Recently in Me Category

I married my first wife, Karen, in April 1996. She died in May 1996. Since then I have worn both our wedding rings on my right hand, together with a ring that she always wore.

As you can see, I've put on a little timber since then and the rings are now far too small to remove. I getting to the point now where I think my finger may be getting too big to leave the rings on any longer. But that will now mean having them cut off and I don't think I'm ready to do that.

It's either that, or a drastic diet and I'm unlikely to be able to pull that off.

Resources are a little constrained at the moment, what with me being made redundant and Sharon's pay being cut by 1/2. So we decided not to buy each other presents for Valentines Day. Instead, we decided to buy one of @rachelcreative's wonderful, handmade pop-up cards to give to us from us.

Rachel even addressed it and sealed if for us so that it would be a surprise for us to open together this morning.

If you've not seen Rachel's work before, please do visit her online shop or, if you're interested in the processes and thoughts behind her art, have a read of her weblog.

It appears to be be contagious. I don't know what the incubation period is so I don't know who I caught it from. I do know that the infection took slowly and innocuously and I was probably incurable by the time anyone noticed I had succumb. It may not have a long Latin name but football supporting is a affliction that should be understood.

As a child and through my teenage years I had a natural immunity to football, inherited from my Dad and his Dad who expressed no interest at all in sport during my formative years. Whether through genuine disinterest or out of a desire to be different from my peers, I was positively anti-football whenever anyone around me expressed or discussed an interest.

My first ever interest in football results came when I worked for HM Customs & Excise in Wolverhampton in the mid-1990s. I was manager to a staff of between 6 and 9 for 18 months and most of the were Wolves supporters. I would follow the mid-week results solely to gauge what mood my staff would be in the next day. A loss and they'd be fraught; arguing all day that they'd been robbed, the ref had been poor or they'd played well and deserved better (I've since learned that Wolves supporters in particular are known for these responses to a loss). A good win and they'd be on a high all day, chatty and pleasant to be around but not likely to get a great deal of work done. My best hope, as their manager, was for an unremarkable draw or win. They'd get some work done then.

After leaving that position, it would be years before I would have any reason to consider football. In the early 2000s my next door neighbour, an ardent Birmingham City FC fan, started helping me out at discos. I'd pick him up at around 5 to 5:30 on a Saturday and on some weeks the Blues match would still be playing so we'd stick it on the radio. He was quite a good ambassador for supporting a team and quite possibly the source of my infection. We'd quite often discuss the matches we were listening to or that had just finished.

Then, in 2005, Chasetown FC had a good FA Cup run reaching the first round proper playing then League 1 Oldham FC in a match that was televised by the BBC. I watched that match out of local pride and, against expectation, Chasetown forced a replay from Oldham with a 1-1 draw. I recall this as one of the first matches where I was actively supporting one team over another, with the possible exception Scotland or England international matches. Chasetown lost the replay away, as was expected but an interest in how they performed had been piqued.

In May 2006 I went to Madrid for my future Brother in Law's stag do and went to see my first ever football match. I saw Real Madrid play Deportivo La Coruna at the Santiago Bernabeu, one of the biggest football stadiums in the world. My first ever game and I was watching David Beckham playing in one of the most hallowed grounds, capable of holding 80,000 people.

The second game I ever went to was at St Andrews, home to Birmingham City in 2007. James (then 8) wanted to go and see a football match. So my neighbour offered to take us to see The Blues. We wanted a mid-week game were there was unlikely to be any trouble or crowding in the supporters that might frighten James, so we chose a Carling Cup match against Hereford. It didn't lead to the best match as an introduction for James.

I think the clincher, the point at which my resistance gave up, was in December 2007 when Chasetown FC did even better, getting though to the 3rd round. It was their 2nd round fixture against Port Vale FC, more specifically the replay at home after holding the League One team to a draw away.

The third match I attended was a non-league fixture between Chasetown and some team I don't remember. I attended to get a voucher that allowed me to buy a ticket to the Port Vale replay fixture. It was a totally different atmosphere. Almost more social and drinking than football. I don't even remember what the final score was.

But my 4th, and favourite to date, match was the FA Cup 2nd round replay at home (just 10 minutes walk from home) against Port Vale. A match we were expected lose but won, with a diving header in the last quarter. That was it, I was hooked. In that split second, when that impossible goal brought 1500 strangers together and we screamed and shouted.

Unfortunately Chasetown lost in the 3rd round to Championship team Cardiff FC, even though the Welsh team didn't put out anywhere near their strongest team. You couldn't get tickets for love nor money for that match so I had to make do with listening on the radio.

I'm still not what you'd call a "proper" fan. I rarely attend Birmingham City matches, following on the TV, radio or, if forced to, BBC's live text service. When I do go to see The Scholars, it's more about the opportunity to meet up with friends for a beer than about watching the match.

Instead,you'll find me hiding upstairs watching Blues matches on TV or listening on BBC WM and cheering when "we" win but not particularly moping when we lose. You'll find Sharon downstairs moping about the loss of her husband or sitting in the passenger seat of the car complaining about having to listen to the football again.

(This entry grew out of what was going to be a comment on Danny Smith's Blues and me post to BiNS.)

My wife, who encourage its growth in Movember and retention during December, has decided I should shave of the moustache and beard combo.

I've been told over the last 2 months that it looks like Billy Connolly's, Willy Wonka's (although I've since noticed he doesn't have one in either film) and Andy Parsons's.

So, what do you guys think?

1. Washing Machine (leaking)
2. Kia (not MOT or Tax, OK not "broken" but unusable)
3. Hard disk on my desktop
4. Lights on my trailer.
5. Engine in my car (running, but needs work doing to it)
6. Dish washer (has been for months)
7. Both sets of toilet seats.
8. My new work laptop
9. Name box for my disco.
10. Me (Man Flu)
11. Sharon (more seriously; cluster migraines)
12. My will.
    

Next weekend, 27th & 28th November, I start a month of Christmas discos for Village Hotel & Leisure Club in Coventry. Most of them are Moulin Rouge themed.

In the spirit of the event, I thought I would also wear a Moulin Rouge themed costume.

@deejackson very kindly provided a mouse nibbled top hat. However, bar that exception, everything has come from my own wardrobe. Big boots, frilly cuffs and dress shirt. However I have a choice of 2 jackets; a long, purple, crushed velvet jacket or a dark maroon, velvet dinner jacket.

I can't decide between the two. Please let me know which you prefer.

Last year, my wife asked for some perfume. She's a big fan of Issey Miyake and I have bought her some in the past. But, whilst she hinted very heavily, she didn't specify what perfume she wanted.

You may know that I'm a big fan Kelly Brook. Sharon buys me her calendar every Christmas. You may not know that Kelly Brook has a perfume range. Whilst it's a "designer" perfume it doesn't have the cachet of Issey Miyake.

You can see where this is going can't you?

So I bought Sharon some Kelly Brook perfume. It comes in a box of a shape and size that is quite clearly a perfume, even when wrapped up. She was clearly a little excited as she opened it. This was a respectably sized bottle of what appeared to be expensive Eau de Toilette. Her face when she finally unwrapped it was a picture. (I also gave her some Issey Miyake later in the day to make up for it).

However, she had the last laugh. She decided to use her Kelly Brook Eau de Toilette as her everyday perfume. She's had more compliments on this perfumes and questions about what it is and where to get it from than any other fragrance.

This year she has asked for a Kelly Brook gift set for Christmas. In addition to some more Issey Miyake.

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There's a general assumption amongst people who don't suffer from depression that those who do will do everything do pull themselves out of it. Unfortunately, that's not always true.

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As Imperator of Stuff, I have decreed the official spiritual philosophy of my rule to be Apatheism.