Today saw me venture into Manchester in order to do a little shopping. Now, I only have to buy a couple of presents for some secret Santas, and I couldn't be bothered. Instead, I bought some CD-R's and a mini hoover for the laptop. Whilst i was buying some food, I saw a christmas stocking for the cat, so I bought that as well.
I got home and whistled Nobby inside (he comes to a whistle, clever cat)
Anyway, he went rooting inside the bag, and pulled out the cat christmas stocking. He was going apeshit. I decided to open it up and give him one of the treats, and he bit me....not nipped, actually sank his bloody teeth in and drew blood, because he was so excited at getting at the stuff.
Whilst I was trying to attend to my wound, I looked, and discovered that one of the treats was catnip biscuits. Christ did they work. He was slavering by the time I opened the pack, and when I refused to give him another one he was awing at my leg and trying to bite my steel toe caps.
Wierd!
Current Tune = Bittersweet by Crosby & Nash
I have spent both Saturday & Sunday in bed with a cough and sneezing. Once again my body allows me to fall ill on the first couple of days I have had off in ages. Oh well. Least I slept a lot. It’s no use trying to stop it, just let it get in with it and hope it’s better by Monday.
Funnily enough this usually works, and this morning I feel more alive. Hopefully I will stay like this all day rather than descending into a spiral of sneezes and sniffles.
Am currently sat on the train waiting for it to set off to Euston. This time I have changed the travel plans somewhat and I am heading from Euston to Tottenham Vale, then by train to Rye House. Rye House is much closer to the depot and will eliminate the need for a £20 cab ride from Enfield Chase, which was where I ended up last time. You would assume, would you not, that if the depot has an Enfield postcode, then the damn thing would be somewhere near Enfield. Wrong! Oh well. Lesson learnt.
Current Tune = Winter Palace by Barn Burning.
I actually booked a seat for the trip back on Thursday as last week was no fun at all. I asked for a table seat, but I would be very surprised if I got one. Least I shouldn’t be stood up until Stoke on Trent . The following day the back of my legs and my arse felt like an iron bar. All the muscles in the back of my legs had tensed. Shows how unfit I am..lol
Current Tune = return to Innocence by Enigma.
When you are on a journey like this, there is not much else to do other than people watch. It always amazes me how people get all possessive about where they sit. If you are sat at a table, sometimes it’s obvious that the person usually sits there because they give you a look that could kill. Obviously you, a mere passenger, had the temerity to sit in THEIR seat. Oh well, I guess I will just have to live with it. Shame really. The person giving me daggers was actually quite cute..lol
Current Tune = There was a time by Guns N Roses.
I have listened to the new GnR album and I am not convinced in the slightest. T’s Mr Rose’s voice, but the rest just seems missing. It’s like listening to a studio backing group while he sings in front of them. Oh well, apparently this is the first of 3 albums. I assume it can only get better. It’s very strange though.
Am now going for a doze..lol
Current Music = Mustang Sally by Andrew Strong from The Commitments Album
Am off to work in Hoddesdon for a couple of days. I arrived back from Lichfield last night amid stories of incredible snowfalls etc. When I got home there was very little snow, which led to various arguments on Facebook about home much snow there actually WAS up in Royton. By all accounts it was 20 feet deep with people needing snowshoes and skis.
Anyway, I got in to a freezing cold house, and to a washing machine that had failed to dry my shirts properly, so I switched on the gas fire and dried them overnight in front of that. Needless to say, getting up at 5.30 to iron them wasn’t one of this mornings more pleasant tasks.
Current Music = Try a Little tenderness by Andrew Strong off The Commitments
Apparently the American car industry needs a total bail out to the tune of 28bn dollars, now, forgive me for asking, but why wasn’t this spotted earlier? I mean, when I need money around the end of the month I can generally tell somewhere around week 2. How come they have gone to congress with only a months money left? How come they haven’t been there all year asking for a bit at a time, telling the government what a state the industry is in, and how they won’t survive? Forget the idea that a free economy should bail out a private organisation, that every other business in the world (apart from banks obviously) has to stand on it’s own 2 feet. And that people should stand and fall by their decisions. Why are these people still in a job? Why haven’t they been flirted off as the start of a very long line?
Hmmmm. Don’t get me started. I not had a rant in ages!
Current Music = Firesuite by The Doves
The train is getting busier. Interestingly enough, even though I am sat at a seat that says “available” over the top of it, some bloke has just come up and tied to claim it as his reserved seat because he should have been on the 8.15 rather than the 8.45. Needless to say he received short shift. While I have every sympathy with the fact that his train was cancelled, he would have to be very lucky to get his original seat on a train that left 30 minutes after the one he was supposed to be on.
Train seat reservations are a bunh of shit anyay. I tied to book a seat for the 8.45 last night when I bought my ticket, only to be told that they were all reserved? So, how come when I arrived on the train at 8.16 this morning there were a fair few seats that were not reserved and were marked as available. It’s a sham. As well as that, people who travel on the train on a regular basis (i.e pass holders, ) are not allowed to book a regular seat, so the regular users, are usually the ones who are most inconvenienced even thought they contribute most to the system.
Current Song = Catch the Sun by The Doves
We are now out on the Cheshire Plain, and I admit there is a little snow. You can still see the grass underneath, so it’s not exactly blizzards and making well for the winter, it’s just a slight snowfall? In Sweden it would be considered nothing more than the first snow of the winter?
That didn’t stop people going sledding yesterday however. Silly sods. One day they will learn that keeping warm in the house is usually much better for you. Rather than sliding on your arse down some hillside where you are probably gonna get trapped in the barbed wire hidden in the ditch at the bottom?
With it now being December, official mention of this years festivities can now be mentioned. Last Friday was the Lichfield Christmas party, where everyone seemed to have a good time, and a week on Friday CAD are ll going out on the beer, and on the 20th is the Finance Christmas party. Apparently at some Italian in Royton. No doubt someone will give me better directions nearer the time. All in all lots of beer, and Christmassy type food.
Current Tune = Roll with It by Oasis.
Apparently, today The Queen will inform the British People of her governments plans for the following year. Should be an interesting one. Given the fact that the economy is fucked, that the government are now trying to instill themselves upon the nation as some sort of Dictatorship, and that manufacturing and business is probably at it’s lowest ebb in the last 30 years. Even the local camping shop are having a sale. Cheap tents! Because (wait for it!) “Now is the Winter of our Discount Tent”
Current Music = Henrietta by The Fratellis
It’s now 9.40. We have been travelling an hour and should be going through Stafford fairly soon. We won’t be stopping as we now only have to stop at Milton Keynes and Watford junction. I bought my ticket last night when I got back to Piccadilly. The price difference was amazing. If I had caught the 8.15, my return to Enfield would have costs £242.00, wheras waiting 30 mins meant that my ticket ended up costing £62.00. Now, given the fact that the 8.15 was cancelled, I think I got the better deal. I assume that anyone who HAD paid £242.00 would be allowed to claim back the difference, I would bloody hope so.
Current Tune = My Friend John by The Fratellis.
We are about to hit Rugeley Trent Valley. You can tell because the big powerstation gives it away. It’s massive and you can see it for miles. It will be quite funny shooting through Lichfield at 125 mph. All the snow had now buggered off, and it’s just cold. Mind you, given the temp they run the carriages at on Virgin, it’s a wonder we don’t all die of heat exhaustion. I’m sure it’s a ploy to make people buy more drinks. I rarely buy anything from the buffet car as there is a sainsburys at the station which is much cheaper. I bought a baguette and a 1.25 litre bottle of diet coke this morning and it cost £2.87. If I had bought something similar on the train it would have cost £3.10 for a sandwich and another £1.20 for a small bottle of coke. So £4.30 instead of £2.87. And I thought that Dick Turpin was dead.
Current Music = Boom Boom by The Yardbirds.
We are just passing through Atherstone. Nothing much special about that, except that Atherstone used to be the centre of felt hat making in the UK . Ladies hats were made in Luton, Christies mad gents hats in Stockport, but felt hats were made in Atherstone. Dunno why? Maybe there were a large number of rabbits?
Felt was made by mashing up rabbit skin, chopping it up, washing it, and re-forming it into felt. There was melusine and there was peach bloom, both of which were fur felts. When I used to own the hat wholesalers I wouldn’t buy it as I object strongly to fur and would only buy felt hats that were made from wool.
Before I owned the company we used to sell mink hats, and, not only did I object to them on moral grounds, I also couldn’t actually touch them as I used to get a funny reaction whenever I touched them. Soon as I took over the company real fur was banned. You can get such good fake fur from Belgium that there is no need for it. The synthetic fake fur hats and scarves that I used to buy from Ooudenaarde were stunning. You could place them next to real fur and it would take a real expect to be able to notice the difference. Hmm, how the hell did we get onto hats. I work in food..lol
Current music = You only live Once by The Strokes
I fell asleep for a few mins. The sun shining through the window made me close my eyes. Funny, seeing as how I’m not feeling tired.
Current Music = Daybreak by The Stone Roses.
On the 19th of December I will be off work. Myself and Anita are going out drinking. The Friday before Christmas is the traditional meeting of all the buskers in the Town hall tavern for their pre-christmas drink. They sit around, drink, play music and all in all it’s good fun. It is also the anniversary of my Mums funeral 2 years ago. I went to the pub and got totally and utterly arseholed on port. Anita found me at about 5.30 playing a drum with the buskers, smashed out of my brains, and buying rounds of 40 tequilas for “the Guys” She managed to sort me out, put me in a cab and I went home and was comatose for a day or so. Anyway, given what has happened in her life in the last couple of months, the 2 of us are going back there, meeting the buskers and drink. Good job I’m not in work the following day. Can spend Saturday recovering before the works Christmas do on Saturday night. I have a feeling that is gonna be ONE boozy weekend.
Current Music = Peaches by The Stranglers
Cut to Thursday night. After working down in Lunnon for a couple of days I started to head back home. On the way to the depot I had travelled via Euston, then the tube to Finsbury Park, then the train to Enfield Chase and then a cab to the depot. However, as it turns out, the depot is just around the corner from Rye House, where I could catch a train to Tottenham Hale, and then the tube to Euston. I then had a 30 minute wait until the 18.35, which was the first off-peak service out of Euston. Needless to say, everyone and their mother tried to get on the same train, leading to severe overcrowding and about 20 people per carriage standing. After a few mutterings about health & safety the train manager decided to open up first class to all of us minions, so I am currently ensconced in a first class seat. Needless to say, another 10 minutes of it and I would probably have walked into 1st class anyway and sat down. In fact, that’s exactly what the chap sat opposite me already did. He saw how many people there were on the train and just said “screw it”
Current Music = Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N Roses
Well, it’s 19.24 and we are well on our way. Hopefully I should be home by 10.00, so I will get a chance to grab some food before I head off to bed. Up tomorrow and not sure if I am heading off to Lichfield or if I will head into Royton. Will decide tomorrow after seeing what sort of shape I am in. I can do what I need to do at Royton just as easily.
Current Music = Sweet Child O Mine by Guns n Roses.
Yes, I can’t be arsed getting out the portable hard disc from up on the shelf in the laptop bag, and the only album I can find on the laptop is either Guns n Roses or the new Nickelback album. As I am more a GNR fan that’s what I have to listen to as I head back home.
There was an article in a newspaper today about a thing called “The Game”. Apparently everyone in the world is playing, and you are out if you thing about “the Game”, but you are back in as soon as you stop. This thing has caused riots in schools in America where people have been marking up banknotes with reminders of the Game, posting things on walls, spray painting stuff, etc etc. It all seems remarkably stupid. Then again, what do I know? I nearly sounded like my parents then , what with your modern music and new fangled ideas, what’s the world coming to? I think I finally know the answer…..meltdown.
Current tune = Paradise City by…Guns N …ok, so you already know!!!
I stayed at the Lodge last night. It seems to be some sort of back garden lodgings built by some lady who had a big house, but it’s fine. A bedroom, a bathroom and a fridge loaded with milk, orange juice, bread, pain aux choc, croissant, jam, cheese etc. Not bad, I have stayed in places that are much worse. In fact, I have stayed in places that are a LOT worse.lol
Current Tune = Knocking on Heavens Door by…yeah yeah I know!
Well, we have just passed Rugeley powerstation, so should be home in about an hour and 20 minutes. So it should be about 9.45 rather than 10.00, but it will probably be after 12 by the time I get to sleep. Oh well, I can usually get by on 4 or 5 hours sleep, so 6 will be a bit of a treat. Then again, I will probably just end up waking up at the normal time. For some reason I just can’t take the extra hour.
Anyway, am jacking this in now before I end up carrying on to book
Current Music = Hanging on the Telephone by Blondie
Woke up this morning to find at least a foot of snow (well, it was probably about 4 inches but you know how we men like to boast!) After calling and booking a cab to ensure I managed to get to the train station on time, I wasn’t surprised to find out that the train had been delayed because of the weather. More likely that the train driver either couldn’t be arsed getting out of bed, or was stuck in a snow drift.
Current Music = People help the People by Cherry Ghost
The BBC are currently running a series of adverts advertising their mobile news site. They ask “where were you when you heard the news”, and then say that next time you hear some major news you could be walking in a forest, be on the side of a mountain etc.
It got me thinking as to where I actually WAS when I heard major news in my lifetime, so I decided to sit down and list them.
Assasination of President Kennedy
Alas, I was merely a babe in arms. Everything I know about this event is something I learnt later.
End of the Vietnam War
I was a small child. I don’t remember much, but I do remember a news report with helicopters taking off from the roof of the US Embassy.
Death of Elvis Presley
I was in the local fish & chip shop. It came over the radio as I was buying chips at lunchtime. I remember thinking “I thought he was already dead”
Man landing on the Moon
Again, I was very young, but I remember my Mum & Dad allowing me to stay up very late to watch it. I had no real idea what I was watching. I remember it being very grey, with really bad pictures of a man in a big suit. Other than that, I had no real idea.
Fall of the Berlin Wall.
In the pub. It all seemed to happen over a fairly short space of time. Obviously the East German Government were experiencing major breakdowns. We sat there and just couldn’t believe it was happening, but it was. I remember going home very happy.
Release of Nelson Mandela
I was , surprisingly enough, sat in a pub. It was the Land O Cakes on Lever Street in Manchester. There had been speculation all day that it was going to happen and, we were all sat around with beers. Then suddenly he was walking down towards the cameras. It was the first time I had ever seen anything other than the picture of him that had been taken many many years previously when he had first gone into prison.
Death of Princess Diana.
I was asleep in bed, but I used to leave the radio on all night as I always need some noise to get to sleep. I was dozing at around 5.20 am when I heard the news. At first I thought it was some sort of wind up. You know when you are sort of half asleep and you think you hear on the radio that Ireland has just invaded France, and you sit up with a start, then realise it was a rugby report? Well, it was a bit like that, just sort of noise in the background, until they repeated it, then I thought “Jesus”. The paparazzi had been hounding her for months and months and, given the way the press behave, something like that was almost inevitable. Forget the conspiracies however, just put it down to an accident that happens when you drive fast in a cr driven by a man with alcohol in his system.
9/11
I was in Glasgow at a fashion fair. Vikki and myself were in the room taking an order, when someone rang from work to say that a plane had just flown into the WTC. I, like a lot of people just assumed it was some light aircraft that had been blown off course so didn’t think much about it. Then another friend rang and said “go and find a TV”. Myself and Mike, one of the guys from another company, went downstairs just to see what all the fuss was about and stood rock solid still for nearly 45 minutes watching the footage. When we went back upstairs I was about to get a bollocking from Vikki as to where the hell I had been and then she saw my face and Mike’s face. She went downstairs to see. Strangly enough, on the same day, there was a bomb scare round the back of the station in Glasgow and the hotel was evacuated, except they forgot to tell anyone in the suite of rooms where we were. So for 2 hours we were sat wondering where the hell everyone was
Current Music = Knocking on Heavens Door by Guns N Roses
I had my appraisal at work yesterday, which was a bit of a pisser seeing as how we were due to go out on Friday night for the Lichfield depot Christmas party.
Anyway, I have a very understanding boss who moved it forward, got it over with pretty quick, and even arranged for someone to give me a lift down to the station so I could get an early train to Lichfield for the party.
All this was carried out successfully and off I went. Ticket bought, and an hour or so later I was in Lichfield. I had a missed call from Janine, and, after calling her back, a lift was arranged for that evening. I went shopping for few bits, and then headed over to the hotel. A few beers and headed upstairs to get changed.
Janine had arranged to pick me up at 7.15, so I had a shower and, with still 90 minutes to go before she was due to arrive, I lay on the bed and started to watch the news. MISTAKE!!!!!!!! I woke up at 6.59, and realised I had 15 minutes to get changed etc. Luckily I had a shower BEFORE I fell asleep else it could have been a very soapy Geoff when she arrived. I headed downstairs at 7.18 expecting a bollocking for being late, when the phone buzzed (no signal in the bedroom) It was a text from Janine saying she would be 45 mins late…phew!.
Current Music = Late Night in Soho by The Pogues
I went down into the bar and it was quite busy. Nat was run off his feet, so I went behind the ba for half n hour to give him a bit of a breather. Started chatting to a customer who turned out to own a pub, and was quite pleased when she said I was a natural behind a bar. I should hope so, I have done it often enough!
Anyway, at 8 o’clock we were off and we soon found the place. There were a fair few people already arrived and then I realised, bugger! I had left the damn camera at the hotel. Oh well, that’s life. I will just steal some of the other peoples pics.
We drank, we partied, we danced some more and we ate food. I arrived back at the hotel about 12.30 and everyone had gone to bed, so I headed upstairs as well. Woke up at 5.30, I can’t help it, it’s just the way my body works. Anyway, I watched the news until around 7, then headed downstairs for breakfast. Funny, no sign of anyone, so I sat and waited, whilst updating FB from the mobile, around 8 still no sign, so I wandered into the bar and a discovered a note telling me to ring when I wanted breakfast, in the end I decided not to bother, so I wrote them a note detailing what I owed them and left the money in the till. I will sort the bill out with Nat next week.
Current Music = Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback
I caught a cab into Lichfield and the a train to Birmingham. I had a fair while to kill whilst in Brum so I went for a walk around the shops. Now, it’s cold..In fact, it’s bloody cold , and foggy, so when trapped by one of those annoying old ladies who always stop me and ask if I wouldn’t mind answering a few questions (where the response is usually no) I was asked if I would like to go and test a new product. What was the product? On a freezing cold day? Soup? Nope! Tea? Nope….Cornetto’s! Why the hell would anyone want a Cornetto on a day like this?
People never fail to amuse me.
So, I went back to New Street and, after boarding the train and finding it standing room only, and not much of that, I walked straight into 1st class and sat down. The train left, and it was after Wolverhampton when someone came to check the tickets. There were still people stood up in standard, and obviously they had no idea that you can get a 1st class upgrade on a Saturday for a maximum £10. Even then they don’t usually charge you if the train is busy. I was even offered free drinks and snacks??
I doubt I will make it to the games club as I am shattered, so I will probably just go home to bed.
Current Music = Rock & Roll Jesus by Kid Rock.
Had an incredibly busy weekend, After going out on Friday night, and sleeping most of Saturday, I spent Sunday daytime lazing about and then last night went out for a drink with Anita. Well, it started last night and ended this morning sometime around about 1.30. We went to the Fringe, but then transferred across the road to the Smithfield where, after a couple of pints, I transferred onto Vodka and Orange. We were chatting with the barmaid, who then informed us that last orders were at 10.30, but don’t worry too much about that . Whoo Hoo.
So, I got in at 2.30 after getting a cab. Now, the question arose as to getting the 5.20 train this morning, but sense prevailed and I caught the 8.15 instead.
Current Tune = All Summer Long by Kid Rock
Well this week should be interesting. Am in Lichfield on Monday/Tuesday, and in Royton on Friday, but back to Lichfield on Friday night. Will find out what I am doing on Wed/Thursday probably today. Oh well, makes life interesting.
One of the advantages of travelling by train is that, whilst you are sitting, you can do loads of stuff. Type, listen to music, charge your phone etc. My phone is a crappy thing that rarely, if ever, gets a signal when I am outside the centre of one of the UK’s major cities. It also goes through battery charge like a dose of syphilis going through a brothel. I have no idea why it won’t keep a charge, but invariably you can guarantee that, as soon as I need it, it will be flat. Luckily I have discovered that I can charge it through the laptop, so, as I am always on trains, I can usually get the dam phone charged at some point.
It’s quite funny on the train in the mornings. It’s obvious that some people like to sit in the same seat no matter what. They are edging towards the door even before the light goes on, they NEED to get on before anyone else in order to get that seat. It even gets to the occasion where they will push past someone in order to get to the seat. Oh well, bitter and twisted is what’s heading towards them in their old age. Me? I’ll be happy
Current Tune = Closer by The Kings of Leon.
The Christmas markets have started in Manchester and, on Saturday I had a quick look round, for no other reason than to go “that’s expensive”, “Christ on a bike!” etc etc. The problem is, as I wax lyrical most years, is the damn thing has become too commercialised and there is no going back. Why the hell would a kid be happy with a hand made wooden toy when they are constantly being bombarded with adverts for the latest playstations and Wii’s etc.
It will be interesting this year to see how many retailers go bust come January/February. With the current financial crisis, I can see Jan – March next year being a very destructive 3 months, especially if the US Gov don’t bail out GM/Ford/Chrysler. The knock on effect will be massive, with potentially a cascade effect that could cause problems for hundreds of thousands of people.
Current Tune = Sex on Fire by The Kings of Leon.
Yesterday I just could NOT get warm, which is not like me at all. In the end I was wearing a T Shirt, a shirt, a fleece and, when I went out I put on a lumberjack jacket as well, and I was still cold. I only warmed up after a few drinks. THEN I was sweltering and had to take layers off to keep cool..lol..Oh well, maybe it shows I am getting older. Years ago I could walk round in the coldest temps wearing just a T shirt.
Current Music = City of Chicago by Christy Moore.
This morning is bright, sunny and very cold. Fab morning. Makes you want to go walking on the side of a mountain…..eh? Did I just say that? Christ I must be going soft in my old age. It makes you want to head off down to the pub for a nice lunch and a few beers. Sod the mountain. No matter how many times I walk up and down it. It’s not going to get any smaller!
Current Tune = I want to see the Bright Lights Tonight by Richard & Linda Thompson.
We are just arriving into Crewe. Anyone who has ever read any of this crap will realise the opnion I have of Crewe. Once upon a time it was a major hub with regard to the railway, these days there is not much it has to offer. Even the station looks like it has been cobbled together from the Victorian era, the Georgian era, some 1920’s stuff and a nice healthy dose of 1970’s plastic! Oh, and a large number of breeze blocks!
Current Music = Come as you Are by Nirvana.
Ok, Christy Moore followed by Richard and Linda Thompson is probably as much folky music as you would want at 8.54 on a Monday morning. I decided I needed rockier stuff so we switched to Nirvana for a few minutes, however, given the bit of a hangover after last nights drinking, I can’t help thinking that we may be switching to some Stone Roses fairly quickly. It’s a good job I switched to Vodka and Orange rather than carry on with the beer, otherwise I would still be in bed. I love beer, but the hangovers are terrible. Not as bad as wine however. The magic bed ride after drinking loads of wine is something I don’t miss.
Current Music = Sweet Child o Mine by Guns N Roses.
Ok. I lied about the Stone Roses, and we went for some headbangy stuff. Not that headbanging on a train is to be encouraged as you get some very strange looks from the little old lady who got on at Crewe. She is the spitting image of a Campbell’s Soup Lady. Tarten Skirt, blue rinse, speaking with a slight Scottish accent and talking about pheasants and partridges.
Speaking of game, as we were, in a sort of way. The old Beer House that I used to work at is now some trendy café bar/pub restaurant. The barmaid in last nights pub was telling us about the food. One of the BIG dishes was 7 different types of game including Pigeon and squirrel. Now, given the fact that one should try anything once, I can’t help feeling that a visit may be on the cards.
I used to be a member of “The Dangerous Food Club” so I have no fears when it comes to trying stuff. Mind you, I think I might balk at eating one of those giant sluggy things they have in Australia (no I don’t mean Kendrick), I mean one of those larva things that Aborigines eat when they are looking under rotting tree logs for stuff to keep them alive in the bush. Then again, these days you will probably find some American Fast Food twat has opened a restaurant and is selling the bugs for 50 times their cost, and said Aborigine has to have it with fries!
Current Tune = November Rain by Guns & Roses.
Oh well..Time to go. Maybe add more later, depends on how I feel and if the hangover has gone. Problem is, working away, you just end up going for a beer, and top it up again. Might spend this evening on diet coke as it’s been a bit of a heavy weekend. Try and remove some of the toxins from my body
We are just pulling onto Stafford so we will be in Lichfield in about 12 minutes. Least there have been no delays. We are coming up to the suicide month when people tend to top themselves on a regular basis on the line. Makes every trip an adventure. I am now so used to travelling by train, that I don’t even consider this shocking, merely an inconvenience. How sick is that???
Current Music = Paradise City by Guns N Roses
In a wek where there is a possibility of a 2.5% cut in VAT, where finances all over the world are screwed, and where people are dying fighting terrorists in various places, how the fuck can the BIG story of the week be about a fat , ex-political editor for BBC news quitting some amateur dance programme???
Who cares?
Well, given the amount of coverage on BBC 24 you would imagine that everyone does? Why so much coverage? Why are reporters being sent to cover this stuff, and most of all, what type of a crap nation have we turned into when stuff like this is classed as news? News is stuff about wars, crisis around the world, the falling of governments etc, not about some bloke who looks like the only reason he ever entered the dance thing in the first place was because he got to grab some blonde girls arse!!!
Current Music = Something in your Mouth by Nickelback
I got back from Banbury yesterday morning. I had been working down there on Thursday & Friday and decided to stay over on Fri night and go out for a drink. Met up with Janine and some of the Banbury drivers and did a few pubs and a club in Banbury. Got home around 2.30 and went to sleep. I was planning on catching a train around 10 and stopping off in Birmingham for 30 minutes, however, even though I was tired, I woke up at 6.45 am.
There was a direct train from Banbury to Manchester at 7.25 so I got up, showered, skipped breakfast, phoned a cab and arrived at the station with 2 minutes to spare. So, off we went. Meant I was back in Manchester for 10.30 and was home by 11.30. All in all pretty good. I went home, said hello to Nobby and went to bed for an hour (well 4 hours), got up, made pizza and went back to bed. Next thing I knew it was 7.30 on Sunday. Oh well.
Current Music = Burn it to the Ground by Nickelback
Today I shall be having a nice relaxed day, and this evening will be getting drunk with at bar fringe, one of Mancs better drinking establishments. I have spent a lot of time drinking over the past few weeks.Hopefully things will calm down a bit in the next few weeks. Problem is, whn you are working away, there is not much else to do apart from drink. You end up as a bit of a saddo parked in a hotel room otherwise.
Current Music = I'd come for You by Nickelback (ok, so I am listening to an album...so sue me)
Even I (and trust me I try) can't ignore the C word anymore. The C Party for Lichfield in next week, and the following week we enter the month of enforced jollity. I bloody hate it.
All these wankers who have never been out in a big city in their LIFE suddenly decide to turn up in MY Manchester and inhabit MY pubs, and join MY taxi ranks, and try and eat in MY restaurants, and they do it once a bloody year!! Even that is not too bad, it's the fact that they have no idea how to behave. They are lager drinkers who walk into real ale pubs and ask for Carling!!! For fucks sake, you can get Carling in the crap pub round the corner, why the hell are you coming into a real ale pub and asking for puff juice? Go around the corner with all the other lager drinkers and leave us real ale guys to ourselves, or at the very least order a decent lager like some of the bottled belgian beers, not just some crappy stuff that will get you pissed.
Same with cab ranks, stop trying to push in, because 1) you wont be allowed to, 2) somebody will smack you in the mouth and spoil your party.
Current Music = Just get High by Nickelback
When I went down to Banbury on Thursday I got on the Bournemouth train. What a mistake THAT was!! Blimey, a busier train you have never seen. Most seats were reserved and some people ended up standing from Stockport all the way to Banbury. All for the sake of adding an extra carriage? Obviously rail logistics is not a string subject of mine, but there must be soem reason why it doesn't make economical sense to put the carriage on. Maybe I should get Martin to design a game about it.
Oh well. It's now 9 am , and I should get up and shower the cheesy bits from my body. Will let Nobby out to play, hopefully it will snow and he can get all fluffy. I don't think he has seen snow before. He wasn't exactly pleased wth the hailstorm, he probably has had better afternoons.lol
Anyway, time to get out from under the duvet, otherwise I would be tempted to stay here all day, and then not sleep tonight, then be shagged out tomorrow morning, and be grumpy, and eat loads, and feel like shit, and thats only for a Monday!
Current Tune = Telegraph Rd by Dire Straits
Years ago my mates dad used to run a pub in Manchester called Paddys Goose. It was behind the back of Chorlton Street bus station and was inhabited by working Girls, transvestites, drug dealers etc etc, and was a great place to visit. You could meet more interesting people in 5 minutes in that pub than your would meet in a lifetime of other places. I remember once meeting one of Manchesters famous drag acts, who must have been 80 at the time. The stuff he was telling us was hilarious and so scandelous it couldn't be written down even 15 years later.
Anyway, I went out to a pub the other night and started chatting to the locals, to be honest, the quality of scandal was no where near as good. I had to work in Banbury the following day so I headed back to the hotel. Working away isn't anywhere near as glamourous as people seem to think it is.
Current Tune = Sex on Fire by The Kings of Leon
So after working all day Saturday we went out to Oxford for the night. It was £180 for a mini bus and a cab to take us all there and back again, which , even though it sounds expensive, it was only £20 each. We went to Jongleurs and were treated to a mediocre comic, a quite funny comic who used a large number of props, and then the funniest bloke I have seen in ages, who was a comic in a wheelchair. Some of the observational stuff he was doing was very witty. At one point I thought Janine was going to laugh so much she would fall off the chair. After the show the place turned into a disco, so much more drink, much more dancing and much more chat.
We called the cab and he arrived fairly quickly to take us back to the hotel, and drop the rest of the guys off where they were going. A good night all in all, except for Janine being turned upside down and me worrying that she was about to be dropped on her head.
Following day we headed into Birmingham after stopping in Warwick, I headed off to Midcon to meet some mates, then disovered that I had a certain persons bank card in my wallet where we had put ot for safe keeoing the night before. So, after getting it back to it's owner, I went upstairs. Paid £8 registration, bought a steak sandwich at £12.00, played half a game, fell asleep, and went home with Martin at 6 pm. Worth every penny???
Current Tune = Working for the Company by Heron
I have spent 2 days working at Royton, doing the website for the Saver Awards. Hopefully it will go down well. Dunno what to do the rest of the week. Should be back at Lichfield next week however...Oh well..>Maybe I should have an early night. Was more shagged out this morning when I went in for 8.30, than I ever am when I am on the 5.20 train!!
Posted by a few LJ friends, so I stole it.
1. What is your favourite food?
Bacon or ham. I could be veggie f it wasn't for dead piggy
2. What are your three least favourite foodstuffs?
Garden Peas....err I like everything else!
3. What is your favourite meal?
The next one. There was a stunning Lobster & steak once in Glasgow, and a great chinese in Manchester and a superb Indian in ....well you get the drift
4. What is your favourite meat? (Or quasi-meat if you're vegetarian)
For taste...Lamb, but I usully eat lots of chicken
5. What is your favourite fish? (Or quasi-fish if you're vegetarian)
Seabass....Superb fish
6. What is your favourite vegetable?
All except Garden Peas....yuk....Pass me a vomit bucket
7. What is your favourite dessert?
Dont really do them . Movenpick Ice Cream maybe...or cheese
8. What is/are your favourite comfort foods?
Shepherds Pie, Pea & Ham soup, Home made pies of any type
9. What is/are your favourite snack foods?
Don't really do crisps. Would rather have a sandwich.
10. What is/are your favourite sweets/candies?
Would prefer a mars bar or a twix
11. What is a food that makes you physically sick?
See the garden peas comment
12. What is a food that upsets your stomach?
If I eat 20 or 30 green chillies I sometimes get an upset stomach!
13. Do you have any good memories of school dinners?
Yes, there was a dinnerlady with nice boobs....oh you meant the food? Hmmm cheese and onion pie!
14. Do you have any bad memories of school dinners?
Garden Peas!!! Oh and cauliflour with dead flies in it!
15. What foods were you obsessive about as a child?
HP Sauce
16. The Mafia have moved in next door and are coming round tomorrow for dinner. What will you be cooking?
Why the mafia? You should live in Manchester/ The Mafia are SCARED!!!
17. What foods would you like to try but haven't yet?
Dunno..tried lots!
18. What foods have you tried and been disappointed by?
Im a fat man. Im never disappointed!
19. What foods have you tried and been pleasantly surprised by?
Duck! no really duc.....BANG! Too late!
20. What foods have you tried in other countries and miss now?
Meri Bosniac! (Fillet steak stuffed with smoked ham & Cheese
21. What is your favourite soft drink?
Diet Coke
22. What is your least favourite soft drink?
Don't have one!
23. What is your favourite alcoholic drink?
Real Ale
24. What is your least favourite alcoholic drink?
Dont understand the question???
25. What is your favourite tea?
17th on the old course at Carnoustie!
26. What is your favourite coffee?
Coffee is for the weak!
27. What is your favourite herbal tea?
Peppermint. NEVER try raspberry leaf..It's like drinking bulldog piss!
28. What is your favourite hot chocolate?
The Bald one...errol?
29. What is your least favourite hot beverage?
dunno
30. What is your favourite biscuit to dunk?
Digstive...choccy ones
