Journal Entries
Busy? Slightly...
Posted Nov 24, 2000
Where do I start?
Walked into work a couple of Sundays ago, and was rapidly on my way to purchase waders. Central London on a Sunday and I had to settle for wellingtons - finally I can praise America wholeheartedly...
I really needed waders though. Spent the next eight hours trying to get to York by train - lucky old me on flood duty for the next five days. Really could have used those waders.
Still, got to get assaulted by a hovering chinook - and hit by a nice big thorny bush it uprooted. A female colleague remarked the sandblasting part of the experience was just like a really intense facial. Not quite sure what she meant, but I felt strangely cleansed. As if I'd shed a layer of skin or something. And the tropical air in the middle of November might have had something to do with it's exhaust.
I can't recommend the experience highly enough.
Standing in front of a flood defence until it burst and then racing out in convoy was a bit of a rush too.
Though the cold, wet, soggy, freezing bits were a bit of a drag.
In my last entry I remarked on the embarrassing home exit from the Worthington Cup to Birmingham City - well briefly. Interesting sensation to walk out of a usually very peaceful ground to hear the sound of fans protesting and see a platoon of riot police march past.
Thankfully, they were heading after the Birmingham fans to stop any trouble....
The four or five hundred protesting in Bill Nick Way were in good humour too - there was an ironic air of resignation, all knowing that nothing would happen overnight. One jovial wit even came up with a variation on the good old "Tottenham, we want our Tottenham back..." with "Sugar, we're gonna kidnap your wife...". The Sky News cameraman there refused to film that bit, but it raised one hell of a laugh - and a full chorus....
But of course, things have been rather better since. Good home win against a strong Sunderland side and then euphoria on Sunday after beating Liverpool. Outstanding team performance, a few youngsters really staking a claim, and a standing ovation well deserved. It was a strange day - bumped into a colleague with Charlie Whelan in one of the local pubs afterwards, huge Spurs fan as it turns out. Life is full of surprises.
But the best part of the day, and the loudest chorus of all (for much of the match) was the alternative version of a famous song that follows Liverpool around the nation's stadia....
"Sign on, sign on, with your pen in your hand, 'cause you'll never get a job, you'll ne-ver get a job......"
There's nothing like joining 34000 other people in perfect harmony. If you've never been to a big football match, it's worth it for the atmosphere even if you ignore the pitch. Honestly. Pick a BIG game though - some games are milestones in your life, others drag you closer to the grave.
Peter Taylor's Leicester at home on Saturday. They WON'T make it three in a row.
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Latest reply: Nov 24, 2000
Upset? You bet I am.
Posted Nov 1, 2000
I'd just like to make it public record that I am available to manage Spurs should Sugar want me.
And I'll settle for a lower salary than George.....
Discuss this Journal entry [7]
Latest reply: Nov 1, 2000
Hello Pot, this is Kettle....
Posted Oct 26, 2000
This morning, former Tory cabinet minister Tim Yeo, who resigned following the revelation that his extra-marital affair with a Tory councillor resulted in unexpected fatherhood, called me a liar.
I think I'll have a t-shirt made.
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Latest reply: Oct 26, 2000
Stephen Carr, part two.
Posted Oct 22, 2000
Dare anyone dispute his crown as the best full-back in the league?
Just before half-time and the scores are level, Derby's goal under siege. Anderton and Sherwood contrive to make something happen in the box but it gets knocked back out to young Clemence, who squares it out wide into the path of our marauding Irishman, thundering up the pitch to unload a rocket of a first-time shot. He never scores from inside the box, you know.
My pre-match prediction was 3 or 4-1 with goals from midfield. Leo, thank you. And hurry back!
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Latest reply: Oct 22, 2000
Who dares wins
Posted Oct 20, 2000
Well, I wished I would never have to cast my eyes upon that hellhole again, but yesterday the situation demnded that I put fear aside.
I went to IKEA. And again, no naked Swedish triplets in sight. None of the staff could tell me where the sauna was either.
Anyway, as much as I loathe all things even remotely connected to haberdashery, soft furnishings and the like, my recently acquired duties as a landlord demanded that I go and buy some cushions and curtains.
So, off I went, after some curtains that my mother told me about. She's pretty useful when it comes to civilising me, I have to say. Now, being the computer-literate Star Wars child that I am, flying the Dartford Tunnel like it was the launch tube of a battle-star came as naturally to me as eating pizza, but the practical aspects of buying curtains have never left their mark on my education. So there I was, on the mobile to my mother's mobile (out in the middle of the wilderness somewhere) in a shop that takes more pride than Tesco's in creating communications blackout areas.
The conversation went something like this:
"But Mum, they're twice as long as you said they were"
"Stand still, I can't hear you"
"I am standing still"
"I said, stand still, I can't hear you"
And so on, with various other mobile users grinning at me knowingly. If only the management of these shops would realise that we would visit more often if only it was possible to contact our interior designers, solicitor and any other useful consultants when required...
But I returned, mission accomplished, and all goods successfully purchased, including a bargain on a box of scented candles (I'm told they help create a romantic mood). And I finally made it into an M&S to spend the vouchers I got for my last Christmas bonus, but I'm too proud to admit buying anything other than food there. These shoes are dead comfy though.
Derby at home tomorrow - come on you Spurs!!
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Latest reply: Oct 20, 2000
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