brown stated that "He wouldn't shake my hand when we beat them fairly 2-1 at the Emirates. He wouldn't shake my hand when they beat us, fairly, 3-1 at the KC Stadium". When asked about Wenger's failure to shake his hand after the game, he replied "He never does".

So we've established that Brown is a liar, simple as that. So why should we assume that Cesc Fabregas spat (on the ground!) at Brian Horton? It was only Brown and Horton that witnessed it, even though it apparently took place in a packed tunnel. When asked about this by Radio 5 Live, Brown went all defensive and spluttery and asked if they were questioning his integrity. What an idiot.

FA Cup semi-final booked

2009-03-18T12:10:00.002Z

I watched the Arsenal v Hull FA Cup Quarter Final last night at the club with Daz and Gary. In the second half it was always likely that Arsenal would score, and it was right that they won even though it came via an offside goal. Of course, the highlight (lowlight) of the night was Phil Brown's furious outburst after the game. He accused Cesc Fabregas of spitting at his assistant, he said that the ref was bent, he said that the crowd and Arsene Wenger influenced the officials, he said that Arsene Wenger never shakes his hand.

However much of the above is true is for anyone to guess, but it doesn't matter. Every football team has games where they get harsh decisions given against them. You just have to live with it. You don't have to like it, but then again you don't go and embarrass yourself by giving ridiculous post-match interviews. I hope the FA throw the book at Phil Brown because he's a smarmy, arrogant tosser who can't take losing.

To anyone who says that Arsene Wenger is also a bad loser, that is true. But he is the manager of one of the best clubs in Europe who constantly go out to attack and beat teams. Phil Brown is the manager of a shitty team who overperformed at the beginning of the season. They scored a freak goal early in the game last night and wasted time for the entire rest of the match. It was pathetic, there is no other word for it. When you put all eleven men in the box after 16 minutes of a game, you are asking to be attacked and losing should come as no shock, especially against Arsenal at the Emirates.

That's all for now.

Arsenal into last eight

2009-03-12T11:42:00.002Z

What a night. Daz, Bot and I were walking along Regent Street trying to find Cheers and realised that we'd gone too far, but swore that we hadn't walked past it. We then found a boarded-up building where it used to be, so had to change plans accordingly. Thankfully I knew there was a sports bar round the corner on Haymarket so that became our base for the night. There was no mobile signal in there though, so a messy operation began trying to contact Loz and Gary to tell them where we were (having to go outside and phone them, then receiving ten texts all at once, blah blah blah) but we all got there in the end.

The bar became seriously busy but we managed to find a nice little corner just to ourselves right in front of one of the TV sets. However, this was probably the furthest possible location from the bar and from the toilets. Thus we bought all the drink for the entire game before kickoff and had about six pitchers lined up on the table in front of us. Going to the gents was an absolute nightmare and you just had to bite the bullet and go for it, pushing through the crowd, fighting to get to a urinal and then pushing all the way back. Going to the bog was at least a ten minute round trip.

I'll spare you any actual football analysis, but the penalty shootout was brilliant. Just like all England fans I'm so used to bitter disappointments with penalties and it was fantastic to be on the winning end of one for a change. By the way, Roma's second penalty (which was missed).... absolute comedy! I'm trying to find a video of it and when I do I'll post it. I think it was the worst penalty I've ever seen - Almunia saved it without even having to move. It was hit so softly, on the ground and straight down the middle.

Ok, I'm back to work today after six days off and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. Bye for now.

Drunk

2009-03-12T00:54:00.001Z

Cheers has gone bust and so we went to the Sports Cafe at the bottom of Haymarket. Quality night. This is going to be a short one as I've just got in and I'm pretty wasted.

UP THE ARSE!!!!

Nervous / eager anticipation...

2009-03-11T16:21:00.002Z

I will shortly be leaving for town; when I get home Arsenal will either be in the quarters of the Champions League or will have lost in Rome. The form all suggests that they should be ok. However, I was a little surprised to see that the price on Arsenal qualifying for the next round was as low as 1.5 on Betfair. I was close to putting in a pretty sizable lay A) because I thought that was a bit low and B) to slightly offset the agony of not qualifying if that should happen. However, I'm going to brass it out and trust in the team to do the job tonight without me betting.

At this same stage last year we had a great night watching Arsenal beat AC Milan 2-0 in the San Siro in Cheers near Piccadilly Circus, so we're heading back there tonight hopefully for a repeat. The night will be a huge anticlimax if Arsenal don't go through so please, PLEASE let them qualify! Myself, Daz, Gary, Loz and Bot are the heads and they're all heading down straight after work so we should get a good table.

What else. Oh yeah. I was bored earlier and needed a shave, and ended up sculpting a goatee which I will be sporting tonight. It definitely looks weird if not completely stupid. It took me ages trying to get it symmetrical and straight, and I think it is neither. It should be quite funny just for laughs though.

Ok, hopefully the next blog post will be a joyous one.

Extremely unhealthy week

2009-03-08T21:18:00.004Z

Here ends a week that was filled with great banter but my God did we drink too much. Wednesday was the only night I stayed in and the other nights were all pretty heavy and getting in very late. I think we gave Alex a good send-off last night after landing up at a random house party near the Pinner Arms and I'm sure it will get messy again when he's back next month. Now that that's all over though, I have to say that I'm immensely grateful that today has been alcohol-free.

Saying that, I'm not back to work until Thursday after I booked off my remaining leave. Monday night is always important, Tuesday I'm out with the family to do the whole sister's birthday thing, and Wednesday we're all heading into town to watch Roma v Arsenal. We're going to Cheers, the same bar we watched the Gooners stuff AC Milan in last year, so that will hopefully be another great evening.

Speaking of Arsenal. Great game today with three fantastic goals. It's great to see that we're back on track and things should only get better now that we have our big players coming back. Hull in the Quarter Final at the Emirates and then Chelsea at Wembley. Hopefully a few more Champions League games too. The season isn't over just yet.

Come on Man City

2009-03-04T10:20:00.005Z

As the football season comes to the crunch, this blog is probably going to become increasingly focused on Arsenal's battle to reach the Champions League next season.

Aston Villa are under proper pressure now and hopefully they will bottle it against City tonight. They haven't won in five league games and are away at Eastlands later where anything could happen. Arsenal managed a win last night so Villa are now only three points ahead in fourth spot.

COME ON CITY!

Top 4 update

2009-03-01T17:04:00.003Z

I might as well blog again about Arsenal's struggle to finish in the top four. A week ago I wrote that Arsenal have to overtake Villa within the next six league games otherwise that's it. Yesterday the Gunners drew again 0-0 at the Emirates to Fulham and I thought it was over there and then. HOWEVER... a miracle could have just happened. Villa have just drawn 2-2 at home to Stoke, having been 2-0 up with two minutes to go. This has 'turning point' written all over it (at least that's what I'm telling myself for time being anyway).

Villa don't have another 'easy' game like that for quite some time. The gap remains six points. If Arsenal can somehow muster a few goals from somewhere, will Villa start to buckle under the pressure?

Villa:

1 March v Stoke (h) DREW 2-2
4 March v Man City (a)
15 March v Spurs (h)
22 March v Liverpool (a)
5 April v Man Utd (a)
12 April v Everton (h)

Arsenal:

28 Feb v Fulham (h) DREW 0-0
3 March v West Brom (a)
14 March v Blackburn (h)
21 March v Newcastle (a)
4 April v Man City (h)
11 April v Wigan (a)

Just me and Alex

2009-02-28T17:46:00.002Z

I let myself down on the project of blogging every day, but I was seriously lacking inspiration the last couple of days so thought it'd be better just to take a short breather. I am still short of inspiration but I'll grind out an entry anyhow.

Alex is back in town and last night I went to the Manor with him and Loz. It was a good night and I had a bit of a headache this morning, though I'm pleased to report I dealt with it fine and I'm ready for more action tonight. However, it doesn't look like anyone else is. I've been at the drawing board for what Al and I can do and I have a couple of ideas, though I'm still disappointed there won't be any other faces around and this is a feeling I'm having to suffer rather too often. I'm going to stop before I get too emo.

The power of blogging

2009-02-25T19:39:00.003Z

Reading Alex's blog yesterday rekindled some fond memories. It's always nice to read someone's blog, especially when it's apparent that a little extra effort has gone into it. It's also nice to read someone's writing on a subject rather than hear them speak about it. To write about something requires more thorough thought and Alex's post I found most entertaining. It's also funny because I know that it was a result of Al experiencing extreme boredom; funny things happen when you're alone for too long!

So, to one and all, keep up the blogging.

Champions League is back

2009-02-24T10:55:00.003Z

Three more days at work before I'm off, and there should be some pretty good banter when I'm finished. More darts and drinks on Thursday, then Alex is back for a week so that should be good fun.

The Champions League is back, and with Arsenal doing so poorly in the Premiership this year this could well be their last Champions League tie for at least 18 months. Last time the Gunners were in danger of not finishing in the top four they were inspired to go all the way to the final in Europe, all with a makeshift back four led by Philippe Senderos. I can only hope for something similar this year...

I was going to say that I hope they spank Roma tonight, but thinking about it it would be nice just to score a goal for a change. Come on Arsenal.

I've put on another Kickingbet too, on Real Madrid to win the Champs League (13/1 on Betfair)

Another cool song

2009-02-23T10:52:00.002Z

This week's song that I can't get out of my head is 'Take Me Back' by Tinchy Stryder and Taio Cruz, it's been in the charts and it's very catchy. Listen to it twice and you won't be able to stop singing it, guaranteed! That's twice I've plugged a song of Taio Cruz's on this blog; a weird artist for me to like but he obviously strikes the right chord with me or something!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d1xFqsPagc

Arsenal to finish top four?

2009-02-22T09:53:00.005Z

I did a post on January 10th discussing Arsenal's chances of winning the title. Let's avoid how stupid that looks in retrospect. I listed their next twelve games and argued that they were all 'winnable'. Well the Gunners haven't actually lost a game for a while but they've suddenly developed a crisis with scoring goals, which is a rare problem for them! So, five weeks after that post I'm going to do another Arsenal-related entry, this time posing the question: will they finish in the top four?

Aston Villa have somehow kept winning all this time, though I'm hoping that their defeat to Chelsea yesterday will somewhat burst their bubble and they will embark on a nasty swing of losses and frustrating draws. An injury or five would also be nice. Looking at their next six games, they have a tough run coming up:

1 March v Stoke (h)
4 March v Man City (a)
15 March v Spurs (h)
22 March v Liverpool (a)
5 April v Man Utd (a)
12 April v Everton (h)

Compare this fixture list to Arsenal's, and the Gunners have a considerably less daunting set of matches:

28 Feb v Fulham (h)
3 March v West Brom (a)
14 March v Blackburn (h)
21 March v Newcastle (a)
4 April v Man City (h)
11 April v Wigan (a)

I think it is fair to say that if Arsenal haven't caught up by the end of that game against Wigan then that's it. The game after that is against Liverpool at Anfield which will be HUGE if Arsenal have managed to scrape into fourth because I think Villa will still be right on their heels.

Football aside, I went after work to the RE Bar with Carl, Daz and Loz last night. Two fat girls started chatting up Daz and moved on to the rest of us. I told them I was a pilot, Daz that he was a doctor, Loz that he was a teacher and Carl that he worked for the MoD (and couldn't say any more than that otherwise he'd have to kill them). They kept trying to drag us up to dance and were loitering around the doorway so we couldn't leave without going past them. By this time it was pretty late and there weren't many people left in the bar and it was clear the girls were waiting for us to make a move so they could pounce on us. Always having one last trick up our sleeve though, we acted like we were going out the back into the smoking area for a cigarette but instead vacated the premises via the back gate outside, haha!

Until next time, ciao.

Great weather (but don't hold your breath)

2009-02-21T10:21:00.004Z

Looking out the window this morning it is a fine, fine day. The scene I'm looking at right now is better than what the whole of the last two summers provided. Unfortunately I'm on a late shift today so I won't have enough opportunity to fully savour the weather, which is a shame as there's a good chance this is the best it's going to get in 2009. The temperature in summer might be higher, but I'd gladly accept every day in the summer ahead to be like today at the expense of a few degrees but with guaranteed sunshine over miserable rain.

Sadly my speculations and frustrations won't affect the weather gods. But please, please... if there's anyone out there, please can we have a decent / normal (whatever that means) summer this year.

Well I'm definitely a mug

2009-02-20T10:40:00.002Z

So we didn't even get past the first game on the accumulator yesterday. Phil Taylor, winner of God-knows-how-many World Championships and who'd been in scintillating form of late, suddenly decides to draw with the deadbeat Terry Jenkins.

Today. Don't know what I'm going to do. Again, there is no one to play with. Loz and Bot doing something with workmates. Gareth working. Daz not drinking. Alex away. Covey ill. It is Friday night before I go back to work tomorrow and I'm stuck. Not good.

Nice weather outside and no one to do anything with. I'm very tempted to go on holiday by myself in the next month or so. I just have to have the bottle to actually go ahead and book it. I probably won't but I'm still flirting with the prospect.

Mug punting again :-)

2009-02-19T16:32:00.002Z

Today I return to mug punting on Premier League darts and it feels good to be back! I think it's me, Loz, Botty and Daz who are in on the action tonight and we're doing an accumulator on Taylor, Barny, King and Klaasen all to win. If it comes down to just needing Klaasen to win I might ring up and put a cover bet on Mardle, though it will have been an exciting night if it gets that far anyway!

I've also put a small bet on PSG to win the UEFA Cup after reading Chris's latest update on KickingBets.

Good luck to all those gambling today!

5 years ago today

2009-02-18T11:04:00.003Z

5 years ago today I was 18 years old in the final year of school, due to take my final A Level exams in June. By this point I'd been rejected by Oxford so my top two choices for University were Durham and St Andrews, and I knew I was more than capable of getting the grades to get into either. However, this point in my life probably marked the height of my complacency academically. I'd always been lucky to possess a strong innate ability to do well at school without doing much work outside the classroom. Most people have the tendency to doss around in the lower years and then knuckle down when it matters but I was the complete opposite. For some reason I let myself become supremely confident in my ability to get the grades I needed whilst putting in the absolute minimum of effort. In some lessons I barely paid attention in class. I wasn't disruptive or noisy, I just had real trouble keeping my mind focused on what was being taught. I had a bit of a wake-up call in maths when I scored 4% in one of the mock papers and basically had to teach myself the whole module from scratch in free periods. Come June I'd sorted it out though and got 75% in that one. In English, the reverse happened. We did a mock paper one morning and I got 98%. That is a crazy score to get in English, where it's nigh on impossible to get top marks for a written essay. Looking back, this is definitely the worst possible thing that could have happened to me in that subject. I still kind of hold it against my teacher for giving me that mark, because she could easily have just given me 80% which would still would have been an A. As soon as I saw the 98% result, I just thought 'right, no need to do any work in English for the rest of the year'. So I didn't. Going into the summer exams, the only possible way I could have not got an A grade in English was to get an E in the paper I'd scored 98% on. It couldn't have been scripted better - I got an E in the paper, so ended up with a B overall. At the time I didn't care too much, because I still got the grades to go to the uni I wanted. In retrospect I was a bloody idiot and I'll regret how I acted back then forever. Throughout school English had always been my strongest subject and to get a B in my final year in that manner completely and utterly sucked. It was genuinely shameful.

So what did I get up to outside school? I drank a lot for my age and went out with the boys at least two or three times a week. We'd have a double vodka to start and to finish on every big night - looking back on that we were crazy! Thinking back to then, a ton of great nights stick out. I'd probably call those days the time of my life. We were all so young, up for it, full of life and naive enough not to worry about the future at all (well I certainly didn't anyway).

Career-wise at that point I was planning to go get a bursary from the army whilst at uni and go to Sandhurst after graduating. Over the next few months I submitted all the paperwork, had my interview and was scheduled to do the physcial tests over the summer. This all went tits-up however after that fateful evening when Portugal knocked England out of Euro 2004 and I got ran over outside the chicken shop. Maybe I'll do a separate post on that incident!

Despite the drinking, I was very into sport and fitness. This is when I first started getting interested in working out, and Daz and I would bunk games every Wedensday and go to Highgrove to hit the iron instead. I was also really motivated on the tennis court, and I'd have regular hits with Alex. The two of us partnered each other in the doubles in the summer and should have won it. I may well never get as good an opportunity to win a Lowlands trophy again. We lost in three sets to Simon and Kieron in the quarters, having stuffed them in the first. Again, an example of how complacency has ruined my life! In the semis we would have faced Ian and Colin, and then Nev and Gary Farrant in the final - what a weak draw that was! I believe 100% that Alex and I would have won it if we'd only finished off Simon and Kieron in the second set that day.

This post was meant to refer just to February 2004, but it's drifted a bit more towards the summer now. That year was magical, as I already said I'd call it the time of my life. I've left such things as Bud Season and our first ever lads holiday unmentioned, maybe another time.

Thanks for reading.

Good song

2009-02-16T23:51:00.001Z

I really like the new Madcon song, 'Liar'. It's been in my head all day at work.

Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIOKysz-Pe0

I made it in the nick of time to keep up my pledge of posting daily!