Been a good week, I reckon.

Baz - me old mucker from high school - came down to visit from Liverpool from Saturday until today, so when I wasn't at work then we were invariably in the pub or a park or playing Pro Evo and catching up. It was really good to see him, it had been a while, and he was on good form. Monday was my day off, and also a day of glorious weather here in the capital, a day which saw summer kicking and screaming on its way out of the door... so we headed to Hampstead Heath with Joel and Rory and took a dip in the pond. Fucking cold, and no one had the bollocks to properly undertake a diving-board dive, but great fun - sitting in a ring in a pond and relaxing in the sun, it felt like anywhere but the middle of a huge city. And that was a good thing.

Back to the pub in Stokey last night for the pub quiz again - this time Film and Entertainment. Hopes high, we raced through the opening photo round with a flawless score.... and 'twas all downhill from there. We just scraped into the prize rankings, winning a Fosters t-shirt to split five ways. Not exactly 90 quid but once again, you know, taking part that counts, as long as we had fun along the way, etc etc.

Also managed to keep an eye on the Liverpool game out of the corner of my eye - what the hell was Rafa thinking, leaving Gerrard out? Chelsea on Sunday? That's not til Sunday! He's a professional footballer for fuck's sake, he can play twice in six days! Mental decision. Pennant looked alright but Fabio Aurelio looks a bit pish. I've been sticking up for Benitez against Joel's anti-Liverpool diatribes but maybe he really doesn't know what he's doing. Pepe Reina throwing the ball onto Johnson's head on Saturday didn't help... their newfound defensive foibles are purely grounded in the fact that Reina is in my fantasy football team and is thus not allowed to keep a clean sheet before I substitute him.

Going to apply for a few jobs from the Media section this week but my heart's not really in it. Dunno why. Borders remains alright, but I am beginning to think that the fact that time goes quickly should not be the best thing about a job. Which, um, it is - except for the attendant 5-a-side matches, of course. Last week was great fun, although I almost vomited all over the pitch. Tonight I aim to pace myself a bit more so I can still be running around after 15 whole minutes have elapsed.

Oh yeah and one more thing. On Monday night, for the first time in ages and ages, I was unable to sleep a single second of the night. I was on an early shift on Tuesday morning so went to bed at around midnight - I'd had neither drink nor spliff, and was ready for a good long sleep.

So.

My watch beeped for 1am, and I thought "hmmmmm".

Soon afterwards it beeped for 2am, and I thought "shit I need some sleep".

Then it beeped for 3am and I got really angry with myself for essentially forgetting how to fall asleep - I really did not know how to do it, and started working out what the transition is like. Is it just awake and then sleep, or what? On certain occasions when I'm really tired but can't let myself fall asleep for whatever reason - at work, on a bus, whatever - I can consciously feel my mind begin to wander from my own train of thought and into something else, before I do a classic dropping-off-on-public-transport full-body spasm (did anyone see? have I drooled all over myself again?) and am fully awake. On Monday night not once did I experience this! For fuck's sake.

So - 3am, I was angry, but it started really pissing it down. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I thought - I can fall asleep to the rain. Instead, I lay in bed listening to rain, tossing and turning, until I heard Dan get up and have a bath. Then my alarm went off and it was one of the most horrible sounds I've ever heard - even worse than when I'm actually asleep. Like a confirmation of failure, or something.

Anyway, somehow I made it through yesterday at work and the pub, and slept like a baby through the night. Thank fuck. Off back to the flat now for a quick power-nap to recharge my batteries before footy later. Yes indeed.