For Pete's Sake

Berbatov On Target

One thing that’s been lacking here on this blog of late is any posts about my other passion; sport. I’m an avid fan of many teams in many sports but the team that’s first and foremost for me is Man Utd. So far this season United have been a very inconsistent team. Now I know we’re second with a good record but sometimes we’ve looked unstoppable and others, like yesterday, we’ve looked awful.

The thing I love about watching United over the years is how we pass and move the ball forward. We’ve had and still have some of the best passers in the game. Scholes for example while not the best at tackling is one of the few Premiership footballs who can seemingly pick out anyone anywhere on the pitch with consummate ease. However yesterday none of them turned up with United giving the ball away in the first half with passes that were 10yrds or less which, for a team in the Premiership, is laughable. Sunderland on the other hand played fantastically well. They showed United they were no mugs and as the clock ticked down I honestly thought they’d come away with the win and over the 90mins you couldn’t say that was unfair.

However United did what they’re fantastic at doing; scoring late goals. While Berbatov’s goal in the 51st minute for a while gave United some extra wind in their sails Jones’ goal seven minutes later removed it. From then on United again looked as hapless as Foster did for Jones’ goal and while I still think he can be United’s #1 goalkeeper when Van der Sar retires he still has a way to go. However Sunderland’s first win at OT in something silly like 40yrs wasn’t to be when United were fortunate to score through an unlucky deflection/own goal by Anton Ferdinand. While I’m sure that’s made for some interesting Sunday dinner discussion in the Ferdinand household it was harsh on Sunderland. However they weren’t helped by the fact that Kieran Richardson was sent off for two yellow cards including a rather silly one for kicking away the ball. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy we got the point and it’s a mark of great sides to not play well and not lose but it was an awful display by United.

Well, anyone who is actually still reading this or has it bookmarked may be, especially when the last post was back in August. Anyway, I’m still at my current job, despite the odd misgiving here and there. At times it’s not that bad, others.. well let’s just say I have bad thoughts. Either way it’s employment and I should be grateful for that. So that’s work summed up, short and sweet really.

Life in general is going pretty well despite the odd worry but then they’re nothing more that what everyone else probably worries about. It gets me down and recently it’s got me down more than it usually does. The other thing that keeps bugging me lately is I have this feeling that things are just passing me by. I don’t know if they are or why I have this feeling but even as I sit here now I just thinking I could or should be doing something more. Fact is I probably could, I even started writing my part of a story I’m doing with Legionary, hopefully I’ll write more soon. Cat is doing well in her job though right now she’s worrying and stressing about her dancing exam which is approaching far too quickly! Our holiday to Iceland is booked for next year, just a case now of saving the money and damn it’s expensive but there you go, what in this life isn’t?! Still it’ll be worth it and I really can’t wait to go. On another life note, my birthday is approaching again, I tell you it must be improving its ninja skills as it really did sneak up on me this year.

One cool thing though that happened recently was my attendance, along with my good friend Carl, to the NHL ice hockey game in London. The atmosphere and venue (The O2) were superb and the game wasn’t half-bad either. It’s certainly got me buzzing and really excited now about attending the NFL London game for which the tickets turned up the other week. I also managed to get my hands on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. It’s a seriously cool special edition and, in my opinion, worth it.

Sports wise it’s an up and down start for my teams. The Steelers are doing well in the NFL with their defence really looking the business this season. United have only just started to get in to gear and as far as the Penguins go; such a stark contrast to last season. I won’t mention anything about the Pirates’ baseball season as, apart from the odd surprise win there’s nothing to talk about.

So there you go, 3 months zipped up.

So here I am, over a week into my new job and I think it’s going well. I’m starting to settle and get into the role and well what can I say except that I’m looking forward. Outside of work it’s been an average week with very little going on. However now that the football season has started I can see my blog filling up of thoughts and musings on the unfolding action.

Took the car in for it’s service today and the funny thing was when I returned the courtesy car back only to be told that they shouldn’t have let me have one as I wasn’t insured! Still their fault not mine but it was quite a nice car, ‘07 Honda Jazz Sport. Fun little run around and quite pokey which was nice. The Westbury United game I went to see was ok, a little lackluster but entertaining none-the-less. First half was boring with Westbury probably edging it with a very strong finish. Second half Longwell Green, the opponents on the day, took the lead through quite a nice header however Westbury equalized with the goal of the game. The ball was played through and on the half-volley neatly lobbed over the keeper. Then it was just another stalemate of chances leading to full-time. Still it’s always nice to get a point at the start of a season.

This evening was spent at a BBQ over at a friends which was nice. Good food, good company and well it’s a lovely evening and it was great to spend it outdoors. So now I’m home looking forward to the first Match of the Day of the season and it should be a cracker. In closing one of my friends got engaged this past week, a long time coming, but it’s still cool and exciting news.

So here we are ages since I last post and those that do read my blog are probably wondering what’s been going on in my life. The answer is quite a bit! First off to explain the distinct lack of posting and the answer to that is that Fluffles has migrated hosts. We’re now proudly hosted by Media Temple the same company that hosts my own photography site pntaylor.net. That was decided long ago and I took a snapshot of the domain as was when I started the migration. To make it easier on me I decided not to post so as to avoid have to constantly update my backup; lazy I know but there you go.

The migration took longer than I though, mainly down to an incorrect authorization code provided by my previous hosts. However, on second attempt a new auth code was issued which was correct and, well, we’re here now and that’s what counts. Back to bringing you all up to date I now have a job, a full drivers license and a car! So lets tackle everything in that order.

The job is working as a 1st line support technician at a medium size firm in nearby Wickwar. It’s interesting and although isn’t as autonomous as my old job was I’m happy with it. It’s like your average call centre job in that your role is quite defined however there’s no scripts, no targets (to a point) and you can visit some of the users. Sure there are some in other countries but I’m supporting the companies users and not millions of users like I would be if I worked for a big international company. The job was dependant on me getting my drivers license and fortunately for me I passed first time with only 4 minors, a fact which I’m quite chuffed about. So finally thanks to getting a job and having a full license I bought myself a car; an 04 reg Toyota Corolla VVT-I. It’s nice and shiny and hell it’s my first car and I’m damn proud!

So I’m a week, just over, into my new job and it’s going well. The office politics I’m still learning, I thought I had the jist of it a couple days ago but my assumptions and thoughts are seemingly a little off. However I’d like to think I’m fitting in well and that I’m proving my worth as it were. Anyway, it’s getting a little late and I’m tired as it is, so there’s an update and now that fluffles has migrated, posts will start up again.

Ah yes, it seems I’m back to my old ways, well, not really, but I haven’t blogged here in over a month. Not my fault mind! Ok so it is, but I’ve been busy, sort of. I guess I could do this in the style of a TV series with those “Previously on..” but then you can all read my last post here so really that idea is a little defunct. However lots has happened since that post.

Firstly if you’ve ever bothered to read the about me bit below you’ll notice that it says “finally graduated” so for a shiny gold star can you guess what that means? No!? Well it means I took my pass degree and done a runner. I now have a BSc in Computing for Real Time Systems and can finally look for work. So far I did 3 days with a company which didn’t work out as the role didn’t suit me and I narrowly missed out on a position at a school. I have an interview next Thursday in Bath so all is okay on the job front; as in, I’m at least getting interviews.

Other things sportside have happened too. United won the Premier League which is fantastic and I’m really chuffed in the way that we’ve won it. I got myself tickets to see the L.A. Kings play the Anaheim Ducks (NHL) at the O2 Arena later this year and tomorrow I’ll find out if I’ve got tickets to see the Miami Dolphins play the N.Y. Giants (NFL) at Wembley. I also have my driving theory test this Friday (eek!) and it’s not too long till Catrin and I’s first wedding anniversary!

So yes I’ve been quite the busy person which to me explains the lack of posting. With any luck once things settle, like when I get a job, I may start posting a little more frequently. Anyway, for now, let the current news of my life settle, take a deep breath (perhaps have a cup of tea) and relax.