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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Sunday 8th June - From Battersea to Putney

I decided today that getting back on the bike and doing some cycling would work out pretty well, not least because I wanted to keep up the fact I've been doing more walking and generally being fitter lately, as well as a better diet which does make me feel like I've lost a little weight and be less lethargic as a result. I thought about two options: Battersea Park to the West and Victoria Park to the East, both reachable easy enough by public transport. Then I had a brainwave - what if I wanted to cycle longer due to TfL's now 60 minute rides for anyone on a day pass instead of the 30 minutes for single use, could I do a longer stint?

So with the fact either way I could put this plan in action, and potentially do some laps of each park, in the end it was easier (due to the fact the Overground is every 30 minutes on a Sunday morning) to head to East Croydon and get the train to Battersea Park, changing at Clapham Junction. Once that was done, it was a walk to the park entrance and indeed the Prince of Wales Drive where I could get a bike from. Payment done, code provided, bike readied, and so I decided to do the outer loop of the park (similar to what was used for Formula E many years ago) and that was pretty nice - lots of joggers to be mindful of, but in the end did two full laps, 1.75 miles each, so three and a half miles done there.

I felt a need for a nice little breather so exited the park and walked under the railway bridge and to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where they have a really nice café on the ground floor by the main road, and the inside has nice pictures of some of their rescued dogs and cats, including Dave the cat who reminds me of Brian and is massively cute along the way. It was nice just to sit and relax in there, and had a thought. What if I cycled as far west as Putney, as there's docking stations a plenty there and I could go along the cycle superhighways and lanes, right? Not a bad idea.

So in fact the Rosary Gate entrance to Battersea Park not only has the docking station I used earlier, but also has the Cycle Superhighway 8 on that road, so was easy to pick up and follow. In fact the blue painted roads and segregated space meant it felt really safe, and I did the right thing and paused at all traffic lights as any traffic user should. I was soon at Wandsworth and after heading through the centre, CS8 ends there and picked up the road towards Earlsfield. I was going to effectively take a little detour and so once further down, I took a right turn, crossed over the River Wandle, and then headed to another main road, crossed that, and it was then along a slight incline up Brookwood Road and right on Elsenham Street, which took me to Southfields station.

From there it was time to head back towards Putney, so followed Wimbledon Park Road going North, and the turning left at West Hill Road after an uphill climb following that to the A3, crossing that and then a left right to end up by East Putney tube station, and along the main road then to Putney railway station, where there was a docking station around the corner (as well some others in the centre too). It took around forty minutes, but had done 6.1 miles, meaning 9.6 in all today, and a nice little couple of hills as well as stop as needed for traffic. I felt really pleased with myself that I had done that, and so definitely felt a little bit in the legs afterwards!

I walked through the centre of Putney and mooched in a good few shops and had some lunch too overlooking the River Thames - it was some nice chicken with a Korean spicy sauce, with some coconut rice to go with it. It felt really nice and admired the scenery quite a bit. I was tempted to head on the river boat along to Chelsea Harbour, but they're not daft are Uber Boat / Thames Clippers, putting Battersea Power Station in the central zone so if you want to get there from the west, it is two river zones crossed and a much higher fare. So instead I took the 93 bus over to Wimbledon and then the tram home (which of course is cheap because hopper fare kicks in!)

I felt rather satisfied having cycled a bit today and I do need to try and keep that up where possible - maybe with some lunchtime rides (more so if I do the £20 month pass for example) and also some other evening options, so for example if I am in Hoxton I can pick up a bike there and potentially do there to Wapping (done that before now) and then pick up the Overground homewards - which is also cheaper ironically. I have some ideas, but in the meantime I had to listen to Pete Shelley's Give It To Me, as that was used in the main for the theme tune for Channel 4's Tour de France coverage and that for me is tune of the day without question.

Saturday 7th June - Back on the Vanguard Way

It was a 50/50 decision on whether I headed out for another walk today. The weather had been forecast for rain and thunderstorms, which I would not want to be caught out in, and yet close to the walk start in Uckfield the forecast looked considerably better. After pondering, I thought that it would sensible to go but have my waterproof light jacket on in case it does rain, then I am covered either way. So it was off to East Croydon station to get the 0922 departure to Uckfield, and from there wait at the bus station for the 29A bus to Blackboys, so I could effectively continue my walk and do Section 7 of the Vanguard Way.

After getting off at Blackboys, it was down a street and past the Blackboys Inn, a very old but really nice looking pub - too early for a drink but I bet it was lovely in there. I crossed over the road and noted that as well as the Vanguard Way waymarkers, there were these laminated A4 sheets with arrows on. Reading one showed that they were for the Weald Challenge Half Marathon, which would be taking place tomorrow (so probably sensible I wasn't attempting this walk then!) - and that would mean that runners would know which way to go - as well as have to head over the stiles and other such things too. Made me think of the old song Marathon used for the Manchester Marathon in the 1980s performed by Susie Mathis (make that tune of the day)

I must admit the extra signage was pretty nice to be honest, and this section was a mix of country lanes and heading across open fields, with some lovely trees and small forest sections which did look lovely. One bit had me heading on the edges of farm fields with crops growing, and that was good to see that the path was clearly marked to stay off the crops (as you should). Once on another lane, I passed a farm which had free range eggs for sale with an honesty box before then arriving and crossing Scallow Bridge, and up another country lane towards Graywood House, where thankfully it was back on the trails and off the road.

After several miles, there was a second muddy section where it wasn't the nicest, but once out of that small hollow, the climb up to the set of paths towards the village of Chiddingly was lovely. I adored the little village with its nice pub and former post office that still had the old Brooke Bond Tea vintage signage at the top. There was a wedding due at the church and the two bridesmaids in blue looked really lovely as they waited for the bride to arrive, and thankfully the rain was still holding off. Once past the church it was on round the cricket club and pavilion and on to the next part of the walk.

The Weald Challenge had left us behind in Chiddingly, but sensibly the fields to cross from here were either clearly obvious as a path (because others had walked it) or were fields of corn but with gaps in where the tractor had been leaving two narrow paths six feet apart to walk through those fields, and that worked out well to get through those and on towards the A22, which needed to be crossed with care. After a quick walk through a field it was across to the Mohair Centre, a forest school with nursery that had sheep and goats present, and leaving there and heading across a field meant the end of the section.

I had to walk back down this road I'd arrived at and towards Golden Cross itself, so that I could get the bus back to Uckfield. Thankfully the petrol station here had a Londis attached so was able to get something for a quick lunch and then wait for the 54 bus back, which arrived on time and sped over to East Hoathly before then making a break for Uckfield itself, and I arrived close to the train station with around seven minutes to spare before the train left - good timing really as the trains are hourly so wanted to time this well. And that was all good, so headed swiftly back to East Croydon.

Friday 6th June - Hersh in Haggerston

It was off to the office in Hoxton today, so back under the railway arches there. I had wanted to get a few things sorted prior to Monday's collection for recycling (including checking any tech we may need to include) but also this did mean I'd be nearer tonight's gig literally up the road in Haggerston - thus killing two proverbial birds with one stone and all that. It was genuinely nice to be in there today because there were some good colleagues I get on really well with, who are definitely going to be ones I may end up missing over the next few months as some of our roles change. It did feel upwardly positive today at least which was something.

In the meantime, I sorted out some of the remnants of some of the old systems a bit more today - including removing un-used driver packages and the necessary drivers to go with it. In effect you do the reverse of how you would add the drivers and driver packages, so for me in ConfigMgr it's remove the driver package from the distribution points, then remove the driver package, then any categories for that driver package you put in. Once done, you can then check your driver store and see if there are drivers without any associations, and if so, remove them to keep it tidy. If that happens to be all drivers within a folder (the content source location is key here) you can remove that as well as the driver package folder and claim some space back on your source servers. Winning.

After work I decided my sensible course of action was to head somewhere for tea that was close to the gig venue, and noted that Tonkotsu was literally a few arches away from the venue. I booked to be on the safe side and had a nice table in their covered outside space, which looked really good. What was also good for me was the fact they had Thornbridge beer - no less than the Mikan Shimonda, which is made with Tonkotsu in mind as a co-op. It's lovely pale with satsuma flavours in, and just the thing to go with a ramen or katsu. In the end I went for the king prawn katsu curry and that was gorgeous - really did taste lovely and the king prawns and the outer coating were stunning. Definitely going to have to go back there again and try their pork ramen.

With that in mind, it was back over to the venue for tonight's gig - the Signature Brew taproom, which is under one of the arches close to the Regent's Canal. They do have outside tables under the railway bridge which face the canal, which is good, but obviously if an event is on, that doesn't get used once that event starts. It was a showcase for artists signed to Fire Records, of which tonight's headliner and one of my all time favourites, Kristin Hersh, was playing. I was worried during the week as some Throwing Muses gigs had been cancelled due to Kristin's voice issues (in fact the ones after London were all cancelled) so was just hoping it would all work out and with a pint of Signature's Lo-Fi pale ale (the 0.5% one) it was time to check the acts out.

First up was Graham Reynolds, who promptly got very artistic by deciding that cymbals did not need any drums, they would make their own noise clattering into the floor instead. There were also some real soundscapes set up with the synth piano and the big booming classical bass drum as backing, and felt very much film soundtrack like in the lengthy pieces he performed - no surprise really considering he did the soundtrack for A Scanner Darkly amongst others. May have to check out his album Mountain as some of the soundscapes certainly were different.

Then it was onwards with MEMORIALS (note that their band name is intentionally capitalised), a two piece in the main and with one of them playing drums and occasional other instruments and backing, and a singer who would play synths and saxophones as well as craft all sorts of sounds from the equipment. Again, this was quite experimental in parts and definitely would not be everyone's cup of tea whatsoever, but reminded me a little of the more adventurous side of Stereolab, and the avant-garde attitude of early Cabaret Voltaire, added with pop sensibilties sandwiched in between. Acceptable Experience was a highlight for me, the opener from their debut album Memorial Waterslides.

That all set the scene nicely for Kristin Hersh, and she apologised up front for her voice being a little raspier than usual.That did mean to say that some of the songs where there is some real passion in just felt that little bit more biting too - and that was no bad thing at all for me. It was great to hear so many of my favourite songs too, so that was a plus, starting off with the instrumental Sparky (and so no over-use of voice there) and including the excellent Flooding and Mississippi Kite (both from Crooked) and her version of the traditional song Cuckoo, which had a fair number of us singing along (as that was always good fun back from the Hips and Makers album.)

What was a nice end to proceedings was that the support acts came back on stage at Kristin's invitation and together put out a lengthier more experimental jam version of Your Ghost, which just sounded epic - and definitely tune of the day for me, with Kristin really belting out the chorus to give it one final flourish to end a really nice evening all told to be honest. I shared the Overground with all the Robbie Williams fans making their way back from Arsenal's ground, knowing I'd been in a more intimate gig which felt more me (and I am sure Robbie put on a good show for the fans there to be fair) and that felt just nice somehow.

Monday 2nd June – Back to the Etihad

In all the years of being a Manchester City fan, I’ve been a season ticket holder for a fair number of them – and most recently, having one with one of my good friends until he passed away a couple of years ago. He was a wheelchair user and a friend I’d known since 1995, so when he first touted the idea of getting a season ticket, it worked out that I could go as his helper, and therefore it was a win-win situation for us both, meaning we could get to the games, see the Blues in many historic moments to come (a certain Sergio Aguero one in 2012 for one) and it also meant that we would be able to enjoy it with less stress.

When my friend passed away, it was a very sad time and naturally that did mean that the season ticket was given up (the helper cannot then get one of their own as there would be no wheelchair user to go with), and so for me I’d have to use my Cityzens Matchday membership (I still had one because of discounts for things like trains back in the day) and then try and get to the games I could do when they went on sale for members. I figured that if I was able to attend enough games in the next season or two, there may be an outside chance of me being eligible for one in future, and so restart my season ticket holding as such. That of course will mean much less stress for getting tickets for say Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal at home, and starting to amass more loyalty points too.

I worked out that I had attended last season 19 home games over the competitions that counted (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League) so this put me in the over 18 purchases bracket for the sales window, which would be 1pm today for me. I was a little concerned that the earlier window for those over 20 home games may take some options out, but they did say beforehand in the email almost everything was going to be East or Colin Bell Stand, levels 1 or 3, so knew that anyway. I did a chunk of work in the morning sorting out a few things about decommissioning some of our existing infrastructure, so that worked nicely and timed it so I would be on lunch during the sales window to see what would happen.

In fact, it was a relatively straightforward process. The sales window opened, I could click the button, see a map of the ground and choose where I would like to sit, and spotted a good spot in one of the stands to be able to get a good view. So with that in mind, selected that, added the FA Cup scheme as well (as they are more likely to be weekend instead of League Cup and Champions League) as if you are on a cup scheme, it is cheaper still. I then made sure the card details were all correct for payments being taken, went into the payment scheme accordingly, and within a few minutes, all done, and confirmation email sent. I am now once again a season ticket holder at the Etihad! Happy times indeed, and possibly for 2026-27 I may relocate to the new North Stand second tier once it’s open…

But still, that all makes me very happy indeed. Not least because I know now I have some certainty about games, and the Flexi-Gold season ticket is the first rung on the step. Effectively, you pay a membership fee, which is over 10 instalments if you need, and for each home game, the ticket is discounted by £7.50, so 16 games means that the membership is repaid back in full. In addition, if you do all 19 home league ganes, you pay the same equivalent as a Gold season ticket holder. You get the same seat each time too, with an exclusive sales window via email a few weeks before, so effectively pay as you go, but with discounts and the same seat, and the next year, you can then remain as is if you like, or go Gold. I do miss the old Value Gold option from previous years which cost just £299 and you got a random seat chosen for you (and was the same seat each game) but still, it’s a definite win for me and one I’m pleased to have sorted out. Needless to say, Supra’s version of Blue Moon is tune of the day, and safe in the knowledge that I’ll be singing that a plenty next season!

Sunday 1st June – Carvery and Cross Country Calamity

The Sunday morning presented The Love In My Heart with a long lie in opportunity, and she was going to take that understandably. Brian the cat was of course snuggled up with his Mummy as ever, and he only got briefly when I woke up and went to the loo, as he then was waiting outside the bathroom for treats – which I gave in to and provided before getting changed. The weather was a bit more icky today with constant rain showers in between the sunshine, so was a contrast to say the least. As it was, we did decide to rest and relax with some episodes of Escape to the Country followed then by The Love switching over to ITV3 for some Downton Abbey. I do remember some of the series they were showing, especially the drama around one of the childbirths and what happened to the mother afterwards. I did ask The Love what her favourite character was, and she said Lady Edith (and one of our friends does like the Dowager Duchess, played by the late Dame Maggie Smith.)

We decided that for Sunday lunch we would do either a roast or a carvery, as we had not had one in a while, although I was going to keep off the Yorkshire pudding and try and have more vegetables instead, so make it a little less weighty. In the end it was easy enough to book a table for later for the Sheldon Arms, not far from the Snipe Retail Park near Ashton-under-Lyne, and then we headed off there. It was good to have booked because that meant we got a good table in the area close to the carvery but also meant we had lovely table service from some friendly staff when it came to drinks and orders. We both decided that the carvery was the choice for us both, and with a JW Lees Light lager for me, it was all good.

The one great thing about the carvery here is that you are not limited to one choice of meat, if you want two, all good. The Love went first, and I went after she got back, and so we both ended up having the turkey and gammon (they had beef and pork too) with some roast potatoes, mash, broccoli, sweetcorn and some really nice honey roasted carrots, which to be honest I should have had more of because they were lovely, and all with a meat gravy too. The Love isn’t a fan of sweetcorn and went for the red cabbage instead which she enjoyed, but all was well and it was just nice to be out and enjoying a good lunch together.

We then headed back to Manchester city centre to be close to the station for my train home later on, but the plan to go Track’s tap room was thwarted because of no parking spaces nearby. However, we did get to Ancoats and get a space there (free on Sundays too incidentally) and the Makers Market had been on and was coming to a close – which we had been to a few times. It was Seven Bro7ers Beerhouse for us and I had the Schofferhofer tropical fruit Radler, which was very refreshing and hit the spot well without being too strong, as much as they did have a guest stout that looked gorgeous to drink. The Love had the Seven Beo7ers pilsner as it always a good one to have, and we chattered away for ages and just felt relaxed and happy together.

The time went by far too quickly, and it was off to Manchester Piccadilly station to say my fond farewell and get the first of two trains – I was going via Birmingham to try and avoid some of the engineering works. Unfortunately, CrossCountry’s train was late into Piccadilly and kept being later as it left other stations, arriving in Birmingham just as the train to London was leaving, despite me leaving 27 minutes for a connection. I was able to chat with the staff at New Street and get my ticket validated for the next train to London instead, which was all fine and quiet, and I had some tunes on the iPod to mellow out with (tune of the day being Please Don’t by She Makes War which I always end up listening to when travelling), but still, a stress I could have done without. The worst thing of all is that CrossCountry only do Delay Repay after 30 minutes’ delay (most do 15) so wasn’t even getting anything back either for the inconvenience. Meh.