I was listening to some 80s music with Debs, which always takes us back to our younger days. We were both born in the late 60s, so it doesn’t take much for a song to bring back a particular time, place or memory.
Anyway, Debs casually mentioned that she saw Adam and the Ants when she was just 13.
Ruddy Nora! I was 18 before I went to my 1st concert, although I didn’t choose too badly. It was the mighty Iron Maiden at the old Town and Country Club in Leeds.
They were chuffing amazing.
So there we have it. It’s not coming home.
England have exited the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the semi-final stage, losing to Argentina after going 1–0 up. We obviously weren’t quite good enough, although we played well until Argentina fell behind and then had to withstand a constant onslaught on our goal.
It’s strange how much it hurts, and it probably will for a couple of days, perhaps until after the final on Sunday. Still, at least we’ve got Spain to cheer on now.
Some people reading this may know that I also have a little corner of the internet where I do beer reviews. It’s been a lovely summer so far, with warm evenings, very hot days and plenty of football. I know football doesn’t necessarily mean drinking more alcohol, but I do enjoy a beer while watching a match.
The original plan was with the 2026 FIFA World Cup final taking place on Sunday 19th July, was to abstain from alcohol for two weeks from that date, now that England aren't in the finals I might have a couple of beer tonight (Friday 17th) the last for a few weeks. Hopefully, it’ll help me regain a little health and fitness, while giving my body and brain a bit of a reset.
This will just about coincide with my Mexican lager finishing conditioning in my Pinter, so happy news.
I suppose this could be me being sober curious again!
Let’s see how I do.
24th July 2026 – I know I’m not an alcoholic, far from it; I just enjoy a drink. Even so, I’ve found going without one surprisingly difficult, despite it only being six days.
I think this 1st full weekend will be the real challenge, especially after a long week, but I’m sure I’ll get through it without having a beer.
27th July 2026 – Well, that surprised me. A weekend without alcohol was much easier than I expected, and I didn’t seem to miss it at all!
1st August 2026 - I only fucking did it! I am slightly pleased and impressed with myself for lasting without any alcohol at all for two week, I knew I'd do it.
I remembered the movie The Hunt this weekend so I thought I'd watch it again, then I started wondering why there was never a sequel! The Hunt 2, or a The Hunt sequel would be great.
At the end of the first film, Crystal takes Athena’s clothes, money, and jet. In my sequel pitch, she takes Athena's massive financial resources and elite connections to track down other secret elite hunting cabins around the globe. I figure that others like Athena's group would take these online rumours about hunting humans and create their own hunts.
Because she was mistakenly chosen for the first hunt (confused with the real "Justice4Yall"), she becomes a ghost in the system, dynamic and totally unpredictable. Instead of being the prey, she infiltrates these global networks to bust them open and liberate the next batch of targets.
Another top list I was thinking of putting together was a list of my favourite National Anthems, I thought about this while watching coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there are some dreadful ones!
I might have to do two lists, one just music and one with lyrics, I think it might make a difference!
Some early contenders are:
I need to list my Top 10 Iron Maiden songs, in order at some time.
The list is likely to include:
I have noticed that this only goes up to the mid 90s, gonna have to listen to some of their later stuff as there are some good tunes in there.
Ooo. Wicker Man, Hell on Earth, The Writing on the Wall.
But I will listen to albums from the last 20 years before I make my final decision.
Up The Irons
I don’t think I’m a germaphobe, but I do like to have hand sanitiser close by. I did long before the Covid pandemic too, a trait my daughter Emily seems to have inherited. Sorry, Em.
I’m not frightened of germs, but I am very aware of them. There are certain family homes where I struggle to eat because I’m never completely confident about the cleanliness. That seems fairly logical to me. I don’t particularly want to spend the following day ill because somebody picked their nose, handled food without washing their hands, or skipped the handwashing after going to the toilet. Disgusting.
I’m wary of homemade food from some friends and neighbours too, particularly when children have been heavily involved in making it. I know that probably sounds harsh, but children aren’t exactly famous for excellent kitchen hygiene.
I’m not a germaphobe. I’m just careful about germs, as we probably all should be.
I currently work in a small business, and there are a few reasons why I really enjoy it.
Firstly, the role is varied. I work in marketing, but because we’re a small business, everyone sometimes has to pitch in. On any given day, I could also find myself helping with IT, sales, customer service, product data or something else entirely. It keeps the job interesting, and you tend to learn far more than you would if you stayed inside a narrow job description.
Secondly, there’s the level of involvement. A small tweak to what you do, how you do it or, in my case, how you promote a product, can make a real and sometimes immediate difference to sales and profit. You can often see the effect of your work quite quickly, which makes it feel more worthwhile.
Finally, innovation is welcomed. Good ideas don’t always have to pass through endless layers of management, meetings and approval. If something looks worth trying, there’s often a genuine opportunity to test it, learn from it and put it into practice.