Sheffield...

As a comic-obsessed teenager, I used to make regular pilgrimages from my home town of Goole in East Yorkshire to Sheffield. The South Yorkshire capital had an excellent comic shop and Goole did not, so it was a happy trip with happy memories.

Apart from the time I got caught bunking off school on my birthday and I got put on report. That was less good. 

I haven't been back to Sheffield for 30 years so a recent trip was an eye opener. The main two things that struck me were as follows:
I) The streets are filled with marauding gangs of unemployed male strippers, desperate to do a dance for you. One of the poor sods was so desperate that he offered to take all his clothes off to a Kajagoogoo song of my choosing just for a bite of my sandwich.
II) The hotel I stayed at had a large events room at the back and caped keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman and Tory-loving racist comedian Jim Davison were two of the turns on offer, with a four-course lunch and a chance for photos.

One of those things is actually true.

Back on the Baize: Part I...

This year, I've returned to playing competitive pool for my county pool team after taking four years off, and it's been an enjoyable return so far. 

In match one, I played in the B Team and played the maximum four frames. I played well in a couple of them, but I was pretty ropey in the other two. However, I got lucky and won all four.

In match two, I was promoted to the A Team and I played pretty well, but I missed chances to win two frames that I would normally have put away. I comfortably won the other two frames, though, with the final one coming at a critical time when the team was 20-22 down. 

At my best, I am a good county A Team player. But I'm still feeling my way back into it a bit, so I'm not at my best. I'm also having to relearn match pacing, how to stay focused during the day, and how to keep a consistent approach and rhythm.

I am putting some proper time in, though, and it will pay dividends at some point this year. With my foot injury looking medium to long term, I need something to focus my energies into that isn't too strenuous. 

It's good to have this long-term love. It's like spending time with a good friend you haven't seen for a while.