Have no place I can be, since I found Serenity

OK, the title is obvious, if you know these things. No relevance really, but a line from the theme to Joss Whedon's wonderful Firefly.

Well, it's my second day back at work after our couple of days last week. Someone wake me please, I'm bored rigid here. I'd finished the work before I went to lunch.

So, what's been occurring? Let's be boring and do this in chronological order. Conformist yes, but it's easier to remember things that way!

So Wednesday evening... Sue picked me up from work, we grabbed a meal in the Sainsbury's café picked our stuff up from home and headed and for Lincoln. After stopping at a service station at Peterborough, (where we weren't served by a very stroppy boy of around 12 with an attitude problem) we arrived at the Travelodge at about 10.30 and had an early night.

Thursday was kickstarted with a breakfast at the Little Chef before heading into Lincoln. We wandered up to the old part of town. It's allegedly very steep, but to be honest, neither of us could see what all the fuss was about. Even an unfit fat blob like me coped ok. We visited the Cathedral, which was as good an example of medieval building as I've seen. Stunning. (Not as sturdy as some, bits have fallen off over the years.) The only draw back was the mini sermon we got over the tannoy at around mid day. Some pompous, self righteous curate or some such frock-wearing, smug middle aged man was telling us all to pray for Christian Unity. If anyone wonders why the C of E is struggling, they should listen to people like him. The further I get along in life, the less tolerant I'm becoming of all that mumbo jumbo I'm afraid.

We had a nice lunch in a café before wandering round the town. It's a very nice place actually. We headed back for the Travelodge, dined in the Little Chef again. (Something to do with the 20% discount vouchers we were given!) Got back to the room to watch Eleventh Hour with Patrick Stewart and Ashley Jensen. Good stuff... PS plays a government scientist that tracks down dodgy practitioners of science (eg human cloning as in this episode.) Will be continuing to watch. Seems funny to see PS with traces of his 'native' Yorkshireness! Also finished reading the John Peel/Sheila Ravenscroft Margrave of the Marshes which is effectively the much missed Peel's autobiography. A very good read.

Off to Stamford the following morning, which is a lovely, unspoilt town. We were back in Chelmsford at about 5. After checking my ebay, we walked over to the Harvester for dinner.

We'd got home to find the heating and hot water had packed up, so a guy was called out and duly arrived late Saturday afternoon, unable to fix the problem there and then. I'd wandered into town to search out some packaging for the ebay selling, and then went on to see Chelmsford City take on Leyton at the new ground. The game ended 1-1, and was good fun. City equalised about 8 minutes into stoppage time... there was so much of it, I was beginning to wonder if I was at Old Trafford! Not the most exciting of games, but I'll be back, and will almost certainly get a season ticket for 06/07.

Elsewhere, Spurs outplayed Villa, but were held 0-0 (typical, with the Arse losing.) O's won 2-1 at Wrexham... they are still 4th. Oh, and I picked up 4 numbers on the lotto... and won £88.00! Wihoo!

On Sunday, we headed to Canons to shower, and then to Barleylands for the craft centre. Interesting... got lots of stuff... we'll be making cards together, I think that'll be a fun hobby to share. We called in via Brentwood to see Mum and Alex... had a look on ebay. I made a grand total of £120 or so, so I'm pretty chuffed. The 1968 Wisden sold for a monster £46!

Started getting the ebay stuff out yesterday. Sue went out with Helen, and I got frozen! Earlyish night when Sue got back. Was nice to sit back and watch last week's Stargate Atlantis. OK, it's far from the best, but it's fun.

Fortunately, the heating was sorted today, so I'm looking forward to a nice shave and a shower with some warm water when I get back. Had a nice online chat with Kar again this morning... she has a couple of interviews for jobs in Motherwell on Thursday, so it'll be great if she can snag either of those.

Right, nature calls. (Like you wanted to know that!) and it's time to sign off.

Wake me up before you Go Go

Well, another day, another blog entry.

I'm covering the MCS duty this week, which for the uninitiated amongst you is the 'Mail Characteristics Survey.' There's a lot to do every other day, but this is one of the blank days and I am sooooo bored!

I've spent the morning doing some work, looking at my ebay. (Everything going ok... it's all being watched and I've had a few bids on things.) I've had a chat on the very handy msn Web messanger, with Kar. Seems like she and Ger had a great time in Sharm-el-Sheikh, and it's now on the list of possibilities for things to do next winter.

After I've done this entry, I'll be trawling around for some work, and then getting out my book. Currently reading John Peel's autobiography, 'Margrave of the Marshes.' A good read, even if most of it was written by his family after his sad and untimely death in 2004. Am listening to my mp3 player too... sundry singles and album tracks on random. Currently playing 'Senses Working Overtime' by XTC. (Showing my age, huh?)

It's the last day at work... I have Thursday and Friday off as it's time for the Lincoln trip. The plan is to leave at as close to 6 as possible, do Lincoln tomorrow and then Stamford on the way back on Friday. Should be fun, or if not, a nice break.

On Monday, I went to the movies with Sue and Andy to see Brokeback Mountain. Not a film to see if you want to chill and relax, but it was extremely good. Well directed by Ang Lee and a pair of very fine performances from Jake Gylanhall and Heath Ledger. There will be films I'll enjoy more this year, but if I see a better one, I'll be very surprised. Well done, Ang Lee. Make space for the Oscar, mate.

Stop the world, I want to get on!

The title of course is a quote taken from Matthew Broderick's character, Leo Bloom, in The Producers. It may or may not illustrate how I feel about things.

OK, time for a review of my New Years resolutions.

Here's a reprise...

1. To stick to my resolutions. Tell me what you think after you've read this lot!
2. To lose weight by cutting out the crap (once the crimbo choccie is all gone) and by eating healthy food. (This also means much less fizzy pop, tea and coffee, and more cooking myself.)Well, so far so good. All the Crimbo stuff is gone, and I've had no choccie or other snacks apart from that. Not even cinema sweeties. Too soon to tell about the weight loss.
3. To get more exercise... (no lifts to and from work and no bus into town, and to increase my walking pace to briskness from the usual slow amble!)Better, but not perfect.
4. To read more books and see more movies. Cinema 3 times, (2 movies), yet to finish a book. Not good.
5. To spend less money, and save more.Have spent big getting ready for eBay selling.
6. To be more positive. I am suffering from a huge lack of confidence at the moment, and I plan to set myself a few small tasks to get back on the road to positivity. No improvement so far.
7. Go to more footie matches.Nope. Though I tried to book Spurs v Charlton and it was sold out. Grrrr.
8. Go to more gigs. (Actually, after the big 0 in 2005, one would be a start!)Nothing planned yet, but I am looking. Still early days.
9. To keep more chilled, and not snap at Sue, or Nick. (Telling Nick he and his friends weren't normal a couple of weeks back was a step too far. That was based on something he told me that I have no intention of repeating as it turned my stomach and that says a lot for me as I am pretty open minded on these things.)Been pretty cool so far.
10. To sell some stuff on eBay. OK... stuff has gone on, but not reached the closure dates yet. So far, no bids. Grrrr.
11. To clear the clutter and do the Feng Shui stuff throughout the house. Not so far, but not really had the time yet.
12. To write more. (I did some last year, but I will do some serious stuff in the coming year... starting with some stuff on Literotica, and FanFiction.net... not all that serious I know, but at least you can get some response from folks on these sites.)Nope. Done nothing. Bad, bad boy.
13. Get started again on the blogging.Achieved, and with a vengance.
14. Get back into wine... it's supposed to be good for you. (Like you'll believe that's a good reason!)Unless fruit smoothies count as wine, then nothing done there either.
15. To do stuff... even if it's only read a book or watch a dvd. Better that than going online and bumming around.Again, not really had the time. But have been online... bad again.
16. Be on time for work everyday. Ahem, no comment.
17. Be generally self disciplined re bed time etc. Could be better, but I've done ok.
18. More sex. (!) (Don't tell Sue I put that one in!) Don't be so bloody nosey. Thats private. OK, failing dismally... don't suppose anyone wants to volunteer to help me out?
19. Take more care of my appearance. OK, but I do need a haircut.
20. Show how appreciative I am of friends and family. Doing ok.
21. Keep up with all the little jobs around the house. (The mirror needs to go up, and there is a small patch of artexing that needs replacing.) Again with the time excuse, though the artexing has been done. Needs painting though.

Well, as you can see, a mixed bag there. Could be better.

So, what's been occurring?

As I said in the above, no action on the eBay front just yet, but I have until Sunday 22nd. Not expecting much to happen before then. I have some more stuff to put on, which I'll do maybe tomorrow evening.

On Friday, we met Sue's sis Pat and her partner Al at Uncle Brian's birthday bash. Last year, I struck it 'lucky' with a gay 70 yr old called Gerald that made Julian Clary and Graham Norton look straight. No sign of him this year. A peaceful evening.

Pat and Al stayed. On Saturday we went into town, then to Aroma in Braintree in the evening for a slap up Chinese buffet. We also watched The Producers.

After dropping Pat and Al off at Shenfield station, we pottered around Bolingbroke and Wenley, and I watched my recordings of Stargate:Atlantis, Bones and Johnny and the Bomb. All good stuff.

This evening, Andy is due for a visit. We are kidnapping Sue so we can take her to see Brokeback Mountain. Looks good.

Sad news... mum had to have Henry put down on Friday. He was 18, so not a bad age for a cat. Naturally, given his age and my influences at the time, he was named after the Henry's Cat phenomenon. We'll miss the poor old fella.

Weekly footie report... four teams followed... four defeats.

Liverpool 1, Spurs 0. (Stalteri sent off, Keane misses two gilt edged chances, cracking goal from Kewell.)
Leyton Orient 1, Northampton 2. (Beaten fair and square by promotion rivals, the O's goal a late consolation.)
Motherwell 0, Rangers 1. (Gers in good form, not a surprise.)
Heybridge Swifts 2, Chelmsford 0. (Not surprising, given league placings, but City have been in good form the last couple of months, so I was hoping for a draw.)

A better week next week I hope.

Another day, another dollar.

So far, a productive day. OK, I haven't done much in the way of work, (not my fault, I'm up to date, there's not much there to do!) but I have listed my first three items as a seller on eBay. (That's one resolution that's been enacted anyway!)

I've listed my copy of Peter Parker, Spectacular Spiderman issue one, a chocolate fondue set, and Joss Whedon's Astonishing X men issues 1 - 7. No bids yet, but they've only been on a couple of hours!

http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZandrew4065ukQQhtZ-1 if you are interested!

I have a few more things to list, but to be honest, the photo's I took were dismal, so I will try again later, when I get home.

Other than that, what have I done? Went to see The Producers on Tuesday evening, with Alex K and Andy. Sure, it was extremely silly, but it was also very, very funny. And Uma Thurman... mmmmm! Will hopefully be taking Sue, Pat and Al to see it on Saturday at Braintree with a visit to Aroma thrown in. They are coming down for Sue's Uncle Brian's birthday bash, so it will be good to see them. Brian's bash is always good for a laugh as there are always a few exotic characters there.

Yesterday afternoon, I signed on with Monster.co.uk the job search people. I promised my employment advisor (Karen) I'd look into it so I will do. Will need to work on my cv and add that. It's easier than going through their system. I doubt anything will come of it, but you never know... my dream job may be only a few clicks away. OK, I'm never going to open the batting for England and bowl out Australia with my legspin, or spread passes around the midfield for Spurs, a la Glenn Hoddle, but I could end up with something closer to my dream than I've got now. I'm ok... not unhappy, just bored!

Also obsessing over the BBC's Celebdaq game at the moment... one of my accounts is in 4th place! Don't know how, I haven't really done much to it, to be honest. The highest I've got to before was around 75. I know I'll go down tomorrow, dividend day, but it would be fun to think I could be trader of the week!

Just walked past the tv in the canteen, and Joe Mangel is back in Neighbours! Used to love the programme when it first started, was madly in love with Daphne, and I admit to shedding a tear when she died!

Oh, I also got to watch the first episode of season 2 of Battlestar Galactica. As far as sci-fi tv goes, this really is the best thing since sliced bread, probably the best since Babylon 5, and coming from a big B5 fan, that's a big compliment.

On the subject of tv, Amazon have told me that disc 1 of the first season of Charmed has been dispatched, so I'll watch it, and let my cultural advisor (Kar again) what I think. How could I not enjoy looking at three sexy brunettes strutting their collective stuff for me. (I know, perve!)

Right, I'm going to get on with noshing my lunchtime fruit, so will post again over the weekend maybe.

Hiding from the footie.

As far as the footie is concerned, the weekend was mixed. Lets start with the good. On Saturday, Chelmsford played their second home match at Melbourne, and a crowd in excess of 1200 saw them to an excellent 3-2 win over Bromley. Was going to go, but I never made it due to non running buses from the town. In the first Melbourne game, against Billericay on the 2nd, a remarkable crowd, 2 shy of 3000 saw their first game. Now that's encouraging, remarkable crowds for the level.

On Sunday, we saw the first Premiership casualty of the FA Cup 3rd round when Fulham were taken out by none other than Orient. Can you believe it, O's winning at a Premiership ground. It was no fluke, they deserved it. After seeing Burton hold Man Utd to a 0-0 draw and securing a valuable replay at Old Trafford, I was gutted to watch Spurs plummet to a 2-3 defeat at Leicester after being 2-0 up. Stalteri's first goal for the club was a cracker. Leicester pulled one back from nowhere just before half time, and came out blazing in the second half. de Vries notched the winner in injury time, and it looked suspiciously offside. I have it on good authority it wasn't, but hey ho. We can concentrate on finishing 4th now, and it wouldn't surprise me, Spurs being Spurs, if we got a win at Anfield on Saturday!

Pride of place for Sunday goes to Clyde who beat Celtic 2-1 in the SFA Cup. They had 2 goals disallowed, and missed a penalty, so they could have been 5 up at halftime. Rumour has it that Roy Keane made his debut for the Bhouys, but I hardly saw him. Mind you, it's ages since he last played, so it's excusable. That surprise doesn't make up for 'Well going down 0-3 at St Mirren.

Currently smiling to myself... I've never seen Motherwell, and have no real connection to them, but was actually quite upset when they lost. Those match-time texts from Kar, and the gentle following them I've done this season counts for something, and I've grown attached. I plan to make a footie pilgrimage north of the border at some point, whether invited up or not, it will be to Motherwell now, instead of Partick as was always the intention. Hell, the air fair isn't that much from Stansted to Prestwick. I could probably do it in a day, but an overnight stay would be better of course. I'll mention it to Kar when she gets back from her break.

Funny isn't it, and silly, but I miss the mails and chats when Kar's not about. She and Ger have gone to Sharm-el-Sheikh for a week. I know she's been stressed, and I'm sure the break will do her the world of good. Getting somewhere sunny at this time of year is wonderful, much better than a summer break. I didn't tell her of course, but I'd rather they hadn't chosen there, especially after the attack their last year. I know it won't happen again, at least not for a while, but I can't help but worry. I'd hate for them to get caught up in anything unpleasant.

Talking of going away, I booked up the break to Prague this morning. Five nights this time, flying out on Sunday 5th March and returning on the following Friday. The hotel is fairly central, and looks lovely, an old Art Nouveau building. OK, we are spending a little more than I would like, but it will be worth it. I picked up one of the DK guides on Saturday, and it looks a lovely place. Will do a little research of course, it looks like there'll be lots to see. (Looking through the guide sparked a memory of school history... Jan Hus. Amazing what sticks in your mind... Hussites, lol.) I want to listen to some Dvorak and Smetana too, to get a cultural feel. I think Mum still has those Great Compsers LP's I got 20 years back... I expect there'll be some of their stuff in their. I definately recall Dvorak. (Never thought I'd be writing about classical music when I thought about starting the blog, way back when!)

Friday night was King Kong night. Excellent stuff. Much hyped, but it's nice to see a film that lives up to it. Not perfect by any means. Good fun though, and the effects were terrific. I found myself wincing when Kong was pulling open a TRex's jaws before I thought, 'for F**k's sake, Andrew, they are two CGI models, they don't exist outside of a computer!' On those lines, the climax atop the Empire State Building was a touch too realistic for me. My fear of heights hit me, and my knees went, watching the biplanes circling around poor Kong. Seeing Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody's characters climbing to the very top of the building didn't help matters, and I actually felt quite queasy, even though I was sitting on a relatively comfy seat, with solid floor underneath me! Eejit! A big thumbs up for Peter Jackson though, confirming that the LOTR saga wasn't a flash in the pan. (Kate Winslet's film, directed by PJ, Heavenly Creatures is one of my faves too.)

Ooohoo, getting close to home time now, so I think it's time to sign off. Andy and Alex K will be over, and I expect we'll be heading to the cinema. (Either The Producers or Match Point I suppose.)

Thursday thoughts

Just a few words before I complete the day's work, and get ready to head off back to home.

A quiet, but a good evening last night.

I failed to report that our shower had packed in... there is a long story about plumbers and parts that I won't bore you with, just to say though that Steve from Drain Doctor fitted the new thermostat I ordered, and oh, the pleasure in a nice warm shower in my own home. Sure, we have the bath, which is great for a relax. But trekking to the gym to use their facilities when you can't be bothered with a bath is a drag. No longer necessary though, wihoo!

Then... Manchester City 0, Spurs 2! That puts us 6 points clear of the Arse. They have a game in hand, and the return fixture at Highbury, so that lead could soon go. But for the first time, I really do feel that we could snag a Champions League place. (Thats could ok, not will!) The first goal came after a mistake from Distain... he was letting the ball drift out for a goal kick, instead of hoiking it out for a throw. All of a sudden, Aaron Lennon appeared from nowhere, beat James with a cross, and there was Mido to calmly slot home. The second goal came on the stroke of time when Mido headed on a Robinson goal kick to Keane who drilled it past James. Well played Spurs.

The other noteworthy point is mentioning Sommeil's horror challenge on P-Y Lee... bad stuff. Lee looks excellent now, and we'll miss him for the next couple of weeks or so. Not as much as Mido though, who is now joining up with Egypt for the African Nations tournament. Defoe is a useful enough replacement though, although he never has clicked with Keano. And finally, for f**k's sake Sven, pick Carrick!

Have started to read Paul McKenna's 'Change Your Life in Seven Days' book. Interesting... read the first section and I'm going to give it a go.

Right, let's get the work finished. Sue is meeting me at 5.45 for an exciting jaunt up to B & Q's for some Artex. What an exciting life I lead huh?

Andrew

Looking back and looking forward.

So, 2005. Not a good year, was it. Disaster after disaster. A few terrorist atrocities, notably the London bombing of 7th July. Sitting there, listening to and watching all unfold was horrific, particularly if, like me, you have friends or relatives working in London. Fortunately, everyone I knew got through, with only inconvenience caused by travel problems.

For me personally, things were ok, if undramatic. Nothing much to look back on, though I hope I'm building for a much better future. I realise I look back too much and ruminate on things past which is a poor trait to have. I think I'm working my way around a few issues and I'm getting there.

One of the most positive things I did was a silly one. I spent lots of time reading my old diaries, and getting stressed out over things as a result. I mentioned this in a chat or email to Kar, and she suggested I got rid of them. I did, with the aid of a super duper cross-cut shredder. It was strangely cathartic, and I feel somewhat better for it!

Loved my visit to Dublin, that was terrific. A lovely place to visit, lots to see and do, with lots that didn't get looked at. Meeting Kar was great, and she's every bit as great in real life as she is online.

Kefalonia was fun too... a lovely island, but not all that much to do as most of it was flattened by the earthquake in the 1950's.

Sport wise, England won the Ashes, which was a great achievement, and the footie guys qualified for the World Cup. Spurs now look solid, and are going into 2006 with a realistic chance of a Champions League spot. (OK, we all know the final 4 will be Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and the Arse, but at least we are challenging.)

Best movie of the year for me was a close run thing. Cinderella Man was wonderful, but my favourite would have to be Serenity. For surprise value, Sideways must be up there too.

On TV... Carnivale... wow! Battlestar Galactica was top sci-fi, and top marks too for Russell T Davies's Doctor Who.

Didn't read as many books as I ought, but there are two highlights... Audrey Niefenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife was magnificent. The other is, well, three highlights really. Kar put me onto Cecelia Ahern. I've read all three of her novels now, At Rainbows End, P.S. I Love You, and her latest, If You Could See Me Now. Hardly challenging, but all with a lovely feelgood factor which leaves you with a warm glow. (Plus, she's a babe, and the sleeve pics look great!)

So, looking forward. Surely the year can't be as bad for the world as 2005. Who knows what may happen?

So what are the plans for me? Sue and I will be visiting Lincoln in a couple of weeks. I have to book up the March trip to Prague soon. Then, we'll be either heading for Venice or having a posh hotel break in the UK in September for the 10th anniversary. The plan is then to head somewhere warm in the winter.

Hopefully, we'll be getting the kitchen done too. I intend to shift some weight... I have 6 stone to get rid of... ridiculous, but I know a lot of it will be gone this time next year. Maybe we can get expecting too, who knows? Obviously, I need more sex for that!

Naturally, the footie side will win the World Cup. OK, I know it won't happen, but a side like
Robinson; Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, A.Cole; Carrick; Gerrard, Beckham, Lampard; Rooney, Owen must surely stand a chance. Clearly, Brazil are favourites, but England rank, in my view, alongside Argentina, France, Italy, Germany and Holland as joint second favourites.

In cricket, we have the build up to an Ashes winter. It's hard to believe that after 19 years, England are looking to retain instead of regain the Ashes. My tip for the top is Northants slow left armer, Monty Panesar. A wicket taking spinner who will do a grand job for us and be the final piece of the jigsaw, assuming Simon Jones gets back to full fitness. (Just so long as Essex win promotion to Division One of the County Championship too.)

All my other hopes and whatever are in the resolutions set out in yesterdays post.

Take care, my friends,

Andy

Happy New Year!

Well, it's been almost two months since I last posted here. Very bad I know. I had meant to keep a regular journal here... so much for that!

So, what's been occurring? Sue and Richards wedding for a start. That went well I guess. We had a nice day anyway, though Sue's sister Joanne wasn't able to turn up. I could have slapped my aunty Eileen as she was really slagging Joanne off, despite the fact she knew nothing about the circumstances. Ho hum... shouldn't be surprised really.

Christmas went well. Sue's dad and stepmum came over, as did my mum, and we had a lovely dinner. That was a bit of a surprise as I was a little drunk after consuming most of a bottle of wine while doing the cooking! Santa was good to me too, the cd and dvd collections have increased as usual! We went to see Sarah and Andy and the kids in the evening for the usual gathering, which was nice. Alex was missed though as he spent the day with Angela and her family. The kids were hyper, as should be expected but we had a nice time.

On Boxing Day we went to mums for a nice beef lunch, and another family gathering in the evening. Before hand, I nipped into town to pick up the Doctor Who dvd boxed set, Tiger Woods Golf 2006 for the X Box, and some bargain dvds from (shock horror) the HMV sale, as well as the Kate Bush cd. Good stuff.

On New Year's Eve, I trained up to Norwich for Alex's birthday/new year bash. That was nice. Stayed over. It was particularly good to see the kids, Ewart and Ben. Amanda seemed a little subdued though. Was nice though, but I can't help feeling some of the friends are slipping into middle age a little prematurely. I'm not ready for it as I never lived a life in the first place. I'm finding it hard to work out whether I'm emotionally stunted, or have always been middle aged!

My personal New Year has got off to a bad start as have had a bit of a bust up with Sue, though that has been sorted now. She was due to work a late on New Year's Eve, which is why I went to Amandas. She was swapped to an early which meant I could spend no time with her before I went off. I over reacted and accused her of trying to avoid me, and not wanting to be with me, putting her work before me. (I still feel that I have a point though.) I do admit to a drama queen-like over reaction, but still, I hope I've got my point across.

At lunch today, we spoke about popping away for a few days. Sue has a week off, starting from Saturday 14th of Jan. (We are going to her Uncle's annual birthday bash on the Friday, and Pat and Allen are due to visit for the weekend after.) So, I've taken the Thursday and Friday off when Sue has leave, and have booked two nights at a Travelodge near Lincoln. Neither of us have been there, so it will be something new for us both.

I emailed Kar this morning. We spoke on the phone last Friday, which was great. I like her a lot, she's great, and has been a good friend to me and helped keep me sane this past couple of years. I'm jealous though... she and Ger are off to Sharm-el-Sheikh next week. (After the bombing there a few months back, it's easy to worry, but logic dictates that they will be safer than ever.) They'll have a great time, I'm sure. Better than us, shivering away in the cold.

Kar asked me about resolutions, so I stuck a few on the email. I'll copy and paste what I put in, so we can keep a check on my progress...

-----

1. To stick to my resolutions.
2. To lose weight by cutting out the crap (once the crimbo choccie is all gone) and by eating healthy food. (This also means much less fizzy pop, tea and coffee, and more cooking myself.)
3. To get more exercise... (no lifts to and from work and no bus into town, and to increase my walking pace to briskness from the usual slow amble!)
4. To read more books and see more movies.
5. To spend less money, and save more.
6. To be more positive. I am suffering from a huge lack of confidence at the moment, and I plan to set myself a few small tasks to get back on the road to positivity.
7. Go to more footie matches.
8. Go to more gigs. (Actually, after the big 0 in 2005, one would be a start!)
9. To keep more chilled, and not snap at Sue, or Nick. (Telling Nick he and his friends weren't normal a couple of weeks back was a step too far. That was based on something he told me that I have no intention of repeating as it turned my stomach and that says a lot for me as I am pretty open minded on these things.)
10. To sell some stuff on eBay.
11. To clear the clutter and do the Feng Shui stuff throughout the house.
12. To write more. (I did some last year, but I will do some serious stuff in the coming year... starting with some stuff on Literotica, and FanFiction.net... not all that serious I know, but at least you can get some response from folks on these sites.)
13. Get started again on the blogging.
14. Get back into wine... it's supposed to be good for you. (Like you'll believe that's a good reason!)
15. To do stuff... even if it's only read a book or watch a dvd. Better that than going online and bumming around.
16. Be on time for work everyday.
17. Be generally self disciplined re bed time etc.
18. More sex. (!) (Don't tell Sue I put that one in!)
19. Take more care of my appearance.
20. Show how appreciative I am of friends and family.
21. Keep up with all the little jobs around the house. (The mirror needs to go up, and there is a small patch of artexing that needs replacing.)

----

Well, thats a few anyway! Apart from number 18, they all rely on me alone, so if I fail, then it will be my fault alone. I will have to weigh in... will keep you all informed of my progress on that on a weekly basis.

So, what else is new? The footie is going reasonably well on all fronts. Spurs are currently clear in fourth place in the Premiership. OK, we all know the top four at the end of the season will be Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool and the Arse, but if Spurs fail to qualify for the Uefa cup, I'll be very disappointed. That Champions League place is very much up for grabs, and we are currently having a better season than the Arse, but there are still 18 or so games to go.

O's are sitting pretty in third place in League Two after having a reasonable christmas period. OK, so we lost at Wycombe, our first away defeat, but it's no disgrace to lose to the leaders. The other two games were won. And of course a trip to Fulham in the Cup on Sunday. (I remember seeing Fulham v O's in the old third division (or was it the second division in the early days of the Premier League. Whatever. It's still the third division in my eyes, whatever it's called.)

Motherwell are still having a mixed season, but are currently in sixth. It's unlikely, but a sublime second half of the season could give them a UEFA cup spot. You have to be hopeful, and going into the New Year on the back of a 2-1 win at Livingston gives you a lift. A semi final clash in the League Cup, at Hampden against Celtic awaits, and you have to fancy a good run in the SFA Cup too.

Chelmsford City's excellent run has come to an end, but they have returned to the town now, at their new ground, sharing the Athletics stadium at Melbourne. Their first game their yesterday ended in a 2-1 win over, ironically, their former landlords, Billericay Town. In 12th place in the Rymans Premier League... a play off place is unlikely, but not completely out of the question.

I'll be on again tomorrow, looking back at 2005, and following that, looking forward to 2006.

Take care,

Andy