World Of Winfield

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What Gareth Southgate Meant To Me

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I guess writing about what Gareth Southgate meant to me might have made more sense in June/July, but hell, I was enjoying life too much. My prologue is really the epilogue, at least of his England manager career – and were it not for that last minute overhead kick when it looked like we were being dumped out of Euro 2024, this may have a different tone. 6 pints in and on the 6.5% beer by this point, I’d pretty much given up. Yet England hadn’t. Jude Bellingham hadn’t. The team managed by Gareth Southgate hadn’t. From then on, I … Continued

Who I’m Voting For In The 2024 General Election

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Before I tell you who I’m voting for in the 2024 General Election, if the cover hasn’t given it away, a reminder of what I believe in. I Am A Liberal I am a liberal. I believe in social liberalism – the right to live your life how you want to, to be free to make the choices within the construct of society (ie you are not free to not pay tax, for example) and law (ie you are not free to steal, etc). I believe in personal responsibility – you have freedom but also you are responsible for your … Continued

James Went To Liechtenstein

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It was was time for a day trip to Liechtenstein – the smallest country that I have been to. Just the 6th smallest country in the world. Let’s see if I can write this in the time it takes to get from Basel to Strasbourg, for the next stage of my adventure. Doing some research beforehand, a lot of Swiss people seem to think going to Liechtenstein is weird – because there is little there, and what there is there are better versions of in Switzerland (ie mountains, forests, galleries, etc). So I went with the idea that maybe I’d … Continued

James Went To Bilbao

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Why Bilbao? We kind of picked Bilbao at random – it was to be the first holiday with my folks since 2018-ish. Somewhere not too expensive, somewhere walkable, somewhere with good food, and hopefully good weather in June. Ah. The rain in Spain falls mainly in Bilbao? Actually it poured down elsewhere in Spain, and was more intermittent in Bilbao, but hey, I wanted sunshine. Something About Bilbao It likely won’t have missed your attention that some places in Spain are protesting about “mass tourism”, which possibly boils down to not building enough homes for locals – Ibiza is a … Continued

James Went To Málaga

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I realised that I’ve been meaning to finish this post about Málaga for 6 months now…and I’m about to go to España once more. Last October I moved to Spain. Alas, only for 4 ish weeks until my flat purchase completed, but it was an opportunity to live one of my dreams. Most of the time I stayed down the coast in Benalmádena, but I did also spend a week in Málaga, and had multiple evenings there too. Why not?! Doing Tourist Stuff I always used to have Málaga down as being a bit basic – an association due it … Continued

The Long Term Plan

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It’s time to think about a long term plan. I’ve clearly got my shit together. I have a career and I’m reasonably well paid – well paid enough for a £1,438 a month mortgage and several holidays a year. Also I’ve lost weight and I’ve had a quote to sort my teeth out. In 6-9 months time I might even feel comfortable enough to smile – and go onto dating apps. Yet there is a cloud looming over the horizon. Artificial intelligence. Though with thanks to Google Photo’s AI for filtering my photos to find those of clouds. Could AI … Continued

The Struggle To Find Good New Music

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Why has it become so hard to find good new music recently? I don’t want to be one of those middle-aged blokes who drone on about how music was better in my day – just 2-3 years ago there was plenty of music to excite me. Why am I unable to find good new music now? It’s not for the lack of effort. On an average week I guess I consume 100+ tracks that I’ve never listened to before on YouTube (mostly). These are found mostly from combing DJ set lists, a few radio shows by the likes of Hessle … Continued

James Went To Palermo, Sicily

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And finally I start writing about my holiday to Palermo, in Sicily. I’ve got into this groove of going away late March, to celebrate the end of my detox, and also to try to find some warm sunshine. In 2022, there was no shortage of sunshine in Las Vegas and San Diego. In 2023 there was likewise no shortage of sunshine in Malta. Yet there is no guarantee of warm sunshine anywhere in Europe in late March…it needs a bit of luck, and a good weather forecast. Having just had a sudden stratospheric warming, I thought this ruled out Spain … Continued

Achieving Emotional Stability

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Those that know me well know that I’ve had my ups and downs over previous decades – not depression, but I’ve had some emotional struggles at times. But it’s kind of struck me recently that actually, I feel like I’m achieving emotional stability. What happened? Having My Own Space Holy cow, having my own flat, my own space – being able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, is so refreshing. I can play music when I want to, at the volume I want to, do the washing up the next day (or never … Continued

Beating The Match.com Promotion

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I was reminded of this exchange with Match.com recently, and realised that I had never posted it. Basically, back when I thought I was vaguely dateable, circa 2017 (and I didn’t even own property back then), I came across a special offer from Match.com which was that if I didn’t have a girlfriend by Valentine’s Day, then I’d get a full refund. Challenge accepted! How hard could it be to still be single 6 months after signing up? Refund Request to Match.com Dear Match I succumbed during a weak moment of loneliness around a year ago into signing up for Match.com. I … Continued