| The Warky Championship Report: Preston North End (H) 10:58 - Oct 8 with 994 views | Warkystache |
Wahey! We're back again. And this time, it's personal.
I make as many appearances as Ed Sheeran, albeit not in the Executive Box seat, sipping on beer and munching sushi as half-time comes, neither a multi-millionaire nor a particularly great singer, although to be fair, neither is Ed sometimes.
A recent severe chesty cold thing laid me low. I even packed the fags in. When every inhalation rattles and produces coughs so phlegmy that people nearby vividly shrink away, lest they catch the covid or the old consumption from the tubby bloke, you know it's time to take matters seriously.
The test for the voice was a home game where we'd score four goals and the ref let blatant shoves and ankle swipes from the opposition go unpunished. Preston were every bit as dirty as the SBRL claimed. I managed four bars of Edward Ebeneezer and most of Hey Jude at the start without croaking. It was the new one, supposedly an update on the Super Kieron McKenna, naming Massimo and Chaplin, which had me faltering.
Tel was there as well. He couldn't miss the last home game before the international break. A recent sojourn in Spain has left him looking vaguely rusty rather than tanned and it was probably hotter on the Costa Del Town yesterday than in the Bravas. We drank Guinness and admired the hoardes boarding London-bound trains at Manningtree Cafe yesterday morning. They don't know what they missed.
A brief catch-up. The Terries enjoyed Spain, although he moaned at the cost of everything and therefore my "little" pressie of Casamigos Tequila and Grey Goose Vodka made me feel guilty, especially as he said it'd increased since their last trip. Still, the bastardised version of Long Island Iced Tea I made last night tasted very nice. He's now saving for their May trip to California next year, a road trip he and the missus are planning, involving brief stops in Vegas and Malibu. He's asked me along but I can't get the required month off work at the moment.
Paula contacted me last week. Needs money. It figures. Her on-off relationship with the bloke whose child she is carrying is in an off-stage again and he's moved out, leaving her to cover November's rent on her own. Sadly, owing to a moment of weakness, I acquiesced and lent her seven hundred quid. She gives birth in a month. I couldn't be that heartless. She wanted five grand but this would've reduced my savings to mere perfunctory levels, and I need my savings account to grow a bit, at least back to the pre-Paula days. So I said no. She accepted the seven hundred without grace or gratitude. It's a shame when people's lives fall apart so badly.
Tel couldn't stay for a post-match meal as they were off to Braintree for dinner in some Italian place, so we had a quick couple and then Mrs Tel collected him from the local at seven for the drive to Braintree for eight. He was impressed by the win and performance yesterday although he moaned about the defence and the clear handball for Preston's first. "Bleedin' saw that from space" he muttered as we crammed into the train.
We'd both had a few by then. The Guinness turned into draft San Miguel and then we drifted to the Three Wise Monkeys and had East Coast IPA with our hot wings. We discussed Paula as we drank. I didn't say anything to Tel about her financial or domestic issues, but he seemed better informed than me and already knew. It seems he's helping her a bit as well. I don't know if it's just financial and he was cagey as he discussed it, but then I mentioned she'd approached me and he relaxed and said he'd "give 'er five 'undred, jus' ter 'elp 'er out, like" and I wondered if this was the plan, to play us off against each other. So I mentioned I'd helped a bit as well, and he eyed me with suspicion and said "thass not wot i've 'eard" so then the whole thing tumbled out, more a means of defence than idle gossip. And it certainly hardened the old heart. For both. "We should leave it" he said, as if final. I nodded. It doesn't seem to help.
And the football was fantastic and the weather warm and we both had hoarse voices at the end, and we stayed for a couple and it was almost like old times for a while, him and me, joshing and jousting together, the smiles never far away from our faces. And then Mrs Tel pulled in at the local car park and Tel said, almost sadly, "Gotta go" and wished me luck and I waved them off. And then it became back to me, sitting on my own finishing a pint, the revelry behind me. Things could've worked better, I thought. Perhaps it was always me?
Still life. The scenes of Chaplin jumping on Tuesday night, the game I missed and then cursed myself for the folly of illness. Yet the folly is being remedied. I'm changing my life. I've begun writing seriously. I may have a publisher. It' not about Ipswich or Terry or anything familiar really. It's more a new world. Easy to embrace and slip into unnoticed, like Marty McFly. No life preservers needed. Another facet, another side of the coin. It all lives in my noggin. This isn't reality like Tel.
The international break. Oh well. Perhaps a good moment to reflect and to enjoy these better times. As Luke said to me at half-time yesterday, you need the bad to enjoy the good. It's not always true in everything but I know what he meant. I think I'd rather be tortured than endure Mick'n'the'Pauls'n'Marcus again. That all seems so long ago. It can stay there as well. |  |
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| The Warky Championship Report: Preston North End (H) on 11:23 - Oct 8 with 902 views | 66notout |
Cheers for the update. I was almost sending out a search party when I spotted your latest bulletin. It's easy to feel sorry for Paula but she sounds like one of life's misfits, if you don't mind me saying; someone who will always be looking elsewhere for assistance, mainly financial. I admire you both for helping her but would hate to see you exploited.
I am pleased to hear you are turning to writing, which makes absolute sense as I believe you have a natural gift for it. Also, are you not concerned that one or more of the parties may one day recognise themselves? Even if their names have been changed there are many other clues as to their true identities. Keep up the good work and best of luck. |  | | |
| The Warky Championship Report: Preston North End (H) on 15:31 - Oct 8 with 729 views | kiwiblue |
Welcome back. Hope you get better soon, had the same bronchial chestyness here and sorted it out with quick break in New Caledonia on the beach and snorkeling with the fishies.
Maybe they have it now, think it was mild covid but that seems passe nowadays.
Good idea with the writing , best of luck. |  | | |
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