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