Records and Festivities

Just a few days left of 2013 means one final blog before the summaries and preparation for 2014 and on the back of a packed social week, this week has focused more on home-based accolades.


Job searching has continued but sadly no replies meaning more applications are needed but I have allowed myself a small break fro Christmas and will resume on Monday with hopes for a working place by mid-January.

When I worked, I always wondered why I was so tired some nights when I slept seven hours and yet this week, I've seen myself stay awake overnight without a hint or tiredness which means I'm not doing enough during the day.

Sports wise, Liverpool suffered defeat to Man City but were cheated after a clearly onside goal was ruled out but 2-1 was better than the thrashings that Spurs/Arsenal received at the Etihad. Washington have gone from bad to worse with another defeat this time 23-24 against NFC rivals Dallas despite leading and go to a woeful 3-12 a long way from 2012's 10-6 divisional title win.

Skem still sit top of the NPL over Christmas and more than likely into 2014 with a stunning 6-0 win over Stocksbridge with a performance that I was glad to watch first hand and followed it up with a vital 3-2 win away to title rivals AFC Fylde to go four clear at the top and improve the prospect of a second consecutive promotion.

The Xbox consoles have rotated bit during the week which included the Dash and a number of records for the year and overall. My TA and achievement targets were both met this week with the idea being to beat what I achieved in 2012 which came true with the amounts of 4525 achievements and 114458 TA. The hopes of playing all owned games has gone due to a miscalculation so it will be a goal for 2014 with a number of new entries added to the list having been purchased during the winter sales.

Fitness wise, I have increased my walking since last week and in doing so reached a total of 2.4 million Nike Fuel meaning the targets of 2.5m and 3m will be added to the list for 2014.

Christmas was a fairly quiet affair this year but that is a sign of growing up as the magic just isn't there anymore even more so when single and less social than in the past but a few surprises did light up the day as are shown in the below images including a number of crafting sets which have become a passion of mine in recent years.

So next up will be the monthly summary and the preparations for 2014 but I will go into that on the 31st.

Social Life Returns After Long Delay

December has reached the halfway point and there are exactly two weeks left to either enjoy the rest of 2013 or reflect on a mixed year and this past week has seen both.

The best place to start is with the return of my social life which saw me have a proper night out for the first time in four years which saw me return to the Toby and the Wigan club scene which seems to have changed for the worse but waking up feeling terrible on Sunday showed that I made the most of it and had a good night which can also bee seen in the above pictures which come courtesy of Barry Dawson and Ash Johnston and it was great to see all the lads again outside of a work situation.

Last night saw me revisit the Vale Royal for a carvery with Letitia, my ex but with who I am still good friends will be in future. The carvery was just as good as I remembered it with the kingsize option one which I would recommend to anyone looking for a good roast dinner for good value as at £5.69 it is a bargain for what you get in terms of food.

Hopefully, I will return to the Raj Gate which is a restaurant that I frequented earlier in the year when I was dating Letitia and maybe could be an idea for what would have been a first anniversary in January but only time will tell.

Job searching has increased due a slight boredom during the days sometimes which suggests that the novelty of having a break from working has worn off but similarly, I have a feeling in me that whenever I do start somewhere new that it will take a while to adjust with having been in one workplace for so long.

The return to working out has been limited due to some insomnia during the week which saw me sleep only three nights out of seven due to lack of tiredness and because I know my goal to reach a healthy weight will not come this year, a new setup will be planned for 2014.

I have had no further progress in the relationship hunt with it seeming like I send messages on the dating site I'm on are invisible as the effort gets no replies whatsoever from girls who mostly put 'genuine and will always reply' in bold on their profiles but that's the way the world is I guess, people don't follow through on what they say.

Sports wise, Liverpool have continued to be on fire with a stunning 5-0 win away to a now managerless Tottenham and Skem managed to draw 2-2 against Nantwich in the NPL and advance in the cup with a win over Ashton Town on penalties, the negative was the continuing poor run that Washington are on with yet another loss, this time losing 26-27 to Atlanta to go to a woeful 3-11.

The Xbox consoles have rotated a bit during the week which saw my achievement streak reach 302 in 59 days before coming to an end as I was busy across the day and unable to earn an achievement but this month has seen me hit 94 achievements for just under 2000G which is amazing seeing as some full months this year haven't seen half that unlocked. I have begun an Xbox Dash which will hopefully see me complete the task of playing every uncompleted game I own in 2013.

Christmas is a week away but the festive spirit hasn't hit me this year and I can't really thin of the reason why but because it is a week from now, my next post will be on the 25th meaning a full week will then be highlighted for Christmas with the usual monthly summary and the yearly summary and reflection around the 31st. This will allow preparation for next year's setup so hopefully things will go to plan.

Xbox Milestone Perks Up Quiet Week

So December is officially a week old and with three weeks to go until the new year, thoughts have focused on my remaining goals for the year with a lot still to do and no further completions so far this month.

As I write, it is three weeks since I left ASDA and like I said last week even though being unemployed isn't a joyful experience and that the days seem to come and go without much notice, I have got a few things done that I had put off such as returning to my workout routines via a new utility, Xbox Fitness which allows me to workout in the limited space that is available.

The return to working out has come because I know my goal to reach a healthy weight will not come this year so starting a new regime can start 2014 off with a positive also due to not walking to and from a job anymore, my walking mileage has suffered and hopes of reaching 2000 miles on my Runkeeper app is unlikely to happen before the year's end but I enjoyed a nice five mile walk yesterday which got me out of the house for a change.

After working out that I had attended 61 Warriors games since my first back in 2010, I booked what will be my 62nd, James Roby's Testimonial which sees Wigan travel to face St Helens on Jan 31st which will be my second trip to Langtree Park and the first of what could be 3 or 4 next year.

On the subject of Wigan,I mentioned last week that plans for my 2014 coverage via Skem News was in the works but I discovered that the website had mysteriously ceased publishing which is a downer meaning my coverage will have to be self published via my blog from February.

Another negative was the progress of finding someone new as after meeting 'Suzanne' and awaiting her return from holiday, she messaged me to tell me that she didn't think it would work out and we went out separate ways.

Sports wise, Liverpool started the month badly with a 3-1 loss to Hull but back to-back wins against Norwich which saw four goals from Suarez in a 5-1 win and a 4-1 win at the weekend over West Ham have seen them rise to second with a tough trip to Tottenham this weekend, Skem kept up their good run of form to return to the top of the NPL while progressing in the cup with a 2-0 win over Radcliffe in midweek followed by a 1-0 win over Rushall on Saturday which was rich revenge as the visitors handed Skem their first defeat on the season's opening day.

Washington's season went from bad to worse as they slipped to 3-10, a record now worse than Jacksonville and Tampa who were both 0-7 at one stage when the Redskins were 2-5 and the two now have four wins each. Washington started the month with a 24-17 loss to divisional rivals New York Giants which was followed up by a humiliating 45-10 defeat to Kansas City Chiefs who led 31-0 at one stage as the Redskins look to be ending 2013 on a huge losing streak. 

The Xbox One has continued to dominate my gaming schedule with 52 achievements unlocked so far this month with 29 from COD Ghosts being a massive contributing factor but with only one unlock on the Xbox 360 in December there will need to be a balance set up although with only six games for the One versus 250 for the 360, the latter will regain domination of the playtime.

Just like last week the schedule is the same so for now it’s just a case of job searching, gaming and enjoying some writing and designing.

Eleven Down One To Go

It is hard to believe that 2014 is now only 31 days away with a lot of things planned for 2013 not yet even started but that just means more to do next year I guess. November served as a mixed month with me becoming unemployed midway through which gave me more free time to do things but also meant I have no real income for the near future.

Fitness wise, due to not doing the daily six miles for work, my stats haven't gone up much but one major mention has to be reaching my goal of 1000mi on Runkeeper with a month to spare while also showing just how much more walking I have done this year when compared to 2012 where at this point I had only done 700mi so a 300mi increase year-on-year is a massive accolade.

The other side of the fitness was seeing myself go to my lowest weight of the year at 89kg which hopefully will not go up with me not working so some fitness regimes are needed to make it go further down while preventing any increase.

The Xbox achievement chase has stepped up massively with the launch of the Xbox One on the 22nd leading to a brilliant final week of the month with 74 unlocks for 1050G. The month as a whole saw 128 achievements for 3624 TA and 1835G.

  Sports-wise, Skelmersdale have had a decent month which still sees them top of the NPL but Chorley in second have played three games less. Washington have gone backwards with three consecutive losses meaning play-off hopes would need a miracle to bear fruit. Liverpool still sit second in the PL with despite only winning 1/3 after losing against Arsenal, they beat Fulham only to finish the month with a draw in the Derby.  

Even though the domestic RL season was long finished, it was nice to see the RLWC show off so much talent and even though England missed out on the final, I was glad that Australia came out on top after the heartbreak that New Zealand gave England in the final seconds of the semi final but also to mention that I have completed my goal of renewing my seasonal seat for 2014 even though cost has prevented me from going to the WCC in February.

After hitting my tweeting goal last month, I was happy to hit another social media based goal with the 12500th view on my Blogger services with a current total of just under 600 posts.

Overall a pretty good month on all fronts with leaving my job a mixed issue with the Xbox One a nice positive as was meeting someone new but 30 days left of the year and a lot of things planned that will not get done so the best thing for December is to cut my losses on this year and focus on plans for the next one.