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User
Posted 18 Oct 2025 at 01:37

I'm sat on my own in the virtual pub. Where's all the other pint loving, insomniacs when you need them.

 Phil was a regular here. He loved a virtual pint of Spitfire. We miss him very much. 

As a sign of respect, it's nice, that no-one uses his bar stool and that we've hung a photo of him, astride his 1973 Kawasaki s2A 350 triple 2 stroke, behind the bar.

Here's to you, mate. 🍺

Edited by member 19 Oct 2025 at 06:24  | Reason: Additional text

User
Posted 19 Oct 2025 at 22:24

Here! Here! Here’s to you Phil 🍺🍺🍺. Free pints in heaven 😬 and now watching Spurs losing from above πŸ˜‡

Apologies, I’ve been off line, my phone not telling me if any new posts.

Got to tell you this. My old work colleague won a box at City in an auction, we went yesterday vs Barnsley. What a fabulous entertaining experience. 22000 there, superb atmosphere and a Barnsley fella scored a worldly lobbing our 6ft 5 goalie from well within his own half. Free booze and tiffin in the box - how the other half live eh? Suffice to say I’ve spent today with a bad head and croaky voice - brilliant πŸ˜ƒ

User
Posted 19 Oct 2025 at 22:51

Hi Spongebob.

I'm glad you that you had a great day at the footie. I've just viewed the highlights. The goal you described was awesome. 

I watched my 11 year old grandson play yesterday. For almost the entire match he kept his team in the game. He made several stunning saves and saved a penalty. Then with only 5 minutes left to play, he let in a really soft goal. They lost 1-0. He was gutted. 

Who'd be a goalie? 😩

Edited by member 20 Oct 2025 at 10:04  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 20 Oct 2025 at 13:48

Hi Adrian,

Oh no, he must be gutted! You've got to be on it 100%, haven't you to be a keeper, no mistakes. Even the great Gordon Banks conceded two against the Germans on the greatest day (of course I'm way too young to remember that, first time round). You must be a really proud grandad, how good must it be to watch your grandson play. Hey, I hope you capture some of these precious moments on video, if not do it - something good to look back on. I'm envious. 

I think I've said before that neither of my kids got into football, neither playing or watching. I often wonder where I went wrong πŸ™„. Instead for a time before they both disappeared into their virtual worlds they both did competitive swimming. The eldest got quite good, he's got a draw full of medals and swam regularly at Yorks Champs and North East Regionals giving me some very proud moments to set against the thousands of hours that I spent sitting around swimming pools and playing at Taxi-man. I remember once driving him all the way up to Sunderland, getting up at the crack of dawn so that he got there in time for the 8am warm up then sitting around there waiting most of the day for his 50m backcrawl event which was then over within 30 seconds and then back home again - Nightmare! Footy wins all day long 😬 

Miserable, wet looking day outside, I got up this morning feeling like I'd been knocked over by a bus but still I feel like I should be doing something, I have got stuff to do on the allotment, including a load of onions and garlic to plant, but really? On a day like this - no way Jose πŸ˜„.

Mr S

User
Posted 27 Oct 2025 at 18:01

Ooo it’s very quiet in here, got any virtual beer?

Might have to call in the Administrators to wind us up and deduct 12 points 😬

User
Posted 27 Oct 2025 at 18:29
They tried that, apparently they got a "proxy error"!
User
Posted 27 Oct 2025 at 18:30
They tried that, apparently they got a "proxy error"!
User
Posted 27 Oct 2025 at 18:31
They tried that, apparently they got a "502 error"!
User
Posted 27 Oct 2025 at 18:31
They tried that, apparently they got a "502 error"!
User
Posted 30 Oct 2025 at 00:06
Hi, I'm back.

Had meeting with Oncologist last week. Said that the PSA score was nearly undetectable, lymph nodes had halved, bone lesions have stayed the same, tumour hasn't grown any more. So that's mostly good news. He said I've probably got 3 years 'till the next Chemo.

So now it's a rather head-hurty time, trying to get everything back on track now that I'm starting to recover from the Chemo - last one was about 6 weeks ago. I've got more energy now but the joint pain - especially in my knees - wow. I hobble around like a cripple now.

Still having a few beers but less now since I put so much weight on with the steroids - 3 stone!

Asked the Oncologist about medical cannabis but he is one of those "you must live a totally healthy existence" types. Wanted me to cut out everything and I'm sat there thinking something along the lines of this is the worse time of my life and you are saying I should be having absolutely nothing to alleviate the stress - no alcohol, no nothing.

So to cut a long story short, I acquired some of the "Devil's Lettuce" from an aquaintance and it is helping quite a lot as a muscle relaxant and mood lightener.

We're also putting the house on the market as we can't afford the mortgage with me off work, so have been trying to paint and tidy as much as I can - gives me something to aim for each day.

User
Posted 30 Oct 2025 at 07:47

Hi, Al.

Thanks for the update, mate.

It's good that the chemotherapy has proved effective, but the side effects have obviously taken a huge toll.

The physical, mental and financial pressures caused by the disease and the treatment of it, must be very hard to bear. I cannot even image what you're going through, but I'm certain that you're dealing with the situation far better than I could. I just wish there was something I could do or say to make things a little easier for you.

As for being told to abstain from things that you enjoy and relieve some stress. I think, in your position, I'd do whatever I wanted, to improve my quality of life.

Edited by member 30 Oct 2025 at 09:04  | Reason: Additional text

User
Posted 30 Oct 2025 at 11:13
Hi Al,

Very glad the chemo has been effective. There are different schools of thought on alchohol. My husband’s doctor is very focused on QOL. He actually encouraged him to have at least a beer each evening straight after surgery! They chat about beer, wine, and whisky. I’d wondered why people don’t post about things like the Devil’s Lettuce and the like. I’m really glad this is helping you. Wishing you loads of strength with it all.

User
Posted 30 Oct 2025 at 22:38
Lettuce is probably a much better alternative than beer, devilled or not!
User
Posted 31 Oct 2025 at 19:49

Hi Al,

Sounds like a really positive update, good stuff. Shame about the house but what can you do. Did you manage to get up to the Scottish Isles? (Hope I’m remembering right, it was your plan?).

I remember the reaction of my Oncologist when I told him how much I drank, he nearly fell of his chair 😬. I still drink but admittedly much less, sometimes it knocks me out, but there’s got to be some pleasure to be had somehow.

Keep going, enjoy your lettuce, sounds more exciting than anything I’ve managed to grow on the allotment.

Anyway, the wife is away, so it’s defo going to be a weekend of beer and footy for me πŸΊπŸ€“

Cheers 502 allowing,

Spongebob

User
Posted 01 Nov 2025 at 00:13

Come on chaps, we seem to be failing to match up to the label on the door, is it because of the 502s???

We should be having a good old chat! Here I am, the missus is away, I’m several beers gone and now on the wine at 12. Footy finished, the Welsh won (I honestly don’t give a fig but I wish they would learn a new song because I know its the land of their fathers with heavingly bread for men of Harlech). Just you all enjoy driving everywhere at 20mph and don’t bring that over here!!!

Anyway, just watching some ‘Caught on Dashcam’ with the sound turned down, but with my Spotify playlist giving it some.

What are all you guys up to?

Spongebob.

User
Posted 01 Nov 2025 at 00:55

Don’t worry, I’m off home, see ya πŸ₯Έ

User
Posted 01 Nov 2025 at 08:30

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
Come on chaps, we seem to be failing to match up to the label on the door, is it because of the 502s???

Hi, Spongebob.

Sorry, I missed you, mate. I had a very early night, in bed before 9pm! I hate winter and could hibernate through it.

The 502 problem doesn't appear to be improving much and people are certainly posting less often than they used to.

I miss Phil as well. Being one of the regulars, the place doesn't seem quite the same without him. 

I hope you enjoy your bachelor weekend, mate. Plenty of ale and sport. I'll be watching the women's world cup one day international final on Sunday; the men's rugby league, England v Australia today, and lots of football in between. No booze, though. I'm still off it, nearly two months now! I might treat myself to a couple of cases of Guinness zero.

As my wife is at home, I shall have to pay a price for watching the sport. I'll have to accompany her to a couple Christmas craft fairs. Oh the pain! Hours of pretending to be thrilled by overpriced Yuletide tat.

Edited by member 01 Nov 2025 at 08:39  | Reason: Spelling

User
Posted 01 Nov 2025 at 08:52

Adrian,sorry about the yellow card, I was having a particularly bad day, the words we write don't always reflect the emotion behind them. I did leave it to the discretion of the mods, any other day I would have laughed. I will say again, You do a great job on here. So again apologies for the report.☹️

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 01 Nov 2025 at 11:50

Hi Chris.

No hard feelings, and I dont mean my ED. 😁

Trying to lighten the mood on a cancer forum is very difficult. Humour is very subjective, you'll never please everyone all of the time.

Edited by member 01 Nov 2025 at 19:25  | Reason: Rearrange text

User
Posted 04 Nov 2025 at 12:04
Good moaning all,

Just a thought, if Rachel would consider taxing the use of the 502 error code then it might fill a chunk of her black hole?

I’ve got my ELEVENTH Prostap jab coming up on Friday and then there will just be two more left before I can have my Independence Day!

Here we are, and as I temporarily clear my Prostap induced head fuzziness I realise that it is bonfire night tomorrow. WowWee, remember folks, when we were kids how bonfire night used to be the 2nd most exciting day of the year (2nd after Christmas day, or maybe 3rd after birthday too). For 3-4 weeks or more beforehand our little gang would be out every evening chumping – that’s collecting wood or anything that would burn, to go on the bonfire. We would have to take care hiding it in our gardens to prevent other gangs from pinching it all. Mind you we would do our fair share of raiding too. Every house on our corner of the state would take it in turn to host the bonfire each year, even those households without kids would be involved. Old Mr Sellars at the top always used to donate one of his hats for the guy.

As kids we were allowed sparklers and flare matches, although to this day I think that little kids waving sparklers were more dangerous than anything, but as we grew older, we were able to get hold of bangers and the much-coveted air bombs. We were little sods, as we would chuck them all over the place and make genies which we made even more explosive if put in an empty grapefruit juice jar – the less said about those escapades the better! So dangerous! The scariest place to be in the days around  bonfire night was at a football match, bangers everywhere, it was completely mad!     

Then the excitement of bonfire night itself. After watching Blue Peter with their warnings to keep safe, my dad would spend time looking through the fireworks he’d bought (‘standard fireworks’) before dutifully putting them into an empty Quality Street tin. We’d get excited by the rockets and other fireworks with names like Vesuvius, Roman Candles, Catherine Wheels etc.  At the bonfire, we would watch the fire being lit and from where we lived, we could see hundreds of other bonfires lighting up the sky across the district. We were allowed to stand close around the fire keeping warm and being fed with hot potatoes washed down with Dandelion & Burdoch. Parents would take in turns to set off their stash, kids having to stand well back. How many times the firework once lit then went out and the parent then going in to inspect and relight – doh! How many times the Catherine wheel would spin off, or a rocket go horizontal instead of up? And those other fireworks that would chase you down the drive and it’s driving me mad trying to remember what they were called. We’d be allowed to stay up late but once to bed I’d stay up by the window watching the fire dying out.

Yep, different days! But in truth they were dangerous times, I know of quite a few kids at the time who got burnt, so it’s understandable how it has been made safe for today’s generation. The last bonfire I attended was a few years ago with my kids. We had to stand about two miles away from the bonfire, although the fireworks display was impressive it isn’t the same is it?    

Anyway, back to reality. I decided to have a go at tweaking my remaining snow white tufts by having a go with ‘Alpecin Gray Attack’ shampoo. Reading the tin it appears to promise just what I was looking for and that is to just to make it a bit more silvery instead of white. I’m a few weeks into this experiment and have just returned from the barbers. Yes, so it is no longer snow white, instead it has taken on a purple tinge just like an old granny’s blue rinse. If I happen to be in a bar lit by UV then my bonce will glow like a beacon! Never again, will I ever learn?

Have a good day all

Spongebob.   

 

User
Posted 04 Nov 2025 at 12:23

Hi, Spongebob.

I love your trips down memory lane. I was brought up in a small village, which is now like a small town. All the villagers used to come to the communal playing fields where we'd all contributed to a huge bonfire. 

We'd thrown potatoes into the fire and eat them when there were just embers left. They were usually so burnt they were like coal. 

I think we had homemade toffee apples as well, which were equally as unpleasant.

As for hair dying. I tried dying my grey beard. I must have left it on too long and it discoloured my skin for a few days. 😁

Edited by member 04 Nov 2025 at 12:27  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 04 Nov 2025 at 13:24

Spongebob.

Yeah it used to be called bonfire night, because we all had a bonfire to commemorate old Guido ending up on one.

The fireworks were kind of incidental. Like you said a box of standard fireworks or I recall our local newsagent having a pick n mix display of them so you could choose your own. 

Chrysanthemum fountain, mount vesuvius, traffic lights and the ones that chased you round were jumping Jack's.

The ritual of going out Bunny wood collecting started well in advance of Nov 5th, perhaps because we didn't waste october dressing up and begging for sweets door to door like kids do now. Like you said, if it would burn and wasn't nailed down it was fair game, (I recall a load of outside toilet doors going missing one year but they were traced before they could be ignited).

A few years ago I replaced a lot of floor boards in my previous house. It was October so I piled them out the back with a sign saying Bunny wood, help yourself. November 6th? Still there, kids had no concept of what Bunny wood was.

Its now just become about who can have the loudest display or the most expensive mortar bomb. It stretches from Diwali, through Halloween (who the hell decided ghosts needed explosives to scare you), on through fireworks night and into Christmas and then new year. 

Talking about the Genies you used to make, we did the same thing. One year we filled the cup shaped handle recess in a cast iron manhole cover with gunpowder,  placed a couple of paving slabs over it and laid a fuse of gunpowder like the pirates used to. There was no Genie but the manhole cover was blown down into the sewer and the paving slabs went like shrapnel into the sky. Our gang dispersed and were not heard from for several weeks after going into hiding. If any terrorists are reading, you could save a lot of messing about with hair bleach and flour and just buy a s*** ton of fireworks to make your big bangs.... I imagine the government would soon ban them if that happens. 

OK so some of us got burned, some even got dead. But we were happy then, despite being poor. Because we were poor! We were so poor we had to live in't box,  Cardboard box? You were lucky, we had to live in a septic tank. 

 

User
Posted 04 Nov 2025 at 14:17
Love these stories!
User
Posted 06 Nov 2025 at 16:05

Hi all,

Good luck with your prostap jab tomorrow Spongebob.

I didn't really get into fireworks, a kid at my school had a lucky escape with a banger where he managed to get burned but didn't lose any fingers. 

As for potatoes, we had a good crop from our allotment, some of them great for jackets or chips. Shame I don't have a fryer anymore, I used to love home made chips. We're storing them in the garage for now. 

I'm busy decorating the kitchen at the mo', we're on the home straight now, ceiling's painted, just a fancy glass splashback, new radiator and paint on the walls and we're done, hopefully before we have all the kids round for our pre Christmas dinner so no pressure. 

Cheers all,

Kev.

 

 

 

User
Posted 09 Nov 2025 at 16:32

Did you have to guard your stash of wood whilst your mates  reclaiming wood from others stash 

User
Posted 12 Nov 2025 at 05:55

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
Did you have to guard your stash of wood whilst your mates  reclaiming wood from others stash 

Yes, I did, mate.πŸ™‚

Now, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get any 'wood' 😁

 
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