... s'pose I should say something ... a morning of futile job hunting - a lunchtime of shopping (first leg of tomorrow night's "Come Dine With Me" - full story on this to come) - quick house tidy - and now this before college tonight ...
Last night - left the house having seen on Mossley Message Board that the pitch was "wet but playable" - as I left (approx 1750) it decided to absolutely hammer it down - aaargh - still, onward ever onward and got to Stalybridge (train) in prep for catching the (direct) bus to Hurst Cross. Met "Halifax Chris" in the Buffet Bar who mentioned their game @ Woodley Sports ... aha, a possible outlet for the night !!! Two phone calls and several txts later I found out that Mossley was "off", so it was onto the 1855 train to Ashton - and the 1915 bus (330) towards Woodley. Arrived at the ground about five minutes late (i.e. missing Woodley's opening goal) - and it was STILL hammering it down - British Summer Time my *rse ! Just about got something on Woodley's second (try putting your kit together in the p*ss*ng rain !) - and it slowly got colder - by the time Halifax got their first goal my shutter finger was completely white (yeah circulation, smoking etc - but don't forget the cold) - so I thought I'd pressed - but I hadn't !!!
Half-time helped a bit ... but not enough - the weather and night game meant I was down to 1/320 second at times - eek - hence some blur on what pix eventually went up last night. The game - well Woodley played it like they do on their pitch - crisp passing, good control and "on the deck" - so many teams (usually the defeated ones) moan about the 3G pitch - I fail to understand why. Let me make it clear - I'm not a "promoter" of this kind of surface, but ... players adapt to wet grass, dry grass, sloping pitches etc etc etc - and I'm sure there can't be many (even at the semi-pro level) who've not had SOME exposure to 3G surfaces (in so many cases ... when your own pitch is unfit for training, you go to a local school/council "all weather" option - don't you ?). Like I said on the Halifax board, "would you play pool on a bobbly table ?" For better for worse, I believe 3G is here to stay - especially in this bloody climate - so surely you should adapt in the same way you do on varying degrees of grass/dirt/concrete - maybe there is extra bounce, but it sure as hell is nowt like the "good old astroturf on concrete option" a la QPR, Oldham Athletic, Hyde United - keep it on the deck and it does run like a pool table !
Anyway to conclude, Halifax got there in the end (as regards equaliser) courtesy of James Dean (why was he on the bench at the start ?) and got a point where Lancaster City and Colwyn Bay got nowt - so I'm sure the Shaymen are happy with that.
Weather continues to be sh*te - God knows what the Good Friday fixture list will look like - Mossley at home to AFC Fylde - we did have snow last night but it soon melted (but melt still = water). Me - an Easter weekend at the Mother-in-Laws doing painting/renovating etc, so I won't be at Seel Park on Good Friday afternoon if it's on - early "football planning" (weather permitting - d'oh !) sees the possibilities of Matlock v Hucknall on Good Friday evening or Ilson v Telford on Saturday afternoon. If the "painting team" get their "parts in gear" we should be back home for Easter Monday - and the Mossley away game at Curzon Ashton - my wrist/brush action will be working overtime to ensure this appointment takes place !
"Come Dine With Me" - yes the Smiffy family are having an "internal competition" in the style of the TV proggy - and I'm kicking off tomorrow night - cooking for six (extra people turning up) including carnivores, vegetarians and one with a gluten allergy - so not simple ! Anyway- menu sorted - a fusion (confusion ?) of Greek, Spanish and Chinese - covering all options - y'never know there may well be photos to prove it (if I can find time between preparing six starters, three mains and three desserts !!) - if nowt else you'll get a copy of the menu !!
Pix up (and better than last night - AND I've got rid of that strange JAlbum skin - I didn't like it much - preferred the good old fashioned "chameleon" !!)
Another night of godawful weather - now getting heartily sick of it, and it's not even April ... for the first 45 minutes Celtic too were godawful - three down in the first half-hour - and to be honest, it was only because of Droylsden taking the proverbial "foot off the pedal" in the second half that the scoreline finished with an air of respectability about it (even then Droylsden should have got a fourth right at the death).
... must do better in 18.5 hours (obviously not used to Monday football, bad weather, a floodlight in each corner, driving to a game hence "snapping without the aid of ..." etc etc - wonder what the excuses are like from "on the pitch" ... Jody Banim excused - he ran his socks off for the cause).
Finish beer and that's Monday over with ... "sign-on" as well in 14.5 hours ... groan etc .
... well it IS a Monday after all ... and there's football tomorrow (100% of my Recommended Weekday Allowance !).
I shall watch the Stalybridge "Score Centre" on my return though (don't worry if you look at it now - the "Match Halted - Adverse Weather is a throw-back to the original "game" last November - although the weather has been a bit rough today - not that bad though ...)
I say "football tomorrow" (Mossley v Skem @ Hurst Cross) - however there's some 'interesting' weather reports being bandied about at the moment - aaahhh the joys of spring ! .
Another late show - but not enough - deserved a draw I feel - for large periods of the game Lancaster did not look like a team gunning for promotion, and we more than held our own. After all the hard work to get back on terms, the late winner from Farrell was a sickener - credit the guy with a well-placed shot however.
Plenty of plusses from the game though - if that's the top of the table, we're a good team (remember we gave Halifax a good run for their money as well - twice !). Have to say those faint play-off hopes have probably been extinguished with defeats at Chorley and Lancaster - although ... who knows ... a top eight finish would be extremely respectable given the events of this season. A note on yesterday's attendance - 168 - not really enough to provide for a team in the Unibond Premier I feel - whether the "student holiday" made a difference I don't know - usual excellent turnout from the Mossley faithful mind ... and a fairly jolly day out on the train/rail replacement bus - usual watering holes visited - "The Pub" and the "John O'Gaunt" (a strangely unimpressive beer selection at the latter mind) ! Maybe if Lancaster could get some of those "*rsechair football fans" out of the Litton Tree (keg - eek !) it might help - that big dollop of dosh for Jordan Connerton won't go that far over a season ...
Next stop Hurst Cross on Tuesday to take on another team "up there" as in Skelmersdale United - and don't forget, all the gate money is going straight to Ashton United for their "Marcus Hallows Appeal Fund" - so get along if you can.
Now - what am I feeding Mrs Smiffy tonight after her "foreign travels" ... supermarket trip calls ... .
... and better late than never (well I was a couple of years late on Airbourne as well) !!
While Mrs Smiffy is away, what does a man do ? Not "out on the lash" - a less than quiet night in watching the stuff that I like (i.e. music TV - OK a bit of "Doctor Who" as well).
Anyway, there I was, watching Scuzz and this track popped up - "Come Follow Me" by a band called The Answer - a new one on me, and well impressed was I. Next stop naturally is Spotify to discover more tracks (they had a few) and Wikipedia to find out more about the band (Irish Hard Rock/Blues - apparently supported AC/DC on the "Black Ice" Tour). Even more impressed was I.
Next - EBay to find this album "Rise" (issued in 2006 believe it not) - bid went in on a promo copy but it finishes tomorrow afternoon (as in "football time" - criminal timing really !), so not much chance of that coming off. Next - Google the damn thing, which led me to Amazon who had a "Special Edition 2CD" copy available for £29-99 (as in the 2 CDs) ... or £4-98 to download the entire album ! Never tried to buy a download before - and I also discovered that I already had an Amazon account which I can't have used for nearly five years - even the credit card details had "EXPIRED" in big red letters next to them !!
So - I went for it, working on the theory that I'd sold something today on EBay for £10-50 - therefore I'd still be £5-52 up on the day. It's easier than I thought, this download kerfuffle, so I now have "Rise (Special Edition)" on the laptop ... and just to be cool, hip and 21st century I've downloaded the lot onto my phone (something to listen to - if necessary - on the long trip to/from Lancaster tomorrow/today).
Yeah ... I'm going Stuart ...
Anyway - I commend the band "The Answer" to the House - give 'em a listen - they rock !
LATE UPDATE - should have put this on first time around ...
... alerted to this by our Michelle - looks like they picked the wrong reporter for the wrong job (double-click for big - you'll get it then !) ...
... and come June they want to charge £1 per day to read their news website - greedy greedy Murdoch - but if they keep coming up with "cock ups" like this ... .
... battled my way round the M60 to Walkden in godawful weather conditions - got tea, biscuits and "small boy update" - battled my way back round the M60 in godawful weather conditions - arriving Bower Fold just on half-time (to find Celtic 1-0 down).
Second half began in godawful weather conditions but slowly improved - like Celtic. They might have got to 2-1 up at one stage but what I watched was a mass of misplaced passes and hopeful punts up front, little or nothing won in the air, no-one on the edge of the box when the loose ball came out very little action down "my side" (I believe Dave Hankin was injured in the first half, and replacement Lee Dodgson seemed to be playing over on the left !) - I could go on but ... right at the death Fleetwood snatched a "smash and grab" victory - credit them for playing the full 96 minutes then (or at least the 51 minutes that I saw). A few pictures, mostly taken in godawful weather conditions at
New Manager - new players - new formations - but it doesn't appear to be gelling at all. Unlikely victories (OK victory @ AFC Telford) is quickly followed by emabarassing defeats (OK defeat @ Hyde). To paraphrase Billy Shake, "Something is rotten in the state of Stalybridge" at the moment - and it's not doing the play-off aspirations much good either (especially with Droylsden winning last night @ Redditch). Two "big ones" now for 'Bridge - Alfreton @ home on Saturday, followed by Droylsden away next Monday - points urgently required I feel ... Now .. can I really afford Lancaster v Mossley on Saturday - the required cut in "entertainment budget" is starting to bite ... .
Got a phone call today regarding a Data Analyst job - sounded promising ... until I was told that I would have to take an "online assessment" of my Excel spreadsheet skills first ...
Now I've NEVER been a fan of spreadsheets - to me they are a licence to fiddle, cheat and lie. I always reckoned one of the reasons that Simon Carves started to go "down the pan" was because we were forever being asked - nay ordered - to export data from the main databases (i.e. safe, solid "controlled" data) into a spreadsheet format, "because we need to manipulate the data". Manipulate my *rse - more like fiddle the data and then present it to management/client to show that all was well - when of course it wasn't ... I know that spreadsheets are widely used in the financial sector as well - wonder if that's why the GB economy also started to go "belly up" ?!?
Yes - you've guessed it ... I failed to get to the required standard - another job opportunity bites the dust ...
Off to Salford College in an hour or so - Parents Evening - see how bad small boy has been (!) - and hopefully back home in time to catch a bit of the Stalybridge/Fleetwood game later. Mrs Smiffy is away on a conference down in Welsh Wales at moment - now there's another story ... took her to catch the 1244 Trans-Pennine Express from Stalybridge to Manchester Piccadilly this lunchtime - she then had a 25 minute wait @ Piccadilly for the train to Wales. HOWEVER ... the 1244 showed up on the screens as 18 minutes late - and we all know how trustworthy those multi-million pound screens are - it would only have got later - and later ...
Yes - you've guessed it - I drove her into Manchester ... just to make sure she got the connection. So, well done Trans-Pennine - you too failed to excel !!
Pretty poor day so far then ... apart from the £20 sale on EBay ... all proceeds into the PayPal account towards a nice Canon 85mm f1.8 lens - still a long long way to go yet (more dusty boxes to empty etc etc) ... .
It may be a humdrum life on the "rock'n'roll" - the job hunting, the shopping, the cleaning, the photo "post processing" (tee hee), the general air of "aargh" ... but every now and again you get a real "body swerve from the norm". Yesterday whilst shopping, I got some nectarines from the "reduced counter" at the Co-op (eat sharpish like !). Mrs Smiffy ate one - and pronounced "pants !!" OK, one down three to go - but thanks to the beauty of Google - and a very simple recipe - I can now offer up the following ...
Yes, my first ever effort at jam making - it's cooling down at the moment, so God only knows if we've got a decent seal on the lid - and a decent consistency underneath it (the only pectin used is the natural stuff in the fruit) !!! Naturally I'll be the guinea pig once it's "done" as they say in the jam-making circles (myotoxcins and all that stuff) ...
However - on a more serious note - early "fall-out" from today's Budget - Cider prices will rise 10% ABOVE INFLATION - no doubt an attempt to stop the tramps (and the young 'uns) from "larging it" on White Lightning, Crumpton Oaks and the like - but it's going to cause some serious damage to the economy in Somerset and Hereford I'd have thought - already a protest record has been released ...
Just typical "21st Century Labour" really - what ever happened to 'screwing the rich' ??
Now - a plate of Mrs Smiffy's "red hot" curry (made last night while I was at football) - and then breathing fire over all at college !! .
Not much more to add to last night's ramblings - apart from these pictorial efforts (again ... blame the weather - camera lens cleaning, viewfinder cleaning, glasses cleaning - amazing I found time to go "click" really !) Chorley 3 Mossley 2
Next up - league leaders Lancaster City away - usually a jolly "jolly boys outing" by train - and I get to see middle boy and his girlfriend as well (assuming he's not at work !). Tomorrow night (Thursday) sees a Parents Evening at Salford College for "small boy" - appointment at 7-40pm ... so I just MIGHT get back in time for the second half of Stalybridge Celtic vs Fleetwood Town ... you never know - there could be a bonus 45 minutes this midweek ! .
... truly an awful night for football - and photography ! Saturday was certainly wet but tonight ... much much wetter (still drying out self and gear - hence no piccies tonight).
Truly a tale of "what if ..." tonight. Off to a flyer with a goal on 10 minutes, one disallowed for offside (maybe just maybe) (could have been 2-0) - one off the post (could have been 2-1) - should the Chorley 'keeper have got a red card (personally I don't think so - he wasn't the last man - if that means owt !) - Chorley go 2-1 up with 8 mins left and with Mossley pushing up for an equaliser the Magpies snatch a third. A late late effort by Matty Kay to make it 3-2 - but unfortunately no "Fergie Watch" available. Probably the right result on the total balance of play - but still a bit of a bugger - and a wet one at that. More tomorrow ...
(PS - well done to Belper for putting one over Mickleover Sports - and doing their play-off hopes no harm at all !) .
Chorley tonight to watch the mighty Mossley - and it's do-able by rail (in fact two of us are partaking of said journey !)
Mossley to Chorley - day return - £13-70 (good job I didn't go to Hyde last night - or nip out for those extra four cans of lemonade shandy ...)
BUT WAIT !!!
Mossley to Bolton - day return - £3-30 Bolton to Chorley - day return - £5-30
Total £8-60 ... yes a resounding saving of £5-10 just by "ticket splitting" at Bolton - and that £5-10 buys about two lemonade shandies as well ... result !
(Just need Mossley to get one now)
Today's other bonus - a job interview in a couple of weeks' time - and it's not in IT either ... career change here I (hopefully) come ! .
... a blow-by-blow account of tonight's big game between Hyde United and Stalybridge Celtic. Financial circumstances strictly dictate "one per midweek" at the moment- and usually have done in the past as well anyway !! Suffice to say that Hyde certainly have the Tameside "bragging rights" in the Blue Square North after defeating Celtic for the second time in 6 days thanks to a late winner from Nathan Arnold to put the icing on the cake that was baked last week at Bower Fold ... I followed the Celtic Match Centre for my sins, and early reports show similar attitudes by both teams to the previous encounter ... with phrases like "passionless" on the one side and "more up for it" on the other...
I suggest checking out the message boards of both teams - meanwhile my pennies have been suitably saved for tomorrow night at Chorley ... .
(I think you're supposed to call them wind turbines - but that's a bit too 21st Century for me - and yes, I think they're great - sorry David Bellamy !!!) .
A quick "kick up the arse" to go one down - quickly rectified mind - went 3-1 up - and then a late "buttock clencher" with Harrogate getting a second with a couple of minutes left. A "scruffy win" really on a bloody awful afternoon weather-wise (just see the pictures ... that really fine "mizzle" that gets under everything, inside everything and on everything - it shows unfortunately ...).
Still three points is three points, and the roll continues to roll - now up to 9th place, one defeat in twelve - it's all starting to come together for John Flanagan (can't call him "new manager" now !) and the squad - not just that, we got a much improved attendance on Saturday despite the weather - a winning side WILL bring in the crowds, both "returnees" and "neutrals" - and one thing you can guarantee with Mossley at the moment - they will keep you on the edge of your seat/toes for the full 90 minutes !!
Next stop ... up the A6 to Chorley on Tuesday night ... bring it on !! .
... a popular prog in our house - some watch it for the moaning and the bitching - I actually watch it for interesting recipes ... anyway, tonight as mentioned earlier I was cooking for "us plus friend" - spicy fish stew - so here we go, starting about 1745 hrs ...
... early prep ...
... onions, garlic, peppers into wok - quick "stir fry" before being joined by tomatoes, courgettes, dried chillies, veg stock and seasoning - simmer (covered) for 20 minutes ...
... meanwhile, prep fish and other veg ...
... par-boiled sliced spuds (bog standard - nowt fancy) into the oven ...
... fish and mushrooms into wok with paprika - and veg steaming away ...
...and then I realised it was the Mossley shareholders AGM early doors tonight - eek ! I left 'em all to it ... and ended up eating mine about 2100 hrs ... but very nice it was !!!
AGM Info worth sharing (and not "confidential" !) - Mossley have sorted a new shirt sponsor for next season - local heating company Warmco - club still losing £700+ for every night game that has to be played at Ashton United - creditors all happy with agreements set up (we'll be done with all "old debts" within the year) - another "tranche" of shares to be issued (with Gary from GT Grafix taking a goodly chunk - well he/his company are putting up a "goodly chunk" towards the floodlights as well - so no probs there !) - floodlights WILL be up and running for next season - last years accounts approved (!) - the confidence is there - there is a certain "comfort" with those peeps in charge - may have been more but, old man/short-term memory has kicked in (plus I've been watching "Skins" with small boy - quite enough to turn one's brain - and more - into the "off" position !!).
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