ariotofmyown

Me and my partner had a good conversation about the past year and how it has affected us differently. It has been really difficult on many relationships and COVID has made us both more resilient to deal with all kinds of rubbish being thrown from every direction.
My career went down the toilet as soon as it was evident COVID was here to stay, I was absolutely devastated. I finally found a job I was really interested in, good people supporting me at work as well. I've always found jobs to be very tedious after awhile because I want to learn new things so this was an ideal fit. Thankfully I found something else fairly quickly but it has been a grind, getting moved to different shifts every couple of months hasn't been great for my health. Paying the bills was the most important thing on my mind. My partner's university course has been awful. Students getting a rough deal because the miscommunication and lack of support, COVID being every excuse for very simple questions. Adapting to change is tough but we've got through it. 
It's good to see some normality resuming. You take for granted seeing family and going out for a drink in a local. I'm happy to forget about the last 12 months now and look forward. Vaccine all booked too. 

Trip to Florida to play Bristol City in a hurricane.....oh wait.

The two aren't entirely unrelated, however; our troubles and the point you're making. The only way we could hope to compete with much smaller clubs than us was to push FFP rules to the very limit, so much so that there is a debate whether we broke them.
We wouldn't have done any of it if the playing field was level. It's ridiculous that a club of our size can't compete with a team like Bournemouth, for instance.
Absolutely no grievance with Bournemouth finishing above us totally on merit, and I don't believe we have any sort of divine right to be in any league. But at the same time, we are a one-club city, with a loyal and passionate fanbase, and that counts for so little that a seaside town with a smaller stadium than we have season ticket holders can blow us out of the water in the transfer market. Why? Because for half a decade, they were the opposition to the big clubs that people watch the world over, and they received hundreds of millions of pounds as a thank you for giving Man United someone to play against.
The terrible thing about the ESL debacle is that it's set the bar so low for what equality means in the game. The debate should be about how non-parachute Championship clubs shouldn't be at such a ridiculous disadvantage for the crime of not being Man City's cannon fodder. It should be about how the only reason why the world cares about the big English clubs is because of our rich culture, infrastructure and tradition in the game that's been in the making across three centuries, and in return for the absurd money the Premier League clubs be acknowledging their good fortune by ensuring clubs throughout the ladder can afford to pay their staff and put out a team at the weekend. 
But that's not where the debate is now. It's just about the very biggest clubs not having even more. Everybody knows they're supposed to be angry with Chelsea, Liverpool, United, City, Spurs and Arsenal. But ickle wickle innocent Everton, Villa, West Ham et al have been every bit as complicit in this greed culture since the early 90s. Nobody is talking about that anymore.
TL;DR? Greed is everywhere in the game and this isn't going to be solved any time soon.

A pic of Charlotte FC for his Instagram followers
 

Side effects of getting the Yorkshire variant are said to include an immediate reluctance to spend money, talking in an annoying and grating whiny accent, and having an overwhelming feeling of self-importance.  Long COVID has actually been endemic in Leeds and Sheffield for over 50 years based on my contact experiences.

Next time you feel like this buddy, imagine your Mate up in the sky saying “For ducks sake Mostyn, it’s crowded enough up here without you and your fat arse taking up valuable seating space”.  Stay strong Sunshine. Kiss ?for your Mum.

Mostyn this is the bravest of posts.
I am so pleased your mum is a strong presence in your life and that you are still with us. Each new day is a fresh start. There will be good times.
 
 

Well done on posting this ?. Keep talking and listening. 
You are not alone, there are lots of us on here willing to listen and help. 

Late to this thread so apologies for no doubt several duplicates but a list of shows I've watched and enjoyed but that also haven't (yet) been cancelled aka Daredevil / Designated Survivor such that you're left hanging:
Game of Thrones
The Vikings
Black Sails
Homeland 
Luther
Line of Duty
Temple
Strike Back
The Flight Attendant 
Chernobyl
The Tunnel
The West Wing
Snowpiercer 
To The Lake
Fear The Walking Dead
The Boys
Jack Ryan
The Underground Railway
Love, Death & Robots
Bridgestone
The Last Kingdom
Black Mirror
Altered Carbon
Ragnarok 
Star Trek Discovery
Lost in Space
The Witcher
Stranger Things
Umbrella Acadamy
The Sinner
The Fall
Barbarians
Unbelievable 
Banshee
Ozark
Mindhunter
Glitch

It's the drink that does it unfortunately. I went out last weekend with a mate had far too many and my emotions crept up on me. Not such a bad thing as it's really dangerous to keep things bottled up all of the time I know from personal experience. Try not to lose sight of all the people who love you and what a poorer world it would be for them without you in it. Am sure your mum's always happy for you to share or just unload on anytime. Counts for a lot. Stay safe.

Had a proper wobble earlier. Had a few early beers to mark second anniversary of mate’s death, abandoned mates ij Birmingham, considered doing something stupid, someone got hold of my mother, she left a voicemail, i thankfully cannot ignore my amazing mum, reset my brain... need some help. Now thinking how far I might’ve gone had I not spotted the message. Sorry. Embarrassed. But confused.  

Same here, complicated further by the fact that I have hearing aids competing for space behind my tabs. Taking the mask off in a rush (or often) can often mean getting it tangled with a hearing aid or even ripping a tube out, and that's then a 15 minute repair job.

I wear glasses, they get a bit steamed up when I put my mask on. This settles down after a while so I often put it on before I drive to where I will need it. 
 

If I have nipped out to the shop, or like yesterday, went to get a haircut, i have put my mask on at home and got in the car and driven, not for protection but just so i dont forget to put it on when i get there. Guess it depends how far i was going, if its only 5 mins or so then yeah ill wear it in the car just for that reason alone. Wouldnt if it was a long drive of course.
And also, especially from a shop, as someone who has a habit of face touching, i have worn it in the car on the way home to stop me doing so, so i can get home and do the old 20 seconds hand wash.
 

Shame someone didn't think of this before those pictures. Doesn't seem to require a tremendous amount of foresight to anticipate that you may need different arrivals areas to prevent mixing of people from different destinations.
As a famous liar said recently "our border policy is a joke". 

Simon Groom and Goldie.
One for the kids...

You have to say this is a good move for him. Wasn’t expecting him to move upstairs this early in his career.
 

no he's coming here

While I agree with a lot of what you say, do you remember how it felt when we left Wembley in 2014 in that disgustingly beautiful bank holiday sunshine?
We were run properly. We played football properly. And QPR did neither. They'd played the system, got a light 'punishment' for it, and their team of mercenaries had no answer to our team of talented, excitable youngsters who footballed them to death. Their game plan was to soak up pressure and hope for the best.
It wasn't just the nature of Zamora's goal - it was the team that did it, and what they stood for at the time. It felt like money and greed would always win, no matter what you did.
To many other clubs in this league, we're the present day QPR. If we were still living sensibly within our own means under GSE ownership, and it was Gibson selling the Riverside to himself and outcompeting us for transfers due to creative accounting, we would want the EFL to fight our corner too. 
Perhaps we haven't broken the rules, and that is why the EFL have nothing on us, but I personally feel that if the shoe was on the other foot, I'd be wanting the EFL to throw the book at the club and find anything they can.

I’m clearly on another planet; I read the club’s statement & yeah,  it says what it can, but clearly there’s not much detail they can share at the minute, but I instantly felt a bit more connected again. The line about the lost £20m due to the pandemic really struck me. My daughter & I both said as soon as we read it that we’ll buy the new shirt as soon as it’s out! 
I grew up near the Baseball Ground & could hear the crowd from our house. The club is in my blood & always will be so I’ll always do what I can to support its future as it’s our future too ? 
 
 

https://ramstrust.org.uk/wp/who-we-are/
They don't claim to represent the views of any Derby County supporters who are not members. You can snip all day long at their motives and aims (I don't agree with all of them) but this idea that they are the self elected voice of all Derby fans is just not the case. Interesting that this view is so widely held but yet is seldom levelled at the Supporters Club themselves - where the clue is in the title.

No I am not Spanish. I have alot of time for Jim and will never criticise any fan for getting involved or trying to make a difference. I have always had someone at the club to go through myself with regards to campaigns or whatever so dont necessarily feel the need to be part of the group, that being said I have been asked to join and maybe what I get involved with can be interlined...

Did this letter represent everyone's views? Nah. It didn't represent mine. But if you honestly don't think that letter gave the club a kick up the arse to open communication back up with not only individual fans, but groups previously in communication with them, then I don't know what to say. 
Maybe I could shout 'super fan' etc at people who support Derby and have major concerns. The poll that was done showed the letter actually contained wholly or mostly concerns from the majority of the fan base. 
Was it really that hard for the club to release a statement at the end of the season to state they are waiting for government decisions before releasing season ticket information? 
Was it really that hard for the club to start realising maybe these meetings with supporters could be done virtually and they should have still been doing them over the last 6 months?
There is nothing in the letter that I couldn't have written, that's not the point. Fans, and I can't be alone on this, were getting concerned at the complete blackout of communication. We went from Mel turning up to your local pub to going on Talksport to duck all. If Mel is unwell and unable to perform these duties, then there really should be someone put in place who can. 
It seems this club has taken advantage of the fact we cannot attend games or supporters meetings. That is from the players right up to the boardroom. The entire performance of this club over the last 12 months has been amateur. 
I also find it nice to hear that there are potential, 'credible' investors in conversation with us. Because officially, we didn't know. Just rumours from journalists. It's actually eased my worries that the lack of communication was based on a lack of interest in the purchasing of the club and we were in deep poo. Maybe we still are.

I think it has been made pretty clear on this thread that all the groups make efforts to consider the inputs of their members - feel free to join whichever one suits if you have something to offer but I wouldn't expect a knock on the door from someone from Punjabi Rams saying "hello, I believe you are a Derby County fan, would you mind approving this statement before we release it".

The content of the letter was provided, not the final draft.  For me, the important thing was the content, not how the letter looked.  There wasn't time to canvass opinion from all members so branch committees made the decision on their member's behalf, which is what they are elected to do.