El Zen

28 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Story of my life. 

You can have the chicken instead. Taste of human, sir. 

Thank you for flying Church of England. 

13 minutes ago, Loxstock92 said:

So my choice is ‘or death?’

We only had three bits and didn’t expect such a rush. 

On 23/07/2023 at 22:19, Zatman said:

Turkish teams pay big money, I think a lot is off the books but Galatasaray have signed Icardi and Zaniolo ahead of Premier League clubs recently

Not always, as many a foreign footballer and club have learned the hard way

1 minute ago, mjmooney said:

Cake please. 

Well, we’re out of cake. 

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

Now Suzy. 

I’m pretty sure it’s Jeff. Or Kenneth. 

Or perhaps jam?

Anyway, where was I? Oh, that’s right. Cake or death? 

2 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

haven't had instant coffee in years. it's grim and in a hotel room i just wait until i go down for breakfast (or have a tea)

i've been used to my espresso machine for so long now that even a filter coffee doesn't cut it for me

I prefer filter coffee above anything else. Just hits the spot perfectly in terms of both aroma, temperature, quantity. I used to have a Nespresso machine back when they were all the rage, but it’s Moccamaster or gtfo for me. 

F*** me, instant coffee is so vile I have no idea how anyone can seriously say they prefer the stuff (I know plenty who do, my dad included.) 

I need my morning cup before breakfast, and since I’m currently in a hotel room, instant is all I can get. It’s so disgusting, I wish I’d gone for tea instead. 

On 18/07/2023 at 09:37, Zhan_Zhuang said:

One of the players I really disliked for his time at Villa.

Just out of his depth, promised so much.

Found his level at Rangers though.

Celtic. 

On 20/07/2023 at 17:04, fightoffyour said:

Money talks my friend  

But FIFA rules say you can’t play for another country if you have played senior intl games, and there is NO WAY the Saudis can make FIFA change that rule is there? Oh…

Made plans to see GAIS at Gamla Ullevi tomorrow with @kristian1 and our boys. I just have to bribe Zen jr, for whom a game of football is akin to a visit to the dentist. 

16 minutes ago, Genie said:

Has anyone ever heard Messi speak English? I assume English is a common language in dressing rooms so guess he speaks some English?

Don’t know, but there’ll be a lot of Spanish being spoken too. 

I remember watching a clip of Phil Neville coaching the team in training (hilarious, btw) and he used as much Spanish as his brain had allowed him to pick up from duolingo on the way there. 

50 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

that's the sign of a good one anyway

real good one the top comes off too

25 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

per 10!? not per 100?

Yup. Litres per metric mile. 

11 hours ago, sne said:

Yeah I get the thing with taking massive salaries so you can retire early, it's the dream scenario. Just no way I would go to some places to do it. Saudi is one of them.

Totally agree. No money in the world could make me want to sportswash for a regime as horrible as Saudi. 

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

I'd say this is 100% down to the trauma of the divorce. But you're right, there's nothing you can do about that, and you absolutely should not beat yourself up about it. You're just going to have to be patient - it will get better in time. Just be there for him. 

Thanks. That’s always reassuring, though to be fair, I don’t. Not really. I know it’s not my fault. 

I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive his mother for it, though. I’m in a good place now and in a good, healthy, loving relationship, but having to watch my son deal with this shit? Worst thing in the world. 

3 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

@El Zen - seeing as I'm apparently one-third Scandinavian, we're probably related! 

(I suspect those pesky Vikings who landed in Dublin). 

I’ll drink to that, older brother

Bedtime is seriously affecting my quality of living at the moment (always has, to a degree.) My 8 yo has always had a hard time falling asleep at night, but at one point he was fine being left alone and would make minimal fuss about it. 

Immediately after his mom and I split up last year, bedtime was actually kind of nice, as I’d let him stay in my bed and we’d read a book and have a little chat and a cuddle before he went to sleep. Some real quality time, which I appreciated in the midst of coming to terms with not having him every other week. 

Now, it’s completely out of control. He’ll get extremely restless as soon as it’s time for bed. He’ll run around, generally doing everything and anything but what he’s told, and if I ever so slightly raise my voice, he’ll get angry, sweary and physical. He hasn’t slept in his own room for more than a year, and he’ll take forever to fall asleep. By the time he’s asleep, I have very little time to myself, and if I try to leave the room before he’s asleep, he’ll get hysterical. On top of that, he’s become very, very stubborn during the day too, throwing massive tantrums at the smallest things and generally not listening to a word I have to say (routinely answering ‘I don’t care’ to any instruction or corrective.) Obviously the divorce has been hard on him, but I can’t (and wouldn’t want to) fix that. 

It just seems like a constant battle I can’t win, and I’m frankly getting a bit desperate. 

6 hours ago, Genie said:

I think miles per gallon is more a UK thing, probably the US too.

In Europe they tend to measure fuel economy as litres per 100km.

It’s litres per 10km here. 

I may look like Heinrich Himmler’s wet, Aryan dream, but my ancestry is fairly diverse. Can’t trace it too far back, but far enough to know that:

- My maternal grandfather was half Romani. His father was of full Romani heritage, although it’s unclear to me when my ancestors stopped living as travelers. 
- My maternal grandmother was 1/8 Romani on her mother’s side. 
- My paternal grandfather was of Kven (ethnically Finnish) ancestry. 
- My paternal grandmother can trace part of her ancestry back to a French (likely Huguenot) line, whose name she (out of sheer vanity) added late in life. 

The rest is run of the mill Scandinavian (lots of Swedish on my mother’s side, far back) as far as I know. 

As far as class goes, my mother’s side is entirely proletarian from Oslo’s east side. My dad’s side hails from Finnmark in the far north, where his mother’s side identified as petite bourgeois and his father’s side would have been poor farmers and fishermen, but my dad definitely grew up working class too and by now my entire family is decidedly middle class. 

I just try to think of it as part two of BOTW, and when I do that, I quite enjoy it. 

For all intents and purposes, they’re the same game. 

I can’t wait until my GF can move in with me (we’ve discussed it, and she will at some point.) Not that the money is the most important reason at all, but I’m sooo sick of paying on a £400k mortgage on my own. 

On 10/07/2023 at 10:29, rodders0223 said:

"I'm a five month baby fully capable of sleeping 5 - 6 hours without food or entertainment but I'm going to wake up every hour and jabber your head off" " I'm going to be fully awoke at 6 a.m, and by 8 a.m be absolute raging with tiredness, I'm going to spend the next 90 minutes rubbing my eyes, hitting and kicking the floor and screaming because I don't want to go to sleep, even though I actually do. I really do."

 

The guy is a knob!

«I’m an eight year old boy fully capable of reading a book alone in my bed and be quiet when told to, but I’m going to make you read to me and stay in my room until I fall asleep and talk relentlessly about Super Mario for an hour and a half before I do.» 

Get used to it

Just now, mikeyp102 said:

Or I have a different opinion 

Just messing. You can be wrong if you want to