Saturday 1st October 2011 - Rich & Em, having both been a bit ‘all work & no play’ lately, have mosied up to Manchester this afternoon for a night out! Morbidly though, the trip has felt a bit like a Harold Shipman murder tour so far – what with the journey to the motorway having begun by driving through the part of Nottingham where Shippers grew up, & then checking in on arrival in Manchester at a hotel in the suburb of Hyde… which is where the infamous Dr Death’s surgery was!
Sunday 2nd October 2011 - Rich & Em had an amazing night out in Manchester last night! Had an excellent curry on the ‘curry mile’, got to hold the European Cup – which a bloke randomly had in a pub – and ended the night in a club where the music was nothing but the guilty pleasure otherwise known as powerballads! Also saw an absolutely brilliant Jesus preacher shouting at passers by! Any of the Nottingham dwellers among you remember the angry old guy who used to spread the word of The Lord at the top of Lister Gate?
Monday 3rd October 2011 - Rich is not displeased about Steve McClaren’s decision to quit as Forest manager yesterday, following yet another miserable defeat for the Reds. In many ways it seems hasty for a manager to go after just ten league games in charge of a club – sadly though, it was clear in this case that it simply wasn’t working. Goodness knows who Forest will get in to do the job next – maybe it’s time to finally promote the legend that is Terry the Kitman?!
Tuesday 4th October 2011 - Rich is slightly alarmed that the mighty Forest are being linked with a potential new manager who’s actually younger than he is – namely, 31-year-old MK Dons boss Karl Robinson. Sheesh, it makes you feel depressingly old when you reach the stage in life when your team’s PLAYERS start getting youner than you – never mind the bloody MANAGER! In other news meanwhile on Forest’s search for a new manager, SkyBet, brilliantly, are actually offering odds of 100-1 on Terry the Kitman getting the job!
Wednesday 5th October 2011 - Rich has just been on a trip to an avian specialist vet with his parrot – a precautionary measure, owing to Doris having noticably lost a fair few feathers recently around her neck area. Happily, the vet concluded that it was nothing to worry about. Was actually highly amusing watching a thoroughly-unimpressed Doris having her heartbeat checked with a stethascope!
Thursday 6th October 2011 - Rich & Em have been out tonight to a gig – Noah & the Whale, who were playing at the legendary Nottingham sweatpit known as Rock City. A really good show. Popped into the Rescue Rooms next door before the gig though to check out the place’s new refurb – and disappointingly, they’ve got rid of all the shelves of cheesy LPs that you used to be allowed to sift through. A sad loss…
Friday 7th October 2011 - Rich has had a horribly stressful day at work – not least a member of his class suddenly having a massive nosebleed whilst the kids were working in the computer room… a room where there’s no access to any running water or paper towels. Teaching can often be a very unpredictable job – one thing you DON’T ever expect to find yourself doing though is whipping off your own tie & using it to stem a small river of blood from a child’s nostril..!
Saturday 8th October 2011 - Rich & the wife have just been for breakfast at the cafe in their local Morrison’s supermarket – a place that has enjoyed cult status in the Fisher household ever since the discovery that one of the blokes who works there is amusingly called Jesse Hanks (or at least that’s what it says on his name badge!) Scrambled eggs on toast taste just that little bit better when they’re brought to your table by a man with a name that suggests he possibly moonlights as a member of Garth Brooks’ backing band..!
Sunday 9th October 2011 - Rich & the wife spent their Saturday evening last night babysitting Archie – Emma’s sister’s two-and-a-bit-year-old little boy! Intriguingly, Arch seemed quite captivated by ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ on the telly. Who knows, maybe stardom awaits for the boy as the next Michael Flatley?! Talking of ‘Strictly..’, did anyone else see Robbie Savage do his turn? Hats off to the guy for managing to look an even bigger wally with a brolly than Steve McClaren..!
Monday 10th October 2011 - Rich has been poorly today – however, is currently being cheered up by a morbidly compelling new TV series raking over one of the bitterest splits in the history of pop. No, not the parting of the ways of the the Beatles or the Stone Roses – rather, that of late-90s cheese-merchants Steps! If any of you haven’t stumbled across it yet, then ‘Steps: The Reunion’ on the Sky Living channel is an excellent slice of trashy, guilty pleasure TV…
Tuesday 11th October 2011 -Rich, though still a tiny bit disappointed that his song ‘The A Team’ isn’t actually about Howling Mad Murdoch and co., is actually greatly impressed by the recently-released debut album by Ed Sheeran. The singer-songwriter actually played in Nottingham last night – would’ve liked to have gone to see him, but unfortunately continuing man flu put paid to any such plans…
Wednesday 12th October 2011 - Rich is starting to feel just about human again after three days of horrendous man flu – although these health-based woes pale in significance to those of the wife… who was rushed into hospital yesterday with suspected appendicitis, after having spent the previous day constantly vomiting & experiencing excruciating tummy pains. Fortunately it turned out to NOT be appendicitis, & Em is now okay. All in all though, it’s not been one of the better weeks in the world of Fisher…
Thursday 13th October 2011 - Rich is very happy to say that his birthday has got off to an excellent start – with presents from his family including a ticket to see Rolf Harris, a surprise weekend away… and, of all things, a ukelele! A sort of bonus present too from Nottingham Forest, what with the excellent news that the club have persuaded legendary former player & manager Frank Clark to return to the club as chairman. Just the small matter now of appointing a manager & yet another new era for Forest can finally get underway in earnest…
Friday 14th October 2011 - Rich celebrated his birthday last night by having a Threesome! Hasten to add though that ‘Threesome’ was the name of one of a number of fine ales sampled during a highly enjoyable evening spent to the Nottingham Beer Festival! Big thanks by the way to everyone for your kind birthday messages yesterday…
Saturday 15th October 2011 - Rich is glum that feckless Forest lost again this afternoon – away at Coventry – but is chuffed to have had the honour earlier today of meeting John Robertson, legendary left-winger from the Reds’ all-conquering team of the late 70s. ‘Robbo’ was at the Nottingham branch of Waterstones, signing copies of his newly-released autobiography. Should be a good read…
Sunday 16th October 2011 - Rich has enjoyed this weekend muchly. Along with yesterday afternoon’s excitement of getting to meet Forest legend John Robertson, Friday night saw a flying visit up to Leeds to see a good friend star in a brilliantly funny play… while last night also involved some excellent live entertainment. Don’t really want to say any more though on here about the latter, as it’s too embarrassing!
Monday 17th October 2011 - Rich impressed his class today – or at least the boys! – by presenting them with a signed handwritten message, addressed to them, from Nottingham Forest legend John Robertson! Robbo kindly agreed to scribble a few words at the book signing he did in Nottingham on Saturday – “To Class 4A, good luck & best wishes, John Robertson.” Though in hindsight, “To Class 4A, start bloody behaving! John Robertson” might have been more appropriate..!
Tuesday 18th October 2011 - Rich is loving today! First of all, music legends the Stone Roses announce this afternoon that they are reforming for some live shows in 2012! And then, as if that wasn’t exciting enough, Forest have looked utterly rejuvinated this evening in their first game under new manager Steve Cotterill, and all being well look set to bag their first home win of the season against high-flying Middlesbrough!
Wednesday 19th October 2011 - Rich is on his way up to the sleepy suburban corner of Nottingham otherwise known as Mapperley, in order to visit his Ma & Dad. Though having said that, the place was anything but sleepy & suburban last week, having made national news headlines after police discovered a volatile substance at somebodyls house – resulting in the whole area being sealed off & the national bomb squad being called in! Hopefully all will be back to normal in Mapperley this evening..!
Thursday 20th October 2011 - Rich has just been catching up with today’s big news from Libya. Now he’s dead, hopefully the media will start referring to Gaddafi by his full name of Colin, instead of the uncomfortably informal ‘Col’! All in all though, it’s unfortunate that such a high profile death has overshadowed the sad news from Nottinghamshire’s White Post Farm, where Darren The Waving Goat also passed away this week…
Friday 21st October 2011 - Rich is a man who who has always enjoyed a random celebrity encounter – and yesterday managed to have not one but three! Over the course of the day, in three completely separate locations, managed to meet: 1) Nottingham Forest defender Wes Morgan; 2) Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi; & 3) Darts legend Bobby George! Meeting the latter was particularly amusing – not least getting to discuss his recent appearance on ‘Celebrity Come Dine With Me’!
Saturday 22nd October 2011 - Rich is very excited & already counting the days until Saturday June 30th 2012, having been successful yesterday in the mad scramble to get tickets to see the reformed Stone Roses! Why is it though that tickets always get put on sale for these sorts of things – in this case, 9.30am on a weekday morning – at a time when the majority of the population are likely to be at bloody work?
Sunday 23rd October 2011 - Rich & Em are on their way to George Best Airport in Belfast, ready to fly home after an excellent couple of days over in County Antrim visiting their great friends Zippy & Steph. Highlights have included a hurling match, the Giant’s Causeway, copious amounts of booze, an amusing prank involving some Linda McCartney sausages, & getting to nose around an artspace owned by legendary art terrorist Bill Drummond!
Monday 24th October 2011 - Rich is loving the fact that he’s off work this week for the school half-term, & has just been for an enjoyable mooch around downtown Nottingham. Went to see an exhibition of paintings by leather-faced Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood! Also went to rubberneck at the ‘Occupy Notts’ hippies who have been camped out in the middle of the city centre for the last week. Fair play to them!
Tuesday 25th October 2011 - Rich is highly amused by reports in the national press today, confirming that cheese is now the most frequently shoplifted commodity in the UK! Apparently 4% of all the cheese that gets put out on supermarket shelves ends up getting robbed – & Tesco are reportedly considering putting security tags on more expensive ones & having extra security on the dairy aisle!
Wednesday 26th October 2011 - Rich, being a teacher on his half-term break, is enjoying having a week where he doesn’t have to think too much about work – although reminders are never too far away. Indeed, you suspect the powers might be trying to tell you to get on with that huge stack of marking you’ve been avoiding when you go for a drive around Nottingham, & end up stuck in traffic behind a bus with a massive advert on the back for the very bloody school where you work..!
Thursday 27th October 2011 - Rich had some not-so-great news yesterday about his dodgy right eye. A month or so ago, it was looking like the surgery done in 2010 had succeeded in stabilising the vision – however, subsequent scans are now suggesting that that isn’t the case… and that it’s actually continuing to deteriorate. Now being referred to a different surgeon. The saga goes on..!
Friday 28th October 2011 - Rich is immensely proud to report that he has won a competition that Emma entered him into – a competition that was run in the local paper to find Nottingham’s Scruffiest Man! Went yesterday to enjoy the winner’s prize – a full style makeover, including a made-to-measure Geoff Banks suit! Amusingly, the full story with cheesy ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos is due to appear in the paper sometime in the next few weeks..!
Saturday 29th October 2011 - Rich feels a bit like he’s in a episode of Scooby Doo, what with him & Emma having embarked on yesterday on a weekend of camping down in the beautiful Cotswolds – in a hired vintage VW campervan! Top birthday present from the wife, it must be said. Staying as well on a farm that, as it turns out, is owned by a minor TV personality!
Sunday 30th October 2011 - Rich is sad that today is his & Emma’s last day of living the hippy dream in Monty the VW campervan. Been a great weekend though! Today has involved a mooch around Oxford, & an ace visit to ‘Crocodiles of the World’ – the croc zoo as featured in the recent Channel 5 series ‘Croc Man’. Even got to meet the Croc Man himself!
Monday 31st October 2011 - Rich is back at work today, the half-term break now sadly over. Just arrived at the coalface to find that a large amount of the old school building – as vacated back in July – has now been knocked down. Quite sad really. Hopefully the fox that lived on the site was smart enough to suss out what was happening and managed to leg it before the wrecking balls came in…
