Thursday 13 December 2012

December whizzing by...

Another hectic working week. Maybe I should just accept that this is the new norm but it's hard not to hanker for a more balanced Monday to Friday so will carry on deluding myself that things will slow down.

After I finished last night I joined some old working comrades for our annual visit to Tayyabs and my current favourite world food, 'north-west Frontier' or Punjabi. I have been addicted to British Indian restaurant food (Bangladeshi) since my teens dating back to the 1970's. My old man was an early adopter of foreign foods and I was fluent with Indian and Chinese menus long before my generation got into Chicken Tikka Masala. I also spent a year in Singapore in '95 when I discovered what MSG was and how Chinese food I was used to should more accurately be named Hong Kong food. Anyway, if you haven't tried it, look for a Punjabi restaurant and fill your boots. They are occasionally run by Sikhs but are more often, like Tayyabs, Muslim owned which is why they are often unlicensed although they are quite happy for you to bring-your-own which means you get to drink exactly what you want and at off-licence prices. It was great to catch-up with friends whose level of working cynicism surpasses my own and have a good old moan about the state of the world. I always leave feeling slightly better about everything.

Hopefully things will slow down a bit tomorrow because I am off to the Mick Jagger Centre/Dartford Grammar School for a few pints and a dose of old favourites, the Buzzcocks.

I will be tuned in to the Bolton game on Saturday afternoon and praying for three points rather than the solitary one which looks nailed on. Bolton aren't exactly setting the heather alight at the moment but they have been hard to beat and have drawn eight games so far. Wild horses couldn't persuade me to travel to the frozen wastes of northern Manchester but Mexican Victor is back next week for his Christmas visit and I have agreed to accompany him on the similar trek to Hillsborough on 22nd - definitely no Christmas shopping for me. These games give us a real chance to prove any realistic play-off ambitions.

Fulham are being linked with January swoop for Ben Hamer which I suppose will be successful if they aren't deterred by Spanish Tone's valuation which should be about £4m if his valuation of Dale Stephens is anything to go by. I don't want any disruption to our current squad, at least, until the destiny of this season looks clearer but if Ben is to get the big money move then we will also need to move on and hopefully with a fee commensurate with the increase in his earnings. If it's not Fulham, Nottingham Forest should be rebuffed unless they are dangling equally stupid money.






3 comments:

  1. See you in the mosh pit tonight Dave - I always go left wing as Diggle stands there and is a bit lively!

    Pembury Addick

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  2. PA - looked a bit warm over there! Plenty of room at the back and closer to the warm bottled beer. Diggle looks increasingly like he's making a play to take the band over!

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  3. it was hot work Dave! Mosh very slow to start but great fun when it did! Funniest moment was my very drunk mate trying to "dad" dance in the mosh. My legs ache a lot..

    We actually started with balcony tickets - my mate had got his Dad to buy the tickets. "you'll want to sit down if you paid £19 a ticket" said he....

    Pete has always worn that "couldn't give a toss" indifferent look.I'm sure he cares really.

    Stayed on in Dartford to see them win on Saturday. Bit of an antidote to to the Bolton blues.

    Pembury Addick

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