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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Thursday 19th December - Noir Christmas

It was the final day in the office for me today, although not the final day in work (that would be tomorrow.) It was a relatively calm journey in on the SL6 bus this morning, although three sets of temporary lights might not necessarily be the answer on a busier day. I do think some schools may have finished earlier and that some parents, especially if their holiday year is January to December, may have decided enough was enough and finished earlier too.

I did decide to head to Coco di Mama near the office on the way in and treat myself to a posher breakfast, especially as their breakfast deal is back - a nice little baguette with bacon (or sausage, or both, or a vegan bacon variant) and a coffee for £4.95. The coffee is now their regular instead of large size though, but still it is a decent deal, and the bacon one I had was totally spot on and just the thing to start the day with, which was pretty good all round it has to be said.

The day was fairly productive, not everyone was around but I needed to amend the meeting room PC desktop backgrounds so that they had the revised logo of the company that has taken us over - and their design teams had sent me something over. That was easy to sort out, and I had already got the printer backdrops changed too this morning. In fact I also checked over where other such branding changes may be needed and recommended that I get a revised document template and be able to see what would happen from there - and could easily sort a few things out as needed.

I also spent some good time road testing one of the new laptops, using one of their security utilities, and working with one of the teams there to see if I was able to connect to the servers via remote desktop that we'd need to try and connect to in order to ensure functionality of service would not be reduced long after migrations. It all looked relatively positive to be honest, after some hiccups, so good to actually report back and be positive on that side at least. I did also recognise that there is still plenty to do (understatement) so that might be an early New Year revisit.

With the day done, I decided to head over to TK Maxx in Covent Garden, primarily to get some new socks and a couple of other things - because it'd be too late to order anything for delivery now. They had what I wanted so all good there, and following the back ways, I was able head to the Porterhouse on Maiden Lane. I was all set for the Oyster Stout when I got to the bar, but the I saw a Thornbridge beer - Jaipur Noir. Yes, it's a black IPA version of their superb beer, and I have to say, wow, just wow. It tasted absolutely awesome and definitely will be wanting to get this in can or cask form at some point - very soon!

I made my way over to Charing Cross station and got the train to London Bridge, changing for the fast Southern one to West Croydon and avoided all the carnage of Thameslink delays on Platform 4. Knowledge as they say is good power. I had a lovely chat with The Love In My Heart and settled in to watch the celebrity Christmas edition of The Great British Sewing Bee, which was ace. Sara Pascoe is back as presenter after maternity leave (yaay) and the four contestants were pretty good. In fact as the final made to measure round was based on Christmas songs, one of them, namely Wham's classic Last Christmas, has to be tune of the day.

Sunday 15th December - Derby Day Defeat

Today was all about the Manchester derby, as I was off to the Etihad Stadium in the afternoon to see Manchester City take on Manchester United. The Love In My Heart and I did though want to head out and do a little bit of shopping first, and knowing that the local Morrisons did sell the four packs of Babycham (always a staple for The Love on Christmas Day) it was a sensible idea to head there first. In fact online they claimed to have one of the beers I was after - the Kir Royale Sour from Vault City that I had seen in Waitrose the other day and supposedly in Morrisons.

Note how I said supposedly. In fact when I did get to Morrisons, we were able to find the Babycham no problem, so The Love was all good there, but the beer I was after was lacking, sadly. However on the plus side they did have some rather nice festive ales in bottles, including the excellent Rosey Nosey from Batemans, the Black Sheep Blitzen and a really different Winter spiced ale from the folks at Saltaire, who always make decent stuff. Oh, and because they were two for £3.50, the Peroni Doppio Malto beer as well which does come in a pretty swish bottle. I have had that before and it's very nice indeed.

Later on The Love was indulging herself with Downton Abbey on ITV3, and I saw the Manchester City women lose at Everton on BBC Two - the advantage of having a telly in the spare room is that I can always watch different things if we feel the need to. I did leave with an hour or so to go to kick off as I was in Level 2 of the Colin Bell Stand, and so had to walk around the other side of the ground. Once in, it was getting a pint from the fancy machine and a pie too, and having a sit down and enjoy those to at least try and calm the nerves before the game. Or so I thought anyway.

I was in the padded seats with an excellent view, and I think some of these are ones which are used for some of the hospitality passes as I did see some fans with lanyards on, so that probably meant they got food and drink too as well as the view. I was cheering on the lads as they came out and I just hoped that it would be a change of fortune following the recent bad results - in fact I did see the win against Nottingham Forest last time at the Etihad so that was at least something.

You could tell though that the game was edgy and both sides were clearly attempting to suss each other out. Mason Mount got injured for United and on come Kobbie Mainoo, which I thought actually improved them somewhat. City got a corner around half an hour in, and Kevin de Bruyne's cross ricocheted into the box and found the head of Josko Gvardiol who headed home for the opener. That was good and despite Kyle Walker's stupid antics following a clash with Rasmus Hojlund (he really should not be City captain behaving like that to be honest) it was 1-0 at the break.

The second half started okay but the further the game went on, for me, City sat back too much and the moment we changed the team and took off Kevin de Bruyne, we didn't look as good as we should. Matheus Nunes lost the ball in midfield and in his attempt to track back, despite Ederson having the goal well covered, Nunes fouled Amad Diallo and it was a stonewall penalty in the 87th minute. Bruno Fernandes scored the resulting penalty and it was 1-1, and that really on the balance of play (and it hurts to say it) was about right.

But then City lost the ball again on the same side, and no tracking back meant Amad Diallo was clean through again, he went round Ederson and slotted the ball in from a tight angle despite the attempts from Ruben Dias to clear it. It was 2-1 to United, two goals in two minutes, which left me feeling pretty sick to be honest. This one really hurts badly and it was the lack of effort for me which showed that the team wasn't good enough today, something which at least Bernardo Silva said when he fronted up to the media, as a true captain would do (take note Kyle Walker.)

In fact, Walker's antics in the first half, which were a disgrace, would be alone for me to strip him of the captaincy. That might sound harsh but the likes of Ruben Dias or Ilkay Gundogan would do a miles better job, and also be a proper leader who would be respected too. Would you have seen Vincent Kompany fall to the fall and play act to try and get another player into trouble? No. Would Fernandinho have done that? Definitely not - he'd have probably hit Rasmus Hojlund back with interest. And that's my point - true leadership has to be on the pitch as well as the sidelines. Tune of the day has to be Night Terror by Dream Theater - somehow it sums up the feeling of the evening!

Friday 13th December - Unlucky

The whole week has somehow felt unlucky but having an actual Friday 13th this time around just felt more so. I had actually posted several packages at the weekend and all but one had turned up - but my worry was that according to the tracking (bear in mind I use Royal Mail Tracked 48) it hadn't even been scanned for tracking properly whatsoever. With that in mind, and if it didn't turn up, I did arrange with my relation concerned that I would order a replacement of the same present for their daughter, and get it shipped directly to theirs so that they wouldn't miss out on a present.

So that was unlucky to start with but on the other side was the trains - or should we say, lack of them. Avanti Worst Coast had sadly fallen foul of the landslip between Tamworth and Atherstone, somewhere near the single platform station that is Polesworth, and as a result the Southbound tracks were reduced to one from two, meaning less trains could run. To make it easier, in effect Avanti cut down the number of trains per hour between London and Manchester from three to two, with the xx13 from Euston being cancelled. That meant my 1913 was a no go.

With the roadworks still on near Euston, I walked from the office to the station once more, and when I got there, the station was rammed, so that felt unlucky in itself to be honest. The only good thing was that you can now board an Avanti train two services before yours instead of one in order to lighten the load somewhat. I did have a think about what worked best and noted the 1833 would still be first out despite the train being delayed due to a lack of driver. Still, that worked and I managed to get a seat in Coach C fine, with a mass of people running for the 1853 instead which left a few minutes afterwards.

The nice bit of fortune I did have was that the train at least had a stocked onboard shop, and their meal deal meant I could get the nice ham hock and cheese sandwich (The Love has had it and does agree it is pretty good) and some crisps. Now normally a soft or hot drink makes the meal deal one price, but if you pay a little more you can have a cheeky beer instead. As I asked, the very kind person on the shop checked for me, and yes, the Tilting Ale (brewed by Redwillow in Macclesfield, whose brewery faces the tracks no less) was included. So absolute no brainer!

The train did at least keep to some sort of similar delay although it lost time somewhere by Rugby and again near Stoke on Trent, but was still the first one that would have got into Piccadilly anyway. The Love In My Heart was waiting for me and it was lovely to see her, and when we got back to her place, Brian the cat had a fuss and a cuddle too before we spent time watching Gogglebox, with the rather sinister Netflix drama series Black Doves getting a watch there and had a banging soundtrack including lots of Christmas songs and Mud's iconic Lonely This Christmas, which is tune of the day.

Saturday 7th December - Video Meanies

As it was predicted to be horrible and stormy weather today with Storm Darragh at home, and I wasn't taking the train this weekend, it was definitely sensible to be inside and cosy and warm in the flat. I did head out yesterday after work and picked up some wrapping paper and padded envelopes, so this allowed me to wrap up several presents, and get a number of presents and cards posted off - some in the standard letter box, and some that went into the parcel postbox using the Royal Mail Tracked 48 service. That tends to be reliable and always works, and you do get compensation if things go mssing. It also at least shows that a parcel has been delivered, handy when sending things off.

I had both the Commodore 64 and the Commodore Plus/4 out over yesterday and today, and for good reason. I was taking a took at the game Video Meanies on both formats, which will eventually show up as reviews on the Mastertronic Collectors' Archive (feel free to check that out if you have time.) I do have the original cassette for both, so it was easy enough to get the games out and load them on proper hardware. Granted, I could use a SD card solution, but it's often useful (and can verify this with a tape image with emulation if needed) to see if there are any loading screens, or any particular features to take note of.

So as the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 version was released first, it was loading that on the Plus/4. It soon all became more familiar once again as I played it, and managed to get pretty far into the game, working out a suitable route for the twenty four screens to see a good chunk of it. I do tend to make some notes as I go including if there are any features, and can refer to the instructions online if need be as well as the actual tape (when writing the reviews, there are good sites which have the original instructions scanned so can also refer to them on the same screen.) The good thing was that I remembered about the white walls - these have to be carefully avoided when going through some screens.

That was thoroughly enjoyable to play as it still was back when I had it originally, and this reflected in my writing I think. I was very easily able to note the original version here, and this has marked differences from the Commodore 64 version. That indeed doesn't have the white walls of death, but does introduce a gamble element when you turn on the video screens (it's off on the original version). You can then stop a timer and if successful, you can gain extra lives and points, but if not, you can lose a life too. If you fail to gamble, a message on screen does say "Chicken!" by refusing that gamble.

I must admit each version has its strengths and weaknesses, and because of the differences, felt like two slightly different games. As such, it will be a close call as to which one I like the best, but I can definitely say that both are well worth a look if you want a little fun game to play. The game reviews of the time when checking back were not far out with the views and scores I had given either, which shows it probably had stood the test of time very well indeed. Tune of the day is the title theme from the Commodore 64 version by Shaun Southern, which I've been singing in my head all day as it is rather catchy.

Wednesday 4th December - We Won a Game!

It was a half day at work today, and with good reason. It was off to Manchester later as I had a ticket for Manchester City's home game against Nottingham Forest. Obviously after recent results, and the defeat at Anfield on Sunday against Liverpool, we really needed a win to at least stop the rot of defeats that we had had recently. I did have a busy morning in the office which did at least make the time speed by, so that is something, and that did allow me to do some further testing as well as being able to write up some reports, so the time was sensibly used.

I had to walk from Euston from Holborn, primarily as there are some roadworks close to the junction of Euston Road where it crosses with Upper Woburn Place, and the buses had been queueing from close to Russell Square all the way up to Euston. In fact my walk actually beat several buses which shows that there was no point whatsoever of getting the bus. Thankfully unlike Sunday all appeared well with the trains and was able to get the 1413 up to Manchester and without any glitches, thankfully.

I took the tram over to see The Love In My Heart and because she was on her early shift at work (sensible to avoid the traffic carnage later) she had been able to arrive home in good time and be ready for the evening. Brian the cat was admiring the Christmas tree that The Love had put up last night, with all the lights and baubles on, and that included one we got a few years ago that looked like Brian on the outside of the bauble! (well why not.) In fact Brian was happily sat on the pouffle with the play tunnel we got him from Battersea underneath as he likes the crinkle effect it has.

After some lovely pizza for tea, I set off to the Etihad Stadium and more in hope than expectation. I didn't need a pie but did get myself a pint of the Meantime Anytime ale from the beer kiosk - it's 10% cheaper than buying it from the food and drink counters, and was a spot on way to enjoy a beer before the game. I was getting nervous as kick off approached and got my seat, but wanted at least to see a performance that would show that City were at least getting back to some sort of form.

Thankfully there was not long to wait before we got an answer. Some good work on the left found Ilkay Gundogan, and his cross was met with a header from Kevin de Bruyne, allowing Bernardo Silva to steal in on the line and see it home for the opener. Thankfully he wasn't offside. City though did have some let offs with a chance from Morgan Gibbs-White being well saved from Stefan Ortega, and Chris Wood missing when through one on one when he should have scored.

That miss proved costly, as when City went down the other end Jeremy Doku went down the left, cut inside and passed it to Kevin de Bruyne who smashed it home for 2-0. City chanted his name to the tune of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes (make that tune of the day) and that was all good. Once it was half time, it felt like we could push on from here, and so it proved. Erling Haaland threaded a ball through to Jeremy Doku, and he took on two players before cutting inside and smashing it into the corner. Griddy! And that was 3-0, which stayed thankfully the same this time. What a relief!

Sunday 1st December - Carnage At Euston

The Love In My Heart and I had a very welcome and relaxing lie in this morning after a busy day yesterday, and I set about making us some lovely breakfast to set us up for the day. I have no doubt that it was all going to be a really nice lunch later at one of our favourite places, and didn't want anything such as trains to get in the way of that. I have to admit that it was good just to be able to take things relatively easy, watch a bit of telly and then get ourselves ready later.

As we had some time before setting off, I did settle in for a bit to watch the early kick off for the FA Cup Second Round, as Kettering Town hosted Doncaster Rovers. Naturally as my friend supports Donny, I was obviously cheering them on, and after going a goal behind, it was relief more than anything to see Billy Sharp stab home an equaliser to make it 1-1 and force the game into extra time. We had no time to see that and I could watch that later as we headed off with the weekend case in tow for East Croydon and via the train and tube off to Warren Street station.

It was then our usual short walk over to the Crown and Anchor, where we had a table reserved. For some reason, we always get table seven, and it was no exception today. The Love had the chicken schnitzel, and I had the rather lovely fish and chips. They did also have the Titanic Plum Porter ale on cask, and so naturally I was going to have that one, and later on did notice an easy going session ale from the Fierce Beer folks, so again, an easy choice. It was good to see people having a Christmas festive meal together too and get in the mood for it all.

Once we had our drinks, we walked over to Euston and all seemed good initially. Then I noted no platform for the train back to Manchester for The Love, and in fact the two trains after hers were also cancelled. Not good. This of course meant I needed to have the wits about me and as soon as I knew that the incoming train was to Platform 3, we headed over to there and spotted a queue already, which was joined. I made sure The Love got on the train and got her seat okay, and then headed off, and with another train just arriving, it was a perfect storm of carnage.

In fact, as passengers from that train were heading along to the main concourse, the platform 3 had been announced for everyone else to get that Manchester train, and so it was total carnage. I stayed well out of the way and got the train home via St Pancras, but it wasn't pretty at all. People were stood up all the way to Stoke on Trent near The Love, and I was just glad she had got a seat and was at least on her way home safe. I do love her coming to see me, but no joy when trains are bobbins. Somehow Train in Vain by The Clash seems appropriate to be tune of the day there.