Passing the Time with Football Manager 2005 Part Two: The Conference

It’s a week or so since I revealed to the world that I was playing Football Manager 2005 once again, and that I’d taken control of The Soccer AM Badgers, using the editor to change things around a little, such as putting them in the Conference South Division, giving them an excellent worldwide reputation and a massive back balance, and recruiting a ton of overseas talent on free transfers.

If you recall the team won that particular division by a massive margin, winning promotion to the Conference National Division, just one step under the Football League, as well as winning the FA Trophy.

For F***'s Sake! Not Jimmy F***ing Osmond!

My sleep patterns are kind of screwed at the moment, even more so due to the current state of things, so it’s not unusual for me to spend some of my time channel surfing through the various music channels in the late hours. One such session saw me coming across the Now 70’s music channel, and a countdown show look at “Silly Songs” from that particular decade.

I’d missed the first three songs and began my viewing at number 22, a number which saw The Wurzels singing about their combine harvester. Boy did this take me back, and I freely admit that I really enjoyed hearing this somewhat daft song again. I began to think that this countdown had some promise.

So thinking that I’d see the likes of Jasper Carrot singing about his moped and the Goodies showing me how to dance like a monkey I considered settling down for the evening. Sadly what came after the Wurzels changed my plans in an instant.

Passing the Time with Football Manager 2005

Those of you who follow this blog will know that I’ve recently begun playing old versions of Championship Manager again, thanks to having even more time on my hands thanks to the Coronavirus lockdown.

I took on the task of managing my beloved Norwich City on Championship Manager 96/97. Sadly it didn’t go too well for me, with the team finishing in the bottom half of Division One table for various reasons, including an injury crisis, although a change of formation saw the team go on an unbeaten run towards the end of the season.

Things got even worse for the team at the start of the following season. The so-called big name players that I’d signed on free transfers didn’t do it for the team, and poor results meant that I was given the boot.

Passing the Time With Championship Manager *Updated March 31st*

So as Boris has told me to stay at home I'm passing the time by playing as Norwich City on old Championship Manager games. I tried the first one but quickly gave up because of the made-up players.

Quickly moving on to CM93, and ten games in Norwich have achieved mid-table respectability. Efan Ekoku is the top scorer in the Premier League, and I signed a young Italian by the name of Christian Vieri.

British Wrestling Continues in the Social Distancing Era

Fuck You, and the Cars You Drove In On #coronavirus #Cromer

To all you fuckwits and cockwombles who came into my hometown of Cromer this past weekend, despite the government and the medical types advising you to stay at home.

To all of those who lined up outside our takeaways and crowded into our gift shops, treating what is a national emergency as a nice day trip to the seaside.

Fuck you.

I was prepared to put my health at risk for the likes of you. I really wanted to work for companies like Morrisons and Tesco, companies that are crying out for employees because people like you have treated this whole coronavirus thing like a great big fucking joke.

The Strange World of Coronavirus and Job Hunting

The past few days have been quite strange with regards to job searching. It went from almost nothing to most of the big local supermarkets looking for staff to cope with the demand caused by the coronavirus panic buying.

This also conincided with the news that the Department for Work & Pensions have cancelled all face-to-face appointments, with all benefit payments made automatically for at least the next three months.

I have to admit that this has left me in two minds. On one hand I've applied for a lot of these new jobs, simply because I want to work and I want to help.

But on the other hand I have a heart condition and I may be one of those who is at risk. I've not only heard all of the horror stories about panic buying, I've also seen some pretty nasty things myself. When I see what's happening, when I hear about some of the abuse retail workers are getting at the moment I think to myself thank fuck I'm not working at the moment.

Should I Even Bother Looking for a Job Right Now? #coronavirus

Here's an example of how things have changed over the past day or so:

Normally I average about ten to fifteen job applications per day. In the past three weeks I've had seven interviews.

Today's job search yielded just 1 possible application. Just 1. And I'm not even sure if I should bother applying because of the current situation.

Makes me wonder if I should even bother looking at the moment.

It's Not The End of the F**king World! #coronavirus

If you're looking for basic painkillers such as paracetomol and ibuprofen in Cromer you'll be lucky to get any.

I take them twice a day for three long-term injuries, plantar fasciitis (soft tissue damage) in my left foot, frayed cartilage in my right knee, and tendonitis in my right shoulder. Because you're only allowed to buy one pack of each from a shop I normally do the rounds in town once a week or so. I normally buy the cheap stuff because I'm on JSA.

But today was an almost fruitless exercise. Superdrug, Boots and Lloyds had nothing. Iceland only had ibuprofen. Co-Op in the town centre, QD and Morrisons had nothing, although I was able to get some well-known brand name cold capsules in Morrisons, which are quite a bit more expensive than the cheaper Morrisons ones.

The World Needs a Good Slap #coronavirus

You know, there's a big part of me what would like to grab the world by it's shoulders, give it a good shake, and then slap it around the face and tell it to stop acting like a bloody idiot.

Finding a New NHS Dentist is a Pain in the Arse

So I thought that now as the old ticker is more or less sorted l'll get the nashers done, but finding a new NHS dentist who'll take me on is a pain in the arse.

Sheringham won't take me back because I didn't make an appointment to see them last year, and they won't bend their rules a little even after I told them that the reason I couldn't see them last year was because I was ill.

When Mr. Jolly Lived Next Door

When people of a certain age think of Nicholas Parsons, they probably think of Sale of the Century. The phrase “live from Norwich, it’s the quiz of the week!” was made all the more special if you lived from Norwich, even though we found out years later that the show wasn’t actually live. Although to be honest with you the sight of Nicholas Parsons trying to convince people to buy mink coats, rickety-looking caravans and brown and beige family saloon cars for knockdown prices didn’t exactly appeal to me at the time.

Mr. Parsons’ appeal to me changed a great deal on the night of March 5th, 1988, when we found out that a certain Mr. Jolly lived next door.

Taylor Swift is Better Than You....and the Baby Jesus

I was browsing through Twitter the other day, as you do, when I came across this little gem, posted on Christmas Day. Here’s the screenshot:

Songs That Are 50 Years Old In 2020

Here's something that may make some of you feel old, a selection of songs that reach the ripe old age of 50 in 2020, songs that were either originally released or hit the UK charts in 1970.

Only 28 at the moment. More will be added later. Enjoy!

Bye Bye WWE!

Today is a big day for those who watch professional wrestling on television here in the United Kingdom, because today, December 31st, 2019, after over thirty years, Sky’s contract with World Wrestling Entertainment comes to an end. From tomorrow all WWE programming will be available on BT Sports. I don’t subscribe to BT Sports, or the WWE Network for that matter, so for the first time since the summer of 1989 I won’t have access to any new WWE material.

And you know what? I’m really not that bothered about it.

Wouldn't You Rather Wait For Good Service?

Having just come from the pharmarcy at the surgery, where everyone who joined the que behind me moaned about not being served quickly, I now have the urge to ask this kind of question again.

Would you rather wait to be served properly be a medical professional, or would you prefer to be rushed through the system in the way some supermarkets rush through their customers?

It's Been Almost Twenty Years.....

So it occured to me the other day next year will be the 20th anniversary of The Two Sheds Review. From the proverbial humble beginnings in a long-forgotten e-mail newsletter it grew to the point where it was syndicated to twenty-plus website and news sources at one point, with a monthly combined readership of over half a million people.

It helped local wrestling promotions gain the type of worldwide promotion they'd never experienced before. It helped the careers of both veterans and rookies. It continued through both personal and professional heartache, and ran almost constantly until events took my life in a different direction in 2016.

So I'm Having Another Heart Operation.....

So yesterday was my long-awaited trip to the hospital for two more tests and a consultation with the cardiologist.The outcome is that I'll be undergoing a procedure called a Cardioversion early next year.

World Mental Health Day: A Question For You

Here's a question for you on World Mental Health Day:

Is it okay for a mental health "advocate" to accuse others of faking their mental illness?

I'm not going to name this person, all I will say is that this person has suffered from mental health problems themselves but has taken to social media on a number of occasions to accuse people of faking things like depression.

Screw It. If My Ex-Boss Wants To Call Me A Liar.....

Screw it. If my ex-boss wants to call me a liar then so be it. The people that matter, the important people in my life, know exactly why her business closed down, and if she wants to tell people otherwise then that's her choice. If she wants to continue to score points at my expense because it makes her feel better, and makes her look better in the eyes of her friends and family, then that's her choice as well.