Tuesday Morning Fantasy Team Owner

It's time for another NFL Fantasy rant.

I have such a brilliant team, if I say so myself.

For example - I have good quarterbacks in Daniel Jones (Indianapolis) and Justin Herbert (LA Chargers). I have the best running back in the NFL (Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis) and even own the best wide receiver with Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase.

Add in a bunch of other big timers like Kyle Pitts at tight end.

I'll say it again. I have such a brilliant team. It's not even a case 'if I say so myself'. Joe Public would look at my roster and think it's a heavy hitter.

And it is.

It scores tons of points every single week.

But, there's just one problem. 

I always end up against teams that score more. Well, not always. The team is 2-6 for the year, so there have been two weeks when it has scored more than its opposition. It hasn't on six occasions. And that's the problem.

2-6. With those players? Insane.

I Almost Bought An Aston Martin DB5

I came across an intriguing advert on the TV yesterday.

It's a model of James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 car with the ejector seat made by Corgi.

The commercial plugs that you can buy it for £19.99 with an additional bunch of free gifts, worth £14.98, thrown in. 

Oh, the box also contains an extra henchman to eject from the seat should you require one. I thought that was a funny touch.

I was interested. I took a photo of the television screen so I could look further into buying the model once I had woken up properly.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to bother. The small print put me off.

The model wouldn't be mine for 'just £19.99'. If you look at the bottom part of the commercial, you'll see that I'd be expected to pay £3.99 for delivery. 

That's not all.

The purchase kicks off a subscription service which means, unless cancelled, I will be sent a new die-cast model each month and charged £24.99 plus £3.99 for delivery.

I was keen on getting the car, but not THAT keen.

The main reason why I was inspired to make the purchase is I had a small car like that when I was a child. It was a silver Aston Martin with a really small red figure that would pop up from the seat. If I recall correctly, I broke the roof of the car so it wouldn't work after a while. 

I thought it would have been fun to have a new, better, edition of the vehicle all these years later, but I am not interested - whatsoever - in signing up for a subscription service for model cars.

That's just me, I'm sure there are some collectors out there willing to do so.  I won't be die-casting another day.

I Am...

I am sitting at the laptop with the first NFL games of the night playing out.

I managed to remember to switch everything on at 5PM because the USA doesn't change its clocks until next weekend.

Looking forward to being able to watch the Indianapolis Colts live on Sky Sports for the first time this season. As soon as their game - against the Tennessee Titans - kicks off in the later window of fixtures, I'll move away from RedZone - what I'm watching right now.

I (Vicariously) Try Purina Gourmet Revelations Cat Food

A few weeks ago, I was at home - with the TV on - when a commercial for a new Purina cat food came on. Oreo was sat beside me as I was watching and he was glued to the screen.

It may have been because there was a cat on the screen, but I choose to believe he found the thought of having a try one of the new Gourmet Revelations range in jelly.

I shopped around for it, but couldn't find it at the two supermarkets I use the most - Asda and Tesco.  To make do, I bought packets of the Gourmet Revelations mousse (ha, reminds me of that time I looked at the tin and thought it read 'mouse') and he absolutely loved them.

I knew he would find the jelly version even nicer so held on until I'd find them available close to me.

Well - we found them at a local pet shop.

I bought the chicken version and gave it to Oreo today. Here's how it looked before I gave it to him.

After putting it down, he turned to me and miaowed. I wonder what he was trying to communicate to me. Was he trying to tell me I hadn't mixed the wet food with the dry? Or was he commenting on it being something new to him? Either way, he turned back to his meal and began to chomp.

And chomp.

I returned shortly afterwards. Oreo had eaten it all in one sitting. That was somewhat surprising to me because - with the mousse version of the meal - he would munch away, leave about half, then return to it and finish off. 

I'll definitely buy more. I hope they start landing at the aforementioned supermarkets in due course.

A Few Words About The NBA Scandal

I don't follow NBA basketball as much as I once did, but I have found the latest scandal about it fascinating.

For those not in the know, the FBI has been investigating alleged corruption within the sport and made a number of big arrests yesterday.

I don't really know enough to write everything about it, but a lot of the well-known mafia families are part of this. Illegal sports betting and even rigged card games have been the spotlight.

In regards to the latter, there is alleged to have been tables - and even contact lenses - that can x-ray cards in this con. 

Amazing. 

It's the story of thing you'd read in fiction or see in a movie.

Jacquie

My Aunt Jacquie passed away last night.

It wasn't unexpected news. We had been made aware that she was at hospital a couple of days ago, so the news of her passing was not out of the blue.

Still, it's sad.

As I sit here, with a wall of white to etch some words onto, I cannot help but think back to my early childhood.

A lot of my memories from back then have my aunt, uncle and cousins there with my parents and my nan. We had a very close bond. And when I state 'close' I mean it.  My aunt, uncle and cousins lived thirteen or so doors down.

When they moved to other parts of the country, we still visited during school holidays.

My aunt was quite a character. I fear I may do her a disservice with the following lines, but here goes: I haven't seen the movie Auntie Mame - which stars Rosalind Russell. However, I read the book it is based on after winning it in a Penguin competition a few years ago. Whilst reading the stories about the quirky character of Mame and her nephew - Patrick - I couldn't help but not picture my aunt in that role.

I'm genuinely concerned about painting her in a bad light with this post. But, there are so many things springing to my mind right now that are making me think 'I cannot write that because it makes her look silly' but, I kind of think she would get a good laugh out of it.

There was one time when my aunt gave me a birthday card of a space ship flying in space. It looked kind of like an imperial craft from The Empire Strikes Back, but it wasn't. Anyway, instead of writing the card from her, she decided to write it from the Sith Lord himself.

So, on my birthday, I had a card from none other than Darth Vader! How cool, was that? It's a good job I couldn't read at the time, however, because Aunt Jacquie had signed it from 'Dark Vader'.

The Star Wars name confusion didn't end there.

A few years later, she had a pair of twin Siamese cats. They were brother and sister. One was called Luke and the other.... 

If you guessed 'Leia', you'd be wrong. My auntie called Luke's sister Leila!

Remember above when I wrote about spending summers with my aunt and uncle? Well, one year - my sister and I brought our own breakfast cereal with us. Golden Grahams had just launched in the UK and we loved it. My mum bought us a box to take with us.

Anyway, the next day, we were called down for breakfast with the announcement that  'your Horatio Grahams are ready'.

My dad is the same, though. He also has a tendency to do that with names.

Speaking of my dad, I've often brought up the following story in which they both double-teamed me. It makes me laugh nowadays, but it didn't back then.

It was 1992. I remember it because it was the day of the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics. My dad and I travelled over to spend time with them that summer. My aunt was going through her vegetarian days and told me 'you'll like what I have made for your dinner' (or something along those lines).

So, on that evening, three of us were sat at the table (my uncle must have been at work because I do not recall him at the table - trust me, I remember this as if it were yesterday). She put the plate down and I see a curry with prawns.

Back then, I disliked curries. I like mild ones nowadays, but - back in 1992 - I wouldn't touch them. As for prawns - well, they're still on my 'NO WAY, JOSE' list.

'I don't like curry or prawns, so I don't think I'll like this,' I expressed.

'You'll like it,' my aunt assured me.

'Dad, I won't like this, will I?' 

As the good little brother, my dad told me to try it for his sister.

To cut a long story short, I was right. That was the last time I ever ate a prawn. Or prawns, considering I must have had at least three spoonfuls before tapping out. 

The very last time I saw my aunt was a year or so before the pandemic. She came here to visit after a trip to the city centre. 

She loved Game of Thrones and, by sheer coincidence, happened to be at the shopping centre when Sky Atlantic was doing a promotion for the series. They had the iron throne there for people to sit on and have their photo taken.

My aunt, in her mobility scooter, had the chutzpah to have her photo taken near the throne without queuing up. Her shenanigans led the organisers to take pity and let her have a photograph closer to the prop.

That was my aunt. A character you could find in fiction, but also living in the real world.

The Sad Fall

I have been thinking a fair bit about the fall of Pizza Hut in the UK over the past couple of days.

The main reason for my contemplation about the company, and the situation it finds itself in, is because I spent ten years at Pizza Hut as one of its employees starting out as a seventeen-year-old and - I suppose - ending my time there as a seasoned veteran. Of sorts.

The restaurant I worked at was one of the casualties of Monday's fall into administration. My days with Pizza Hut ended a long time ago. The odds on anyone from the era I spent there still being employed at that Hut would be astronomical.

But - I still feel for all the staff, especially from that store.

And here's why.

As noted, I have been thinking a fair bit about the company over the past few days. That process resulted in me wondering about a lot of colleagues and friends I spent my days - and nights! - with back then. 

I genuinely cannot think of one person who made that time a bother. I'm not stating everyone, or everything, was perfect all of the time. It's just that, as a community, that place was the best. 

In my opinion, of course.

During my time with the company, I came across so many people from so many backgrounds. It was a pleasure to have called them, in the very least, a colleague but - at most - a friend.

I cannot help but think that spirit continued long after my time there. Wishing the best for all those who lost their jobs on Monday - whether they were rookies or vets.