Dear Diary...
This is my diary. How things are. Or something. Please note that the diary is archived month by month, so feel free to click the links for the archives (which now will go back five years maximum):
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Wednesday 13th March - First Class Failures
I had a chat with my Mum tonight and thankfully the Mother's Day card that I had sent her last Wednesday, first class, arrived today - a mere seven days after. Ironically I'd posted my brother's birthday card the same day and that arrived at his place the day after. Both addresses are in Manchester, and would have gone to the same delivery office, and yet so much disparity. You have to wonder what is going on, and I think Mum came up with the answer after speaking with one of the postmen yesterday.
So it seems that, and seems to match up to current theories going around, is that Royal Mail are prioritising any parcel deliveries (or any such as Tracked 24 or 48) and then standard letters are just being made to wait and then delivered in bulk. Now this might sound a little odd, but The Love In My Heart confirmed to me that's also happened to her. Now what's really a mickey take here is that one of the letters, and one from the NHS at that to Mum, was dated - ready for this - 18th February. Absolutely ridiculous, and you do have to wonder what the hell is going on and more to the point, what you're paying for, especially with the increase in first class stamps coming next month. Thankfully Mum's doctor had rang her to check she got the letter and when not (as they were sent a copy) they were able to get things sorted.
Now here's the thing: letters like that from NHS to patients could be for all sorts, including medical appointments, and then what happens say if that letter goes AWOL, the appointment goes by, and it's assumed wrongly that you've missed one for no reason. It's simply not good enough - especially a lot of these are clearly NHS logo branded, so you know full well these are medical letters going to people. If anything, these should be given priority, not sat in a sorting office with an elastic band around other letters and then delivered when they feel like it.
It's a total disgrace, and what if say a missed appointment led to other medical conditions happening with someone, which could have been avoided? Would that recipient have a right to sue? Actually, I think they would. And with good reason. Clearly the NHS have sent out their side in good faith, and naturally most GPs who are in touch with their patients will call and check too - but even so, having that written confirmation (and bear in mind there's some of the population out there who aren't that tech savvy and so emailing them may not work) is often vital. If that's being missed because of the management telling the workers to sit on mail and try to compete with Evri, DHL, DPD et al, it sort of misses the point.
To further back this up, I've also got proof. I found some useful info for Mum as a PDF, so as well as emailing it her, I printed it out so she had a hard copy to read, and sent that first class. It took two weeks to get there, but mailing it in the same sized envelope a few days later using Tracked 48 did get there two days after (as per the name says.) That was the proof right there that how much the powers that be are putting profits before service, and it's often the staff on the front line who suffer because of it. With that in mind, tune of the day is Please Mr Postman by The Carpenters, which was also used by Ant, Dec and Cat on SM:TV Live for the postbag - happy memories of that!
Sunday 10th March - Oriental Rain
It was a nice long lie in today before heading out. And it was raining. A lot. In fact it had been forecast for the rest of the day, so this is where the nice waterproof Joules jacket which The Love In My Heart got me for Christmas comes into its own. It's warm and snug inside too, and really does help when you're going to be outside for a chunk of the day. Thankfully, where I was going to was at least covered, so I wouldn't get wet. So it was off around lunchtime on the walk to West Croydon station to commence my journey.
And where was I going? Off to Leyton, via Whitechapel and then Mile End, for another visit to Brisbane Road (or for commercial reasons, the Gaughan Group Stadium) where Leyton Orient and Tottenham Hotspur Women play. The latter were against Manchester City in the Women's FA Cup quarter final, and so the Overground and tube got me to Leyton with minimum of fuss, and once walking to the ground, the City fans were in a stand behind the goal to the left, and two turnstiles to get us all in, and two food and drink stalls which were well used, and I simply had to have a pre-match chicken balti pie for lunch didn't I?
As City were training at the end by the fans, and my elevated seat was above the height of the goal so I could see down the other end, the thing to keep an eye on were flying balls as shots were taken by the players during their warm up. The rain carried on incessantly, the players came back out and the game started. City did start off well enough and a neat one two with Khadija Shaw and Mary Fowler found the Australian striker in a good position and her shot with the aid of a deflection went in for 1-0, in six minutes. Little did I know at the time, but that was as good as it would get.
The game wasn't the best game to watch, primarily as City were faffing around too much on the edge of the box and not getting a shot in, and were almost trying too hard to walk the ball in, especially during the second half attacking the end where all the fans were. In fact what was more concerning was Khadija Shaw going off injured after a collision - I hope she is okay for the rest of the season. City were not finishing the game off, and we were meant to pay for that in the sixth added minute of stoppage time with a mix up involving Khiara Keating and Laia Alexandri meaning that Beth England had to walk it into an empty net for the equaliser.
The extra time came and went and with a couple of chances at both ends, including a Chloe Kelly free kick that hit the bar, and a couple of long range efforts being blocked, but the more it went on the more of us City fans were accepting that it was going to go to penalties. And that it did, with both Chloe Kelly and Alex Greenwood missing the first two, with Becky Spencer in the Tottenham goal making saves. And despite Khiara Keating saving a penalty herself, Tottenham ran out 4-3 winners on penalties and that was it - City out of the FA Cup three days after exiting the league cup too. Not ideal to say the least.
On the way back I had Chas and Dave in my head, not least as the tannoy at the ground was playing most of their FA Cup singles they did with Tottenham, such as Hotshot Tottenham for the 1987 FA Cup final, and it made me remember their other non-football songs which I liked, so Rabbit has to be tune of the day for me. You've got more rabbit than Sainsbury's is an iconic line, and of course with your incessant talking, you're becoming a pest!
Saturday 9th March - Midlands Game Hunting
I had planned to head to the Midlands today as there were a couple of retro gaming shops I wanted to check out: some of which don't have an online web shop presence so you have to go and visit them in store instead. I do like that approach as often you'll get to a place and find some goodies you might not have been able to get in any other way, and often at a more reasonable price too, which is something to note. We've all seen expensive prices on eBay for games, although of course it's always worth remembering something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
So it was up early and out for me as I had a 0716 train from Euston to Sandwell and Dudley. In theory I could have gone to Birmingham New Street but that would involve a longer first bus ride, so potentially less time. The train wasn't cancelled, thankfully, but Avanti Worst Coast still pulled a blinder by not having a driver ready and so delayed, eventually, 28 minutes late. I did know though that at Birmingham New Street there is normally a 15 minute stop and that could be less (and it was, so it proved) and so due to that I only arrived at Sandwell and Dudley ten minutes late.
After a walk up from the station to Sandwell Council House, it was on the 87 bus to Dudley, which took a relatively quick route and also allowed a view of the castle and zoo when heading up to the town centre. I could also see the tram tracks as the West Midlands Metro tram is being branched out to here and to Brierley Hill, which may be useful for future visits (noted that) and the bus station closure meaning different stops. Thankfully the terminus stop for the 87 was round the corner to the start stop for the number 6 to Stourbridge, so headed on that and via Brierley Hill (noting a shop location there for later) and then down towards the stop I needed to get off.
It was a short walk downhill into a small industrial area and then a left turn where I located Hidden Chest Gaming, my first stop of the day. And wow. If you wanted all sorts of 8-bit computer gaming, there will be something here for you. Even smaller formats such as the Commodore Vic 20, Commodore 16 and Plus/4, Atari XL/XE and BBC Micro / Acorn Electron were in stock and plenty of games too. The big 8-bit three of Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC had plenty in, not just budget games but full price ones, some were even new old stock that hadn't ever been opened since back in the day. Nice.
There was also lots of hardware, some boxed and some unboxed, so spotted a boxed Acorn Electron, Atari VCS, Spectrum +2, and some unboxed ones were shrinkwrapped where they had been recapped and fixed. I spotted an Amstrad CPC 6128, Commodore 128 and others all around the place - it felt like a treasure trove. In the end I did get myself four games in there, namely the original Imagine double cassette release of Green Beret (£8), along with Brainstorm (£1) - the original Firebird release, not the C&VG multi format one, Hummdinger (£3) and Dizasterblaster (£3) - the latter two being by the great Shaun Southern, so had to get those ones.
After a good time was spent there it was back on the number 6 bus and this time to Old Skool Gaming in the centre of Brierley Hill. This was a good shop too and was noticeable for having a fair number of CBS ColecoVision cartridges as well as a good collection for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4. Killapede for £5 was my purchase here, but they had some other hard to find titles as well as some early Codemasters Commodore 64 releases that were well worth a mooch if I didn't have them already. Definitely well worth it, although having to ask the owners to look up their spreadsheet for the game prices was definitely a different experience.
It was then back to Dudley and if the buses were timed better I might have been able to get over to the Netherton suburb to visit Joypad Joy and Toys too, but alas time wasn't on my side, so was sensible to head back to Sandwell Council House on the bus and then have a late(ish) lunch down the pub before getting the train back to London from Sandwell and Dudley. It was a good experience to find some games I may not have been able to get, and cheaper than the likes of eBay and online too, so there is a win. As I had the loading theme by Martin Galway from Green Beret in my head as I took the train back, that's tune of the day and definitely one which reminds me today's haul.
Thursday 7th March - Reviewing
After a long day at work in the office and being able to resolve a number of queries and kick off the Mac migration well (and even come up with a plan of action for next week) the Commodore Plus/4 I have was out for action tonight as I wanted to line up a game review for the Mastertronic Collectors Archive, which I've been doing some contributions for. Obviously having the original hardware and games does give you a better experience of playing the games concerned, and especially as a fair number of them were ones I owned for the Plus/4 circa 1986 and 1987, so there's something.
Tonight it was to fire up Bandits At Zero, a game on Mastertronic's MAD (Mastertronic's Added Dimension) label, coded by the legendary Shaun Southern. Those of you who remember the Lotus game series on the Amiga? That was him. Or the superb Kikstart II on the Commodore 64? That was him also. In fact, Shaun was right up there with Udo Gertz for the best programmer for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 series, making games which were always playable and which fans today still adore, notably a number of exclusives for the format too such as Tutti Frutti, Arthur Noid, and Bandits At Zero.
I was soon hearing the slightly morose title music and getting into the heat of battle, as the plane had to shoot other planes down and then be met with battle ships firing from the sea in later levels. It had lost none of its challenge and still for me was enjoyable, so noted down some thoughts as I played and turned to Word to get them all down in the review template for the site. Naturally, it's always good to try and show different aspects of the game too, so the refuelling at night, having the massive explsion at game over, all that good stuff. I didn't beat my best score tonight but did at least come close.
It's always good to write the review with a mix of explaining the levels and game in some detail as you play, and then writing down the thoughts as to what makes it good, or not so good, depending on the game aspect. For me, the way that the difficulty curve ramps up is fair, so that deserves praise, as does the response to the joystick (even taking into account modern screen lagging as you have to do) which helps. With most of it written, I'll finalise it tomorrow and get it over to the site editor, but definitely one I still do enjoy playing, so that's a good thing.
With the smooth comes the rough of course, and inevitably that does mean playing some of the less good games over time. Whether that be the pointlessness of Bionic Granny or the broken controls on The Last V8, that's something. I took the rest of the evening to listen to the new song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the title track to the new album Wild God, so that's tune of the day for me. Nice to wind down and be able to enjoy the evening spare time.
Sunday 3rd March – Derby Day
The Love In My Heart was off with The Cute Little One’s mum to see one of their family today, which gave them the perfect escape from al the excitement of derby day that would be later today. I must admit that it’s always a nervous time during the morning in the build up to the 3.30pm kick off later, but being at home with Brian the cat is always a relaxing time, as he rests up either on the bed or the pouffle and always seems to be just his super cute and adorable self. I had my retro 1970s long sleeved City shirt on at the ready of course, and was getting excited in the build up to the kick off.
In fact, I watched some of the World Indoor Athletics in the morning followed by the Women’s Super League game – and not just any game either. It was the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham being played at the Emirates, and at half time the 0-0 scoreline belied the fact that Arsenal were just trying too hard to walk the ball into the net rather than shoot from a longer range if needed. In the second half though that momentum changed, the moment that Alessia Russo scored from close range was the turning point. It was a case of taking the chance when presented from Beth Mead.
Later on it was off to the Etihad Stadium for the Manchester derby – City versus United, blue against red. It was 3-0 at Old Trafford earlier in the season and after City’s midweek FA Cup win at Luton, hopes were high for another win today. That said, it is the derby and I would happily take a 1-0 win with a dodgy goal in stoppage time if it meant getting the three points and closing the gap on Liverpool, who we play next Sunday afternoon at Anfield in not quite a title decider, but definitely will be a game not to lose. I was heading over to entrance T in the Colin Bell Stand today and I would be at block 326, pretty close to the centre line and with a view of the TV commentary booths down below with Guy Mowbray and Peter Drury prepping for Match of the Day and Sky Sports respectively.
The game started and City pressed brightly, but were undone after eight minutes with a long clearance finding Bruno Fernandes. He held the ball and up came Marcus Rashford to rifle one home into the top corner. It was a well taken goal and to be fair it would have beaten most keepers. That wasn’t the start I wanted to see though and it was 1-0 to United all the way through to half time, with City pressing without much reward and Erling Haaland missing a sitter when it was probably easier to score than miss. Maybe the tension and nerves were getting to the players, and we needed to calm it down without question on the second half, as well as get Phil Foden on the ball as he was playing really well.
City started the second half well and it was without a doubt that United were camped in their own half, only looking for a counter attack when it was needed. City won the ball as Kyle Walker got the ball off Marcus Rashford who was screaming for a foul. That was telling not long after as the ball went down the right to Phil Foden, who ran towards the box, cut inside and unleashed an absolute beauty into the top right corner for the equaliser. A superb strike and nothing more than the Stockport Iniesta deserved to be quite honest, a superb effort and the passion he showed after the goal went through to the stands. We were level, now could we go on and win it?
Julian Alvarez came on for Jeremy Doku and straight away we seemed better, with Bernardo Silva out to the left and interchanging wings when needed with Phil Foden. In fact Alvarez did a very useful one two with Foden before Foden then went by the edge of the six yard box and rifled a shot home into the bottom corner for 2-1. The Etihad went mental (as did I of course) and it was a great finish too. Of course, this meant we could keep ball a bit and pressure every United players into mistakes. I was super pleased for Foden and he really was enjoying the occasion as he well should. Always makes a difference when one of your own does the business I think.
As the fourth official signalled eight minutes of stoppage time, United tried to clear but the ball was intercepted by Rodri, who fed Erling Haaland. And he wasn’t going to miss this one. Get in! 3-1 to City and that was now game over. It was such good fun in the last few minutes as almost all the United fans left as soon as Haaland scored and mass Ole’s every time City passed the ball around during stoppage time. The job had been done, Manchester is still blue and City won 3-1, with the tannoy system superbly picking De La Soul’s classic The Magic Number (make that tune of the day) as everyone left the ground in triumph and full of happiness. It had been the first league game since 2014 that United had lost a game when leading at half time which showed what an impressive performance it was from City. I was very very happy with that.
Saturday 2nd March – Goals and Golds
It was good to be able to have a lie in with The Love In My Heart this morning. Brian the cat of course wanted us both to get up and have a fuss, of course, but he soon realised that he could have some more rest time with Mummy, so he definitely was up for some of that. I got up and ready myself before breakfast as I was heading out later that morning, as was The Love, but for different reasons. The Love was off to RHS Bridgewater to meet her sister there for a walk and some lunch, and I was off to the Joie Stadium (formerly known as the Academy Stadium) to see Manchester City’s women against Everton in the Women’s Super League. With my City membership I get £3 off the women’s game tickets, so mine today cost me £8. Can’t argue with that really.
So it was over to the Joie Stadium and once in, queued up at the kiosk for a coffee, which was £2.50, so that’s decent really. Previously in other seasons you’d been able to have free hot drinks for some of the games which was a nice touch, but I did note that the food was much more reasonably priced than at the Etihad – for the same items. So the big steak pie was £4.50 here and the same one is £5.75 over at the Etihad, to give you some context. As the kick off was 12 noon a coffee was more than enough for me and took my seat up in the top row, S, in the West Stand, affording a good view of both ends and so that was good. And with Blue Moon by Supra belting out (make that tune of the day) it was all good to go.
City pressed early on and it was noticeable just how far up front they were pressing, and this would lead to a costly Everton mistake. Passing across the back wasn’t ideal if the pass didn’t come off, and sure enough that meant that Khadija “Bunny” Shaw was able to capitalise and slot it home easily for the opener. City pressed and had some good chances via Laura Coombs, Lauren Hemp and some good crosses from Chloe Kelly cut out too. Jess Park also impressed me again down the middle and really did switch on the afterburners to get past some of the Everton defence, and did really well. I was hoping for more goals but happily was taking 1-0 at half time and would have done that at full time to be fair.
The second half started well but Everton looked like they had had a good speaking to, and were definitely more potent up front. City broke forward down the right and Lauren Hemp took on a couple of the Everton defence, cut inside and rifled a low shot in the bottom corner for 2-0. A very well taken and deserved goal in my view, and that gave us a cushion. A good job too really because Everton did pull one back with a superb long range effort from Hanna Bennison crashing in off the crossbar and over the head of Khiara Keating in the City goal. City had their chances to get a third but it was more about seeing the game out, which City did, and the 2-1 win meant we were three points clear of Chelsea ahead of their trip to Leicester City tomorrow night.
Later on The Love arrived back and we had a relaxing afternoon, watching the first two episodes of the new series of Drive to Survive (which seemed to indicate that Daniel Ricciardo was always going to get a second chance with the Red Bull family, the only case was when) and overall enjoying the behind the scenes look once again. The Love also had got a roast chicken from Asda and we had that with some roasties, Yorkshire pudding, peas, mash, green beans and lots of gravy, and that went down well as we watched the last quarter final of Gladiators, which saw Hang Tough on there with one contestant being so close but getting the five points, and deservedly winning the women’s heat later on.
The Love was then watching all the royal stuff on Channel 5, and so I headed to watch the World Indoor Athletics Championships from Glasgow on BBC Two. It was a pretty epic hour or so to watch too as Josh Kerr deservedly got a gold medal in the men’s 3,000 metres, and that followed up from his two mile world record a few weeks back. It’s amazing what a world gold at 1,500 metres can do for you. And in addition, Molly Caudery followed up her fifth in the world outdoors last year, crucially clearing 4.80 metres on her second attempt to pip her New Zealand rival Eliza McCartney. That was a very welcome surprise and definitely good to see a golden hour like that!