We Made It

It's finally here, the annual anti-climax that is New Years Eve. I've never been particularly fond of the occasion, more or less forcing myself to enjoy the festivities for the sake of those around me (what a martyr!). For the past few years we have had friends over for a party and seen in the new year in a modicum of style. This year everyone is either sick or just not into it so we are having a "quiet one" home alone, just the three of us. Mrs. Waring would, I am sure, much rather be around friends than watching me get shitfaced in front of the telly. The daughter doesn't really care as New Year is something of a non event to her, sandwiched between xmas and her birthday, the lack of presents means it is of little interest.
I, on the other hand, don't mind being at home with my family tonight of all nights. I have no problem lighting a fire, staying safe and warm, drinking Belgian beer and reflecting on the year gone by. I don't have any regrets. I achieved things this year that I have been saying I would do for years. I lost 40lbs, I went back to school and took a Spanish class which is the first class towards my degree. I'm happy with my life and feel good about the year ahead. I feel positive that I can achieve the goals I set for myself. I love my wife and daughter and am a lucky fucker who probably deserves worse. So things are okay, staying home tonight isn't a bad thing. In any case there's a Marx Bros marathon on TCM and if that isn't cause to celebrate I don't know what is. Things could definately be whole lot shittier.

Happy New Year!

Not a Football Post

It seems that I've been posting a lot about footy. That's not why I started this blog. It was meant more as an outlet for my thoughts and to have a semi serious attempt at writing. From time to time I get an urge to write but never have. I don't always have the time, and when I do, ideas desert me. I'm going to try harder and maybe read the football sites after I post, instead of before. Maybe that will help.
So, I had this idea. I can't remember when, years ago, high on acid or ecstasy huddled with friends under a tree on a cold winters night in the North West of England. LSD and E are perfect for nurturing brainy ideas, especially if you are a naturally uncreative person such as I. They help quiet the voices of reason which say "That's a ridiculous idea and it will never work", instead giving way to the voices of friends who say "That's a ridiculous idea that might just work. I used to have lots of ideas back then, we all did. Starting our own business cleaning peoples tents, giving rebates on dog licences if your dog got run over within 90 days, opening a store selling nothing but baked beans for 5p a tin, do it yourself tea bags. All manner of nonsense and daftness was discussed and ultimately, in the cold light of dawn forgotten about. I had been musing for some time about the possibilities for a new line of canned pasta shapes in tomato sauce, like Spaghetti-O's. In the UK, spaghetti shapes are a marketing goldmine for the likes of Heinz. Almost every big kids movie or TV show that comes out sells licensing for it's own pasta shapes, along with cereal, bite size cookies and toothbrushes. I was convinced that along those lines, there was money to be made selling pasta shapes in the form of a sheriff's badge, a cowboy boot, a sombrero, a horseshoe and a pistol. They were to be called "Spaghetti Westerns" and Lee Van Cleef was to be the celebrity spokesman. In the late 80's and early 90's there seemed, to me at least, a revival of interest in the films of the genre and I was sure that the time was right. My friends on the other hand, seemed to think that I had missed the boat by some 20 years and would be foolish to invest any further time or energy into the project. The drugs wore off and I reluctantly agreed that maybe now wasn't the time, but to this very day I wonder what might have been. Now Lee Van Cleef is dead, so is Jack Palance and I doubt that Clint Eastwood would be up for it, but just in case, if any Heinz Marketing Exec's are reading this, the idea is copyrighted and for sale. I am available for negotiation.

Thankyou Mr.Referee

Perhaps luckily for Wigan, todays game at Watford was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch. The score was 1-1 and according to the reports, Heskey's goal was against the run of play and Watford will probably be looking at this as a possible 3 points lost, which in their position is not a good thing. As far as Latic's are concerned, this game will be replayed at what has to be a better time for them. McCulloch is back from suspension and the new signings will be eligible to play. Hopefully some of the other players currently out of action will be back by then too and Jewell should have a much stronger squad to choose from. On the downside, had this game ended with a Wigan win, it would have been a much needed confidence booster ahead of the Blackburn game on Monday and on the back of some demoralising defeats against United, Chelsea and Arsenal. I note with great happiness that Chelsea could only manage another draw against Fulham today putting United 6 points clear at the top. I really think it's United's year now. Arsenal also got their arses handed to them at Sheffield United and although I'm happy they got beat, Wigan could do well without too many wins for the Blades as they just passed us in the table pushing us down to a rather uncomfortable 16th place. Blackburn beating Middlesboro doesn't help either.

A couple of days ago I posted about the need for another midfield player and yesterday we signed Norwegian international Kristofer Haestad. Like Granqvist, I know nothing about him but Wigan have been after him since early 2005, along with many of Europes top sides. I know that the first time we tried his agent was quoted as saying something like "If Wigan bid 40,000 krona and Man Utd bid 30,000 we would sell to Utd." Well, looks like United weren't ready to splash out doesn't it. In fact, it looks like not many clubs were prepared to meet his agents evaluation of him, 'cause the lad's gonna be eating nowt but pies for the next few months. It sounds like a good signing, we will see.

Blackburn on Monday, they are having a bit of a revival so I think it will be a close game. Two physical sides both needing to win and if we play like we did against Chelsea and Arsenal we can take the points. I'm going for a draw though, 2-2.

The Madness Is About To Begin

The January transfer window swings open in just a few days time and I'm happy to see that Wigan are wasting no time in moving to strengthen the squad. Paul Jewell has already signed Swedish defender Andreas Granqvist on loan until the end of the season. I have absolutely no idea who this lad is and I'm sure I'm not alone. However, like most Latic's fans I have absolute faith in Paul Jewell and we can definately use some depth in the backs. Webster could be on his way out already and there are rumours about Baines and Arsenal. I don't believe the hype about Baines, but you never know. On the striker front, the Ellington rumours are still flying. I think he would be a good partner for either Heskey or Camara and am of the opinion that he should never have left in the first place. I don't think Wigan had any option but to let him go, and it seemed at the time that he didn't really want to go. Yet another case of a greedy agent having too much control and influence. So, if the Duke deal does happen, I for one will be happy. I think we also need to strengthen the midfield with one or two new faces as well. Landzaat has not really settled yet and although we have good wide players with Kilbane, Valencia, Teale and Skoko seems to be coming along nicely in the middle. We have options in Cotterill and McCulloch but I would love to see another quality passer/holder of the ball come in. We will see. Bigger the squad, the better.

On another note, an interesting article from The Times on Mr. Mourinho and his manners which you can read here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8303-2521868,00.html

You Get What You Pay For

Today was Mrs.Waring's birthday. Yeah, that's right xmas eve. As a child, she tells me, she got ripped off royally by her Mum & Dad who never made the effort to separate the two most important days of their daughters year. Instead they gave her one set of presents that were intended to suffice for both occasions. As a result, I feel obligated to do my best to make both days special. It's not much of chore, I enjoy making her happy, I get a good feeling from it. Besides, if I didn't the earache would be unbearable.

For the past 10 years she has often said that the best steak she ever tasted was at Ruth's Chris in Beverly Hills and how much she would love to go back there. I would dearly have loved to have taken her back but for two reasons:

1. I have an intense dislike for Beverly Hills. I'm from Wigan. I feel uncomfortable there. Nobody likes to feel inferior but I'm not sure that is the only reason. What bothers me about that city is not so much the citizens there, although there is definately a higher percentage of arseholes living there than most other places I have been, but the people who work there. The uppity motherfuckers who work in the stores, restaurants, even the fucking valet parkers have shitty attitudes and look down upon anyone who they deem to be skint. These people probably work for shitty wages, get no benefits and live in some shithole apartment next to the freeway but somehow consider themselves better than average just because they get treated like shit by the rich and famous. Anyway, I'm ranting now and getting away from the point, besides which I should not generalize as that makes me just as bad. I'm sure that there are good people there, charitable, magnanimous folk who would do anything for you. I just haven't met any yet.
2. Four $ signs. In many a restaurant guide Ruth's Chris is followed by the dreaded $$$$. I am in the $$ league, occasionally the $$$ league and often the $ league. I'm not cheap and I'm not a miser. I believe in value for money. I have a hard time reconciling paying big bucks for food. It's a short lived pleasure followed by a (hopefully firm) shit. This is also the reason I will never pay for a hooker, slip her a roofy and do a runner when she passes out - that's how I play......

Anyway, since Ruth's Chris opened up in Pasadena reason #1 is no longer valid and since you can't put a price on the happiness of the woman you love, reason #2 can hardly be used as an excuse not to splash out now and again.

I have to say that as far as steaks and service go, Ruth's Chris is the best I have ever had. There may be better and if there is, I can't afford it. The service was outstanding. Polite, friendly, not at all pushy and the waiter even told us that we were ordering too many sides. The atmosphere was very relaxing and the decor elegant. The steaks are cooked at some ridiculously high temperature and served on plates heated to 500 degrees which apparently seals in the flavour, or so they claim. I'm not about to argue as the ribeye was outstanding and Mrs.Waring's filet lived up to her memories. They also make a fantastic potatoes au gratin. All in all it was well worth the $$$$. The Kraft Macaroni & Cheese we will be eating for the next week will pale in comparison.

At Least He Admits It

Not that it's much consolation for Latics fans but at least the "special one" is big enough to admit they were lucky:

"I'm not proud of them (the players)," manager Mourinho told Sky Sports. "Father Christmas must wear blue because we didn't deserve to win.
"We were in complete control but with 15 minutes to go in the first half I could smell it (Wigan's comeback)...passing the ball bad, losing position, losing balance,
conceding a goal in the last second of the first half.
"Wigan had a brilliant attitude," added Mourinho, who said his team were not the same without captain John Terry (back injury).
"I must give credit to the players because in the last 10 minutes they put a lot of pressure on Wigan. But we did not deserve these three points and Wigan must be very disappointed."

Still.........FUCK!!!!!!

Unbelieveable

This one is hard to take. Almost as hard as the first game of last season when Wigan matched Chelsea every second of the game only to be beaten by an incredible 93rd minute goal by Hernan Crespo. I admit that I cried. Today I'm not upset, I'm just angry.

After going 2 down in the first 30 minutes it was looking like another good hiding for us. Lampard had scored a soft goal from a great pass by Robben, and Kalou got the 2nd becoming the latest name in a lengthy list of players to score against Wigan having never scored before, at least not in the Premiership. Wigan looked edgy and scared and I honestly expected a drubbing. Heskey came to the rescue right on half time heading home his 4th of the season and when they came out for the 2nd half, Wigan were up for it. It's fair to say that they dominated Chelsea for much of the 2nd period and were more creative and confident going forward, putting pressure on the Chelsea backs for long periods of time. When Chelsea did break out of their own half De Zeeuw, Boyce, Hall and Baines stood strong and cut off the attack quickly. It was a physical game and Chelsea didn't like it, I was starting to believe that a draw was on the cards.

Heskey put the 2nd away and it looked offside, but the flag stayed down and it was allowed (finally we get a break!). Now Chelsea were really rattled and if anything Wigan could have, and should have scored again but just couldn't make it happen. A draw in this game would without doubt have been their best result since being promoted. As soon as the assistant ref showed the board for 4 minutes extra time, a part of me knew that we were fucked. Mourinho had put on Shevchenko and Mikel and was going to go all out for the winner. Wigan put extra pressure on themselves by giving away corners and were starting to look nervous again. Then it came, once again in the 3rd minute of extra time. Baines was stranded on the left and Robben dipped inside and fired home the winner. These injury time goals are beginning to get a bit tiresome, we really need to focus and close out these kind of games. Coming from 2-0 behind against Chelsea is no mean feat and if Mourinho doesn't admit that Wigan deserved at least a point, he can kiss my arse.

I'm sure that all we will hear and read about is Chelsea's character and resolve, there may be the odd report about Wigan's spirit and how far they have come in such a short space of time etc. But if they had got the result they deserved and had worked so hard for I think we would have been reading about how this game may have just helped take the Premiership to Old Trafford.

Big Day in the Prem

Today marks the first Saturday this season that all 20 Premier League teams are playing. Usually they are split over Saturday, Sunday & Monday but because of the packed holiday fixture list, today they all play. Some good games on the cards as well, Villa vs Man Utd starts in about 2 minutes so I am off to watch that on Setanta. More importantly, Wigan vs Chelsea is the late game being shown on FSC. It doesn't look good on paper for the latics. Camara is out injured and McCullough got banned for 3 games so it looks like Todorov might get a start. Hopefully he will find his touch and make his loan spell worthwhile. I think Antonio Valencia is still hurt and Paul Scharner is out too. This may not be easy to watch. You never know though, we don't lose too many games on the bounce and this, should we lose would be the third straight loss. We still haven't beaten one of the top 4 sides, so today could be our day.......please??? We have Man Utd on Boxing Day, away, before playing Watford and Blackburn next week. 6 points from the 12 on offer would be acceptable, anything more would be tremendous.

Jollibee

WTF is the sauce that Jollibee put on their burgers? It tastes like a fishy, fruity fake mayo substitute and it's feckin horrid. I took the kid to the mall (after saying yesterday that I was done with mall's) to have her picture taken with Santa. Santa had gone for a shit and a smoke on his break so I took her to Jollibee for a snack to kill time and because she was complaining about being hungry. I think Jollibee is a Philipino chain, I should Google it, the one in Eagle Rock is the only one I know of, not that I have been looking for others. The food on the menu looked dodgy, they sell burger patties on rice covered in some vaguely mushroom looking sauce, so I thought I would play it safe and just order a cheeseburger. Anyway, she got less than 1/2 way through the burger before announcing that it tasted "icky" so I finished it off. I really cannot describe it any better than I already did and to say that it was very unpleasant. I looked around the restaraunt to see if I could spot a look of disgust on the faces of the any of our fellow diners, but they all seemed quite content to be eating greasy drumsticks of "Chicken Joy" and the patties in the suspect sauce. I'm fairly adventurous when it comes to food, I especially like spicy foods and asian, indian and middle eastern foods and it takes a lot to disgust me although the Jollibee sauce asked questions about my tolerance for philipino food. I won't be going back......ever.

When we left, Santa had returned and was trying to quiet some screaming mexican kid while the father(Dodgers tattoo on each side of his shaven head) looked on menacingly, fighting the urge to kick the big guys ass for making his hijo cry. Finally it was our turn, shelled out $20 for 4 badly lit 3x5's and made hurriedly for the exit and relative sanity of the parking lot ignoring the obnoxious cell phone sales"man" and the pushy armenian girl selling portraits as we left.

The kid was happy though, she got to sit in Santa's lap and tell him all the things she wants for xmas and as I think back, for those few moments as I watched her smiling and awkardly hugging Santa, it seemed as if all the noise and movement around me in the mall stopped and time stood still. Every now and again I look at her and can't take my eyes of her, my beautiful little girl. When she is happy I am happy, when I am happy she is happy. Love your kids people.

Bugger!!

Bollocks!
The missus has been moaning about her car for weeks, possibly even months and what did I do about it? Fuck all, nothing.... as usual. So of course, following the rule of if it's gonna take a dump, it's gonna do it at the worst possible time, the fucker crapped out on us today, 2 days before xmas. Now I don't know, I prefer to think along the lines of "it would've happened anyway" as that makes me feel less responsible, but deep down I know I probably could've avoided it had I done the decent thing and taken it in to get looked at, but I didn't and so here we are. We get both cars serviced every 3,000 miles and still shit goes wrong with them. My Grandad always told me "cars are reet buggers lad, tha'll ne'er be rich wi' a car." He wasn't wrong. The bastard just won't turn over. Thinking the battery was fucked I headed out and dropped $70 on a new one but no joy. So now I have the prospect of an unpleasant repair bill looming large, not good timing at all. I'm hoping its something simple like an ignition switch or starter motor and not in need of a costly electrical overhaul. It can stay at work until Tuesday and I'll get it towed to my mechanic, who the wife hates incidentally. I'll deal with it then.

Done!!

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Recurring Dreams

I have never really experienced extended spells where I wake up in a morning and can remember what I dreamt about that night until recently. I started on anti depressants (for a number of reasons) and I'm thinking they must be the reason. Not that it bothers me, I like being able to remember dreams, I seldom have dreams that are bad although the one common theme in my recurring dreams is rats, which I don't particularly care for. The rat dreams used to occur after I had taken E, but as I haven't done that for several years, it can't have been the E alone that was causing them. Now they are back, so the increased levels of serotonin is perhaps the culprit. They aren't too disturbing, it's not that I wake up in a cold sweat or screaming for mercy or anything like that. I'd just rather be dreaming about porn stars or, in case she's reading this, the wife..... I'm joking, of course.....about the porn stars. Last nights dream was probably more unpleasant than the rat dream. I needed surgery, for what I cannot remember, but it required the insertion of a catheter. Catheter's are my 3rd biggest fear. Any kind of surgery is high on the list, but surgery which requires me pissing through a tube into a clear plastic bag for inspection is probably not pleasant and just the thought of it makes my arse wink.

Alright, I admit it. I'm a pussy when it comes to things like that. I don't mind going to the doctors, I'm getting better at the dentist but surgery is not something I intend to willingly participate in. If it's a matter of life and death, life will probably just about win, but I will not be happy about it. The top 5 is:

1. Burning to death
2. Surgery
3. Surgery involving a catheter
4. Rats
5. Bee stings (never had one, not sure what to expect)

Almost there....

I finally got the feckin' xmas tree this morning, took the kid with me so she could choose and she did her dad proud by picking one that only cost $60 when I was planning on spending $80+. It's sitting in the living room, yet to be decorated, a job usually handled by the wife while I get drunk and watch. So at the least the house smells like christmas now. It's not helping much though as we are both struggling to get into holiday mood and it's only a week away. The tree dressing may be postponed until tomorrow at this rate.
I put the outside lights up, did a shitty half arsed job, my speciality in the area of DIY and decorating. I wish for my kid's sake that I was more creative or interested in the art of xmas lighting, but I'm not, so it will have to do. Luckily, a 5 year old is fairly easy to impress which suits my fairly low standards just fine. In any case, I put up all the lights we had, having to replace more than 20 bulbs and rendering a couple of strands useless in the process. We may need to buy some new ones next year.
Yesterday was the company party, every year we put something together for the employees and their families. The last 2 years we have done something at the office, had a santa show up and give gifts to the kids. Last year was something of a disaster though, the dickhead we had paid to organize everything fucked it up royally and ended up buying $5 pizzas from Little Caesars....very festive. So this year we held it at Dave & Busters, giving out game cards to each family and goodie bags for the kids, no Santa but I don't think he was missed. The food was cack, it was a "brunch buffet" and probably cost less than $500 of the $3500 we paid them. The kids had a good time though and it seemed like most of the guys hit the bar to celebrate the season thereby designating the wives/girlfriends (currently out shopping in the mall while the guy "watched the kids") as the driver home. So a good time was had by all, at least until the wives returned.
In addition to the family party, we have organized a thinly veiled piss up on Wednesday night for the guys, to be known for the purposes of expenses as a "team building exercise" under the guise of our "1st Annual 10 Pin Bowling Tournament." It should be a spectacle.
Right then, off to Trader Joe's for some wine and a nice piece of cheese.

Another 3 Points Lost. Wigan 0 - Sheffield Utd 1

Once again our failure to capitalise on our chances in front of goal is evident. Take nothing away from The Blades, they played out of their skins and kept putting Wigan under pressure at the back with great service from Keith Gillespie. At times Wigan struggled to clear the ball and it was a momentary lapse of concentration in 1st half injury time that allowed Rob Hulse to divert the ball past Kirkland and that was that. Wigan were not able to produce a final pass of enough quality to put them under serious pressure, although they did have their chances. Kilbane should have equalised with only Kenny to beat but fired straight at him. Denny Landzaat hit a sweet shot from just outside the box but Kenny got to it and David Wright had a golden opportunity with a header which he pushed well wide. Camara had gone off at half time, which was a loss as he was being his usual nuisance to the defense, to be replaced by Cotterill who looks exciting and I'm sure will get better with more games under his belt. Heskey was everywhere, doing everything except scoring and for the last 10 minutes latics played with 4 up front, Hall, Heskey, Cotterill and Todorov(!) desperately trying to salvage a point.
Kilbane had probably his worst game for the Latics and McCulloch was lucky to avoid getting sent off again for punching Morgan, leaving him with a shiner. We need to buy another striker in January. I saw that lad from Gretna handed in a transfer request, Kenny Deuchar. Might not be a bad bet......

Judy Tenuta

The wife and I managed to get out sans kid tonight for the 1st time in ages, some friends took her ice skating at Pershing Square while we went to see Judy Tenuta over in Hollywood. She was performing her "one woman musical (with 2 other people)", "Mountain Girl". I had never seen her before except for the odd appearance in Weird Al videos and a movie we rented off Netflix that she starred in that was shite. I can't even remember the name of the movie or even what it was about, but even so, I was looking forward to seeing her on stage as she struck me as being quite funny in the "odd" way that I like. Also, she knocks about with Emo Phillips, who is ace, so that puts her in good standing in my book.
We saw her at the Steve Allen Theatre on Hollywood Blvd, a tiny place inside the Center for Inquiry West, where we had seen Emo a couple of times last year. Anyway, it was a fun evening. Not side splitting by any means, but a cute, funny show with silly songs, silly jokes and and a silly plot set in Tennessee and about a singing waitress finding a long lost brother. Just what I needed really, it's good to get out now and again. Judy is really talented and even though I know she has been around for a long time, I'm surprised she isn't bigger. I mean she obviously has a loyal following and may even be put in the "acquired taste" category, but seems capable of being much more famous than she is. Maybe it was that terrible movie......

All you have to do is.......believe

Took the wife and kid to Disneyland yesterday for 3 reasons:

1. The kid got a certificate at Kindergarten for getting straight A's on her 1st report card so this was her reward.
2. The season passes I bought last year are about to expire and I'm not renewing the fuckers so this will be the last visit for a while.
3. We have never been at xmas time and were lured by the decorations and promise of "snowfall" on Main St.

I'm not going to go on about corporate greed and exploitation and all that shit, 'cause the kid loves it and if she's happy I'm happy, more or less, so why spoil it? What I will say is that the Magic Kingdom is only magic when it's not very busy. Those times, as anyone who has been there will tell you, are few and far between. Superbowl Sunday is probably the best time to go all year, especially if it's raining. Last night wasn't too bad, not over crowded and we got on probably 4 rides in under 2 hours, at it's busiest 4 rides all day is pretty good going.

Anyway, the "snowfall" was due after the always impressive fireworks display and needless to say, the 5 year old who has never been in real snow (not counting a rather unpleasant experience with a diarrhea stricken reindeer a couple of years ago) was pumped up about the prospect. So, the fireworks end with what could have been Julie Andrews saying "All you have to do is.....believe".

Everyone looks to the skies expectantly.......

Down falls......the soap suds. The delight on the faces of all the kids was priceless. Just seeing my daughters eyes light up made my day, my week, my life. I, on the other hand, was disappointed. I'm not sure why I expected real snow, this after all, was Disneyland. Nothing is real, but I really thought that if anywhere on earth would bring in real snow machines and put them on the rooftops to simulate snowfall, then this was the place. Soap suds, hypo-allergenic, non-irritating (don't need lawsuits), soap suds.

Bastards......

Dammit! Wigan Ath 0 - Arsenal 1

Fuck! Once again we lost to a team which arguably didn't deserve to win. An 87th minute Adebayor goal taking the points for a lucky Arsenal side. The game had draw written all over it and Wigan had their chances but didn't manage to convert any of them into a goal. A point would have been a great result for the latics and a horrible one for the gunners but it wasn't to be.... Nic e long ball from Fabregas although it was a close call on the offside, linesman didn't flag, Adebayor through on goal and slots it past Kirkland. Game, more or less, over. Fuck fuck fuck!!! This happens all the time against the top sides, we either hang in and lose in the dying minutes or we take the lead early on and get waxed in the 2nd half. To expect anything more than a draw against the top 4 or 5 teams is unrealistic, but it's bloody frustrating when they are almost there and then lose. We need to pick up a proven goal scorer in January. Todorov is going back to Pompey in his wheelchair, for all the use he has been. Heskey and Camara get the chances but just can't find the net often enough and Johansson has just never looked confident enough to score goals in the Prem. I'm pissed off.....

Bad dog! Bad!

An amusing little tale about a dog that ate an auld lady's false teeth can be enjoyed here:

http://www.wigantoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=3779&ArticleID=1896658

Not quite sure how it made the "Leisure" section though. They found the teeth in some dog shit in the back yard next day......

Interview

Got two days off work to try and get xmas shopping out of the way. I figured better to do it in the week rather than run the gauntlet of the mall on a weekend. Work smarter not harder - one of my many motto's. *makes mental note to post a list of motto's someday. I have a number of motto's, adaptable or applicable depending entirely on the circumstance and how I can benefit from it by applying said motto. It's not that I'm a particularly moral person, far from it in fact, it's more about appearing to be for personal gain. Anyway, I had an interview this morning for a promotion to a job I'm not 100% sure I want or even care if I get , but it is more money and probably less hours than I work right now so some of the above mentioned morals were definately bandied about and used to full effect in order to answer some of the questions. Where I work, we use behavioural based questions in interviews, the STAR format for anyone who might be reading this who doesn't know. I have the benefit of being one of the managers who conducts interviews when we are hiring, so I guess I think I know what the interviewers are looking for in an answer. It's hard to bluff your way through these types of questions as it's not necessarily what your answer is, it's how you answer it, for example:
"Give me an example of a time when you weighed up the pro's and con's of a situation and decided not to act despite being under pressure to do so, what did you do and what was the result?"
You really have to think, not just about a situation, but all the way through to the result before you answer otherwise you fuck up and can't complete the STAR. I won't relate my entire answer, but will say that the motto dusted off and rolled out for this one was "I'm always ready to sacrifice the battle to win the war." I think I nailed it. We will see..... As for the shoppping, I might just leave it 'til tomorrow.....

First post....

First real shot at doing anything like this so forgive me if it's utter shite. I've been up all night and I'm starting to wane a little, I really should eat something I s'pose. Had a piece of toast this morning but that's all since lunch yesterday which was a pulled pork sandwich from The Oinkster in Eagle Rock, gave me the shits something terrible but tasted mighty fine at the time. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. Good weekend in the Premier League, loads of goals yesterday, although sadly not for the Latic's who could only get away from Middlesboro with a point from a 1-1 draw. By all accounts 'boro were lucky and only avoided defeat with some excellent goalkeeping from Schwartzer. Cracking game this morning between Chelsea and Arsenal, not that I care for either team but the quality of the football cannot be denied. Essien scored a beauty to pull Chelsea level and avoid defeat. Gonna get off soon to watch Boca Jrs v Lanus in the Argentine league, should be a top game as Boca can win the championship today if they keep their shit together. I need to get a feckin' xmas tree an' all.......