A smaller delay in summarising compared to recent months but a delay all the same as October becomes a focus for half an hour or so before returning to present day November in a sort of Back to the Future trip. October certainly broke the mould in terms of successful goals with a new record of nine completed.
Liverpool's luck was far from better as 1-1 draws against Sion in the Europa League and Everton in the Merseyside derby were followed days later by the sacking of Brendan Rodgers who was not a favourite of mine aside from the joy of the title challenging season but a shock to see him go all the same. The new era saw fan favourite Jurgen Klopp take charge and steer the team to a 0-0 draw away to Tottenham on debut followed by 1-1's against Rubin Kazan (EL) and Southampton but the month ended superbly with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth in the League cup and a majestic 3-1 win away to Chelsea on the 31st!
So a mixed month for my football teams but with the RL ending, it is nice that the NFL season is in full swing and my hopes continued with Washington Redskins who secured two wins from four games across the month. A narrow 23-20 win over Philadelphia Eagles opened October before consecutive losses saw a 25-19 loss to Atlanta Falcons followed by the 34-20 woe against New York Jets but alike my other sides, they saved the highlight until the last game of the month. As they came from 24-0 down to win 31-30 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The stay on Universal Credit lasted to a first payment as the job hunt is becoming a case of researching and applying but getting no replies full stop which is just depressing but continuing is a definitive must. The despair of being basically a failure since the original sign on of seven years ago is hard to shift given the lack of ambition and general motivation I have at present.
Gaming
The overall total though was one that I believe will never be beaten with a first ever 250 reached in 252 unlocks with a split of 159 (XOne) and a rare high of 93 for the X360/Win8/10). A staggering 8271 TA after gains/losses also included the goal success of 225,000 TA reached early in the month.
A huge haul of 5495 G saw a split of 4290 on the Xbox One and 1205 on the Xbox 360/Windows 8-10 platforms which like the unlocks is a rare high for the last gen services. The haul of gamerscore saw the year's goal of hitting 146,919 reached on the 28th meaning as well as being best for TA, 2015 will be best for G with the unlocks the only one left to complete the set. The other goal in terms of gaming was one which has taken a while in the form of reaching 40% game completion overall which came on the 23rd.
Sport
Rugby league's dominance across the year came to complete halt with the final two games of the year for me being the home play-off semi final against Huddersfield Giants which Wigan won 32-8 and saw the goal of attending all home games reached before an achingly close Super League Grand Final against Leeds Rhinos which Wigan lost 22-20. So two Old Trafford defeats in a row sadly but an achieved goal to attend the event itself on the 10th.
As I have two Football strands, I'll start each one with Skelmersdale United due to attendances being included and October saw three with the trio featuring mixed results but more on that in a bit. The month itself began with a 0-0 draw away at Rushall Olympic followed by a 4-3 penalty win (0-0) away to Marine in the Liverpool Senior Cup.The first home game saw a 1-1 draw against Frickley Athletic but being in Manchester at the SLGF meant a rare non-attendance.
My first visit of the month saw a seven goal thriller against Colwyn Bay see Skem lose 4-3 with a 2-2 draw away at Grantham ahead of my second visit which saw a rare home win with a 2-1 success against Buxton.Away woes saw 2-1 losses at Halesowen Town and Workington with the month ending with my third visit to Stormy Corner for the FA Trophy qualifier against Hyde United. The game saw a cracking injury time leveller from Skem defender Tony Rendell secure a 3-3 draw in a game which was my 20th this year to set up a replay in November (Skem advanced to next stage but result will come in next month's post.)
So a mixed month for my football teams but with the RL ending, it is nice that the NFL season is in full swing and my hopes continued with Washington Redskins who secured two wins from four games across the month. A narrow 23-20 win over Philadelphia Eagles opened October before consecutive losses saw a 25-19 loss to Atlanta Falcons followed by the 34-20 woe against New York Jets but alike my other sides, they saved the highlight until the last game of the month. As they came from 24-0 down to win 31-30 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Leisure
On the video front, Super 8s Stories continued with the Huddersfield and Grand Final editions with a total of 541 views across the series while the 'Out and About' Series reached 41 with some featuring just one event due to my lack of trips at present but the view total as a whole is just over 3700.Two goals came on the video front with 40,000 views reached as well as 175 total uploads.The stay on Universal Credit lasted to a first payment as the job hunt is becoming a case of researching and applying but getting no replies full stop which is just depressing but continuing is a definitive must. The despair of being basically a failure since the original sign on of seven years ago is hard to shift given the lack of ambition and general motivation I have at present.
Gaming
After a good month in September, October went more than just a little better as the title of 'Best Month Ever' was claimed in stunning style.
The highlight of the month was the day of 100 achievements which saw my 'Best Day Ever' from March smashed with 52 more unlocks as well as a total of 2000 G and around 2300 TA and saw the goal of 7500 achievements reached.
A huge haul of 5495 G saw a split of 4290 on the Xbox One and 1205 on the Xbox 360/Windows 8-10 platforms which like the unlocks is a rare high for the last gen services. The haul of gamerscore saw the year's goal of hitting 146,919 reached on the 28th meaning as well as being best for TA, 2015 will be best for G with the unlocks the only one left to complete the set. The other goal in terms of gaming was one which has taken a while in the form of reaching 40% game completion overall which came on the 23rd.
What's Next?
As this post is being written a few days into this month itself, only the monthly Riversiders meeting has taken place so the rest of the planned events are yet to attend.- Home games for Skem are plentiful with Ilkeston (Today 7th), Northwich Victoria (10th), Lincoln United (FAT 2Q 14th), Blyth Spartans (21st) and a potential 25th game of the year in FAT Q3 (29th) if advanced but if not will come in a special day for me in early December.
Photo/Video Highlights
