Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Boxing Day Match Report

Down at Ninian Park on Boxing Day, and it looked like the lads had been over-indulging the day before. Pretty it wasn't, if you'd never seen football played before you woudn't have seen it yesterday either. Once Pursey got sent off (he actually started walking before the ref got his cards out, although personally I thought a yellow was all he deserved) it was all over. It seems churlish to complain about City's performance when they're as high in the table as they are after the summer's shennanigans, but they were truly awful yesterday. It appears they have one game plan. Hoof it up high and long and hope Cameron Jerome or Michael Ricketts get onto it. Complaining visiting sides get everyone behind the ball doesn't wash either. Come on City, get the ball on the ground, get it wide (why does everyone run to the left when Rhys Weston gets it on the right?) and run at the opposition. When they do that they look good. Otherwise we look pretty poor and bereft of ideas.

Christmas Excess

We've had a busy but exciting Christmas. A house full on Christmas Day and Boxing Day has ensured merriment,giving and receiving and of course eating and drinking far too much. Often we've been away for at least one of the days so I've never really over-indulged that much (although my good lady probably thinks otherwise).
Now minds turn to New Year, and we're off to join about 36 others (family & friends) in Swondownia for to see the New Year in. some of that mountain air might help clear out some of those cobwebs!

Friday, December 16, 2005

Arsenal update

Yeah hey!
Got our tickets for the Arsenal game. Our friends who sit next to us in the Spar Family Stand (Canton Stand) are going too. We've booked a train to London to get there, which I guess will be packed, and it should be a great day out. The Gunners must be quaking in their boots, having drawn the Bluebirds in the FA Cup and Real Madrid in the Champions League! Of course, City have beaten both of those teams before!!!! LOL

Festive Political Correctness

Personally, I think the country's gone PC bonkers - soon there will be no tradition left, and we'll all be brainwashed vegetables. Some say I am now... Anyway, I received one of those "fun" emails that are so popular - you know, the ones sent to about 8 million people. Normally I bin them (bah humbug) but this one was quite good, and had the following "disclaimer" at the bottom, which I thought was very funny. Please read and feel free to use at your leisure...

"Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all...and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Britain great (not to imply that Britain is necessarily greater than any other country or area of choice, and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual orientation of the wisher).
This wish is limited to the customary and usual good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first. "Holiday" is not intended to, nor shall it be considered, limited to the usual Judeo-Christian celebrations or observances, or to such activities of any organized or ad hoc religious community, group, individual, or belief (or lack thereof).
Note: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all. This greeting is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. This greeting implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for the wisher her/himself or others, or responsibility for the consequences which may arise from the implementation or non-implementation of the same. This greeting is void where prohibited by law"

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

1927 all over again!


So, Cardiff City have drawn Arsenal away in the 4th round of the FA Cup! As an Ambassador season ticket holder (I was one of the foolhardy ones who shelled out before end of May 2005) I should be able to get a ticket for me & James. I've never been to a premiership ground, so big new experience hopefully. City should be able to take close to 6,000 - should be a wonderful day, and hopefully City can repeat 1927 and beat the "Gooners" 0-1. C'mon Bluebirds!

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Web site plug - Photobox

If you use a digital camera, you've got to give Photobox a visit.
Not only can you get your own pictures put on to a rage of gifts, every time you order you are given more storage space to upload your photos to, so you can share them either privately with specific named individuals or the whole world.
Best of all though, is their customer service. In the 3 years or so I've been using them, no order has taken longer than 2 days to arrive. An excellent site, ad can't be recommended highly enough.

Bluebirds flying high - well flying anyway....Jonesy are you listening?

As I write (blog), City are unbeaten in 6 games and have won their last 3, two in the League and one in the Carling Cup. It's not pretty, and it certainly isn't like watching Brazil, but the points are coming. Imagine what we'd be like if we actually played well?
It's beyond comprehension how what seems obvious to thousands of fans isn't obvious to players and the manager.
Don't defend to deep (we mostly defend on the 6 yard line), pass to feet (don't hoof it upfield hoping someone might be there (they're all back on the 6 yard line!) and move into space. It's basic stuff - we tell our mini football team this all the time, and they (mostly listen - we'll they're only 10 and 11 years old!).
Talking of thousands of fans, it was disappointing to see less than 4,000 turn up for the Carling Cup match. OK, it was only Macclesfield, and it was a Tuesday and it was the 3rd home game in a week and City aren't playing flowing football, but hey..........

Skittles

The skittles season is almost upon us (hooray)! Looking forward to dark, cold nights when we'll be inside supping large quantities of Brains finest Dark, and splashing the pins. You can of course follow the teams progress, by clicking the link on the right.

Medical update

Aortic valve replacement (pigs!), triple bypass and a radio frequency ablation. Sounds horrible. Said member of family is now discharged and recuperating (slowly) from a fairly big MOT/60,000 mile service.
My knee's OK too.....

Sunday, August 21, 2005

More medical woes

Mortality. There's nothing like it. Most of the time you don't even think about it, but here we are again. A family member is unwell and looking like he'll need heart surgery. Brings it home. Certainly puts my dodgy knee into perspective.

Nice 'n Kneesy does it

In for my arthroscopy on Wednesday. Funny how suddenly the knee feels a lot better.......

City

1 win and 3 losses from the first 4 matches. Not looking good, though the 2-1 win against Leeds was superb. C'mon the Bluebirds....

Monday, June 06, 2005

Arthroscopy date!

Well, I've finally got a date to have my knee looked at - some 4 years after the original referral - good job I'm not sick.....vive la NHS!
Late August is the date. Just a day surgery job, although under a general anaesthetic....

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

City again

Who'd be a cardiff City supporter? well me for a start. Probably why I'm losing hair at a rate of knots. They avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth, but the division's so tight they actually ended up 16th - looks quite good (unless you were there to see them play!)

On top of that £30m in debt (ouch). Sam Hamman has taken us for a big ride these last few years. Lots of promises but none of his money, but plenty of everyone elses.

So, we're likely to see big changes this summer. Already the Manager's gone - some would say far too late, but I thought it wasn't his fault.

Now they want us to get our season tickets early as the money will help them through the summer. I know season tickets can be pricey, but covering a 30m debt?

Actually they've got us by the short and curlies. Buy now and prices are frozen. Buy in 2 months and they'll be another £100. Bugger.
I've bought mine & my son's. Will we have any players to watch though..........

Still, at least I've the comfort of knowing I'm helping to bail Sam out of his BIG hole.........is that a comfort - isn't he supposed to be helping us.......???????????????

Magnotherapy

On the subject of creaky bones and dodgy treatments, I treated (sic) myself to a magnotherapy bracelet on the premise that I'll give anything a try. The theory is, that the magnetic field oscillates the red blood cells and stops them sticking together, making them more effective - yeah.....

Frankly I'm a cynic. Especially when the person selling it to me (at an extortionate price I might add) said as soon as I put it on "can you feel anything, any sensation?"

"No" I said, "apart from a lighter wallet" and 4 weeks later I still can't. The fact that she repeatedly said ".....and don't forget to drink plenty of water", and has recently rung me to see how I'm getting on and gave the water another push, leads me to wonder if it's the magnets or the water that are supposed to be the help.

In any case, it hasn't helped me yet. "Perservere" she says, "you might only see a diference once you take it off..." - is she on comission? I'm glad I didn't go for the "executive" bracelet!

Personally, I think the best teatment I've had so far is Nurofen fast acting caplets, but I didn't tell her that.

What's you view of "alternative medicine" and stuff like magnotherapy. Does cynicism make it less likely to work?

Saturday, May 21, 2005

New disease

Well, my gammy bones (at least in my hands) have finally come out of the closet. Apparently I've got Psoriatic Arthritis (PA). I wasn't even sure I had psoriasis, but there you go. Two fingers on my right hand are like little fat sausages and extremely painful at times, and as you may have read before, my feet are regulalry sore. Doc blood tested me to the hilt, put me on regular anti-inflammatories (I was taking about 8 ibuprofen a day anyway) and referred me to a rheumatologist. They said it's PA and said they'd see me again in 8 weeks. After 8 weeks they said the anti-inflammatories weren't working and I should try a new treatment. Sodium Methotrexate (SM). Hmmmm..... not impressed. SM is basically chemotherapy, and at 45 I don't fancy taking something that might help but runs the risk of making me sick, breathless, have rashes and lose hair (and those are only the headline side effects!!!!) for the rest of my life (coward). Saw my GP again and I've decided to stick with the anti-inflammatories for the moment. If it gets really bad, I'll consider the SM again. I'll let you know how I get on.

New house

The walls were closing in at our old gaff. Or rather the kids made the place look small with their increasing size & paraphenalia. We talked about moving or extending, and in the end we decided the best thing was to uproot and move on. So we did. Luckily, at a time of housing slowdown we found somewhere we liked, vacant and got a cash buyer our end pretty quickly. All over in just over 6 weeks. Now we've got twice as much room (and twice as much cleaning & decorating!).
DIY is not my forte, but so far managed to decorate 3 bedrooms, put together a dining room suite and a bed. Believe me, that's good for me. I should have taken out shares in Focus and B&Q before I started though!

Been away......

So much for blogging.six months since my last post. Still, no-one was reading it anyway.
A lot's happened since then though, and you'll be chuffed to hear that it is my intention to keep you all informed.
Where to start?
New house.
New disease.
Read on..........