Is It Time To Get Even? – 92 Clubs By Public Transport Alphabetically in a Calendar Month
There’s an old saying about not getting mad, but getting even.
I’ve had a basketful of bad luck over the last few years, what with losing my wife of forty years and son to cancer and then suffering a couple of strokes. So perhaps now is the time to do something to wipe the slate clean and see if I can buy off the Devil who is bugging me. I had thought about perhaps doing something like riding my bicycle to Moscow, like Carol Thatcher did, but she is a lot braver and fitter than I am.
I’d much prefer to do something to raise money that for most of the time had me sitting in a comfortable chair and that at night allowed me to sleep most nights in my own bed.
The task, if I will accept it, is to visit all the 92 Premier and Football League grounds in alphabetical order in one calendar month, using only trains, trams, buses and Shanks’s pony. I thought about adding allowing bicycles and hitch-hiking, but I’m probably not up to the former yet and nobody ever does the second these days. Taxis are definitely out, except in an emergency.
I have created a spreadsheet of all the teams and it looks like it will be possible to do it in a 31-day month.
October, this year would be a good choice as on the 1st, Aldershot, who are second alphabetically, play Accrington Stanley who are first. So hopefully, I could visit the match and then get a lift back to Aldershot on a supporters coach, just in time to get a train back to London and do Arsenal on the way home.
On the other hand there are some interesting days, where several clubs are close to each other both in alphabetic order and geographically or easier to get between. There are.
- 3rd – Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool and Bolton
- 15th – Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester City, Manchester United and then on to Middlesbrough
- 17th – Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Notts County, Nottingham Forest and then on to Oldham
- 21st – Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and then on to Shrewbury
- 23rd – Swansea, Swindon, Torquay and then back to Tottenham.
Other than the Accrington-Aldershot match, there would appear to be games on the 15th at Macclesfield, the 22nd at Stevenage and perhaps it will all end on the 29th at Yeovil.
Obviously any money I raise will go to Liverpool University to help with research into pancreatic cancer. I will be setting up a page on Just Giving soon. Hopefully there are people who might like to sponsor the odd day.
At a first glance there are a few difficult teams.
- Bournemouth
- Bradford
- Colchester
- Coventry
- Crawley Town
- Doncaster
- Oxford United
- Plymouth
- Port Vale
- Shrewsbury
- Stoke
- Swindon
- Torquay
- Yeovil
Any help on buses or walking routes for these would be appreciated. Lifts, although I’m grateful for the thought, are not allowed.
The irony is that I don’t think this would have been possible for me, until this year, as now Marks and Spencer’s now have stagetically placed pit-stops in many stations, where I can get wholesome gluten-free sandwiches to speed me on my way.
Here is a provisional schedule.
- 1st – Accrington, Aldershot and Arsenal
- 2nd – Aston Villa, Barnet and Barnsley
- 3rd – Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool and Bolton
- 4th – Bournemouth and Bradford
- 5th – Brentford, Brighton, Bristol City and Bristol Rovers
- 6th – Burnley, Burton Albion and Bury
- 7th – Cardiff and Carlisle
- 8th – Charlton, Chelsea, Cheltenham and Chesterfield
- 9th – Colchester, Coventry and Crawley Town
- 10th – Crewe, Crystal Palace and Dagenham and Redbridge
- 11th – Derby, Doncaster, Everton and Exeter
- 12th – Fulham, Gillingham, and Hartlepool
- 13th – Hereford, Huddersfield and Hull
- 14th – Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester and Leyton Orient
- 15th – Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester City, Manchester United
- 16th – Middlesbrough, Millwall and Milton Keynes
- 17th – Morecambe and Newcastle
- 18th – Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham Forest and Notts County
- 19th – Oldham, Oxford United and Peterborough
- 20th – Plymouth and Port Vale
- 21st – Portsmouth and Preston
- 22nd – QPR, Reading, Rochdale and Rotherham
- 23rd – Scunthorpe, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Shrewsbury
- 24th – Southampton, Southend, Stevenage and Stoke
- 25th – Sunderland and Swansea
- 26th – Swindon, Torquay and Tottenham
- 27th – Tranmere, Walsall, Watford, West Brom and West Ham
- 28th – Wigan, AFC Wimbledon, Wolverhampton and Wycombe
- 29th – Yeovil
Ecstasy Can Be Good For You!
Who’d have believed it. But it’s here on the BBC.
But it doesn’t mean we should all take it.
The Real Safety Issue
At present I’ve got roadworks outside my house, as they replace the pavements. Safety is paramount on the site and we have plastic barriers everywhere, so no-one trips up. Unfortunately, last night one had probably fallen over and it tripped me over as I came in last night. Luckily I fell backwards with my bottom on the soft plastic barrier and only made myself look rather silly for a few moments.
This morning it’s raining hard and one of the workmen, is standing there unable to do anything, having a quick cough and a drag. He’s still got his high-visibility jacket, boots and hard hat on though.
He’s much more likely to die of cancer than in any accident on the site.
Perhaps as with many issues, we get our priorities wrong.
The Man With The Artificial Heart
This is definitely the good news story of today.
From what I can gather, the recipient is now able live a much more normal life until he can get a heart transplant.
My late wife, C, died of a squamous cell carnimona of the heart. It just grew in her heart and strangled the life out of her. She just lived only a few months after the diagnosis.
I got the impression at the time, that if she had been younger then they might have tried a transplant. But I also know that if it had been offered she would have said no!
But after today’s news, if I was in the same state and they offered me an artificial heart for a few month’s life, I think I’d take it. In fact, I sometimes think that if by having the operation I had a high chance of not making it, but would help to advance knowledge, I’d take that risk. It might be better to die under the knife, than suffer a long-lingering death.
Not that this mongrel is thinking of going yet! There are too many windmills at which to tilt!
If You Want To Get Breast Cancer Get Obese
A study from Oxford University about breast cancer has been featured on the BBC.
As someone, who has lost two close family members to the dreaded disease, it is a study that women avoid at their peril.
This is the last two paragraphs of the BBC report.
Dr Julie Sharp, of Cancer Research UK, said: “This is an important study as it helps to show how alcohol and weight can influence hormone levels. Understanding their role in breast cancer is vital and this analysis sheds light on how they could affect breast cancer risk.
“We know that the risk of the disease can be affected by family history and getting older, but there are also things women can do help reduce the risk of the disease. Maintaining a healthy body weight and reducing alcohol consumption are key to reducing breast cancer risk.”
Enough said.
One of the Earliest Places I Can Remember Turns Up in The Times
The Times today has a piece about how some hospitals should be merged or closed because they are failing.
The headline of “17 years ago closure was needed urgently. Today, Chase Farm stays open” summarises the text well. When I used to live in Cockfosters as a child, no-one had a good word for the hospital, so I suspect it hasn’t improved much after the years. The last time I was there was to see C’s godmother, who was recovering from a stroke in the hospital and I can’t remember anything positive or negative about the visit.
But I can remember my first visit to Chase Farm Hospital in 1950. It was to collect my mother and my baby sister, who had just been born there. We parked in front of the very same building shown in The Times.
The main thrust of the article in The Times is that Peter Carter, the head of the Royal College of Nursing has said that some failing hospitals should be shut.
I would agree.
When my son was first admitted to hospital in Manchester with an illness that later turned out to be pancreatic cancer, the place was a disgrace and they failed miserably in their diagnosis. Only when we moved him to Addenbrooke’s did we learn the awful truth.
So let’s shut failing hospitals and concentrate resources on services that work. We should also move a lot of those services into the community as Dr. Carter says.
Hope For Cancer Sufferers
On Wednesday I was invited around the Cancer Trials Unit at Liverpool University. I have to declare two interests in that my youngest son died from cancer of the pancreas and I contribute in a small way to their research.
It is an impressive unit and the visit left me with the feeling, that if their attitude, thoroughness and methods are repeated in hundreds of other similar units across the world, as I suspect they are, then there may well be some better news for cancer sufferers in the future.
How The Turks Deal With Pollution
This horrific story is in The Times today, although I’m pointing to a green web site, so evryone can read it.
Turkey may well have nine percent economic growth, but at what cost?
So is it right, that we increase unemployment, because of imports from Turkey?
In my view it isn’t!
C and I once had a holiday in Turkey and in some ways we weren’t impressed. Luckily we could afford to go somewhere better.
As a coeliac, I starved in Turkey, as they just couldn’t get the idea of what gluten-free was! Despite the fact I had an excellent translation.
Danny Baker Returns
Danny Baker is back on Radio 5 Live this morning after his treatment for cancer.
I wish him well.
Let’s hope he’s on as good form as ever. I shal be listening.
Danny Baker Is Coming Back
Christian O”Connell said on his radio show this morning, that Danny Baker will be returning next week for his Radio 5 show. He has done one show on radio since he started his battle against cancer and there is a report here.
I shall be listening.
The Anonymous Widower 