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.. so Saturday dawned - foggy as hell and not looking too conducive for the round ball game. Climbing out of Mossley over Hartshead Pike way (heading for Ashton and haircut !), we rose above the fog into bright sunlight - before going down the other side back into a thinnish "pea soup". Once the ears had been suitably lowered, we motored over to Belper and a quick glance whilst at the A6 traffic lights showed me that ChristChurch Meadow was certainly playable.
The game - a sluggish start for Belper who went behind on the quarter-hour to a penalty (it was about this time I got the call that the Mossley v Woodley game had been called off - frozen pitch apparently - but the fog was thick'n'all - which was what did for the Stalybridge v Farsley game). The penalty acted as the "wake up call" and the equaliser came just before half-time.
Second half - only going to be one winner, and it should really have been more than three at the end. Three points however, which leave Belper handily placed with several games in hand. The pictures are at:
This Place !
A bit of a drink last night - watched the FA Cup higlights - well done/hard luck to all the usual suspects (and some pretty crummy draws in the 3rd Round for some as well !!!). A walk over the Chevin after brekkie ... and back home ... what will next week bring - apart from a birthday on Monday (I'm 52 - eek !), a training course on Tuesday/Wednesday, and poss an appointment as the doctors on Friday. Football ??? Haven't a clue - and I'm sure the weather will have something to say about it as well ...
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Enough of this work sh*t - at Stalybridge Buffet Bar tonight, I had the good luck to be told "The padlock is off - due to painting of doors" - so I sneaked in - and binged out !!!!!
Check out ... with added piccies ...
http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/BuffetBarConservatory2/
PS - remember all of these pix are from BabyCam
PPS - Don't tell Sylvia .....she'll probably bar me ................
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OK I lied a bit - saw some of the Schalke v City game tonight - but only Benjani's goal (yet to see Stephen Ireland's effort)
But the big news tonight is .... the comedy sketch late on at work tonight - try this .....
Person 1 : " Visitor needs a copy of the database to take back with him today - can you do it ?"
Me (tapping away on pc) : "The database is rather large - 32 Gb in fact "
Person 1 : "And....?"
Me: "We can RAR it to a couple of gig" (for those who dont know - RAR is a "WinZIP equivalent)
Person 1: "Can he have it now then"
Me: "A RAR will take a few hours - we can then put it onto the FTP site for him to pick up - and uploading will also take a while"
Person 1 : "Oh ...."
(Person 1 and Person 2 then go to see my boss - Boss into office to see me)
Boss: " Well ?"
Me: repeat the above ...
Boss: "OK - will tell them exactly what you have told me - and what you told them before" (and because it now comes from the boss - they slink away ....)
This is the sort of comedy hour that is becoming sooooooo prevalent at work these days - when confronted with honesty / fact people then go "one level up" believing this will work - I tell you now there are a number of people working at our place who have COMPLETELY lost my respect for this kind of primary school/playground behaviour - not only that, it insults MY professionalism - I'm not being awkward - I tell it like it is (I've only been working in computers since 1985 - what do I know !!!) - and when people "whine upwards" - they go onto my "total w*nker list" - so that's two more today ........ tomorrow sees our "State of the Nation" speech from Mr Big ..... might be interesting / illuminating / helping towards the decision to buy 1/2/350 lotto tix on Friday....
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...sorry couldn't be bovvered with a part 2 - therefore thuswise so - the Part 1 suffix on the previous post was merely a ruse to tempt you all back ...ha !
... although Stalybridge Celtic have gone to Whitby and won 3-0 thus earning a trip to Stourbridge in the next round - and FCUM have lost to Boston United (yet the big story here is the Boston United supporters club coach windows being bricked - the FCUM fans are distancing themselves from this attack, blaming (depending what you read) local Bury "lads"/Radcliffe "chaps") ....
Don't forget - PowerQuest - 8th Dec - Manchester..
Oh yeah - it's going even further to ratsh*t @ work ........ starting to get scary - really - we've been through many a "redundancy exercise" over the past 10 years or so (and I've missed 'em all) ... my worry is we now have "ruthless" in charge rather than "bumbling/incompetent" - they may well catch up with me !!!
Feeling at work at the moment is summed up by ............. ta Munchy !
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... and what does the midweek bring ??? I'll tell ya - after all my "pro-wobblings" last night about the Congestion Charge Referendum ......
... I leave house at 0715 - the 0724 train is 4 minutes late .... it's bloody full when we leave Mossley - so full in fact that when we arrive at Stalybridge the guard opens "half a door" to let us "changelings" out before deciding how many to let on ...
... the 0735 to Man Picc is 7 minutes late - we then crawl down to ManPicc arriving at about 0803 - i.e. time for me to miss my 0758 or 0803 trains to Cheadle Hulme ...
... no worries - there's one at 0832 - so I wander off to Greggs for a (cheap) coffee ..
... I return to see 0832 train is ..... CANCELLED ............... next one to Cheadle Hulme is 0851 !
Arrive work about 0910 - nearly two hours after leaving Mossley....
Instant Karma / Bites y'Bum - I should say so .... even the 1812 off Stalybridge tonight back to Mossley was 11 minutes late !!
I may return with further wobblings later ....
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... what with the vagaries of the weather @ Whitby (i.e. Stalybridge NOT getting a draw up there and replaying tomorrow) and Bury (i.e. FCUM v Boston called off, so FCUM not @ Woodley on Tuesday) - and County Cups (Leigh Genesis in't' Co-op Cup so not playing Ashton United tonight) - I find myself stuck for footy this week - other options include crazy train connections that might just .... fail (i.e. Guiseley v BPA tomorrow) ....
... so what to offer the masses this week ?? If I mention the word Todd Rundgren, it tends to get millions of hits (I'll be honest, during yesterday's "mass tidy" I DID find the ticket stub from the 2004 gig at the Bridgewater Hall - might "snap" that one day !) - but today's ticket stub/s (unused as yet) is/are ..... Power Quest !
(suitably de-coloured and blurred to avoid ..) - yep, after several false starts, I finally met "Sophsky" tonight and exchanged money for tickets - many thanx for that - it's always good to have a gig to look forward to (remember it's not just football !!!) ... and if anyone else is interested in tickets - Satan's Hollow - 8th December - contact via
powerquestmanchester@googlemail.com
for £7 tickets instead of £8 on the door - and mention my name - I like kudos !!
I then got the train to Stalybridge - and these days it's too dark at night to see what's going on with the Conservatory re-build (although having had words tonight, it may be in my interest to "do a dash between trains" at 0730 tomorrow morning - we'll see how we do !) - HOWEVER - there's been an upgrade in the main bar at the Buffet - witness ....
...a new floor !!! It does feel more comfy (and a "touch warmer" someone said tonight - he had his shoes on as well !) - there's even little felt pads on the bar stools/chairs so they "slide" rather than "drag" !!! I may stick this pic on the Conservatory rebuild site (as I'm reliably informed that the wood does go through the door into the conservatory - but not very far, as there are - apparently - quarry tiles waiting to be laid in there....)
Tomorrow is another day - or as George Harrison once put it, "Yesterday, today was tomorrow - and tomorrow, today will be yesterday" ........ go on .... name that tune !!!!!!!
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.. a comfortable win in the end against a team who I thought peformed much much better at Lancaster 7 days ago ... some pix at
My fingers got very very cold !
... can't say much else at the moment - we're on a "mass tidy" in house in preparation for ... you'e guessed it ... Christmas - well it did snow last night !
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... I bought this in Somerfield Cheadle Hulme today - now if I was someone who would take offence at inferences in an earlier blog post about trains in Second World War Germany, I feel it only fair to offer this filth up to the intolerant masses - who should really be watching "I'm a Railway Executive - Get Me Out of Here (in a car)"
I give you .... MY PURPLE ONE (oooh err) - and all the double entendres that go with it - disgraceful ...
Where do you start - don't worry this is going to be a fully justified attack on public transport - libellous even....let's go for it ... Network Rail - incompetent; Northern Rail - complete crap; First Trans-Pennine - useless- feel free to mix'n'match - that's a start anyway - I wouldn't trust any of those three "profit centres" to organise my Christmas party - they couldn't organise a p*ss up in a brewery !!!
Go back to Monday when the first train is over ten minutes late - this naturally has the "knock on" effect leaving me arriving at work over 30 minutes late - and therefore playing "catch-up" on my hours before I've even got to work - and what makes it worse is that I know this before I've even left Stalybridge !!!
Trains in the evening have been dutifully "late" - one thing that p*sses me off at Stockport is that you cannot board a Virgin Train heading towards Manchester - it's set-down only - and NO-ONE has ever given me a valid reason for this - whether it's Branson's arrogance/power trip (he should NEVER be allowed to forget that if it wasn't for Mike Oldfield and "Tubular Bells", he'd still be a "one bit" record shop owner in Notting Hill Gate) - but as such he's become a powerful w*nker who similarly appears to care little for his customers - "New Virgin" if you like - something like "New Labour" - nice people who suddenly get the power trip and become greedy bar stewards - remember Jack Straw and Harriet Harman (just two examples - there are many many more) who were once quite radical - look at them now ...... xenophobic fascists by any other name )
Meanwhile back on the platform ... so I'm down on hours even before arriving at work on Monday ... and Branson's Pendolinos (phew the speed ....) slow me down coming home - cus they get in the way of the trains that I AM allowed to catch (sorry this is me who spends over a grand a year on season tickets)... and then we get the absolute cr*p that is platform 13 on Manchester Piccadilly and the trains to Stalybridge - mostly the 1712 - an interesting time that is NEVER MET - EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK - EXCUSE MY SHOUTING BUT THIS TRAIN IS LATE EVERY DAY .. aah that's better - in fact today it was SO late I wandered off to catch the 1725 - because that left earlier .... late last week there was something in the papers about First Trans-Pennine having a 12% rise in passengers - it's just a crying shame that the size of their trains remain the same - they were overcrowded before this rise - now they're little more than cattle trucks in peak hours - our local paper this week shows our local MP - James "Photoshop" Purnell - suffering on a peak-hour train and saying "It's unacceptable" - sorry little Jimmy it's been unacceptable for many many years - 1995 ??? - John Major ??? - don't take this the wrong way, but I often think that the passengers on the 0735 to Auschwitz had a better ride (and it was probably on time) - and before the pc/moral high ground people start to whine - I'm talking about the train ride - not "what happened next" (I put this rider in because there are so many people out in "real world" today who are looking for something to hang their self-publicising hat on (think the Russell Brand/Jonny Woss/Jeremy Paxman type thingies - you get my drift) - so trains to Man Picc vs trains to Auschwitz is probably a handy hanger for these same sad people ....just get back to your John Sargeant petitions or something equally vital to the state of the nation ....)
To return to trains - the beauty of some of these late late trains is the "automated robowoman" - the guard can press "Button A" and we get the monotone/really emotional (ha !) announcement that "First Trans-Pennine apologise for the delay and the inconvenience caused" - that ALWAYS makes me feel better/comforted that they really really care ... my arse .... 'tis much the same on the platforms with these new "multi-million pound" high-tech passenger information systems - that say that the 1712 train is "on time" - despite the clock saying 1715 - and then - all of a sudden - the train becomes due at 1721 - I particularly like the one at Stalybridge where trains can "change places" regarding what comes in next ... I look at these things and think ... money well spent - a bit like the improvements to Stalybridge Booking Office - due for completion in July 2008 - still nowhere near finished - or the revamp of Greenfield Station that's ground to a halt because the contractor has allegedly "gone bust" - which naturally brings me on to the ... CONGESTION CHARGE ......!!!!
For those outside Greater Manchester ... the idea is to bring in a Congestion Charge - a little like Ken Livvies Greater London thingy (OK I guess it's Boris's Baby now) - but in Manc it's "Vote YES for the Congestion Charge - and we'll spend £3 billion on improving public transport". Now I - as a public transport user/sufferer - feel that the Congestion Charge is an absolute disgrace - because it's far too low.... I know many people who are opposed to it -they are the people who worship at the altar of the internal combustion engine - they are the people who make Mrs Smiffy's parking of our one car next to impossible when you live on a terraced street where two people - one house - two cars is the norm - on a street where I often think 70% of the people only ever leave the street on four wheels - they never walk !!!
However my support for the £3 billion public transport "sweetener" is tempered by the "view of the cynic" - how much of that £3 billion will actually go into public transport improvements - how much will be wasted on "consulatative exercises", "consultants fees", "meetings", "publicity exercises" and other such crap - my cynical guess is a good chunk - we will not get £3 billion of improvements - they talk of extra carriages on trains - that means that some of the £3 billion will go into private "profit making" companies - and the people who own the rolling stock are as much "profit centres" as Northern Rail/First Trans-Pennine etc - naturally the same goes for the deregulated (i.e. private profit based) bus companies - Stagecoach/First Bus etc etc.
So really a great idea will end up improving the lot of private companies - no doubt the people who run the congestion charge hardware/software will be some subbed-out profiteers on behalf of Greater Manchester Council - emphasis on the "on behalf" - they'll be in it for profit - and bollocks to the customers.
So yes the public transport users will get screwed for profit - as will the car owners/congestion charge payers - there'll be many many people making a few bob out of this on both sides.
Oh and before I forget - talking about useless tossers who don't give a monkeys about the customers - check out the new Northern Rail timetable (starts 14th December) - at present trains leave Mossley at 0654, 0724 and 0757 for Manchester - the new timetable shows me 0654, 0724 and then 0807 !! Yep - if you miss the 0724 - you've a 43 minute wait - at peak time !! My guess therefore is that more people will go for the already overcrowded 0724 - and God help those who get on at Ashton (two stops down) - it's already full at Mossley ! No doubt there will be copious apologies for the overcrowding - but never mind, Northern Rail will be able to post a good percentage increase on passenger traffic next year - with actually giving a toss !!! Magic isn't it ....
Just in case you've forgotten - the idea was to point out - Network Rail - incompetent; Northern Rail - complete crap; First Trans-Pennine - useless. I guess tomorrow I will be using the trains in my leisure time - no doubt they will be similarly p*ss poor (that is of course assuming they've not been replaced by buses - it is the weekend after all and no-one travels by train on Saturdays/Sundays do they ???)
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in the usual place - you'll see paint - no plants - and a yellow ladder
now with a roofy painty bit - and this link now works !!
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It's 2147 (don't care what it says after the "publish"...) - here's last night's pix from Curzon Ashton vs Garforth in the Unibond Challenge Cup ...
Another wet night game !!
Curzon play second-placed Bamber Bridge on Saturday - and at 2145 I was reliably informed that Mossley have gone to second-placed BB tonight and whupped 'em 2-0 - now that's a shock after the Lilywhites' abject surrender against bottom club Salford on Saturday ....funny old game and all that b*ll*x. Wonder how everything else is doing tonight (Droylsden, Alty etc) - we'll find out later ....
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....but it's too late to do justice to pics - yes "Curzon Ashton 0 Garforth Town 1"was the match of choice - twas a bit of "smash and grab" that won it for Garforth rather than "Brazilian samba" - blimey that whole Brazilian thing is one load of toss - I reckon the only link is Simon Clifford and Socrates - the link being "smokers" ... anyways you'll get some pics tomorrow evening - I won't be doing owt else this week - after tonight the kit is drying out (hence the delay on the pics..)
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.... straight to pix at ..
Lancaster City vs Woodley Sports pics
Woodley started the better side - and thoroughly deserved the 1-0 lead ... however the equaliser has to be put down to keeper error, and I felt heads seemed to drop after that - Lancaster's second (from what I could see at the wrong end) was another defensive error - and the third goal was a sublime free kick - no messing - the second for Woodley came too late really...
Evening - stayed over in Lancaster - to see boy and lady friend - went to the "Latinos" tapas bar (buena comida !!) followed by some Harviestoun "Bitter & Twisted" in the "Merchants" (actually I'd had a pint in there pre-game - oh yes and one in the "John of Gaunt" (Black Sheep Bitter !!).
Today - a walk around Slaidburn and Easington Fell on the way home - pics from that ... here goes a couple ... the cairn on Standridge Hill
Sunset over the River Hodder - near Dunnow Hall
Football this week - no idea - certainly will not make Bamber Bridge v Mossley on Tuesday night - or Droylsden v Darlo FA Cup replay ... let's wait and see for now ...
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You can now see the roof - and there's stuff going on inside - either I'm on the wrong platform during the light or it's always too dark and locked away when I get there in the evening .... hey ho ..
There's roof beyond blue and white plastic !!
Lancaster calls tomorrow ...last time I came back from there, I ended up appearing on Youtube - for those who havent, I offer up
I was NOT drunk !!
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.. as in Cheshire Senior Cup ... OK 2-0 to Altrincham but apart from the first ten minutes there was next to nothing between the two teams (but I guess scoring two early goals makes it a bit simpler) ... another wet one for the snapper - but enjoy what you can from these ...
A wet November night in Stalybridge
Plans have changed for the weekend - early thoughts (after doing the previous round at Calverton Miners Welfare) were to go to Glossop for their FA Vase game against Biddulph Victoria - but a 'required' trip "oop far north" to see boy at University has scuppered that one - thus you will find me watching Lancaster City vs Woodley Sports on Saturday ...
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... OK it started on Thursday evening and ended about 0300 this morning !! Slightly less hectic today - drop our Michelle at station - she has the future of rock'n'roll to sort out - again - in the morning (and she's been up and down from Stoke to Manc to see both Todd and Airbourne); some shopping; some cooking (sooooooo rock'n'roll - the potatoes tonight were a hybrid of Dauphinoise and Lyonnaise - with added leek - ever the rebel !!)
Work tomorrow ? Nope - training course in Manchester with an 0930 start - a veritable lie-in ...
Football this week will probably be Stalybridge Celtic - again - on Tuesday against Altrincham in some County Cup thingy. Both Ashton United and Curzon Ashton (sorry "Cup Heroes Curzon Ashton") are at home later tonight - but it's ju-jitsu for small boy ... and Mossley have nowt till Saturday. Saturday throws up even more options - I need to "ummmm" and "aaahhh" about that ... meanwhile ... for posterity ...
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