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you were expecting Everton v Chelsea perchance ?
No - when Mrs Smiffy and our Michelle announced their intentions to go down to "big Manc" on Saturday p.m., it confirmed my desire to give cricket a chance .. I've still got this dobbing great 170-500mm lens on "long term loan" and it doesn't get out that often. With it being an f5-f6.3 a bright sunny day is perfick for the smallish aperture.
So .. I walked up to Saddleworth Cricket Club (stopping only at the Woodend Tavern for a glass of Shaws "Golden Globe" - when Neil - Shaws brewer - sticks to a tried a tested recipe - it's good !). Arrived at the cricket at about 1505 - straight into the bar to see handpumps offering Thwaites "Original", Thwaites "Wainwright" - ooh and Everton 1-0 up on the telly !! Wainwright in hand, I sloped off outside to give the lens a bit of a chance - there's also a few "scenery shots" taken with the 28-105 ... check out
Saddleworth CC v Droylsden CC
...come out quite well - particularly the "stumping" piccy.... Saddleworth got 271 for not many, and when I left, Droylsden were in trouble at 50-odd for 6 - some further checking shows they ended up 109 all out - for further details see:
Saddleworth League results from yesterday
A quiet (?) evening in - and early barbie/drink today (our friend Luke was - or will be soon - 21) .. and then home to this.
News on Mossley AFC ?? The silence was deafening ......................
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... not to be outdone by Hyde (£200,000 down), Stalybridge (2 sponsors down) and Stafford Rangers (£50k down) and Kings Lynn (going down - today's apeal fell on deaf ears apparently - pathetic really!) ... Mossley announce (or not actually - tis all gossip, hearsay, conjecture,b*ll*x - not unlike work !!!) Chairman resigns and Company Secretary and Commercial Manager resign - last two apparently on the grounds of "ill health" - well that's the "official unofficial statement" anyway..
Just while I think of something else to wobble on about, try this link ....
Attendance Details 2008/09 (courtesy Kings Lynn)
Today's "State of the Nation" meeting at work .... I came out ... still in employment ... not much else to say really - although the phrase "possibly no pay review" touched a nerve - a department of 10 - now down to 4 - computer systems/development/support is still required whether you're an office of 1,00 or 100, and if I'm "theoretically" covering mine and three "redundant" jobs (that aren't redundant !), I WILL be looking for some renumeration benefit - else they may find "zero" people covering four jobs ... we shall see.
Until then I will keep dragging myself in ... I have a big Quality Street tin full of 1p/2p coins with "My Pension" stuck on the top - you may laugh !?!?
Oh yes I did watch most of "that game" last night - and I've not yet met a Red who hasn't said "best team won"/"we were poor" etc etc - a refreshing change - even "Taggart" has left his "list of excuses" firmly in his sporran - I mean how can a Messi "little dwarf" beat highly paid (and 100% fit ???) Rio £erdinand in the air ?? naturally the jokes have poured in via e-mail and txt (open-top bus reversing into the garage - welder to put top on - floods in Liverpool - you know 'em all I'm sure).
Just hope "eco-Stuart" has made it home - he went by train (he'll probably be fine until he gets to Dover when it will all go pear-shaped !)
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... or lack of ... we all know what's occurring locally - Hyde United's winding up order (put off for six weeks - £200,000 apparently), Stalybridge Celtic lose their main sponsor ( Cuticura - I've told Mrs Smiffy to buy other products !) - money is going to be well tight at the Conference level so God help those below (including Mossley - to put it bluntly - and I do NOT wish to offend - we need more deaths locally - if you don't get it , check out Mossley's main sponsor - you'll understand).
The whole money business means that all the promotion/relegation/play-off stuff starts to become totally bloody meaningless. Look at Curzon Ashton - beaten by Newcastle Blue Star who are now in the sh*t and unlikely to start next season. A few years ago, we were enthralled by the North/South divide / "club shuffle" when it came to promotion/relegation (of course with a added soupcon of "ground grading") - now it's a question of going bust/going into administration (oops there goes 10 points) - with still the ridiculous "ground grading" rules - look at Kings Lynn - funding in order via council who decide to wait until close season - not good enough apparently - they'll laugh that one out in court if it gets that far !!!
What's brought this up tonight for me is that - at a meeting tonight - Stafford Rangers have announced that unless they pay a £50k bill before early July, they're in admin - yes there are other (substantial) debts, but that's the killer - £50k .. three days wages for Christiano Ronaldo - two years salary for many of us - a mere 20 "moat cleans" for some MP ...
Why not just forget the football and just play it out as a board game - "Monopoly" with the non-league "add-on" ... or if you're a potential non-league football club sponsor, I'd go for "Risk" instead !
Still cr*p at work by the way - look out for the "State of the Nation" posting late Thursday night ;-)
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.... OK, a little OTT there - could be watching Werder Bremen vs Shaktar Donetsk (1-1 after 50 minutes BTW) - but we need to look elsewhere for our fun (?!?). Why not start with a railway rant (not had too many of them for a while !). The new timetable kicked in on Saturday 16th - this photograph was taken on Stalybridge Station this very morn ...
"We apologise for the delay ...... etc etc" - marvellous eh what ? Oh and tonight .. signalling problems in the Urmston/Flixton area meant train to Stalybridge severely delayed ...
No doubt regular readers thrilled at the excitement of the "redundancy/sack race" at my place of employ a couple of months ago - I managed to stay in work but even then, many were saying "Who are the lucky ones ?". Now today we've uncovered this on t'internet - no official missive to "us the leftovers", just a few words from a press conference several thousand miles away. You might have noticed that during that period I never once mentioned the "company name" - maybe for fear of retribution - I like to feel a certain amount of "professionalism/discretion" myself - but when stuff like the following appears on the internet you feel "What's the point ?" - so I give you .... our leader, Atul Punj .....
Going down the pan ?
... meanwhile we attempt to furnish his opulent Mayfair office with decent computer kit ... but are told/ordered by other senior PL staff "not to buy new" - he's gonna love it when he turns up on Saturday to see the "Steptoe & Son" gear - our fault naturally (!)
Strange really - the redundancy kerfuffle began just before my "25th Anniversary Week Off" - this little beauty now turns up just before my "Long Weekend in Shropshire", viz I take Friday off and no doubt miss loads of official-type sh*t.
What next ... taking Friday off invariably means working late on Thursday to satisfy the desire of self-important b*st*rds (usually the obscenely-paid agency scum) who use words like "need" and "urgent" - usually to cover for their complete and utter inefficiency earlier in the project ... lack of foresight /proactiveness - and complete ignorance of company procedure (that REALLY p*sses me off) - together with so much other stuff that - being the rookie Lotus Notes "guru" (HA !) - I have started to unearth .............
Like Johnny says ... "It's getting scary" - not scary scary, but totally lunatic crazy scary - and that's even scarier ...
Watch this space - at least there's something to rabbit on about - oh and I bought a new flashgun off EBay last night, as part of my "make it look professional if nowt else" way forward .... now just missing the 85mm f1.8 !!!
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... on a mostly poo-weather Sunday ...
Anderton Boat Lift
no pictures of the Salt Museum though .... can you cope ....
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... and that's it for now - we have:
a) visitors
b) boy on main pc
will do my best tomorrow....
TOMORROW (i.e. today @ 2115) .. we're getting there ... here's yesterday's footy pix from Cromley Road ...
Stockport Georgians 3 Pennington 0
... and it was good to see Malc Torkington at the game (ex work colleague at the "Tower of Doom") - his lad is the captain of Stockport Georgians...).
Today - amongst the cr*ppy weather - we looked something new - I said "how about a 'quirky museum' ??" - so - one Google later ... we went to Northwich - saw the Anderton Boat Lift (pictures to follow !!) ... and then went to the Salt Museum in the old Northwich Workhouse ... and IT WAS very interesting ...every now and then you've just GOT to get away from the same old boring stuff
Next on the list - Penny Farthing Museum (Knutsford I think), the Umbrella Museum (near Little Moreton Hall ?) and other such stuff ... there's a Bakelite Museum somewhere ... now then ....
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... and I'm NOT talking about Floyd - or even "Junior" (if you're already lost - Google it ! ) .... last Sunday at Wembley Central it was brilliant (unless you were trying to take photos - the light/shade split at Wembley is a bit of a pain !) ... thence to Monday at Curzon for the Vodkat Final - read all the boards ... I have to agree, it was (with the "wind chill factor") almost sub-zero (and I'd taken gloves/heat pads out of camera bag - it is mid-May for Frith's sake !). Since then the gale force winds have continued - witness tree damage at the bottom of our street ....
... and it's still bloody raining far too much - it's just like Dec/Jan/Feb - when you start to make sure you have the necessary contact phone numbers, just in case. Tomorrow should be Stockport Georgians v Pennington in the Manky League - fortunately with the Stockport train connection, I can check this one out knowing that (same league) there is Chapel Town v Elton Vale (that's Chapel as in Chapel-en-le- Frith) - also possible by train from Stockport ...
Tonight (with Mrs Smiffy being "out"), I'd thought about nipping up to the "Railway" @ Greenfield to watch a bit of the MK Dons v Scunny match .. but the weather said "Naaa" !!! It's 0-0 @ half-time according to "interweb scorecentre stuff" - I'll keep an eye on it whilst watching "Thunderbirds" on SCI FI + 1 !!!
Plus it's time I put together "my day" last Sunday ...
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.. a welcome change (??) after a hectic few weeks of "Strictly Football" !!
Sat in front of the telly watching "Green Day: From the Beginning" on 4Music ...and thoroughly enjoying it. One thing about the satellite music channels - there ISN'T one called "MusicFilms" or equivalent - there are loads of music films out there, and it would be marvellous if they had their own dedicated channel. Films I would tout for would be stuff like "Woodstock", "This is Spinal Tap", "Still Crazy", "Once", "Monterey Pop" - even "Abba - The Movie" is preferable to watching dozens of crap music videos on the "Crap Music Video Channel" or whatever. I'd even be tempted to subscribe to said channel if MoneyManiacMurdoch were to set it up (be much nicer to see "VHMusicFilms" or something similarly cheap/free !).
Anyway we've done the Green Day back catalogue - and I still like the "American Idiot" stuff .. I know many people didn't due to the political stance. They thought GD were jumping on an anti-war bandwagon - so bloody what ?? The music was still good (what's wrong with a concept album/opera style - worked for many bands previously) - and think ... an American band going anti-American - strange that GD seemed to get less flak than others - the Dixie Chicks got some fearful press/hate/boycotts for espousing the same views ... and I'll be honest, the vid for "Wake Me Up when September Ends" still brings tears to my eyes - just sums up the total futility of war - even an illegal war - and the sh*t that death/murder will cause. Many years before Green Day (i.e. "When I were a lad") there were loads of bands/artists on the anti-war stance - don't see it as jumping on a bandwagon ... more as expressing a feeling, a view ... we've all got them ....and it's good that certain people/groups etc with "influence" can use it.
And if any MP comes round to my door during these Euro-elections I will certainly expressing my views - and naturally handing over a bagful of receipts that I have been saving up for whichever of the thieving b*st*rds turns up. It's worth noting that up to now we've only "uncovered" the thieving antics of the 650 crooks down House of Commons way .... I await with interest the figures from the Euro-MPs ... you know as well as I do, that they're all p*ssing in the same pot - and if I meet that Hazel Blears in the flesh I won't be waving a cheque in her face - she - and all the other crooked b*st*rds should be facing jail terms - it's always the rich who get away with it - and yes I count £64,000 (before expenses etc ..) as rich - just don't get me on those (even richer) tw*ts like Ferdinand or Ronaldo who appear incapable/unable to find a legal parking space/pay parking fees in the Manchester area - they're up there with the MP s as far as I'm concerned ...
We seem to have moved away from music ... and football is miles away at the moment (although I believe Millwall have "done" Leeds, looking at the Facebook 'comments' !!!) ... we're now onto the "Green Day @ Abbey Road" playing some old stuff and some more off the new album - that's where our Michelle should be working .. unfortunately, unlike football, "promotion playoffs" don't exist in that biz !!
Quick music update - just seen the Paula Abdul video for "Opposites Attract" - not seen that for many many years - cracking vid and a cute little tune as well !
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... well a goodly selection anyway .. enjoy what you can - in total all day (0645 - 2200) I took just under 300 pix - and some of them were on baby Fuji. The two guys next to me in the "snapper lounge" after the game reckoned they'd done 1200+ between them - of just the game ! I say get a video camera !!
Glossop NE 0 Whitley Bay 2
Should say more now - what a great day out ! Spoke to a number of "Hillmen" (and women) after the game, on the train home etc. and they all concurred .. wrong result but - hey "once in a lifetime" ? Maybe not - greed should kick in now as in "same again next year" ..
Personally, I was treated like a king from arrival at 1300 to depature at about 1700 - possibly for me a "once in a lifetime" trip into media heaven (no way would I get in to an FA Cup Final - I bet it's bedlam in the media area for the big games) - and what a a fantastic stadium as well. My first time at the "new" Wembley - and certainly my first time "legally pitchside" (here I should talk quietly about the 1979 FA Trophy Final when I scaled the fences, kissed the turf in the goalmouth - and got chucked out - but it might affect any future applications - I was very young (22 ?) and stupid then !) - as I said in an earlier post, quite awe-inspiring when you walk out - so respect to the players who actually had to "do a bit" while I sat on my a*se going "click" !!
I've got so much more to say about Sunday - but I STILL haven't really had the time to sit down properly and write it all out (trust me I WILL) - last night being the Vodkat League Cup Final being the reason for the delay - and I'm sure there are some saying "Where's the bl**dy New Mills pix ?? SLACKER !!".
I'm getting there - and for those still looking ... Saturday brings a game - Stockport Georgians v Pennington in the Manchester League (note 1400 kick-off).
Tomorrow - the New Mills/Runcorn pix .....
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... in the Vodkat League Cup Final tonight / last night. Two opportunistic strikes in the first half ... and some real "rearguard action" in the second half saw the Millers as deserved winners tonight.
And that's all you get for now I'm afraid ... just spent the last 90 minutes selecting pix from Sunday - promise faithfully there'll be some FA Vase stuff up tomorrow/later this evening - and then Wednesday I can do the match tonight / last night .... so much to do and so little time to etc etc ...
(PS Well done Blades tonight / last night !!)
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... left this morning at 0645 - home about 2200 - so much I should say about the day - in so many areas - trains OK - weather OK - beer expensive - and so on ... but I don't think I could do it justice at this late hour - y'know silly little things like men in ties with "New Mills FC" on my train - chatting to Rab and Peter in the "Crock of Gold" (and then getting enveloped by Whitley Bay fans !!) - the feeling of total awe/WOW when I came out onto pitch-side (God alone knows how the players felt when they ran out) ... and I met Eric Marsh (now if you know Waynes World ref Alice Cooper ... "We're not worthy..." - THAT'S Eric Marsh . and I believe it was a Nikon F2 Film camera as well ... respect !
I will do a bit more - plus getting some more pictures up (I've put a couple on the GNE message board site) - but tomorrow (OK today) sees a little bit more football @ Curzon Ashton - the Vodkat Cup Final twixt Runcorn Linnets and New Mills.
... maybe those "New Mills ties" will get another outing ....
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... first impressions - the confident team won - but Glossop gave their all - today just not enough.
They did hit the bar though - here's a "rough and ready" of that ...
S'pose I better go home now - one last complimentary coffee before the "beer hunt" and the "train hunt" - maybe later ......
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.... sat in the photographers lounge !! WOW !!
Today I am "159 PHOTO" ... United have just scored on the screen in front of me ... now I close and go ... pitchside OK toilet first !!!!!!
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... Saturday now over - a good day - took the Merc to the tip (!!!!) - noted that the FA Trophy Final appeared to be on Setanta News Channel (viz can watch at home) - OK it was only the first half (had to watch most the second half down the pub) - but clocked the sunshine etc (trying to be professional now - ho ho)
Well done Stevenage - deserved over the 90 minutes - York should not feel disgraced - they got a final - but more importantly they "stayed up" in the BSP this season - now THAT'S the important thing.
Other news from today - "Widowers' Houses" at the Royal Exchange - typical GBS - not enough laughs for me, but the whole landlord/mortgage/ground rent type of stuff was strangely topical - one line that stood out for me - Blanche saying "I hate the poor" - despite living off them ! Other football news - AFC Fylde get the promotion from the North West Counties by beating New Mills 5-0 in front of 1217 peeps ! All they had to do was win - and that would gurantee promotion on goal difference. Feel for New Mills as a "localish" club - but they were a bit rough/cocky when we stuffed 'em in the Manky Cup - and there's a certain jealousy re money !
Anyway - six hours time - on the road/rail to Wembley - come on Glossop ... that's all you can say ...
I'm hoping to have some (rough and ready) pix up on the web very quickly, via the "facilities" available at the Stadium - watch this space ....
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...yes there's still some knocking about ... Monday we have New Mills v Runcorn Linnets in the Vodkat (alright, North West Counties !) Cup Final @ Curzon Ashton ...
... but first a trip to Wembley on Sunday to see if Glossop can do the business against Whitley Bay in the FA Vase Final ... I asked - the FA said "certainly sir" - so I'm down there on Sunday with an official "photgraphers pass" to my name. Excited - you bet I am !
Saturday sees an evening trip to the Royal Exchange Theatre to see a bit of George Bernard Shaw in "Widowers' Houses" - weather permitting, maybe a walk before ? Naturally we are still awaiting the return of the trusty Astra (I might get another go in the Merc though on Sat !!) - maybe tomorrow (Saturday) maybe not - but it looks like I will be needing a taxi on Sunday morning to get to Stalybridge for the 0719 train to Manchester, thence to London, as daughter is popping home on Saturday which means Mrs Smiffy will probably not be able to give me a lift to Stalybridge on Sunday morn ... something to do with the words "red", "wine" and "sleep" !!!
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Got a new CF card for the camera today - 2 Gb - a very sensible size ...
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.... but Belper HAS won the Walkers Crisps "Do us a Flavour" competition .... see
"Builders Breakfast" wins !!!
I've tasted them too (in a pub in Colwyn Bay) - and they're a damn sight better than bloody Doner Kebab Pot Noodles, that's for sure !!
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... bought my rail ticket today ... and checked out the whereabouts of my passport ...
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..Rick brought 'em in ... we had to try ...
I thought they were Godawful (and that was without the chilli sauce sachet - still residing on my desk !!)- Johnny finished mine off - good job I went to Greggs for sausage roll "just in case"... The one spare one will be donated to the panda ! And I think Johnny will be trying the (slightly obscured) chicken tikka masala model tomorrow ...
Me ? Back into "sensible sandwich mode" ....
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Got two new batteries for the camera - they arrived on Saturday while I was at Belper - took one of them on the Sunday walk - it "died" after two shots..... since re-charged it, left it "fully charged" for 12 hours and tried again - totally bloody drained ... :-( have e-mailed the Ebay seller ref getting a replacement.
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... came through Mossley this morning at about 0720 on its way to Bristol and Bath - and ever the saddo OCD non-sleeper, I wandered down to take a few .... here they are:
http://mossleysmiffy.jalbum.net/RetroRail04May09/
Rest of the day ... not much ... weather not brill ... looks like a "housey" sort of day ... zzzzz ...
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... sulking ...pix from today now up at
It works now - Belper 0 SPS 1
I can only reiterate - a lacklustre performance - no bite up front and a strange lack of confidence - bordering on panic at times - at the back. SPS were first to everything - strange really as the last Belper game I saw was the home win against SPS when Belper were "in their faces" for 90 minutes - today it just wasn't there. It's one of those things I guess - I watched Mossley lose on Wednesday to a team two leagues above ... but they gave their all. Today I feel that the true Belper fans could not say the same about their team .... don't want to get too controversial - I am an outsider after all .. but I've seen many better performances than that this season.
Let's just hope that it's another piece in the DAndy Mansgement "jigsaw" - viz last season the Derbyshire Senior Cup ... this season the Unibond Play-Offs ... next season world domination and a trip to the FA Cup 4th Round ?? When you look at it that way, you can/should feel good. Hopefully the nucleus of the side will stay at the Meadows (word I got from Friday night's presentation "bash" was that ... they will) - and next season will be "Step 3" in the "DAndy Five Year Plan".
What I HAVE forgotten are all the other results today ... a "bridge too far" for Curzon Ashton as they went down 4-1 away at Newky Brown Star (atendance of 0 according to that pile of cr*p called the "Unibond Leage Match Console"), but Ilkeston have made it to the Blue Square (at this moment I daren't say North or South - you know what it's like in football "AdministrativeLand" !) with a 2-1 win over Nantwich after extra-time with 10 men (yep I was getting regular txt updates courtesy Nosmo !) Should come North really .. which opens up Stalybridge, Droylsden and (maybe) Hyde (see my earlier mention of "AdministrativeLand" - see what occurs re Kings Lynn)..
Is that my last game of the season ... well actually no ... I leave it at that for now !!
And one final rant - you've (hopefully) read the missive below ref the "bump" and the car insurance "kerfuffle" - well I get home and Mrs Smiffy tells me that the "courtesy car" people have rung up to say "We haven't got any cars left to give you one ..." - what the f**k is that all about - some people are going to get some serious sh*t over this ... our "long trip to Yorkshire" is naturally "off" (no car) ... and then it's Bank Holiday Monday (there would have been a motorway queue somewhere that we would have wanted to join - !!) and then Mrs Smiffy needs car for work on Tuesday ... and you thought car insurance was a comfort - don't know yet whether to blame Direct Line - I reckon it's down to the incompetent courtesy car "suppliers" - they're called "DriveAssist" - and they don't ......
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.... from the Belper game - they lost 1-0 to Stocksbridge Park Steels, but more of that later ... I'm in an "internet cafe" in Buxton (Grove Movie Centre) with some time to kill before the train back to Manchester, so I thought I'd have a rant at the "Trans Peak" bus service. I got to Buxton this morning - by train - and when the TP bus arrived - it was full !!! The driver blamed the "free pass syndrome" and could only offer "There's another one in an hour" .... GREAT !!!! I got to Belper in the end by various outlandish means (been all over !!). Tonight coming back I knew that the bus would arrive in Buxton just too late to catch the Manchester train leaving me with approx 57 minutes ..... GREAT !!!So Trans Peak - I suggest that if you're an "express bus service" you:a) ban the free passesb) stick to the main road instead of veering off into Taddington, Ashford etc etc.c) time your (late)buses to arrive at Buxton to connect with the bloody trains !!!Rant over - I'm now off to the station to catch the 2029-ish train back to Manc - which will see me back in Mossley ..... late ... I'l try to get something up tonight ... but tomorrow we're on a "big walk" which Mrs Smiffy has been sorting out today ....Hang on - it's only 1952 - so how about another "rant" - this time to do with car insurance. Mrs Smiffy had a bit of a prang in the car this midweek - some dolt reversed into the car and gave our bumper a bit of a clout - there is a hole and a dent about 5 inches square. T'other "admitted" so our insurance kicked in - and what a bloody kerfuffle that is !!! The insurance company, the company that picks up the car, the company that supplies the courtesy car - God they're all taking a "rake off" - letters coming first class, txts coming onto mobile phones - money money money .... Mrs Smiffy said that if it had been her fault we'd have lived with it (a bit of duck tape etc etc) but once the others admit the vultures are in there big style ! They came to pick our car up at 0700 this morning after a false start yesterday - they're meant to fit in with us, but it's so bloody awkward - I don't even know if the "courtesy car" has arrived yet (hope so - the big walk is supposed to be up Yorkshire Dales way ....). Fingers crossed ....Anyway - enough of this hi-tec internet cafe stuff (I'll be honest - I've never used one before !!!). Off for a pint before the train ... poss the Kings Head just across the road from where I'm sat !As Aleksandr would say if he didn't say "Simples" ............................ "laters" ........One line on the football - the team I saw today was NOT the Belper Town I've been watching this season - a very lacklustre effort indeed. More later - must go (God know how much this costs !!).
Yes football still exists at our level - we're not reduced to watching Middlesbrough v Man U "on the telly" just yet.
Yes it's 0126 but my match is already decided - I'm off to watch Belper take on Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Unibond 1 South Play-off Final. Naturally it's family reasons for my choice - otherwise I WOULD have travelled up to "oop north" to shout for Curzon (away at Newky Brown Star - Curzon WILL win - I'm sure of that). Other thoughts are naturally with Ilkeston - at home to Nantwich - Nosmo I promise to keep you up to date @ Belper if you can do same at Ilson !!
All I need to do is catch the 0827 out of Mossley ... and I'm ON THE WAY..
C'mon Nailers;
C'mon Curzon;
C'mon Ilson........
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