Say It Ain't So Joe

I woke up this morning to the news that the team that I have been supported since I was a boy is being sold to the owners of the Boston Red Sox. I am not one of the histerical "Yanks Out" brigade, I love the USA and one of my favourite relatives is American but after the debacle that has turned a once great football club into a laughing stock, more American interest will be as welcome as Sir Alex Ferguson on the Kop. Having watched "The Town" recently I can see some connections in twinning Liverpool with Boston - it's difficult to understand what people are saying and there's a fair bit of gang warfare going on - but if the present owners had wanted to depart with some miniscule level of respect from the fans, another US connection is hardly the way to go about things. Judging from the boardroom battles going on at present it is perhaps unlikely that Hicks and Gillette will get their way on the sale but will someone who has the final say on it please veto this madness? I grew up with the club being owned and run by the parochial and philanthropic Moores family and it had the air of a family club for decades.The heart was torn out when the Moores' heir sold the business and I can't ever see it coming back. Today's a sad day.

Thursday 7 Oct. NB SInce first writing this yesterday I have read more and understand that the prospective purchaser is not Hicks and Gillett's choice and that they will lose a fortune if the sale goes through. It doesn't change my sentiments though. There's no chance of us ever getting our club back and this is my last season as a fan. Another sad day.

At last, a photo of the newest Instanta baby, Alfie. Andy Fyles and his partner Claire came into the office with the latest addition to the family and he slept like a er baby? throughout the visit. He was exactly six pounds when he was born and Andy tells me that Alfie's big sister Bethany has taken ownership of her new brother.

I said on here a couple of weeks ago that I was fast approaching the target weight in the diet and I would write about it when I did so. Well, I hit the target of 12st 3lbs on Saturday and was going to write a long glowing endorsement of tescodiets.com. Having lost 35lbs (that's almost six Alfies at birth) I was delighted but then I logged onto the site the following day and found that the goalposts had been moved and my target weight was now 11st 13lbs. That's a bit scary as even my new clothes are starting to feel loose so I think I will give the new target a miss and try and stay at on or around 12st 2lbs. I can't really knock Tesco's online diet though. It's not too expensive (about £79 for six moths but there are discounts available) and if you stick to the menus it works. I've eaten (and really enjoyed) better breakfasts and lunches than I have ever eaten and enough organic chicken to empty a battery farm and enough fruit to clear Covent Garden. The only real drawback is that the evening meals are pretty small and my alcohol intake has gone from three or four bottles of wine a week to one or less. Tonight we're off to a chain restaurant near the cinema to celebrate - we'll probably be back to square one after that.

There are less than eight weeks to go now before Marion and I retire and this afternoon I have the daunting task of trying to explain to two very competent but untrained people here at Instanta how to do the monthly management accounts. Everything else in the business has been delegated and the transition has gone smoothly but this is an area that you can't really pick up in an afternoon and I think that we may have to look at getting in outside or parental company help. I know that Craig and Dave will have a real stab at it but it's not going to be easy for them.

When we retire we'll have plenty of time to catch up on all those TV series like "Mad Men", the last series of "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" that we missed. We'll also be able to watch some kids' TV which, judging from this, will be well worth watching.