Busy

All of the sudden I have a load of work coming in from London. Not that I am moaning because the dosh is going to come in useful but typical that the work should arrive at the same time as the good weather. It is glorious outside but I am glued to my computer most of the day.

As expected, the diet has kind of finished. There have been too many temptations in recent days, nights out, restaurant visits, drink offers, etc. My will was broken. Still I am very pleased with my 7 week effort and 5 kilo weight loss. Now I have to be careful not to just bounce back so although the diet is basically finished I am still showing a bit of discipline and controlling my food intake and also keeping up the efforts at the gym. I feel good for it and felt much sharper at football this week.

My friend Marco arrives in Phuket this week and Gil is back the week after. Huwy is off to Singapore for a couple of days job hunting. He is trying to break into offshore work but cannot get his break and he is running out of time and money. If he doesn't find something on this trip to Singapore he is running out of options.

It seems like a distant memory now but England threw away the lifeline handed to them by Israel in the most painful of fashions. The manager made a right pigs ear of selecting the team playing a 4-5-1 and making all the old compromises and cock-ups that characterised most of his reign. We quickly found ourselves two-nil down. At halftime we reverted to a 4-4-2 and got ourselves back to two-two. So having found a formation that was working the manager then decided to revert to the 4-5-1 that had not worked and what do you know, we lost 3-2. Needless to say he was sacked the next day. It will be a long and painful summer watching the Euros with no England.

Sun

Well the dry season seems to have arrived bang on time in the middle of November. There will still be the odd downpour but the weather over the last few days has been glorious. Somehow everything feels a little brighter once the sun comes out and you feel an extra spring in the step.

I am just about hanging on with the diet but I can feel my resolve weakening. We had a big eat up at a local restaurant this week and I had a boozing session with Pon in Phuket Town and another with friends in Patong. It looked for a while like Gil would be back this week which would have made it even harder to keep going but he now has an extra three weeks in Nigeria. Still I am pleased with the results of the diet so far but would like to drop another kilo or two if possible.

It has been international week for football and England got a huge break this weekend when Israel beat Russia ( I will have to buy Gil a beer). If Russia had won then England were as good as out but now we only need a draw at home to Croatia on Wednesday so it will be a late night for me.

Rain

It has been raining hard for the last couple of weeks. It is normal for this time of year but we are in November now and the high season weather should be here soon. It could come anytime but there is no sign yet. A couple of years ago it didn't happen until January which was a bit freakish.

When it is raining a lot and you are trying to be healthy you are a bit limited in what you can do. Finding a good spell of weather for a day out is difficult and trips to restaurants and bars are limited because it is just not the same if you can't stuff your face. So things are generally a little quiet and dull at the moment. Lots of trips to the gym, healthy food, a bit of shopping, the odd movie, bit of football. Nothing to get excited about.

Things will pick up when the weather breaks and at the end of the month we have a few friends arriving. A good old friend Marco from England will be here for 10 days and Gil is back early next month. Until then I intend to use this quiet period to push on with my diet. Another two or three weeks discipline and I will be very pleased with myself. Even Pon claims to have new found resolve but I am no convinced it will last.

Dietting On

The diet continues to tick along well enough. It is more than a month now and I still feel I have another couple of weeks will-power left in me. I continue to up my efforts at the gym and to eat lots of small healthy meals and the weight is slowly droppng off which is the way it should be. Pon, as expected, has lost next to nothing. In fact I'm not sure she isn't starting to put on weight again. The concept of reducing food intake is a tough one for Thai people.

My football team had another friendly game against the teachers at the BIS school yesterday. For the first time ever, they beat us 3-2. It had been raining hard and the pitch was a bit of a mudbath. It suited them a bit more than us as they are cloggers where as we of course are passing football purists. Well almost, but it did level the playing standards a bit. I only played the second half and we were already 3-2 down. I can live with only playing half a game at my age. Just the same the lack of discipline from some of the players at this standard is frustrating. I played at centre back which is not my natural position and it was not made easier by the wanderings of two of the other defenders. I certainly got plenty of running in.

Spurs have their new manager in place. Ramos from Spain. His start seems promising. He is saying the right things and seems to have a bit of presence so we will see. He has started with a home win against Port vale in the league cup and last night we got a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough. It is the first time this season that we have not thrown away a result in the last minute so it is a start.