One man's detox is another man's pretox

And so it was on Saturday.

As many of us current detoxers have observed, cutting out the drink means frequently getting bored. So what do you do when you can't drink? "Answer", to quote Neil on the way to Upton Park from the tube station, "we do stuff like this!" Never mind that he was on the last weekend before the Big One crowd to their full detox (as opposed to mine, which mainly involves just no booze). After a much-enjoyed sleep-in on Saturday (til the alarm at 11:45 am, heh heh), I read a text message from Neilo asking if I fancied accompanying him to see West Ham play at home. Third-round FA cup tie, and an introduction to the "Championship". Sure, how could you turn that down?

And a great afternoon out was had indeed. At �30 a head, it wasn't cheap, but I wasn't drinking or eating any of the stadium cuisine, so a hint of HTI Wes was brought back to the proceedings. As I texted to the Cullybackeyman and Goff, of all the things I'd imagined I'd be doing this weekend, going to see West Ham host Norwich City wasn't one of them. The fact that they won added to the atmosphere, obviously. And the reference to Upton Park in the hooky programme as the MDF Towers!



The surreallest moment was probably standing, sober, in a football supporters' pub, drinking Britvic 55. The place was absolutely packed, but despite looking as dodgy as hell from the outside — helped by the obvious police presence — it was actually grand inside! And �1.89 for a pint of Stella, which Neilo merrily dispensed with. Fecker...

Then yesterday was mostly taken up by

1. waking up too early


2. going into town to go shopping (too early)


3. getting boy's stuff (DVDs, CDs, etc.)


4. calling in to Wildman's for a cup of coffee


5. getting grown-up stuff (towels, dressing gown)


6. watching rented DVD

Rock'n'roll, kids! Although I was particularly pleased with getting Band of Brothers for �35 from HMV!

Back to it now, though...