Last week in the life of a Gilligan

Sorry for the late posting guys I know you are anxious to know about my various trips away last week but sadly not the usual excitement as there is not much to report on.
As I said in the last posting I set off by EasyJet to Bristol at £19.00 single thank you very much indeed. For those who like to travel in the UK while I was looking for airports to fly into in and around Devon I came across Durham Tees Valley airport to Newquay, a lovely seaside place in Cornwalll and great for drinking and walking (Huyton) or just touring Cornwall. The fare with BMI baby part of British Midland was £5.99 each way including taxes - bloody hell guys you can't get a taxi to Durham for that price and it's just dearer than our fares to the SOL! Anyway I landed early in Bristol at 8.00am and had to wait until 12.00 for the sales manager for that area to pick me up as he wanted a lie in and had a terrible drive from London - I could have knocked his block off if he wasn't a mate. Then we drove to Paignton in Devon and went through our two meetings in the afternoon before going back near Bristol for a meeting the next day. The sales manager had got his agenda mixed up so we had plenty of time on our hands on the Thursday so we went sight seeing in Weston Super Mare, a nice seaside town that looked okay but maybe for the over sixties (somewhere to think of for the future Huyton!). It was there that I came across a lovely new housing development in a renovated hotel. I persuaded the sales manager to have a look around the showrooms for a laugh. I introduced ourselves in a puffyfied manner as Nigel and Henry and said we were interested in one of the apartments as a second home. You should have seen the face on the sales lady and my sales manager! She decided to show us around one of the two apartments left for sale - nice indeed and at £380,000 what a snip. She asked if it met our expectations and I said I thought so but not sure if Nigel was happy as we wanted a perfect sea view. I asked about the furnishings and she said they come with the price .... I said that the two ornaments to each side of the sofa didn't really do it for me and could they be changed, yes she agreed they could and said obviously you have different tastes than the average couple..... So it was onto the prices and she said £380,000 I said but what discount for cash. I am not sure guys but at this point I am sure that she nearly wet her pants. Then when I said that we already had a Barratt house she then said we could have additional discount on top of the cash discount at this stage I said Oh my God how exciting and hugged my sales manager "Nigel". She asked me for my business card at which point I picked one from my diary - the sales manager at Toyota Durham - now he will be getting a few calls over the next few weeks! The sales manager confirmed that I was mental when we got back in the car and then told everyone in the office about it all. When we got to the office on Friday they all said they could not believe what I had done .... I said that it was a laugh and showed the difference between North and South humour.
So it was back home late Friday arriving in Durham station at midnight Mrs Gilligan was there to pick me up and it was off to bed as soon as I got in as it was to be an early start for the trip to Manchester the next day.
Set off at 9.30am and arrived Old Trafford at 11.30 not a bad journey down but the weather had not improved as it was pissing down and I mean pissing down. I decided to wait in the car a bit to see if it would ease but after 1/2 hour no sign so decided to go for a train back to the City to meet up with the two Billys. I went passed the Trafford pub on my way to the metro link at the cricket ground only to find out later that Clive and his mob where in there as they did not want to brave the rain .... I should have gone in as well but decided the City might be the best bet as I was not drinking anyway. Met with the two Billys at 2.00pm as they had missed their train from Oldham where they would be staying with friends for the night. Billy senior was well on his way when we met ... he said he had a plan in the morning to keep sober and have a good drink on the night as he said the plan went out the window at 12.30 after his third pint. He then met up with a stranger who befriended him but what Billy senior did not know but I did was that this guys mate was pissed as a newt and when he came from the bogs he spilled a full pint over Billy senior and as he did Billy senior trying to avoid the dropping glass went through the opening in the bar just like Dellboy in OFAH! Great to watch and a good laugh at the time.
We then made our way to the ground and split up as we were in different ends I was in the West stand upper tier (The Stretford End) four rows from the back ..... bloody hell where was the oxygen when you were climbing the stairs????
The match well you all would have seen it on the box or the highlights if there was any. High points - the three points, the atmosphere, Luke Young a promising prospect, only buying a £25 ticket - The low points - crap match, Crouch (should never get a game again Flo was better for SAFC), the stairs, Sven's substitutions when Beckham was sent off, the rain, Owen (not as he used to be and won't be the saviour for the Scum as they all think). Question- why did Bent not get a shout during the match. He should have been on for Crouch when things were not going well. So the match ended 1:0 from a penalty from Lampard. Not much to cheer about other than the three points and buying the £25 ticket. Later news and results meant we had qualified for Germany and Clive straight on the phone asking for names for Germany .... have Griersons got a bus that can get us there and will Rossy know how to drive on the other side of the road???
Pulled away at 6.25pm after being kept in one of the car parks and returned home at 8.30pm to be in the club for 8.45pm and that all important drink and drink and drink .......
Next up Poland Wednesday night here's hoping that he will play Rooney and Bent up front don't think so but I think it will be an interesting combination.

J Gilling
FTM