It was time to renew our home insurance. Our provider sent us a bill and like last year, it had gone up in price, despite the fact we haven’t made a claim ever. How does that work? Unlike last year, when we were lazy and just accepted that our policy would be automatically renewed, we took it upon ourselves to go onto the internet to compare prices. Santander quoted us £170. This is compared to another insurance company who offered us exactly the same deal for just over £60 AND we get a free meerkat for switching!
I rang Santander to tell them the news that we were dumping them. After crying a little, the man on the end of the phone offered me a reduced quote of £109. This kind of begs the question, why weren’t we offered this price originally. However, that is still a lot more than our other quote, so we went our separate ways.
I trust the new insurance company to be good and not have any nasty hidden surprises. If I find anything I don’t like, the meerkat gets it.
It was a good start to the football season. Things could have been better, but they could have been worse… I remember the opening day last year, Bath City lost 3-0 to a team called Concord Rangers; who play in an Essex hellhole called Canvey Island. On the same day, Leeds were being managed by David Hockaday – a man who Forest Green Rovers had recently sacked. Unsurprisingly, they lost to an awfully bad Millwall side.
Before anyone could really concentrate on the football, a far more important matter had to be dealt with – The Ashes. I’m one of these people who like cricket a bit, but become addicted to the sport during The Ashes series. A bit like those annoying football fans, who don’t support a team (or worse, Manchester United) but decorate their cars and houses with St. George flags during the World Cup. My limited cricket knowledge lead me to understand that Australia were diabolical. In fact, while at work and following the score on my mobile phone, I thought the application was broken, because Australia were just so bad.
The internet is great for jokes in the time of big news. Whether it be following the death of a celebrity or mocking a sporting team’s failure. Twitter did not let me down and there were endless jokes, mocking the Aussie’s failure. An advertisement for Australian cricket bats, with the description “hardly used” was the best – closely followed by a tweet “Rolf Harris is now officially embarrassed”.
Anyway, it was Saturday morning. Leeds were on the telly at midday. England needed 3 wickets to win the Ashes – this was something I really wanted to witness and I was very much hoping that England could finish the job in time to allow me to watch the football. They didn’t disappoint. The Australian batsmen, clearly aware of my wish, thoughtfully collapsed, handing England The Ashes urn and allowing me to watch Leeds.
Leeds looked good – much, much, much better than 12 months ago under Mr. Hockaday (although they couldn’t have been much worse). I loved the look of one of the new signings, Stuart Dalllas. No doubt this won’t last and he’ll turn out to be shite, get injured or be sold. I didn’t get to watch all the game, as we left early for Bath City. When the telly went off, the score line was 0-0. Five minutes later, while waiting at the traffic lights outside the hospital, the in-car radio announced that Leeds had scored. I tried to contain my excitement, as I didn’t want Claire to crash the car. A few minutes later, while driving across Windsor Bridge, I found out that Leeds had conceded. I tried to contain my anger, as I didn’t want Claire to crash the car.
Fear the beard
My second football match of the day was at Bath City. The opponents – Wealdstone. Yes, that’s right, the team of The Raider. “You’ve got not fans” “What a shit hole” “You want some?” etc… I met him once, don’t you know? It was a game of two sets of defenders – or lack of them. Both teams attacked very well, but the defence was just awful. Our new goalkeeper, Steve Phillips (who had a very good game), is going to have a busy season. Luckily City did what Leeds could not and won the game, leaving all the home fans happy and the Raider to only dream of what might have been, before going home to kick the cat.
When we arrived in the office this morning, we noticed a bird had shat on one of the chairs and a monitor. This caused a discussion into how the bird got into the office and, more concerning, where it was now. Was it hiding under one of the desks? Had it died and about to stink out the entire department. We later learnt that one of the early starters had spotted a magpie flying around. Somehow, they managed to get rid of it – apparently by chasing it out of a window and not by smashing its brains in with a keyboard. We’re due a win on the lottery soon. Maybe the magpie is a sign of some luck coming our way. Although doesn’t the rhyme go “One for sorrow, two for joy…”?
Like most people who use the internet, I have been appalled by the news that a US dentist, named Walter Palmer went to Africa to torture and murder a defenceless and beautiful lion. Apparently Palmer now feels remorse. Remorse that what he did was illegal and that the lion he killed was protected. It shouldn’t make a fucking difference if the lion was protected or not! He travelled thousands of miles, to shoot an animal with a crossbow, leave it in agony for 40 hours, before blasting it with a gun and decapitating it. It seems like his business has now gone down the toilet as a result of negative publicity and protestors. What a shame. His life is ruined, but at least he has a life – unlike all the animals he so brutally slayed over the years, simply for fun.
This story has received so much publicity, and many people have rightly asked why everyone is outraged by it when animals get hunted every day. I suppose it is because in this instance, it brings home to us all how awful and barbaric hunting for sport is. It doesn’t necessarily mean any other hunted animal, such as a fox, is of less importance, or its murderers any less evil.
I generally believe that people who take pleasure in hunting an animal in the name of sport or entertainment are mentally unstable. Yes, it may be legal. Yes, their friends may do the same; but does that mean there is not something wrong in their head? The hunters will argue that this has been going on for thousands of years. Well, it’s time for a change. If they still insist on killing animals, make the sport a bit fairer and take away the hunters’ guns, replacing them with a simple pocket knife, then fight to the death – my money would be on Simba.
RIP Cecil
About Me
So you stumbled across my blog. No doubt after searching for something bizarre on Google. Before you hit that 'Back Button', why not stay and have a read for a few minutes?
If you are after a website which gives advice on how to hack an iPhone X, download the latest Steven Seagal movie, or view nudy ladies, you've come to the wrong place and may now press 'Back'.
However, if you would like a lifestyle blog, written by a 30-something chap, living in Bath (England), feast your eyes on this.
You won't discover how to copy PlayStation 4 games. What you will find is a blog, covering life in the West Country, the highs and lows of supporting two unsuccessful football teams, while sharing a house with a wife and rabbit.
All written by a man, somewhere on the sanity-scale between normal and eccentric.
