Fear

I didn't get one of the jobs. I have a second chance in the New Year to apply so all is not lost. But I don't hold out much hope. All the talk with my bosses after my failure was about redundancy not about how to avoid it.

Let's hope I haven't been paying union dues for nothing over the last 30 years and they will help me make the best of a bad job.

Private Hell

I've not been around much because I have been busy at work and wrapped up in a possible redundancy situation.

My organisation has decided to radically re organise and my job has been deleted. There are other jobs at the same pay /grade doing similar work but I have to apply for them. If I don’t get one I will be made redundant. My application went in earlier this week and I am waiting to hear if I have an interview for a chance at keeping a job.

All in all it’s a bit of a mind fuck and not much work has gone on in the offices. Least of all collecting rent the very thing , via welfare reform and the bedroom tax, that has caused this re organisation.

Young Rebel Set

I was on the train on Saturday night, travelling back from Peterborough, having watched Posh beaten 3-1 in a top of the table six pointer where we were outplayed in a dreadful second half display. The train journey livened up at Doncaster when a number of Sunderland supporters ( accompanied by a number of Transport Police) got on the train. They were pissed, not aggressive pissed, just loud.

I was searching the local radio stations on my phone as we pulled out of York and came across this band in session on BBC Tees.

I thought they were pretty good and definitely preferable to listening to pissed Makams berate their team.

You can listen to them here

Lou Reed R.I.P.

And so another hero passes.

I can only say that he was a genius His music, especially that of The Velvet Underground, has become part of my life, my consciousness, I can't imagine my life without his music being in it. R.I.P. Lou.

Happy Ever After

The wedding was a really good family time. Lots of tears and real enjoyment of the day for the bride and groom.

Walking around Ware I didn't feel anything. Although it was familiar a lot had changed.It wasn't the town I grew up in.

Family Celebrations

I am off to a family wedding. The first of my nieces and nephews is getting married at the weekend. The wedding is back in what is for all intents and purposes my home town as I moved there when I was 18 months old from North London. I haven't been home for almost 20 years.

I didn't enjoy growing up in this sleepy market town 20 miles from London. I left there to go University at 18 and rarely went back. When my parent's moved to Norfolk I wasn't bothered.

It will be strange to go somewhere I lived for 18 years but have little feelings for. Maybe those feelings will come alive when I walk along the High Street.

Keeping On Running

I went for my first run since the Berlin marathon last night. I ran home from work so it was around a 5 mile run. It was wet and very windy and cold. As I ran I reflected on the long Sunday morning summer runs and how warm it was and how long ago that seemed already.

The run went well and this morning I have only minor aches.

After the Marathon I had planned on taking a month off but after 10 days I just had to go for a run. So I will run once a week or so until I start my training for the Sunderland Marathon in the New Year.

Berlin Marathon

I completed the Marathon on Sunday 29/09/2013 in 4:48:39,under my target time of 5 hours. I was pleased with my run and although I felt a bit sick at the end that soon passsed and I was walking around Potsdam the next day in little pain and generally feeling better than after some of the long training runs I have completed this year.

I now have my eye on another international marathon. I am considering Chicago, because I have always wanted to go and it would be a perfect excuse to combine that with running my fourth marathon of the 10 marathons I am aiming to complete by age 60.

I've said it before but Berlin is a magnificient city with great places to visit and things to do and is, for a capital city , remarkably cheap. We stayed for four nights in a studio appartment for less than than we paid for two in a studio appartment in London. Food, drink and travel are all good value for money.

We stayed on Wilhemstrasse only a fifteen to twenty minute walk to Unter Den Linden in a place rented from this company . It wasn't luxurious but it was clean and warm and good quality and our appartment was handily located around the corner from a Netto and bars and restaurants that were even cheaper than nearby Freidrichestrasse.

Great North Run 2013

I ran the GNR in 2:08:01 yesterday. Over 4 minutes quicker than last year and in pretty poor weather conditions with the wind and the rain bothering me and 50,000 others on the way.

I felt good, I could have finished quicker but made the tactical error of leaving it too late to surge on and got caught behind slower runners who had obviously lied on their race entry form about how quick they would finish the run. The finish was as chaotic as ever but getting on the Bus home was a bit better than last year.

It's the Berlin Marathon in two week's time and its looking like a sub 5 hour finish now.

The End Of The Summer

Time rushes onwards without me.

We are now in the Autumn although our more than pasable Summer sunshine continues and the sun is streaming through my windows as I type this.

I have no excuse for not updating this blog, no crisis in my life. Just glorious sunny days and long,long training runs to offer as any justification for not sharing all my wit, wisdom and musical taste with you.

Talking of training runs, I have taken to running alongside the Tyne. Why I hadn't done this before I will never know.It has given me a new perspective on the river and life and wildlife along it.

This year has also been the year of the middle aged bloke on a bike dressed like a Tour De France rider.I have been almost knocked over several times by these idiots, passing by so close I can smell the Deep Heat on their calf muscles.And why do no bikes have bells anymore to warm the poor pedestrian of their approach?

Pavements are for people, I say not Bradley Wiggins wannabees.

Copyright Complications

My post titled Otis Redding has been altered following a DMCA notice of copyright violation I received on Tuesday.

If you click on one of my links to get to The Vinyl Villian site, you'll find its been removed for repeated copyright violations. Regular readers of that Blog will know that it was mostly out of print 12" singles or such like.

My post about Otis Redding included a link to one of his best songs. My intention was to share one song from an outstanding artist that would hopefully encourage the readers to seek his work out. Just like when I ( and I'm sure you as well ) used to share cassettes and  CDs of my favourite songs with friends and work colleagues. I'm not going to get on a high horse and rant. It was a copyright violation after all. But whose? Otis has been dead for 40+years now. Who is so intent on milking every last drop out of his legacy that they can't allow a small blog with 1 follower and less than 50 thousand page views over a 4 year period to showcase one of modern music's greatest vocal talents?

Update2

As we swelter here in a heatwave my thoughts have turned from updating this Blog to how are my tomatoes coming on and have I watered the potatoes enough. In short it is too hot to be inside and consequently I have neglected this Blog. If I had laptop or notebook I suppose I could be lazing in my garden, or in the Park tapping away on the keyboard and committing my thoughts and views for eternity on the Internet. Unfortunately I have a desktop which despite its antiquity (5 years old- which in PC world is like being over 100)still works - after a fashion- and I am loathe to replace it. My wife wants a Tablet, specifically an Ipad. Me I am very distrustful of Apple and its wares.

The heat has also affected my running. My long run  last Sunday was 14 miles. I left the house just before 7am as I wanted to miss the heat. Luckily I did but it caught me out on my run home from work on Tuesday where after 3 miles I had to stop as I was drenched in sweat and feeling pretty grotty.

The temperature in my  office reached 28C yesterday lunchtime. No air con upstairs for me so  I had to go downstairs and answer phones with the rest of them just to get away from the heat.

My wife will tell you that I am particularly grumpy in the heat but with heat levels here reaching 28c I have gone into holiday mode and I am finding it difficlut to concentrate at work

Of course the heatwave (its officially a heatwave now) has meant that anti social behaviour on the estate I manage has soared as garden parties turn into drunken fights. Luckily benefits can only pay for one or two nights of drunken/drug excess even if your tipple is Frosty Jack cider or Lambrini or skunk, so things will calm down until next payday in a fortnight's time.

In the meantime we go round, interview the complainants try and tackle the pepetrators and wait for it all to kick off again.

Update

I haven’t posted for a while not because I have been in a Neil Young induced rapture but because I haven’t had anything much to say. Now I know this is a big failing when one is  a blogger. I should have an opinion on everything and just write it and publish it . But I have always been of the view that you should keep your mouth shut unless you've got something useful to say. Which probably explains a lot about my life.

 

Me and the wife were at Gateshead Stadium to see the European Team Athletics. Mo Farrah's last lap run in the 5000m was amazing and I completed the Gateshead BUPA 10k in 57:45. Not world record time but almost 6 minute faster than last year.

 

My marathon training is going well, you will often find me plotting routes on runningmap.com  ( one of the many free route planning websites out there).Its 13 weeks to Berlin and I can already feel the buzz of excitement inside me.

  

And that's it really. A normal life I suppose.

In the presence of genius

Last Monday I went to see Neil Young at the Metro radio arena.

Now I hate that venue and all Arena venues but I put that to one side paid £53 to go and see Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

Sometimes, occasionally, rarely you are lucky enough to get to see and hear genius. This gig was one of those times.

During the wall of feedback that lasted  at least 15 minutes at the end of Walk Like a Giant I started to grin.It lasted until the end of the gig. If you were there and saw a middle aged man grinning from ear to ear as he left the venue well that was me. 

No he didn't play Like A Hurricane  which would have made the night perfect but he's got almost 50 years of songs to play and you can't play them all.

I saw him with Crazy Horse 12 years ago in Sheffield (when they did play Like a Hurricane) and I thought that was a one off. My wife who was with me that time said it was almost like I was having a religious experience. If anything last Monday was better, much better.

I will probably never see Neil Young live again, he's 67 now. If he comes near you this year go and see him.

On and On

Been busy at work this last few days. Not bedroom tax issues, simply lots of work, recruiting and feeding backto unsuccessful candidates and paperwork etc. The joys of recruitment and selection in the public sector.

My organisation is about to turn itself upside down in a bid to deal with the challenges posed by the bedroom tax and Universal credit to our income stream. It won’t be long before I’m being interviewed for a job and not the other way round.

At the moment 65% of our income is paid direct to us by the government in the form of Housing Benefit. Universal Credit will roll the clock back to the early 80’s ( sound familiar) and this benefit designed to help the unemployed and low waged pay their rent will get paid direct to the recipient.

 

Public Sector landlords wil then have to collect the rent from their tenants. You may ask what is wrong with that. In principle absolutely nothing, after all my mortgage lender doesn’t know whether I’m going to pay my mortgage or not each month. They don’t get a guaranteed income from the state.

I was claiming benefit, as it happens in 1983, when Housing Benefit was rolled out. So I went from one fortnight getting my benefit plus rent in my Giro ( no mandatory bank accounts then) to the next fortnight just getting my benefit not the rent money. I was miffed as it meant my plan to “borrow” some of that rent money to buy a “treat” couldn’t happen. And this is what is bothering a lot of social housing professionals. Some people won’t pay their rent. Some like me will pay when it suits , some will pay sometimes, some will pay it all. Me? Well professionally I don’t like the idea , personally I think why not.

 

Landlords will just have to try harder to make the case about rent and services and you can't have something for nothing.

It's Summer

Here we are in June and it looks like Summer might finally be here. Things are growing-my potatoes and tomatoes are going well- and I've cut the grass twice.

Yes the heating is still coming on (only for an hour in the morning and at night) but we have had two really sunny days. And I m out on my long Sunday morning runs( 10 miles today) as part of my training for the Great North Run and the Berlin marathon.

These runs are helped by listening to 6Music on DAB, especially as Mary Anne Hobbs is now the weekend breakfast DJ. I like her choice of music. She also has a very sexy voice. Hey these things matter when you are running distances!!!

Seriously though she  plays some good stuff. Listen to her next weekend (7am-10am) or online on BBC iPlayer  if you don't believe me.

Benefits

The more assiduous readers amongst you will remember my posts earlier in the year about what has become universally known as the “bedroom tax”.

We are now getting into week nine of the new rent benefit rules. The impact has been so far limited but like the Poll Tax before it I think this one is a slow burner and the impact will be greatest next year and just before the next election as social housing landlords run out of patience with the wont pays and start evictions. That is unless the various legal challenges started in the High Court earlier this month don’t neuter the welfare reform changes.

In my organisation arrears of rent are just under 1/4 million up on this time last year. Last year was the first time for over 5 years that rent arrears increased. Surprisingly perhaps, some people are paying, some all of it, some alternate weeks.Of course, it's not just about benefit changes, the economy is suffering and those on the margins- the minimum hours employees, the ones in low paid retail jobs, the cleaners etc are suffering.

Our void rates are also up as people move back in with family or to share or to , ironically , more expensive smaller Private rented in the area.

I have said before I don’t have  a problem with the principle.Able bodied people of working age should be working not claiming benefits long term. It’s just that as the tenure of last resort that it has become for many, especially since the Right To Buy, the majority of social housing tenants aren’t fit and able bodied and can work.

Faith Brothers Eventide

https://soundcloud.com/cherry-red-esoteric-rec/the-tradesmans-entrance-faith?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=googleplus

Written almost 30 years ago but relevant today. Faith Brothers Eventide album has been remastered by Lee Hirons one of the band and is available to pre order on Amazon or Cherry Red Records.

This is an earlier version of the single The Tradesmans Entrance.


It is a lost classic album

Otis Redding

This song popped up on my MP3 player over the weekend. I haven't heard it for a long time and it took my breath away.

It's another simple, direct song that  when sung by Otis Redding is transformed into a masterpiece.

That's How Strong MyLove Is. You should seek it out and listen to it

Alt-J at Newcastle O2 Academy

Went to see Alt-J last night - the  hipster that I am. I bought the tickets last September before the Mercury Music prize award thanks to the regular playing of their debut CD An Awesome Wave on 6Music.


I didn’t get there until 8:30 and thought I’d miss the supporting acts Hundred Waters and Princess Chelsee, never being a big fan of supporting acts I’ve never heard of, but I ended up seeing the latter who was entertaining enough. I was tempted to buy her CD from the merchandise stall but I wasn’t going to pay a tenner for it, reckoning that I could get a download cheaper from Bandcamp or E music. Cheapskate as well as hipster.
The crowd was mostly student and young. There were a lot of young women there and I have noticed over the years that they make up a much larger proportion of the gig going crowd than they did when I was but a young student.

Alt-J were good, technically very good, but it was a bit like someone else once said about seeing The Editors, standing in a darkened room whilst a CD was played loudly. Except it wasn’t actually loud enough to drown out the chatter of the audience.

I have experienced this before ( Turin Brakes at the University Union for example ) where a band are playing complicated tunes that rely heavily on competing sounds and vocal harmonies almost ruined by the incessant chatter and increasing loudness of the conversations happening around you. I was wondering halfway through the night why you would pay £15 to get in and then pay ridiculous prices for low quality drinks just to chat with your mates when you could do that for much less at the Union Bar or any Wetherspoons. It annoyed me a bit and almost came close to spoiling my enjoyment of their set. Is music now so readily available and so taken for granted that seeing a band live is no longer valued in itself and you go along to laugh have a joke and a few beers and take pictures/videos on your IPhone to post on Facebook as many of the audience were doing. Or am I just old and out of touch?
Perhaps you could argue that Alt-J failed to capture the audience and hold its attention. Other reviewers have said as much and maybe they are right. When I saw Fleet Foxes at the O2 a couple of years ago they held the audience’s full attention, there was no chatter even when they played literally unplugged.

There was little passion about Alt-J’s performance last night. Technically they are very proficient especially their drummer who is good if a bit messy in his technique. Little interaction with us though , a couple of band clichés “ Great to be here, Newcastle” ,” last time we played only a handful turned up this is overwhelming etc. etc.”) but no banter.

I like banter, I liked it from Mike Finney ( front man of The Distractions) and I continue to like it from David Gedge of The Wedding Present. It makes a difference and makes the audience part of the performance and feel valued and like it was worth it to make the effort to buy the tickets months in advance and come out to see the band. Otherwise you might as well go and stand in a darkened room playing the CD loudly.

Peterborough Go Down

An early start yesterday. 6.55 train out of Newcastle. At Durham dozens of men in black and white striped football shirts get on. I thought they were Newcastle fans going down to Upton Park to see the Mags play the Hammers. But the accents were wrong. Too County Durham and more like a Mackem accent. Then I remembered that Spennymoor United were in the FA Vase final at Wembley. Drinking at 7:30 in the morning is too hardcore for me these days and so I settled down to read The Guardian and listen to my MP3 player.

I was met at Kings Cross by my son and after breakfast in a Fullers Pub ( The Euston Flyer on Euston Road) we were off to South East London to Selhurst Park.

Posh had over 2,500 fans there and did we make a noise. We went ahead, they equalised , we went ahead again and Kevin Philips equalised again for Palace.

Two minutes to go we were staying up as Huddersfield and Barnsley were drawing. Then Palace scored and we went quiet, We knew we were down.Tears from players and crowd at the end and back home I came after a  consolation pint-  on the 17:30 train to avoid returning Newcastle fans and their probable talk of relegation after a draw with West Ham . If we had stayed up I would have stayed the night but the defeat took it out of me even though in my heart I knew we were in danger of relegation.

Yesterday was a sad day but that was then and today is about moving on. It is only football after all and Shankley was wrong its not more important than life. Although at 3 pm yesterday afternoon I wasn't quite so certain that life was more important than football. And today I'll bet my son is still wondering.

A Big Game

Just as I thought it goes to the last game.

 In a rush of blood to the head I bought  rail tickets and am heading down to South London on Saturday to see whether or not we stay up or go down.

Our win on Saturday, thanks to one of Grant McCann’s brilliant free kicks has left us with our fate in our own hands. We need to win to make sure we stay up, Palace need at least a point to ensure a Play off place. Posh have sold out their allocation of 2,600 tickets. Selhurst Park will be lively at lunchtime on May 4th.

Posh We Are

Been A While

Sorry it has been a while since I updated this blog. No real excuse- I have been away on holiday but not for three weeks unfortunately. Same old excuses, work and life just got in the way.

My holiday was in Marrakesh. A place I recommend you visit.

Unfortunately I didn’t arrive on the Marrakesh Express but instead by Easy Jet from Gatwick but the excitement and bewilderment that Graham Nash experienced all those years ago took over me as well.

Football and life

Saw Posh draw 0-0 with the Smoggies on Tuesday night. Two things struck me. Firstly it cost me £27 for a ticket, no student discount, so in total it cost me £54 for me and my son. Add train tickets of £18:40 and a two cups of tea and a two pints and two bags of crisps, I didn't get much change out £100.

At £27 a pop it was no fucking wonder the Riverside was less than half full. Credit to the couple hundred Posh fans who made it. The game was intriguing, Middlesbrough being positively crap in front of goal ( Sammy Ameobi was the brightest star on their team) and Posh failing to finish them off in the second half. So following our win against league leaders Cardiff I have now given up trying to figure out whether or not we will get relegated. It will probably go down to the last match away at Crystal Palace in early May.

Secondly the last direct train back from Middlesbrough to Newcastle leaves before 9 o'clock.  It was a 19:45 kick off and we ended up not getting home until just before 1am having to travel via Darlington and pick up an East Coast train. No fucking wonder Teeside languishes with public transport links that positively discourage travelling between the urban centres of the North East. Northern Rail trains reminded me of the old diesel commuter trains into London I used to get 30 years ago i.e. shit.  I have done that journey three times now and the desolation of that coastal route never fails to depress me.

I did note one interesting fashion point. In Thornaby, at least, the 80's are back in fashion.

Half a dozen or so lads got on the train on their way to Riverside dressed in tight light  blue jeans rolled up at bottom, with Doc Marten type boots, white t shirts, sweatshirt and Harrington type jackets with the hood of the sweatshirt hanging over the back. They all had rather impressive Morrisey type quiffs ( sides shaved to approximately number three length). I was fascinated, I've not seen the like since  1986. I felt like Peter York discovering a lost youth cult. I thought at first they must be in a band. If they aren't they should be. Maybe its a fashion revival or maybe the 80's fashions have just arrived in Thornaby. Who knows.

This week in the North East you can't write about football without mentioning Paolo Di Cannio's appointment at Sunderland as their new manager following O'Neill's sacking.  What to say that hasn't already been said?  I am going to say very little.
All local comment has strictly followed partisan lines even when the writers have been desperately trying not to follow that path. His views haven't been an issue for over 5 years.Managing Swindon IS the same as managing any Premiership team  So I say judge the man by his actions, rather than what you think he means by being a fascist.

-My team's manager is a convicted wife beater(it seems to have been a one off  he pleaded guilty and has shown some remorse is all I can say in his defence ).  Is a Nazi style salute ( this and some comments in his auto biography being Di Cannio's only crimes) as bad as this?

Bloodsports- Suede

The new comeback album by Suede is out. If you read this Blog you will already know that I am a big fan of Suede. 

Bands reforming and making new material have become a commonplace thing  over the last few years. Not very rock n roll, but then again bands ( e.g. The Wedding Present, The Fall etc.) hanging around for 25 plus years isn't very rock n roll either. I mean in my younger Punk days I used to mock bands like  Status Quo because they were old and had been around for years doing the same thing.

Times and perspectives have changed now that I  am 52.

Anyway this new Suede album is everything you would want from the band. Great sound, slightly surreal and sleazy lyrics and Brett's Bowie- like vocals. It Starts and Ends With You is my favourite song but there is some really good stuff on this album.

If they tour I am going this time- definitely.

It's Spring!

Yes it is now Spring and the days are flying by in a blur. The weather is still cold and snowy and depressing. But today the sun has come out and is shining. There is a proper warmth to it as well. Spring is on its way, really. Almost time to to plant my potatoes out and get the tomato plants started in my mini greenhouse.

Running has been going well although I have a slight hamstring twinge so am taking it easy this week and walking not running until my long run on Sunday. I don’t need any problems six weeks away from the Half Marathon in Sunderland.

The welfare reform changes start in less than two weeks and we are  planning changes to deal with the predicted 100% + increase in workload for housing officers dealing with rent and rehousing enquiries and related work in collecting the rent. The rent notifications have dropped through the doors and we are busy telling people that they have to pay rent now..

Worst case scenario is that we will lose £4m in revenue as people struggle to pay their bills. That’s  a lot of jobs. The "bedroom tax" ( or "spare room subsidy" depending on your political view) has featured in the national and local news. Worst case scenarios are being touted as fact and Housing pundits ( yes there are some) are  mostly against it.

Its a one size fits all approach to dealing with the soaring Housing Benefit bill  and will have some unintended consequences which could lead to an actual increase in the benefit bill as people move out to (smaller) private rented properties as private rents tend to be higher. But the principle is right, its the detail that's wrong.

Posh Update and Cloud Cult

I went to see Posh last week. Another 2-2 draw this time against Charlton. Another draw (0-0  on Saturday against Ipswich and again on Tuesday against Leeds (1-1) means we' re running out of time and games to turn this round. The Leeds game was our game in hand.

We are almost certainly down, unless that is Wolves really do completely lose the plot as they look like doing.

Cloud Cult have released a new album. It is as always rather good. Here is a link to their website where you can learn more about this excellent band. I have written about them before and how I discovered them via another music blog.

Reg Presley R.I.P.

I know this is about 1 month late but four Reg Presley songs have been part of the soundtrack of my life for as long as I can remember. The four songs being Wild Thing, Love Is All Around . With A Girl Like You and I Can't Control Myself.

The Teenbeats' 1979 version of the latter song is a particular favourite of mine and reminds me of London Pubs and clubs I saw them performing it in at the time. 

RIP, Reg. 

The snow is back and I have been clearing the drive and the extension roof of the 5 to 7 cm of snow that fell on Friday night and the white-outs we have had since. Friday was particularly cold before the snow came.

I was in East Boldon though on Saturday night and there was no snow, nothing. That's only 10 miles away. I was at a pub The Grey Horse. A nice place although the beer wasn't up too much and it wasn't a cheap place ( almost 12 quid for a pint of Carlsberg, a coke and a glass of merlot).

In past days this time of year was a frantic rush around organising parties, visits from relations and present buying because this last week in February holds the birthdays of my son and daughter.Now they are all grown up. I no longer have any teenage kids as my daughter turned 20 on Friday. I feel quite sad about that.

I also feel sad, mind you, because Posh lost to Birmingham at home 2-0. Less than a week after thrashing Millwall away from home 5-1.  The games are running out and in this post Boyd world I doubt our ability to survive in this league. I am next down there on 5th March watching us (probably) lose to Charlton. My wife says I shouldn't go because I'm a jinx as I haven't seen them win since the League 1 Play Off Final almost two years ago. Neither had my son until last Tuesday at The Den, I tell her and anyway I don't believe in all this superstition nonsense.... touch wood.

Music wise I have been listening to Absolute Radio. This is sort of a guilty secret, cos this is not a cutting edge station. I don't like the adverts though so no doubt I will be returning to the 6Music fold shortly.

Out with the dog late last night after returning from The Grey Horse, two New Order tracks popped up on my Mp3 player, which is always set to shuffle unless I am listening to the latest  offering from some hot new young band ( ha!). The first one was Temptation the 7" version which is one of all time favourite songs and imediately transports me back to our flat on Lingbeck Crescent in early 80's Manchester. It's one of those records I remember buying, putting on the Record Player and being completely blown away by. Along with Blue Monday this record got me into electronic dance music in a big way. The next, which came on straight after, was Procession. I had almost completely forgotten this one. Its quite charming in its way but not a classic.

Procession 

Goodbye, George Boyd

So George leaves The Posh and goes for the rest of the season on loan to promotion contenders Hull.

My son was at The Den on Tuesday to watch Boyd single handedly take Millwall apart, making a fitting end to his time at Posh.

I should be devastated and in some respects I am, as George's move almost certainly condems us to relegation, but George was, on his da,y( and there were many days) simply too good for us. Even more so after Craig Mackail Smith left and he had no one to pass to. So I wish him the best and hope Hull sign him permanently in the Summer and he gets to play in the Premiership.

Watch this video of some of his best moments to get a sense of what a player he was for us.

Goodbye George you (almost) made a grown man cry.

February News

I have been lacking a bit of inspiration recently hence the gap between posts. I am really busy at work and this has meant I haven’t felt able to think of exciting things to post about.

The reason I’m busy is the Government’s changes to the benefit system, and principally

 "the bedroom tax”.

 In the Social housing world there is a lot of debate , mostly of it anti , this reduction in Housing Benefit ( rent rebate) for those who are of working age and unemployed.

After doing numerous visits and having numerous discussions about it. I have to say that in all honesty I am not against the principle but as always it is the detail that lets it down,.

Firstly the 14% reduction in benefit for under occupying by 1 room is too high. Here in my city this works out on average at  £12 PW from an income of between £56 and £111 per week depending on whether you are under 25 ( lower rate) or a couple ( the higher rate). Secondly it is a bit of a one size fits all solution to the undoubted issue of under occupation in the social housing sector. There is little flexibility to accommodate individual circumstances. Thirdly it could have been phased, say 3 bedrooms( yes there are some) first then 2 bedrooms then 1 over a couple of years.

A smaller reduction coupled with flexibility and phasing would have rendered this policy totally politically neutral. I don't see a future Labour Government overturning these plans. They are probably just relieved that the Coalition has done its dirty work for it. 

 

As it is I think the working majority ( particularly in the South east) will support this up until it causes problems on the street.Although I'm not sure it will. Its more likely the new Council Tax Benefit proposals will. 

 

4 Years

This years is racing by. Normally January lingers on like an unwelcome visitor you can’t wait to leave but this time round it whistled by in a blur of snow and door knocking.Here we are in February and this past weekend it felt like Spring was coming. The morning’s are lighter it’s not dark when I leave work for home and daffodils re pushing their way out of the soil, straining to reach the pale sun.

 

And the 4 year anniversary of this Blog went by without fanfare or comment.

February Arrives

I went to see Posh on Saturday. We drew 2-2 with Burnley . We didn’t lose but should have won, you shouldn’t come back from 1 nil down at home and then lose your lead. Still Boyd was good, the best I’ve seen him play for a while. It’s as if the rejection on spurious grounds by Forest has spurred him on. I hope he stay until the end of the season and beyond.

Weather wise it’s been warmer and no snow, just rain. Apparently global warming/climate change means that the Gulf Stream is less powerful and more erratic than it used to be, so we get prolonged dry or prolonged cold or wet periods now rather than a proper four seasons a year.

 

Today is bitterly cold and on the way home there were tiny flecks of snow.

I’ve started my running properly now and I am already enjoying it.

London Your My Home

Back down South this weekend. Not London but commuterland in Surrey near Camberley,

Spent Monday in the Capital, and walking across the  Thames on the way from from Waterloo station to Charing Cross Road, I felt the usual pang of homesickness, even after an absence of 20 plus years.

But I don't belong there anymore, it's not my London anymore.

London belongs to the young and the childless, those who don't mind the hassle, the noise. It belongs to the people who like to disappear into the crowd. It belongs to the World not to me.

Snow Is Falling All Around

The snow is still here. Not much has fallen in the last couple of days but there must be 15cm in my garden now. CORRECTION...I 've just looked out of the window and its snowing heavily again.Less than an hour after I cleared the road outside my house for the third time since Friday last week.

The flat roof on the extension to my living room is leaking under the onslaught of the snow and sleet. I was up at 5am on Monday putting tarpaulin over it. I was out last night until 10pm painting an emergency roof repair product over the seams in the asphalt. I'll just have to wait and see if that works.

Still my internet connection is great and so here is some music

White Mice- The Modettes

This is from 1979 and cracks along. It has nearly incomprehensible lyrics. I saw them around the time of this single.

  Here is a bit more information about them.

Thirty Thousand

This Blog has now exceeded 30,00 page views. It's taken almost 4 years but I'm still humbled that anybody actually bothers to read this stuff. Erudite and informative and witty it is not.

A simple straightforward take on my interests ( see title of the Blog- although football should be in there too) is what this stuff is all about. Boring, repetitive and with random moments of brilliance. A bit like life. At least a bit like my life.

The snow continues to dominate the landscape. Not much has fallen in the last couple of days but there is still about 5- 10cm or so of it lying about. Its not as cold either we got above freezing today.

I am in a better mood than I normally am at this time of year. I put that down to a few things. Firstly I am running ( well at least exercising. Only 1 run due to the snow but a couple of sessions on the cross trainer). I always feel  better when I am exercising.

Secondly, after four weeks of complaining I got a visit from my ISP's Bright Sparks team. He walked in , took one look at the router, condemned it as "ancient" and replaced it with a much more modern one. Plug in, switch on and Hey Presto! over 4mbps. That means we can watch iPlayer again. It means I can upload some of my favourite music again for you.

The cold winter weather ( minus 5 yesterday) has numbed both my fingers as I scrape the frost off the car but also my mind. Although that might be numbed by two 11 hour days at work and evenings sat in Community Centres smelling of sweat and urine listening to Councillors justify the city council budget proposals to a disinterested audience.

I’m not a supporter of the current administration ( Labour)and something is wrong here. The Leader of the Council is obviously playing politics with his 100 million cuts over three years  proposals, but then again I would expect him to play politics. But the talk the other night of community organisations taking over services was both naïve and a little opportunistic on the part of at least one of the councillors. The same one who has his own business based in the city  valley and led residents of a  god-awful estate to set up their own ( and ultimately doomed) company to run it. It sounds like lots of arms length “community” businesses/ mini quangos all run by people made redundant at our expense on huge pay offs and pensions running the same services with less accountability and for profit. Thats maybe what the government wants. I didn’t think Labour councils wanted it too.

Meanwhile on I go trudging through the compacted snow, across ice to give the good news to people that their income is going to be cut by this Government.

Winter

Still recovering from this cold/flu type virus that has plagued me since Christmas day. I feel lacking in energy and generally under the weather. I have three colleagues in my office off with the same thing and my wife’s organisation has also been hit hard by it.

I need to shake it off and get out and start my training for the Sunderland half marathon on 28^th April. It is only 16 weeks away and I haven’t run since October so I am a bit out of condition. The four pounds I put on at Christmass doesn’t help either and I am struggling to get that off, although I am 5 pounds lighter than I was this time last year. I pledged to lose a stone before the Berlin Marathon and although that’s still 8 months away time has a habit of slipping away from you if you don’t plan it out.

Music wise I am catching up with my repeat listening of all the albums I listed on my Christmas List post trying to decide which one was the best of the year.

 

Welfare State

A week back at work and Christmas seems a long time ago.

January is a depressing month and this  January is no exception although, aided by the  wet and mild weather,  it  feels more like early October than the middle of winter. But cold weather is on its way apparently.

Cold winds have started to blow through the lives of our tenants already. Although I doubt many of them have been affected by the changes to Child Benefit payments, the working minority will be affected by the change to Child Tax credits. Those affected that aren’t working and those that are in low paid part time employment have a reprieve until April when the under occupation charge( bedroom tax) starts.

We have completed 20% of the visits needed to inform people of this change and I have written about this before here. Post-Christmas, as I suspected, it is  a slightly more hostile reception as it now seems more real.

Overall though the reaction has been acceptance and in a majority of cases agreement that something needs to be done to curtail the reach of the welfare State, and these are the people affected by the changes. False consciousness? Perhaps.

My own view, cynical though it is by years of exposure to  people who have manipulated, lied and cheated their way through the benefit system, is that something had to give. With or without the recession we have allowed a dependency culture in some parts of society and an" its ok if you can get away with it" culture in all parts of society ( in my mind the two are linked).

The last Government fostered  this and they were well intentioned but they are/were an elite that that has literally no experience of how ordinary people live, work and react.

Back To Life

Back to reality.

Happy New Year to you all.This year is going to be a goood one. Or is that just blind optimism in the face of reality?

Work tomorrow. It feels like I 've been out of the office a lot longer than a week.


Been a mixed week. Christmas Day was good, one of our best. Boxing Day came and with it the cold/flu bug that my son kindly brought home with him. I've been up and down ever since. Some days so tired I can barely get out of bed. Other days fine.

Spent a large part of today taking down the In- Laws Christmas decorations and putting them back in their loft. How my father-in-law manages I don't know.

Football wise I still think that despite Posh's wins over the Christmas/New Year period we are  50/50 to go down.

My son graduates this year, so does my daughter-it looks like she will go onto to complete another year at college to ensure she gets an Honours degree.

For me it's going to be a Year Of Running. Two half marathons, at least one 10k and the Berlin Marathon in September. Although the way I feel now I couldn't run for a bus.

Music- well who knows but I am determined to get to more gigs.