29.6.06

I drove all night 26/06/2006

And another week passes. My cutting back on eating trash as well as making me a little more prone to grumpiness has also has helped me sleep easier at night. All those sugars and carbohydrates that I'm not taking onboard obviously aren't keeping me awake anymore. It does though feel a little frustrating feeling tired and needing to nod off around 11.30ish. This is what older people do, goddamit! What a dilemma that could present. If I meet a honey I'll be dedicated to losing weight and toning up to keep and please her, yet if I cut down on the food I might not have the energy to give her the nightly loving that she would naturally be gagging for.
Only watched the second half of the England - Sweden game on Tuesday and as before our performance was disappointing. We took the lead and then as usual sat back and let Sweden just come at us and score two woeful, lazy goals including a throw in which just seemed to dribble over the line. Ok we qualified and some people say it's the result which counts but I'm motivated by our performance. If we don't perform well I find it hard to back the team and really get behind them. Went to a client meeting on Wednesday which broke up the day nicely. My knee was feeling tight and I didn't want to hit the gym and further compound the tightness with my trek to Bournemouth coming up. Sounds a feeble excuse doesn't it but I exercise to improve my body not actually run my life. So as well as not going to the gym I got an invite to go down to my mums for a lovely shepherds pie and an apple danish.
On Thursday I was coerced into getting on the scales. I didn't want to because I knew if the measurement wasn't encouraging I was going to be cheesed off but I relented, got up on the scales and discovered that the denial of goodies had led to a huge loss of 1/2 lb. I was pissed. Ok I wasn't expecting anything huge but 1/2lb knarked the shit out of me and along with a busy afternoon I felt myself slipping into a little bit of mood. I wasn't snitty with anyone but just became a lot quieter and focused on the work. The fact that I was taking off the Friday meant that I was also trying to ensure that I didn't leave any extra work for anyone else.

Got up deliberately late on Friday in an attempt to shift my body clock later so that staying up into the wee hours wouldn't have as much of an effect. Shot out to get some coolant for the car and it's always good to do a little maintenance on your car to assist in the bonding process when going on a long journey. Carbo loaded with some fish and chips for lunch but it was disappointing in quality and further compounded my guilt at eating it. Got everything together and jumped in the car. I headed down to Sevenoks first to see some old friends that I used to work with. The roads were surprisingly clear and I got there early enough to actually pop in the office.

It was nice to see everyone again but I confess to getting a little nervous when I originally walked in. My mouth seemed to dry up and I hurried my introductions to new people to find relative comfort in the arms of those that I already knew. I love the people that I worked with but it's great to be out of that figure obsessed environment. It's good to be successful but it seems the company as a whole is only ever content with smashing the previous years figures. Work your arse off one year to score some incredible success and all it means is that they want even more work the following year. I'm not subscribing to the theory of lethargy and laziness but when is it enough that management will be happy. It seems that with this attitude you are only as good as your projected figures. If you are not exceeding them then the perception is that there are problems. The final nail in the coffin though is despite the continual carrot dangling, improvement in results never leads to a similar improvement in bonuses.

Anyway I went over to a local pub and had a few red bulls. Unfortunately a new female employee that my old colleagues have been hyping up as gorgeous, lovely, shapely etc had taken a day off and hence didn't turn up. I've seen a photo and she seemed cute but not the amazing specimen that they are making out. You know me, my imagination always conjures up women that could never be but it would have been nice to satisfy my curiosity and put a dismissive tick against her.

Left them at about 8.00pm and hit the motorway. Spoke to my brother who been told that he'd got a job that he'd gone for at John Lewis which was brilliant news. Everyone needs a break and I know that he'd wanted to get back into retail. It's the best shop in Bluewater with an excellent reputation and he can be proud of how well he must have interviewed. Played some Armin and necked a red bull as I hammered down to Bournemouth. Took a couple of hours and once I discovered the location of The Opera House, drove around looking for a safe place to haul up. Applied another dose of deodorant and aftershave. You've got to go in with a heavy coating for these clubs as sweating is a given and no one likes a stinker. As I bought the ticket online I was able to to go to the front of the queue and speak to what looked like the VIP girl. The actual normal queue was quite short so one didn't feel the benefit of jumping it, I'll try arriving later on future trips.

Great venue. It's very much like the Brixton Academy but about a third of the size. Nice wooden dance floor with the DJ's raised at one end. Two foot high blocks to dance on ran down either side of the dance floor and also at the back. At the back of the main room there were stairs leading up to a seated area that circled the dance floor. The crowd seemed friendly with a fair smattering of cybers and only one or two arrogant pricks. Grabbed a drink, which were all reasonably priced (J2O's, Red Bulls and waters only £2) and reconnoitred the club. Discovered the toilets and decided which was the best to be my favourite port of call. Decided on your toilet for the night is very important!

11.30 was approaching and I made a conscious effort to be on the dance floor and finding my feet ten minutes Armin came on. He started with Shipwrecked which is an excellent start up track. The club felt about half full and I think with Tiesto and the Tidy Boys down a few weeks later people were holding back. I didn't mind though as the atmosphere was still good but with a little more breathing space. Armin was doing a 2 1/2 hour set so naturally he took his time building it up. After about half an hour the tempo began to pick up and I became frustrated on the slightly restrictive dance floor. I saw a space at the far end of the left hand raised block and decided to hop on. Now this was a lot better. I had a bit more space, could see Armin and the crowd better and maybe the tart in me wanted to be seen. The tunes were really coming in now and I felt the smile beginning to grow across my face. The battery operated lightstick that I'd got all those years ago from firebox was certainly getting some usage during the breakdowns.
At one point a girl bounded up onto the blocks. She was quite a honey but I had seen her with another guy earlier so knew not to consider that my luck was in. Despite this though she started chatting to me about how cool she thought my lightwand was and where she went clubbing. Her man joined her shortly afterwards but it was nice for someone to talk to me and reminded me a bit more of the community of clubbers that doesn't seem to exist as much in the more cosmopolitan London. As the set progressed I got moved further up the block and effectively closer to the front. With an hour and a bit to go I reached the end bar someone who was right on the edge, but the surface underneath them was a little slippy so I wasn't fussed. Still had room for free expression and could clearly see Armin who must have been only twenty feet away.

A girl moved in next to me who was very cute and energetic. She had a sweet face that looked a lot like the actress Claire Danes and wore this wicked orange hat. She was bouncing up and down to the tunes and as I started to really let go of the reins in my dancing she kept up. A dancing partner is always good to have in a club. Things might not come from it but having someone who is equally into the music and capable of keeping up with your moves seems to motivate you and push you on even harder. It is tougher when not drinking or taking drugs but I managed to hit my dancing nirvana with sweat pouring into my eyes, my body becoming one with the beat and a need to shout out 'come on' or 'what a tune' whenever neccesary. He started to mix in his version of Racoon - Love you more and I confess to going apeshit with whoops and hollers. What a great song and the crowd joined in though bearing in mind it's my favourite track on his ASOT 250 it had particular poignancy to me. Sadly he finished up and I thanked the girl next to me for being my dancing partner and said I was getting a drink if she wanted to join me. She declined, which was a shame, I grabbed a drink and headed upstairs. Another random came over and started chatting to me and I got to say that the vibe was friendly.
The DJ that followed Armin was poor in my opinion and didn't continue to punch it out at the same tempo thus it was hard to hold onto my energy levels. I did consider heading off but thought it silly to drive all that way and not give the next guy a go. I began to take a semi nap while I waited for the DJ to finish and another chap started chatting which was handy for killing the time. The next and final DJ raised his game and though still well below anything Armin dropped was enough to get me back up and dancing. By this time I made the decision that the club wasn't going to beat me and stayed until the bitter end at 5.00am.

Returned to my car, thankful that it was still there, and changed my top. I couldn't drive all that way and not see the sea so I headed to a road that ran along the cliffs overlooking the ocean and parked up. It was blissfully quiet and the sun was up. The view had a strange, calming power. Maybe in the city you never get to see a far off horizon whereas from my position I could see all the way across to Sandybanks and Portland Bill. It was so cool having the sense of achievement that I'd done something different and was witnessing the birth of a new day as the clouds slowly moved over head and ocean swells rolled onto the beach. I must have stood there for about 15-20 minutes drinking in the view and fresh air before jumping back in the car and commencing the long drive back. Naturally the roads were empty and bar having to stop for some extortionately priced petrol at a service station there were no incidents. A wave of tiredness did begin to creep in about half way through the journey but was seen off with a combo of red bull, ribena, wheat crunchies, chocolate bar and a sing along to some 70's cheese. I got in at about 7.30 and settled down into the bed. It's funny in that it felt like a long journey yet the notion that 2 1/2 hours previously I'd been looking at the sea on the south coast made the country seem smaller and so much more accessible. It makes you realise what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it.

Woke at 1ish to watch an enjoyable MotoGP which was at Assen in Holland. Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden really duked it out with Edwards pulling out an awesome final lap to claw back a one second deficit and actually over take Nicky only to so cruelly come off when they both over ran the circuit and went onto the grass. It was nice to see again some of the grit and determination that he showed in the 2002 World Superbike Championship when it went down to the very last race. He managed to get back onto his bike and trundle over the finishing line in 13th but then smashed the windscreen of his bike to pieces in frustration. What a finish and what a good race, particularly as Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa had a meaty scrap as well. Continuing the lazy, sport watching afternoon I caught up on the highlights of the previous days World Cup matches with the aid of tea and toast before checking out the first second round match between Germany & Sweden. Within the first twenty minutes Germany were 2-0 up and all over Sweden like a cheap suit.

Shot up to my mates to pick him up before heading down to a friend of his 40th birthday party. It was quite a big affair held in a close of houses with a couple of marques set up on the green in the middle. I didn't know that many people there but got introduced to the birthday woman who over the course of the night really impressed me. For a start she didn't look like she was 40 but more importantly despite only having met me that night and with lots of people celebrating her birthday helped make me feel really welcome. There was a little dance floor set up and even a live band but I was content to help others get drink and keep myself topped up with coke. It was quite entertaining to watch the others get more pissed. Around 1.00 ish I spied a woman who was with the two female next door neighbours of birthday girl starting to walk home on her own. I asked the neighbours if the woman was walking home on her own. They said Yes and I replied not on my watch and hurried after her. We started to chat as we started to walk but then the two neighbours suddenly turned up. It's ok they said we'll walk her home. Are you worried about me then I asked, well we don't know you they replied. Ok I said and let them get on with it. The party by this point had moved into a house and I kept a watching brief from the hallway on everyones else drunken antics. I wasn't being an annoying party pooper but not knowing everyone didn't want to just dive in. In between looking after the birthday girls huge wine glass that she'd got and ensuring that I didn't get embroiled in the cloth swapping that was going on I spied a multipack of Walkers crisps.

I deserved a treat I thought and dug out a packet of smokey bacon crisps. I used to love these and they always remind me of my mum as she used to eat them. Like walkers cheese & onion they are a strong tasting flavour but I enjoyed them never the less. Literally just as I finished the packet the two female neighbours returned. They were quite pretty and had just obviously whacked on some perfume as they gave me a big hug and told me what a nice guy I was and how they hoped I hadn't taken offence. I mumbled a response as I desperately fished around for some chewing gum not wanting to ruin my new image by having bacon breath and crisp crumb fingers. I should have engaged them in conversation there and then but let them slip off with the intention of making an approach later. Unfortunately though when I went to look later they had gone. Nice work! The party began to wind down around 2.30ish and we must have said our goodbye around 3.30ish. Headed back to Blackheath to the only place to end a good night, the Tea Hut. Oh god does this place always deliver. What an awesome burger we had this time. The sun was already up and due to the freshness of the burger and the leaking of the egg yolk consumed the burger outside of the car. Pontificated on life and the party over the tea as we always do before dropping my mate off and returning home. Another early morning finish always speak volumes of a good night I think.

Sunday and it was the second round match of England vs Ecuador. I picked up my mate and we hit a local pub along with my brother. The pub was rammed but we played it beautifully by sitting at a collection of tables at the far end. From here we could watch the football on a raised plasma screen yet also see and taste the atmosphere of the far more vocal, chanting, air horn sounding crowd in front of the bar. There was also a pleasantly surprising female/male quotient almost like it was playing out the opposite of clubs offering free entry to girls to encourage guys. With this it was like the girls knew that men would be out in their droves and thus came out wearing their best stuff. We ordered at least three drinks each and some bowls of chips. The kitchen seemed to screw the order up so about three minutes after our chips arrived, another three plates appeared. I handed them out to a couple of all girl tables and received some pleasant smiles making me think this was a ruse worth perfecting. The game was disappointing and played similar to our other games. Beckham scored a great free kick but our performance was miserable, disorganised and lacking in invention, sparkle or heart. Yes we won but I don't like it when we don't play well. A couple of lager boys got a bit lairy when the game was over and some bouncers had to forcibly eject them. Hit noodle time for some special fried rice in a virtually deserted restuarant and some post match analysis. Didn't want to call it a night so drove to bluewater to catch a film. Chose a late performance so we could watch the Portugal - Holland game in the sports bar there. Again is was practically deserted but it was really cool to chill back in their comfy leather armchairs and watch an entertaining game. Portugal won a rather bad tempered game setting up a match with England which will mirror our two previous encounters with them. Saw the new Jet Li film after this called Fearless. The fighting was good but the story and everything else was very weak.

Another good weekend. I did a lot of miles, 420 in total, but it was great to get around and do things. Something for myself on Friday night, something with my friend at the party on Saturday and something for my country on the Sunday - can they get better?