Has anyone ever kept a New Year’s Resolution all the way through?
One of my goals was to lose weight by being careful about my diet and more active generally. I did manage via both but not without lapsing regularly.
Unfortunately the prelude to the year was a visit from the emergency doctor when I wondered if my number was up. I had visions of being wheelchair-bound prior to wondering how best to end my own misery following a sneeze that left me temporarily paralyzed and struggling for breath. Two wrong diagnoses and a year later I’m still wary about allowing myself to sneeze as I still have episodes that remind me of that frightening night.
I did get to the gym more, and to the golf range. I’d already joined the local gym on my £52pa seniors’ concession but Mrs O twisted my arm into taking out a ‘proper’ gym membership on an introductory special offer as she didn’t want to go there on her Tod. I was running like a Willie Mullins plot job for months, letting her believe she was faster than me. It worked for her while I was struggling to work up a sweat.
I’ve wanted to play golf since I was young. I did play a few rounds per year when I was a teenager but had only played maybe a total of ten rounds since I started uni, mostly fun end-of-term days out with work colleagues, when I was guaranteed the wooden spoon. However, a new range opened locally and I decided to see if it was any good. I had no clubs so had to ask the place to lend me some each time I went.
I’ve read that visualisation is an effective way to improve at sport. I’m brilliant now. At visualising. Still mince at golf. I managed a total of four nine-hole rounds all year, my best score being 55, which I’m actually quite pleased with as I don’t recall ever breaking 120 when I ‘played’. Still, the last time I played I only took 14 putts in the round, including one three-putt. I’m hopeful that there is improvement to come as my record on the Wii for the nine hole game is -11.
I now also have two sets of clubs! The first I got from ebay, including bag, balls and tees etc was £32 delivered. The second set, a much fancier one, was £25 from a local charity shop.
The down side is that I managed to break FOUR carbon-fibre-shaft drivers along the way. I’ve been told it’s because I was hitting the ball too hard, which I didn’t think you could do. I wasn’t grounding the club – ever – but I was obviously doing something wrong.
I got to Italy on a 15-day coach tour. Most of it was very enjoyable but Naples is an absolute pit. It’s a bit like 1950s Gorbals allowed to go to pot. Still, one of the other folk on the tour was a charming Belfast woman who agreed that I looked like Robert Redford. I’m still not sure how they allowed her on the tour without her guide dog.
The tour was a consolation for not getting to do Route 66 for my landmark birthday the previous year but since the good Lady O reaches the same landmark birthday this spring she’s talking about our going there before the summer.
My young brother revealed that not only had he had a heart attack during the year but that he was told he also had one two or three years earlier that had gone undiagnosed. That was a bit of a shocker as he’s the youngest of the six of us. Another brother had already overcome prostate cancer and a sister-in-law appears to have emerged largely unscathed – physically at least – from breast cancer which, fortunately, appears to have been caught very early.
In August I made the biggest bet of my life. I thought I’d have been paid out by now and am disappointed that the bookie hasn’t done so even though the finishing line technically isn’t until May. For a person whose normal stake is 1pt win, I was surprisingly unflustered by my 30pts bet on Celtic to win the SPFL at 1/3. I’d have thought 1/50 was generous and I understand that the best price going is 1/750. It really was one of the simplest betting decisions I’ve ever made. In the big scheme of things, the 10pt profit is only a heavy Saturday’s betting money but I never felt the stake was ever at risk.
The least said about Brexit and the US election the best, for me, but at least it should hasten up my move towards Irish citizenship despite the reservations the Irish guys on here also have about the EU.
The year comes to a close with my being about 10lbs lighter than in January, probably a stone short of my original target but as Red Pollard quotes the emperor Hadrian in Seabiscuit, “Brick by brick, my friend, brick by brick.”
Punting-wise, an extended winning run from New Year’s Day through to Glorious Goodwood ensured a winning calendar year despite an erractic run since the start of August.
I plan to lose more weight this year, do Route 66, be generally still more active and fit in more visits to the golf range and courses, plus with my beloved bus pass I also hope to see more of Aberdeen, Inverness, Oban and maybe Carlisle. Especially when Megabus – bless ‘em – also provide free refreshments and snacks on their services.
I’ll be content if my reading of the form continues to serve me well and delighted if it improves before my eyesight precludes my continuing with my number one hobby.
I hope 2017 is healthy, happy and profitable to all of you.
And on strong antibiotics lol
