Umbrellas Out!

A busy few days and dodging the rain showers has meant that my grass is desperately overgrown and I can't get on it to cut it. I've been to one wedding evening (I wasn't very well), and yet another wedding evening, I've done a day at a local Hospice summer extravaganza to try to help them raise money and many other bits and pieces. I've even cleaned someones carpet using one of those new fangled carpet cleaners - it worked well. I've been to Derbyshire on business and the Queen's had her birthday.

Well the jubilee celebrations are now at an end and life sort of draws back to some normality, except that it's Euro2012 football tournament and as I write this, England have just drawn with France 1-1. Now although I did ten years on the committee of the local Boys League and I am on the board of Directors of the East Riding County FA, these days I am more interested on how football is run than the actual game itself.  When I was a kid I supported Hull City AFC which as the nearest local team and my dad was a junior there in the 1950s. These days I remain firmly neutral and to be fair, its great. The only team I 'support' and by that I mean I really want them to do well, is my national team, England. I follow Hull City in the news and watch for the results, but that's about my only interest in them now although of course I hope they do well.

I've never been to the national football stadium at Wembley either the old one or the new one and I don't think I have the passion to go to be honest. Given a free ticket, I might get myself there one day - I might put it on my bucket list.

I was never very sporting, I never had the stamina to run about for hours on end. I played a bit of cricket which I enjoyed tremendously, and I love cricket to watch and even now, I rarely miss any cricket on the TV or radio if I'm in the car. I've been to Trent Bridge in Nottingham to see an England test match (I think it was against the West Indies) and I've been to Headingly (Leeds) to watch England versus Australia which was abandoned after a vandal broke in on the night after I went and daubed the wicket in oil to protest against a miscarriage of justice! Idiot! 

Its a bit noisier now at test matches but I have to say I love the atmosphere that is portrayed on the TV, lots of singing, dressing up in fancy dress on Saturdays and great coverage. Different from the stuffy old days. I wish I had the time to go these days; you never know, I may do.

Chat soon - stay dry

Ta-ra

Mixed September

We've nearly finished decorating. The carpet is being delivered on Thursday and we are nearly all prepared. We just have to shift the furniture ready for them to put the carpet down and then we have to put it all back again. I'll be glad when things are back in place; I hate untidy, not that I'm the tidiest person on earth, but I like some assemblance of order.

What an odd day weather wise today. I went to see my son play football this morning and take a team picture for them so they could give a copy to their sponsor. I stayed a little while and I had other things to do, but his team won 5 - 0. The weather was glorious - sunny and warm with no breeze, good enough for shirt sleeves. He plays in goal so he was happy keeping a 'clean sheet'.

In contrast this afternoon saw black skies bubble up with heavy rain showers and the occasional rumble of thunder. It looked spectacular, but felt sorry for the many cyclists who had clearly gone for rides to enjoy the weather who ended up battling through rain.

The next phase of my son John's photographic hobby has arrived. We've obtained some copyright free photographs from the local history library in Hull of historical photographs of Hull and we are going to take some modern pics from where the original photographer stood and then meld the two together to show old and new. I'll take the modern pictures but the genius is in the photographic manipulation. We are putting the photographs on exhibition in the Hull History Centre in November.

Hull has much history to it. The town as is stands goes back as far as 1215 when salt was carried to the river for transport abroad. Over the years the town expanded and because of its proximity to the Humber became an internationally important port in centuries past.  Fishing was the important most recent trade, all but gone now, but it shaped the culture of the town and it remains even now fiercly proud of its history earned in the most part by the hardship of trawling the sea for our food.

The very successful docks east of the city are now handed over to freight, timber, coal, passenger ferries, petrochemicals - a place which wouldn't be recognised by the trawlermen of yesteryear.

I don't live in Hull, I live outside it in the East Riding of Yorkshire, but most of my working life has been in and around Hull and you either love it or hate it. It has its good points and bad like any city. Its been badly in need of high quality investment, but its like being in a town at the end of a cul-de-sac (M62). Hopefully, if the contractors for new wind farm equipment come here to one of the underused docks in the town, it will give it a massive boost which, to be fair, for the people of Hull, it deserves.

I hope you have a great week ahead of you as nights close in and as I finish this blog (7.30 pm ish) it's dark outside already and the street lights are on.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

What a weekend, glad to be back at work...

What a weekend of high emotions and exhaustion. Saturday night went well, fantastic in fact and all that anxiety and worry was unfounded. We had a family reunion for one branch of the family called 'Mayes', my father's mother's family and we had them from all over the Hull and Haltemprice area to a small club. I did some family pictures and blew them up to A4 size with the help of one or two others who supplies some old photos dug out of tins and dusty lofts no doubt (some of the pictures were as old as the hills) and put them up on a wall at the club to greet everyone. These provided an excellent talking point and broke a lot of ice.

I also put up the main pictures of the third generation away from whence we all came who have now, except all but one wife, passed. Underneath each picture I put a basic family tree from what little knowledge I had and some of the gaps were filled in by the relevant families. It's amazing how much women know about the family and relationships - the men knew bugger all. The cake was fabulous (thanks Doreen) and buffet perfectly acceptable. I met people I remembered from childhood, from more years ago than I care to think about and met many I had never met or simply didn't remember. A lot of gaps were filled and if there is a lesson to all this - don't let time be a thief, don't run out of time to contact relatives; you don't have to live in their pockets or talk to them every month, but a phone call, e-mail or letter now and then wouldn't go amiss.

The second of the major events this weekend was a football tournament today (Sunday) run by the junior league from which I have retired today after ten years faithful service as an active committee member. 5000 kids plus belong to this league playing every Sunday during the season and it has been a privilege to serve them. I am moving on to other things and I will miss the league and in particular, some very good friends on the committee who I am very fond of and who have grafted to provide soccer for all those kids along with all the benefits that provides to the larger community.

I was there at seven a.m. and left at 5.30 pm and thank God for good weather and an excellent atmosphere and a successful footballing day. I have an unintended tan, a sore back and aching feet. I will however regain my family life on a weekend which has been sadly neglected.

The third and unexpected emotional episode was sitting down, tired but happy after I arrived home tonight to watch on DVD, Gran Torino with the extraordinary Clint Eastwood in an incredibly watchable film, not his best but near as dammit, as the ex Korean war army veteran living in a neighbourhood devoid of 'native' Americans. This is thoroughly recommended as one of the great films, funny, tense, emotional roller coaster of relationship building and in some cases, destroying. There is some bad language and racism is a strong theme, but brilliantly acted and directed by the master himself, this is a must see.

I cried.

Well that's it for tonight folks, too tired to do anything else but get my shoes clean for work tomorrow and bid you have a great, successful and safe week ahead.

My good friend Middle Aged Gapper has done an excellent blog from Italy from where he has spent the first couple of weeks of his new life, check it out - very entertaining.

Chat soon

Ta-ra!

The Great Game - (for the time being)

I don't support Hull City nor am I a fan, in fact I'm a footballing neutral but being my local team, I do follow them with interest. I listened today to the commentary on the local radio and frankly, they way the commentators described Hull City's play - it sounded dire and relegation could now be on the cards after their dream start in the Premiership. They needed to win against Blackburn and get the three points; in fact they lost, at home, 1 - 2.

The late Bill Shankly, a dry humoured Scot and legendary Liverpool manager once said, "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

My dad was a reasonable footballer and played for Hull City Juniors as a young man and finished his footballing days playing for Cottingham United. Indeed dad was a good athlete all round, probably thirty years before his time. I've wittered before about footballers wages - I earn in one year what a lot of them earn in less than one week! But at the end of the day (another cliche - sorry) they are being paid humongous wages for playing a game which of course is now big business all round. It has, in my view destroyed the game I loved as a kid which was good honest good quality football with no frills attached. There's the big six Premiership teams and the rest. Big money groups and self made millionaires are buying up clubs for silly money and expecting to get overnight success.

They change managers like they change socks but have forgotten one of English footballing fundamentals: Football is a culture in this country and will not, should not and cannot change overnight. Manchester United have got where they have after years and years of passionate commitment. Liverpool 50 years ago were in the second division and have grafted with the same guts and determination to get where they have today. Chelsea paid to get into the top and found success for a while but that hasn't been sustainable as yet and won't become so for many years. Arsenal won't find that elusive consistent success until they start to have a mix of home grown and foreign talent. When will the money men realise that success cannot be bought overnight?

But then what do I know? I don't have the answers, I am not a tactician but simply an armchair voyeur into the world of sport in general and some fans think people like me shouldn't have an opinion. The professional world of football needs to have a damn good look at itself because if you're not in the top handful of mega rich clubs, we'll see semi pro football as the norm in years to come for everyone else. The 'great game' will be no more.

Ian Rush, another home grown Liverpool hero was quoted as saying, "It's best being a striker. If you miss five then score the winner, you're a hero. The goalkeeper can play a blinder, then let one in… and he's a villain."

Chat soon

Ta-ra