Mindlessly Googling

L is back at work on Monday but, by her own admission, just mindlessly Googling while seething because the Swimming Pool was closed this morning. The leisure centre was open but with no pool to supervise the staff were just sat around chatting. If so they could have just moved their chat to the pool side they could have opened up. As a consequence L and her swim buddie had to sit and chat themselves over a coffee.

Those absolute darlings at Sky TV have deemed to give us no daytime home games over the entire Christmas and New Year period. So there's no holiday cheer there then. Instead we have evening games on Monday and Thursday this week, which is the first time I can recall us playing twice in the same mid-week since the 1980’s when we were playing catch up from a particularly bad winter. Maybe it suits us as we win both games.

On Tuesday I bike into work while L runs 7k because the pool is still shut. She says her run was muddy. So either she went on the park or went for a jog round our garden.

My online running club send me a graphic illustrating my achievements for the year and even I’m impressed with myself. I've only been uploading my data since the start of November but a 5k time of 20:16 and a half marathon of 1:41:07 are pretty good. However the less said about my 10k time the better.

I finish work early on New Year’s Eve which means L and I head into Nottingham far too early. I worry about us peaking too soon as we hit the usual bars in Canning Circus with the aim of eventually ending up in the Market Square at midnight to see in 2020. 

We manage to last the distance, so get to watch the fireworks off the top of the Council House and join in the communal celebrations. Which are a little bit fragmented and muted due to the whole ice rink thing hogging the Market Square and getting in the way somewhat.

(Tuesday 31^st December)

Many Moons Ago

To say that our Visa applications for our trip to Russia for the Sochi Olympics are proving a headache would be an understatement. They want full education details since school, details of your last three employers, even though I haven’t moved jobs in 18 years. Along with details of your parents and in L’s case of her ex-husband, who she divorced approximately 100 years ago. Bizarre. It’s enough to put you off going and I guess it normally does but are they likely to turn anyone down for the Olympics? Doubt it, as long as we don’t mention that bank job we did.

We also need new photos for it and L goes out to get hers in the howling gale that seems to have been forever and that has prevented me cycling at all over Christmas. Her photos will therefore be a bit windswept but I’m all for that.

We've had the usual debate about where to spend New Year’s Eve which we usually spend having a meal with my parents. After a few failed enquiries we settle on a place in Sandiacre that we went to many moons ago when Daughter had a thing about one of her infant school teachers. Yes it was a while ago. It’s had two name changes since then and has now metamorphasised from a Chinese into a Thai or should I say upgraded.

We go there via the Horse and Jockey in Stapleford. I head there straight from work and meet L there. It is packed. After probably too many pints but not actually an outstanding one, we wobble up the road to the Thai Legend where we meet my parents.

After an excellent meal, more beer/wine and a complementary liquor coffee we wobble out again, flag down one of the rare buses and head home to see in midnight with the dogs and a Sandemans port.

(Tuesday 31^st December)

Moral Support Amid Pyrotechnics

Just three us in work today, while outside it's bucketing it down and blowing a gale. None of this stops those people who aren’t at work from heading to Sainsbury’s causing an almighty traffic jam. Do these people not have jobs to go to? Then I can do the weekly shop in peace.

We’ve been looking for somewhere to go for a meal tonight which isn’t as easy as you’d think. Lots of places are either closed or booked for private parties on New Year’s Eve.

Surprisingly we manage to get a table at our posh local Chinese Mr Mans and we invite my parents over to join us. They give us a table upstairs; I didn’t even know they had an upstairs. It proves a good choice as it’s much quieter up there. It’s a good meal with a lot of wine and a correspondingly big bill but it’s a very good night.

Then its home in time for midnight but only just. We make it just in time to offer Doggo moral support during the expected fireworks. At least our local pyrotechnics didn’t go on as long as those in London that were televised by the BBC. After seven minutes we switched back to Jools Holland's Hootenanny, so I’ve no idea how long they went on for. By the time they get around to Auld Lang Syne it’ll be almost February.

(Monday 31st December)