Day off again

Every week or two I get a whole free day as today is. It's always a blessing, though housework and painting pictures (as well as the internet) run out of charm as it all takes place in an empty house as I described yesterday.
It reminds me of the comedies where kids bring home tramps they've met on the street, and we do have a few drunks who sit on the bench in West Hendon Broadway should I decide to take that method of providing company.
The bad news is after a miscommunication, there's no football on TV tonight, so I'm going to grandma as I often do. Barnet playing Man Utd is apparently far less likely to gain viewers than Grimsby Town who are the game being shown. Bollocks. I have seen Barnet play second string Spurs, West Ham and first string QPR and Fulham in friendlies, but all at Barnet, and they always play fairly local teams for them. I have seen Brentford play a second string Middlesbrough in the league cup, and Fulham play Derby County, but though both away teams were in the premiership at the time, they weren't Man Utd. I last saw them live in my only visit to Old Trafford v Ipswich in 1985.
That was my last ever visit to a premier/Division 1 ground, the all-seater rule made it pretty hard to get in (unless you pay £80 at Chelsea) so I switched to lower divisions and it was at least as much fun. I've been to ex-premier grounds after teams had been relegated, like QPR, as you only get about 15,000 people with no trouble getting in, but I'd have to go to a Spurs league cup game if I wanted a likely premier seat nowadays. As it is I went to 8 Division one games over 15 years so it's not as if I missed out totally (3 Spurs 3 Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd). I have however also been to two full international games, England at Wembley (silly considering how close it was I didn't go more often) and Nigeria v Jamaica at QPR. I reckon they beat even premier league matches.
Just for the anoraks, I also went to (old divisions as crosses time boundaries)
Div 2:QPR-3
Reading
Fulham
Crystal Palace
Luton-2
Div 3-4: Oxford-2
Barnet-25
Brentford-15
Wycombe-4
Southend
Cambridge
Leyton Orient
Plus two non-league v league games and 4 Arsenal reserves at Barnet.

So, after that little trip through history (I love making records of events as does another local blogger I came across and compared notes with) what have I done with my day off? It's only half way through, I did go to said West Hendon Broadway on my bike, otherwise I've had the usual business related phone calls to make, no emails, especially as John Hutchison's site appears to have been excised from its server including his email. Why does this not surprise me? The cat managed to push a large pile of papers that need sorting off the table and is now spread across the floor until I have little else to do. I'm intending to finish the next trivia quiz I'm meant to host soon, and have 12 from 30 questions left. It's a lot harder to think of than you'd imagine as people have no time to work things out and live in every imaginable country, so 5 questions on the North Circular Road wouldn't go down very well.
So, freedom has its price, I discovered that back in 1976 after I finished my O levels in January and didn't start A levels till September. Of course all my friends were at school and I was on my own at home every day while my parents were working. I did try various short jobs and trips abroad but they all got cut off after a week or two. I became really depressed in the end as I realised being alone was soemthing that took the fun out of almost everything if it went on for too long. Nowadays after many years it's just how my life is, I've a computer, Sky TV, radios that pick up everything, and a house to look after. But even then I had parents who came home in the evening and it was just a totally new experience hanging around on my own during the day as previously all my friends had been available in school holidays. It's not even my fault I haven't a job now as regular readers will know. My sole criteria since 1997 have been part time and outside Central London. Prior to 1992 it was simply outside Central London which led to me only finding part time work as the demand for full time work locally was way beyond its supply. So in the end instead of working I studied yet again and here I am now, surrounded by silverware (OK, paper certificates) and no fucking work. I have no other way of trying, plus my health fell apart recently and is gradually coming back. Sorry if this is repetition, but new readers if arriving will not know my circumstances so I have to recall things from time to time or each post may not make sense on its own.

Enlightenment includes the total acceptance of the present circumstances with no wish to change them. As in reality life is spread from the positive to negative with no opportunity to reclassify circumstances, I presume enlightenment involves a detachment from the shit, as if at a distance, as no human being can tolerate serious suffering whatever these mavens tell us. I still maintain if a state of mind exists where we are no longer affected by how our body feels they should find a way of inducing it medically. Maxwell Maltz is the pioneer in these studies (I've only heard verbal reports so far) and claims by lowering the brain waves to total relaxation during otherwise active situations anxiety is impossible to occur. I suspect this explains more or less every report of enlightenment and associated experiences, and I do the odd meditation aimed at doing this. But so far even if you can relax that far it only lasts seconds as it's so unnatural and opposite to the way our minds currently work. It would be like learning to walk backwards and never the usual way again. It all seems to jar with reality. But until I get the trick (which I still have serious doubts exists) I have to make the best of circumstances as I do, with no help at this end when I'm at home.

If I was writing an essay I'd have to tie all this assortment up with a conclusion, but it's clearly not possible. Instead I'll just say a few amusing food-related words and phrases. Nibble on the beef bayonet, cut the cheese, eat meat, open your lunchbox, chuff-nuts, hide the sausage, munch the carpet and tuck into a furburger. Who said humour was dead...