This blog sucks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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.