Fulham 0 Arsenal 1

Winning while playing badly is one thing that separates the best sides from the rest, and is something that Arsenal have not done enough of in the last 3 years. For the second away game in a row we played poorly (although not as bad as against Liege) but won thanks to a Robin Van Persie goal and a string of great saves by rookie ‘keeper Vito Mannone, who was by far our man of the match.

Mannone was the buiser of the two keepers throughout the match, pulling off a great double save from Andy Johnson and Clint Dempsey, followed by a low save from Zoltan Gera. While Fulham came out and gave it a go Arsenal were frustrating, with the passing off key, giving the ball away and when they did get forward overplaying. Our best chances of the first half fell to Cesc Fabregas and Andre Arshavin both of whom shot over. Arshavin’s chance was the result of some nice play between Fabregas and van Persie on the edge of the box.

We were better in the second half, more of a threat going forward and took the lead 6 minutes after the restart with the one touch of class in the whole 90 minutes. A superb pass that only Cesc could make and a perfect finish by van Persie. 1-0 to the Arsenal. As the second half wore on we dropped deeper and deeper as Fulham pressed. Roy Hodgson has gone a great job there and they showed why they finished 7th last season, with Mannone again making good saves to keep us ahead. Late on, we caught Fulham on the break a couple of times, two good chances, one to Bendtner, one to Eboue, both wasted. But 5 nail biting minutes of injury time later it didn’t matter, the game was over and Arsenal had ground out a result at a place where they had folded at a similar stage last season. Not pretty, but effective, which is not something we say about the current team very much.

Aside from the 3pts this is a good result, one hopes, because it will give the team the confidence that they can grind out results when not at their best. That said, the midfield was non-existent in the latter stages of the second half and Wenger needs to do something about that in the transfer market. Not to have replaced Vieria after 4 years is not good, and while Song has improved in the last year he is still out of his depth in the holding role.

What was that website called again?

Hi all, remember me?

Yeah, I’m still here, just about. Been a while hasn’t it?  Not been avoiding you. Honest.

Normally at this sort of time I’d have been asleep a long time ago. Unfortunately I’ve been struck down with the flu for nearly two weeks which hasn’t been at all fun. They don’t think it’s swine flu but then you can’t really tell over the phone, and seeing as they’re not swabbing, I could have had it although I think it’s unlikely. It’s a long time since I had the flu this bad, I’ve been literally on the sofa or in bed for the past couple of weeks without the strength to move.  But the good news is that I’m getting better at last and am hoping to be over this by the weekend. I’ve felt very weak over the last few days and have spent so much time sleeping that my sleeping patterns are completely screwed up.

Couple of things of note have happened since I last wrote here.  The major one being that I finally took the plunge and moved out to Cambridge. This has made my life much easier as I am not spending 2-3 hours a day on the road anymore. I’m living fairly close to the centre of Cambridge and only a short drive to work. I moved out in mid-March after the stress of the commute and one or two other things finally came to a head. I saw a number of places but the place I took was the only one that I actually liked so it wasn’t a hard decision. My mum wasn’t happy about it at all, having got used to having me around again, however it was something I needed to do for myself. Not withstanding the commuting, the question of whether I could ever live alone without wrecking my health had been hovering around in my mind ever since I left Leeds, and I felt I needed to prove to myself that I could do it. Ironically I’m actually at home in Peterborough recovering from said flu. I suppose its a benefit of being close by!  Where I’m staying at the minute is pretty cool, it’s en-suite, fairly central and a quiet area, and my room is a good size. My flatmates are cool although I don’t see them that much due to differing work schedules.

I finally got my MSc too, with the result being released on May 11th – 10 months after I submitted the dissertation. Don’t you just love university administation!  It’s a long and crazy story that I don’t have the energy to go into right now, but there was thankfully a good ending to it. I had my graduation on the 10th of July, which was a great day, with the whole family coming up to Manchester.  Everything went like clockwork, and I got the certificate at the ceremony too which was nice. It had been strange in the weeks leading up to it as I was still in complete shock to have actually passed (given the mad rush to get it finished last summer) that I was half expecting them to call me saying that they’d made a mistake!! Thankfully that call never came!! It was such a weight off my mind for that saga to finally be over! Pictures to be posted at some point.

Main thing over the last couple of months has been the usual getting settled in Cambridge etc. The city centre is beautiful although I’ve not really been round the colleges yet. Not really seen the nightlife either as I’ve not had the chance to go out drinking in Cambridge a great deal. Couple of work leaving dos, a charity gig (in Saffron Walden) and football down the pub and that’s been about it! I have been up north a few times, obviously for my graduation and Glyn’s birthday which was great – plenty of beer, a great curry and side serving of complete insanity! Just the way I like it!  Heard their band too a few weeks earlier which is sounding good, they have definitely improved over time.  Went to Leeds a couple of times too, with my brother staying there, although the last time was early May. My brother had moved to Far Headingley, not in main studenty bit but just a short walk from there. It was the first time I’d seen his new flat. It was pretty spacious, he’d got a good deal. We stayed in on the Saturday but I took him out on Sunday and we wandered around Headingley and watched the football in the pub. Being in Headingley again was strange, a different kind of strange to the last time I’d gone to see him. I guess it was just strange to be around so many students again after being somewhat away from all that for a long time. When I lived in Leeds, in many ways it felt as if I was picking up from where I left off in Manchester vis-a-vis the student life, even though I was working and it was very different. Maybe it was down to the people I was living with or the amount of time I spent drinking but it did feel like I was a student again even though I was working! I guess its ironic and somewhat unfortunate that my brother has gone and followed in my footsteps (if you know me  personally you will know what I mean).

I did, however go to Northampton for an interesting middle school reunion. Found quite a few people from middle school on facebook and it was great to see some of them in person again for the first time in nearly 18 years! It was slightly weird at first but we all got on pretty well.

So that’s some of what’s been going on with me recently. Work’s been keeping me occupied plenty, although this blasted virus has knocked me for six and pretty much killed the month! On another note I’ve started getting into writing again after months feeling I like I had nothing to talk about anymore. So I guess you’ll be hearing from me more in the future on a number of things (famous last words)…

Snowflakes

The past weekend was one of the most enjoyable I’ve had for some time. I went up to Leeds to see my brother on Friday night and from there to Manchester for Kel’s birthday. Throw in a day and a half off work which it turns out was timed perfectly and all in all it was quite a nice little break.

My bro seems to be getting on quite well with his job which is good. Being in Leeds again was nice, it was the first time I’d been able to go there without being in a mad dash since leaving it. We didn’t do a great deal on Friday night, watching dvds mainly. Saturday we went around town and up to Headingley. I bought myself a couple of DS games – World Snooker and Smackdown vs Raw, neither of which I’ve had a chance to play with yet. The drive to Manchester was seamless despite the cold weather. It was a really good night, great to see everyone again. We went to the Punjab in Rusholme, I can definitely recommend the Dosas which were gorgeous and very filling. Got some great presents too in particular two guitar pedals – cue lots and lots of noise mwahahaha! All in all a great weekend, it was nice to get away.

Of course it’s been snowing all week. Driving back on Sunday wasn’t pleasant once I got into Notts, visibility was bad and snow was all over the road. It was a good thing I was off on Monday – only 6 people actually made it into work, those who had laptops worked from home and those who were in the office got sent home quite early. It never ceases to amaze me how the slightest bit of out of the ordinary weather can bring this country to a standstill. That there was no public transport in London on Monday was embarrassing when you consider cities like Moscow who have far more snow than we do and still manage to get through it! The snow’s good as long as you don’t have to drive through it tho.

FA Cup Round 3 Roundup

The first weekend in January can mean only one thing – the 3rd Round of the FA Cup had plenty of drama, stories and shocks. The pick of the bunch was Nottingham Forest beating Man City 3-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium. The world’s richest club being hammered at home by a side struggling in the Championship (Division 1) was amazing unless you support City.

Southend drawing with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was also quite funny. Somehow Chelsea failed to get a second goal despite forcing a corner every four minutes in the second half of that game, and conceded a last minute equaliser off a long throw. With that, and the success Stoke City have had scoring off long throws this season you would be forgiven for thinking that no Premiership side had ever heard of a long throw before. I guarantee you that goal would not have been scored against the Posh!

Talking of the Posh, they also got a last minute draw away to West Brom which was a fantastic result for them, meaning a replay at London Road next week. West Brom, being a Premiership side, will still be favourites to reach the 4th Round but Posh are certainly capable of causing an upset at home, with the possibility of a 4th round tie at home to QPR or Burnley.  Elsewhere, Hartlepool beat Stoke and non-league Forest Green came close to beating Championship Derby.

Chelsea apart the rest of the big 4 are safely through to round 4 which has thrown up some rather tasty ties. The pick of the bunch is Liverpool v Everton, I think we can safely assume that one will be televised. The other major all Premiership tie is Man Utd v Spurs, the silver lining of which is one of them will be knocked out. There are a few interesting ones featuring Premiership sides away at lower division opposition: Hartlepool v West Ham, Cheltenham/Doncaster v Aston Villa and Cardiff v Arsenal. 

Cardiff are one of the teams I was hoping Arsenal wouldn’t get. It’s going to be a rip roaring cup tie, cold weather, hardly the Emirates, tackles flying in all over the place, just the kind of occasion the current Arsenal side have not handled very well in the league this season. In fact our Carling Cup team would probably do a better job in this one than the senior side and I wouldn’t be surprised if this one went to a replay. I hope Wenger treats the Cup with a bit more respect this season – we have had a great record in it over the past 10 years and to put a weak side out at Man Utd last season was disappointing. In addition it’s a great chance to win a trophy and there’s nothing that would boost the confidence of the team more than that. We’re not for the league this season. There is Europe but there is no guarantee we’ll win there.

2009: What Now?

First off, Happy New Year to all of you reading this. Hope it brings happiness among all the doom and gloom that fills the news media, TV and press.

So, spectacular fireworks the world over, the nation’s collective hangover has worn off, and it’s now 2009. What now? Well, I’m not doing an end of year wrap up because I’d like to stay vaguely positive and its a time for looking forward rather than back. Around this time we’ re all swept away with the false hope and optimism of the year ahead. Looking to the future and hoping for better things to come is one thing, but I find the idea that everything’s going to get better just because the last digit of the year is different a bit on the silly side, especially considering that a couple of weeks later, it’s the middle of January, its still cold and wet and not a lot has actually changed.

 Optimism is probably in short supply in many places right now, the picture in the Times on New Year’s Day with Alistair Darling throwing up into a hat saying 2009 summed it up nicely. Of course everyone’s probably made and broken tons of New Years resolutions… the only one I made this year was not to make any which takes care of that pretty nicely.

Well, I’m back at work tomorrow, along with most others. It’s been a nice break but it’s gone by far too quickly. Not sure what happens from here though. Going back to the false optimism bit, I’d like to think 2009 will end up being what 2007 should have been but I guess we’ll see how it pans out.

Where Has All The Music Gone?

This past weekend was the first time I have been able to properly relax for two months. With a big project and a small one now off my head (apart from the Project Management stuff to actually close it) I could actually switch off completely which is not something I’ve felt able to do for a long time.

All things said I didn’t get up to an awful lot, spent most of it either on my DS or playing on my guitar. I’m really enjoying myself on the guitar now that I’m making the time to play at least semi regularly. I’m mostly playing indie rock type stuff at the minute, all sorts of things, just feeling my way back into it. I’ve even got a couple of songs of my own going which is something I’ve never felt able to do ( actually make songs of the lyrics I write). I’d like to turn the poetry/lyrics I’ve written over the years into songs at some point as well as write some new material. Unfortunately it’s not something I have been able to devote much time towards in this year but when I think about the last two and a half years there is actually quite a lot to write about.

I have been struck, though, by the fact that around 85% of what I am playing or trying to learn to play are the kind of tunes or styles I’ve been playing/listening to for years. Maybe I’m trying to remember what I’ve forgotten, but for the most part “new” music doesn’t resonate with me at all. I find most stuff out now dull, bland and generally dumbed down. You do get the occasional good tunes but you have to look for them. Maybe it’s cos I’m now a guy in his mid 20s, weighed down by life, perhaps I’m too old for the whole music scene who knows, not that I ever really cared. I’m struggling to remember the last metal album I bought from a band I wasn’t already listening to. I feel most bands nowadays are corporate immitations. How else do you explain the fact that every new band sounds like every other new band? It’s mass produced music, devoid of all substance, inspiration or feeling.

Carry On Regardless

The knowledge management solution that I have been working on for what seems like an age was finally released on Monday morning into general use, subsuming two highly used information stores. As a result I have been less stressed out in the past couple of days than I had been for pretty much the past two months. A huge part of the last two days has, perhaps inevitably, been spent assisting users and helping them to find the information they need in the new structure. However I do find it annoying when people expect me to answer their questions when they have clearly not bothered to read any of the documentation I’ve sent out – like one girl in particular today. I have been telling everyone for the past 6 weeks that certain folders on our network would cease to exist from yesterday with the transfer of information into the new system. Made the point via 3 emails and a couple of presentations. What happens? She comes to my desk at 4pm today whinging that she can’t access the old folder. There’s no excuse really, I mean it doesn’t take that long to read an email does it.

Oh well that’s my rant for the day over with. To be honest working’s pretty much all I’ve been doing for the past month pulling some silly hours. We had a power cut last Wednesday just as me and the boss were about to walk about of the door. We thought we were being burgled or something. The power didn’t come back up for another half an hour, after which we were there until after 10.30 sorting out issues with the servers caused by the sudden loss of power. Suffice it to say that combined with the lack of sleep I wasn’t all there on Thursday or Friday but we got there. I’ve had to do quite a bit of work from home at the weekend over the past few weeks which is something that needs to change really. The commuting is a pain in the arse, and that’s putting it nicely. I guess moving to Cambridge is back on the agenda as are one or two other things but not with the way the market is at the moment.

One bright spot is that my guitar playing is coming on when I get the chance to play it and I’ve started writing again. Not sure what I’ve got to say but it will come to me in good time of course. It’s a case of being able to get it all down before it disappears out of your head of course, lots of thoughts and lines come to me when I am doing something completely different.

We’ve also had a couple of my cousins around at the beginning of September which was cool as we don’t see relatives here very much what with them being back in India. It made a nice change although what has transpired over the past few weeks makes me think that the distance is very much a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to see them but I wouldn’t want to do it regularly.

I’m not sure how I feel about this whole rescue package that various governments have been putting together for banks in their countries. While anything that protects people’s hard earned savings and helps keep the economy going in the right direction is theoretically to be welcomed, the idea of nationalising losses and privatising profits seems very very risky. I also don’t see why the taxpayer should be bailing out rich bankers who find themselves out of pocket now due to their own decisions. There are plenty of small businesses that wouldn’t get a bail out if they hit the wall. In theory if the economy turns around and the banks start making money then the government can sell their stakes off for a profit but who knows when that’s going to happen.

Project Insanity

Well it’s been a long time since I wrote in here. I can’t believe how fast this year is going. In a week’s time it will be October, that is absolutely scary.

It’s been a very busy couple of months at work, the knowledge management solution I’ve been working on for, frankly far too long is finally nearing release. We have refined the solution and fixed quite a few bugs, some known, some unknown over the past couple of months. I am hoping to release it to the business on Monday but that’s looking unlikely unless I can get finished everything I want to do tomorrow, and the various departments can get their parts done on time. I guess we’ll see what happens with that. It will be a relief to have it off my head when we do finally get it released. This has taken on a life completely different to what was originally envisaged when we started this at the beginning of the year. I think it partly comes down to not nailing down the product descriptions enough quickly enough. There has been far too much creep in the scope of this.

That said this week has been quite mad too. I’ve been in until 7.30 pretty much every day this week, and on Monday night I was doing a SharePoint database migration until 1am!! In fairness if I had done at the weekend what I did on Monday night there wouldn’t have been that problem. I’m not really sure what happened, I saw an article on technet which seemed to be a simpler less time consuming process of doing the migration rather than detaching from the server farm and creating another one. I guess it goes to show you can’t trust Microsoft on their own products!

The Great Sense of Passing Through…

Well, last week was somewhat crazy. Lots of driving, caffiene, late nights and furiously typing away on a laptop! I finally got my masters project completed this week and handed the dissertation in for what it was worth. Unfortunately it had got left to the last minute, or more so to the last second.

I booked myself into a Manchester hotel room over last weekend so I could put the finishing touches to it in peace. The problem with that was that the programming bit wasn’t anywhere near done by the time I was due to go up there. So I basically rushed something through, along with the last two chapters (implementation and conclusion which came to about 10 pages in total) and prayed for a miracle that would get me through. I was meant to hand it in last Tuesday, and ironically enough had to go to what used to be UMIST to give it in. Except by the time I had got to the binder to pick it up they had closed… couldn’t stay open for 3 minutes literally. Still it gave me a chance to get all the formatting done that I hadn’t been able to beforehand and hand in somewhat a better product.

I’m glad that’s all over with now, until resubmission anyway. It hasn’t been a fun few months with that stress weighing down on my mind. That said it was nice to be in Manchester for a few days and away from everything even if a large part of “everything” was taken with me.

Anyway, got back home on Wednesday evening via Leeds, and was back to work on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was fairly uneventful,  however Friday was another story entirely. I migrated the virtual server hosting our Sharepoint databases first thing in the morning, as in 7am. By the time I had got into work it was doing down and coming back up regularly. Every time we thought the problem had been fixed it went down a few minutes later. This carried on pretty much all day until we gave up and rolled back to the environment of the previous night. Nice waste of a day then.

The weekend was good though, I was back in Manchester for Mark’s birthday party and it was great to see Glyn, Dave, Kel and Christine again after so long. The party itself was all filler and no killer. We just disappeared off into our own little den amongst ourselves. Looks as if we weren’t missed that much, none of the other guests were particularly interested in what we did etc. In fact none of them seemed that interested in Mark just talking amongst themselves in their own bubble of Mamma Mia and Sex in the City. The way they just closed the door on Mark and Glyn when they started playing was very rude. God forbid anything interupt their preciously pointless chit chat. We just monged out in the lounge after that and watched the Ministry DVD. It was great to see everyone again and hopefully it won;t be so damned long again.

So thats last week in a nutshell really. I guess I’m still recovering from it in all honesty, I’ve been very tired all day and the heat has been insufferable. Woke me up on more than one occasion last night. Wouldn’t mind a change in the weather that’s for sure.

WordPress welcomes Marosa

So this is my first post on WordPress. I’m sure this blog is going to get spruced up a whole lot more as I familiarise myself with and play around with WordPress and its features. If I like it enough I might download the software and use it to run my own blog as lot of other people have done.

What to say, I’m 27 years old, single and working in IT. That’ll do for starters. I have been blogging on LiveJournal for a few years, and I know you can import posts from there and other blogging systems but really, I think it’s time to start afresh with a clean slate. A clean break from the last few years. That was part of the reason I’ve ended up here. I have various interests outside of IT such as writing, music, travelling, films and sports mainly football and cricket. I’m going to be writing about anything and everything that comes to mind to start with. Maybe set up a specialist blog or two along the way. Who knows.