#110 | Spanish Connections

00:00:01:02 – 00:00:23:15
Can you hear that trumpet? No. Can you hear my fan? No. This kid starts her. But, outside my window as we speak. Is someone recall? I have a war memorial, and every now and then, loads of people turn up at it to remember the soldiers that have lost their life in battle. And I never know when it is.

00:00:23:15 – 00:00:46:15
I know if then when. It's like the day itself. I understand that bit. Yeah, but like I'm recording and I feel like they can see me not taking them, taking time to acknowledge what they're doing. I'm talking to you in Spain, and I should pay respects. Brave soldiers overseas as well. What is your remembrance about that? What's the what's the day to day August?

00:00:46:15 – 00:01:07:23
The something 11th after? No. I don't even know what time I'm now. 15th is my fifth day. Yeah, I don't know me. I don't want to say it's to Latics. They might be hard to hear me. I'm literally that close, but, I don't know why. But today I'm not sure, mate. Is it a Devizes day? Is it like a date night?

00:01:07:23 – 00:01:27:10
Do you know? Did I ever tell you about it? Devizes Carnival. We've done the chat on the. Yeah, yeah, the. I don't know if it is on here. It might be best. It's so bad. It's like. It's terrible. Like all carnivals in little towns are bad, right? Yeah, yeah. Don't take much to entertain these folk, you know. I mean, no.

00:01:27:12 – 00:01:56:09
Yeah. They're not, they're not, they don't live in London. Not built but didn't live in London. So they're constantly on when you're in London, right. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't put much effort into the, the fetes basically the carnivals, the what they call like a procession of trolley. Have they called it the highlight of Devizes Carnival procession. These are a flatbed truck with the local transvestite group on stand by waving everybody.

00:01:56:09 – 00:02:19:09
We're here. We're in. It's good. And everyone knows them because there's like five. Is this, a quarter to. I think they might have heard me go over here. We could hear that moment silent. No, I can't I can't stand the window. That's all in there. Okay. Can can I see you? Oh, yes. They look up. They can see me.

00:02:19:09 – 00:02:48:07
Yeah. Really? And especially when you make noises like that. One. I'm in a pickle. I'm not. I'm just going to look the other way. How are you? Yeah. I'm good. My. I'm good. I'm, hot, as you can imagine. How's how? Spain, mate? Yeah. Spain is is good. What have you got? None I don't I don't go anywhere near the the fish.

00:02:48:09 – 00:03:12:13
Anywhere. Anywhere anywhere. Yeah. I don't eat fish. I don't like that. I don't want anywhere near me shellfish. You wouldn't crack open a prawn. No, no, no, I never my, My mum, when she was out here, she had a pizza and she had tuna on it, and she was sat opposite me. I love my mum dearly, but I wanted to belt her in the face, blah, blah, honest.

00:03:12:13 – 00:03:32:08
I was like, how can I enjoy my food when I can see that in front of me? Yeah, I smell tuna, Chinese dolphins, shellfish. Oh, they mussels and shit like that. Yeah. That's, get that away from me. Just in our, of a catch. Your mum's tuna fish.

00:03:32:10 – 00:03:54:16
That's good. That's the. Yeah, that was I, I realize that I, I think I'll save that, by the way. Oh, are they really? Yeah. So I made it. This is a video of this competition. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I've got to show you. Yeah, yeah.

00:03:54:18 – 00:04:03:21
This is going to be a. Oh, my God, they're literally just they're.

00:04:03:23 – 00:04:22:23
Oh, my. That is so funny. They absolutely, 100% can see you cos they can see me. I've told you that I wasn't lying. Especially when with.

00:04:23:00 – 00:04:54:12
It, my is in the local parish. Well, you. I've only, Voice City. Right. Well, I think I've always said to you that I. You know, I love coming to Spain. I've always had this dream of retiring out here. And because it's just obviously love the weather. I can't bear being in England where it's cold, it's rainy, it's dark when it gets to wind, like it's dark at 4:00.

00:04:54:12 – 00:05:25:03
And honestly, there's something in my soul that just escapes. And when I'm in the sun, there's a a condition. I think I have that condition. Do you know what it's called? Sad. Is it seasonal affective disorder? Yeah, I genuinely I think I have that and it makes me feel so awful. And then when I come to Spain or there's a prolonged sunny period and in England and I'm just, I'm, I'm cool, I'm all right with the load.

00:05:25:05 – 00:05:41:11
But while I have the gun to and it's only you know what you know when you think about things and it's like I'm 42 years old and. And now it's only just dawned on me and you think maybe. Rick, you.

00:05:41:13 – 00:06:12:00
I haven't so see me. Right? That I always thought, well, not in England when it's hot sunny, I can take my laptop outside. I can do work while I'm sunbathing, I can edit videos, I can do this, that and the other. Whatever I need to do, I, when I get outside, it's too hot to work in the direct sunlight and I can't see my laptop and I'm just sweating and I'm uncomfortable.

00:06:12:02 – 00:06:30:09
To myself, because I'm overheating and I'm like, I'll have to, like, lay down for not lay down for half hour, but I just like then it will take me a while to get back into that rhythm of trying to do what I'm doing. I don't think is seasonal Affective disorder. I think you just like being on holiday. Yeah.

00:06:30:11 – 00:07:06:16
It works. Involved. You know I can't do this. It's too long. We all like going on holiday and I think he might have cracked the code. And when I was out here as well, I'm kind of. I, I knew when I came out here like, okay, you don't have to spell it out for me. My life would have been easier if I would have prerecorded two lads pods if I had done, plotting with social posts, if I cut videos beforehand, if I had done all these other things front end in the day and scheduled everything.

00:07:06:16 – 00:07:29:06
And I get that. But life gets in the way of everything else, and it's not always possible. So I've made peace of recording out in Spain, then work laptop the other social like, work that I do. But it's like I thought because I'm in the sun, I'm on holiday appeal. Right. You know, it's worse because after I finish tests, I just jump in the pool.

00:07:29:06 – 00:07:55:17
Yeah. Oh, it's fucking terrible because I know those lot. They're just jumping in the pool and they're having a yeah, listen to music, vaping, smoking cigs, drinking sangria. I realize how my kids are, but, you know, another day. There are a lot of. I won't be I will I what I say, my kids, well, they're going to be 12 and 14, 14 years old.

00:07:55:17 – 00:08:15:10
You were ten, in fact. Oh, yeah. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. So before that, before I was ten, in fact, back when I was maybe ten. Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. My, my mum when I was eight, I had my, my first year in primary school and then my dad found out and I've got, as you can imagine, fucking crucified.

00:08:15:12 – 00:08:33:14
What a great dad it would be if you go and give him, can't get lost. Mary decided to, you know this and go. Just enjoy yourself. Yeah. This bubblegum flavor, by the way. Love that. Really? Yeah. Oh, I really like this. It's nice, sweet, and, you know, you get it. It's got loads of nicotine in it, so you'll be addicted.

00:08:33:14 – 00:08:55:03
But they'll just be like mum and dad. So you know what? I get your money doing that. Yeah. Vaping in in high didn't you. In the money. Yeah yeah yeah we are. But are you the kitchen. One of the lounger. Yeah. Yeah. No they know, they know because you sneak one right. You take a pool and they don't see you.

00:08:55:06 – 00:09:12:10
Then you put it down and then they'll go that. And then I'm like you just blowing it out and it's not, what's the matter? I just don't want to want them to see me do it. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, we just do it in front of the kids, and lo and behold, they both like to vape.

00:09:12:12 – 00:09:29:08
So if you don't want your kids to vape, don't vape in front of them, is what I'm saying. Yeah, I at least we'll fighting. We're not happy about it, but you just nothing you can do. I once like in terms of drugs and all that stuff with kids, if they're going to do the they're going to do it.

00:09:29:10 – 00:09:55:05
But, yeah, we're all sort of is hiding it. So we find, sort of we find disposed vapes in these pillowcases. As I've mentioned before. I mean, Nike as well, like pillowcase like you're going to go in there and, and more than not tidy up and. Yeah, reset the bed. Got you got you got. Hold it somewhere bad, mate.

00:09:55:07 – 00:10:22:04
I've got, how does this sound? This is what I've got to do on Sunday the 24th, last day of Reading Festival, I've got to pick up Chloe and our two friends at 2 a.m., after they've been reading all day and take them home. Why? Because I'd rather do that than them. Find the way out of the festival and try and find a way home on their own.

00:10:22:06 – 00:10:44:00
Why? 2 a.m. doesn't it finish at like 12 and then they can just what festival goes all night? Yeah. I thought you were ready. I'm not sure. Will Glastonbury go? Yeah, I thought yeah, I thought the last acts are like 12 and then I. Yeah I, I think I look at these kids and like all the TikToks of Boomtown and stuff, and there's just these little kids and they're just like wankers.

00:10:44:01 – 00:11:04:14
And I just, I just think, like, Chloe's going to be surrounded by these wankers. Yeah, I hate it, but I don't think I can stop it from going so I don't. I mean, I would love to stop her. I would love to stop her just on the record if I could. If there's a way I could stop this from happening, I would do it.

00:11:04:16 – 00:11:29:09
But, can't you just can't. You got allowed. I no out in the world. Yeah, I that's exactly it. I mean, I will try and protect my kids as much as I physically can. And anything they do, if they have fear, I'd always be there for them. If they have any type of trouble. Whatever. You know, that that.

00:11:29:09 – 00:11:55:22
No, that their dad will be stood behind them up for the fight or whatever. But there are some things that you just have to let them find out for themselves. Actually, I was going to mention to the, you know, the ever up you were on, a podcast, a different podcast, the, internet that's part two. You know, that was literally yesterday because I broke my on you and everything I do.

00:11:55:23 – 00:12:23:23
You're watching. It's lovely, but I just, I like I recorded that less than 24 hours ago. Yeah, I, I did see it is up and, was, who's the who's the guy that normally hosts it? Comments. Right. Spencer. Yeah. Was he away on holiday and you've gone, you've gone in and, basically, how was it?

00:12:24:00 – 00:12:43:02
Yeah, it was good, man. I mean, it was just great talking about stuff other than football, to be honest. Let me see. I like doing this, lads. Anonymous. We don't talk about football typically, and it's just relaxing. Easy thing to do. Yeah. It was good, man. It's good. Like, I mean, people know I've talked about my relationship.

00:12:43:02 – 00:13:01:07
Well, my friendship, if you like, with, Rory Jennings and people don't. Some people don't like it. Other people are some couple of lads, at the Social on Wednesday, we did a big focus social for the, Supercup game they went to. Now, do you know what? I'm actually seeing it with Rory now. I'm seeing it like people are coming round to him.

00:13:01:09 – 00:13:21:04
I think eventually it sort of started to. I don't know what it is, really, but, so, yeah, I mean, we we go on. Well, we've been mates for a long, long time now. And so it was kind of easy talking about parenthood. And because I've got two oldest older kids like 15, 17 and he's got one, he's one years old and six.

00:13:21:06 – 00:13:43:03
So interesting to hear about the different challenges because I missed all that from my two kids. I already came into their life and their four and six. I'm still are still like still. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm very young. I'm not as formative years are. The baby's different and it's completely unique. Yeah, I mean it is, but I so obviously, you know, I'm on holiday.

00:13:43:03 – 00:14:01:16
I'm on holiday for two weeks. The first seven days was with my family. So it was my, my mum, my dad, even though they split up, you know, they are amicable around each other and they get the fact that they get to spend seven days with their children and grandchildren, which is great. Noel and I had a little bit of rumpy pumpy.

00:14:01:18 – 00:14:33:04
I think my dad would have tried it, I did. My dad's, there is a lot that never goes out for my mum. Really? Forever. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I it's always the one that kind of got away. Or when we're together, I think he realizes that and he'll probably be. Listen to this. That it's when you have that what people would say as a, you know, a traditional family and obviously my parents split up when I was 5 or 6.

00:14:33:04 – 00:14:57:23
So he gets glimmers into what could have been if my mum and dad stayed together. So I think I, I think it's it's tinged with a bit of, pain. But also he's glad that, he's able to enjoy it. Now, the second part of our holiday these seven days is with Donna's sister, and she celebrated. Sounds good.

00:14:58:00 – 00:15:24:18
Celebrated her 40th birthday yesterday. We had a big, big family barbecue. Her, my, you know, brother in law was out, and they've got two kids. And how they, like four and maybe two or something. I know the worst. So the dynamic of this holiday, the second part is dramatically changed. Now, my family are late risers, right?

00:15:24:20 – 00:15:45:24
Always have been, always will be. And especially in Spain, because we're happy to eat our dinner at 10:00 at night and go out and start, you know, going into the world then. Yeah. But when we wake up at half nine, ten here in the morning, my missus already got messages from my sister in law. They've been up since like 7:00.

00:15:46:01 – 00:16:12:15
They've already done off their day and they've got the pool as well. So she's now panicking. That's to say the kids are getting bored from the pool. What else can we do? We've got sleep in our eyes. We don't know what to do with, Fuck. We've only just woken up, so. And then at night time, like, normally we we get at the pool at like six, seven in the evening, we go for showers, we have a little wind down, we have a little look at our phone.

00:16:12:20 – 00:16:36:04
And then at 9:00 we'll start, we'll go into town, we'll go and get dinner. We'll walk along the promenade. Yeah. No, no, this by 5:00, then it's got to be dinners on at five. I'm still in the pool. Not this, like, totally different. By 9:00, they're saying good night. We're back at the villa. When I was with my family.

00:16:36:09 – 00:17:02:03
One, two in the morning. Still playing monopoly. Absolutely smashing the shit out of sangria. Yeah, but I mean, yeah, I mean, it's such a such a great drink. Sangria. I'm not something I've ever in my life drunk a sangria. Really? Oh, it's. It's wine. And it's like red wine. A bit of lemonade. I think you can stick a dash of brandy in there, and there's, like, laser chopped fruit in there.

00:17:02:05 – 00:17:32:12
It's, It's so, so nice. Is good as just whiskey. It's better than just whiskey. Whiskey is fucking dreadful. Nothing's better than just whiskey. That's what I'm like. If there was no health implications, I would happily sit and drink whiskey every night. Yeah, I remember, I remember what I was, but now of was staying with you and you'd have that little tumble glass that was always kept in your freezer.

00:17:32:12 – 00:17:50:21
Yeah. And then we'd come out of the cafe, you'd pull me, you give me a whiskey and we dram sip in it. Yeah, yeah, I we to have one. I was sitting there thinking, this is fucking horrible. And you're like, oh, this is good in Iraq. And I'm like, yeah. I just like, you know, with the sick, the water pumping in it, the Saudi around, I'm like, this is the good times.

00:17:51:00 – 00:18:16:21
I leaned against the wall, trying hard not to puke in your mouth. Yeah, but I genuinely think that the the taste of whiskey, not all whiskey like I, I struggle with Scottish whiskey, which is quite. I don't know what the correct technical term is, but quite peaty. It's hard to drink. I find it difficult to drink. Connoisseurs don't anyway.

00:18:16:23 – 00:18:23:21
I think like an Irish whiskey might be my top three most pleasurable tastes.

00:18:23:23 – 00:18:38:09
What's your what's your top three taste? Top three taste, I think number one. This could be Cherry Coke.

00:18:38:11 – 00:19:01:24
We've got a little bit to, like in the reception, but, yeah, I know, I know, I I've noticed, which is we just got, we just got a run with it. It's nothing. But when you're in the middle of nowhere in, in Spain. So, might be fun. Let's just go and then. Yeah, cherry Coke. And then I would she,

00:19:02:01 – 00:19:26:12
Number one coffee. Number two, cherry coke. Number three probably have to say fuck is a tough one in it. Yeah, like fucking vape. You find vape? Pure vape juice. Just from a bottle. Just squirted in my mouth.

00:19:26:14 – 00:19:52:14
Yeah, I'd say with my fucking boiling. Well, we got whiskey. We got, we got a lot of that cigar smoke as well. When I was a kid, I'd be like, it's obviously strawberries. That's the best. But, Yeah. What else we got? Right?

00:19:52:16 – 00:19:57:13
It's, delays. Right? Make.

00:19:57:15 – 00:20:22:15
Shit. I wanted to ask you. Right. Because obviously, I've been saying about. I work working, and I've been okay with. I mean, like, I knew about to work while I'm on holiday. Let's get it done, and it's fine, but there's still a bit of resentment there. And I should have done the stuff beforehand. So you were setting yourself?

00:20:22:17 – 00:20:37:21
Not all the stuff, but some of the stuff. Yeah, a little bit. I, I've got a little bit of, self hate. But then this will motivate me for the next time this happens. That.

00:20:37:23 – 00:21:02:12
They go on a holiday that I've got everything prepped. But what I was going to say is who work the time like like you are grafting all the time, whether it's doing podcasts in your office, whether it's going on other people's podcasts, whatever it is going into the studio in London, whether it's talkSPORT or The Overlap, where and when do you ever have time off?

00:21:02:12 – 00:21:28:05
And I know you like, like last week you went to, Solomon. Okay, that's a lovely Friday evening with the wife and having a boogie. And then probably Saturday morning off. But it wouldn't surprise me if you'd gone into the office on Saturday afternoon to do, preview podcast or something like that. They, I mean, do you have you ever taken, like, two weeks off?

00:21:28:05 – 00:21:54:17
What? Like, what would you do? Like how? No, I mean, the longest time off I've taken is how does, like, where are we? I mean. I took, took a it's a it's a ten days off. Two years ago when we went to Na in Spain. Yeah. And that was it. That's the last time I took any kind of sustained break.

00:21:54:17 – 00:22:21:01
I can't, I just can't be. When can I? When the football season ends. But the podcast don't end like you're still producing a couple of Spurs podcasts. We've got lads anonymous. We've got, other football between lines, other things and I can't. I feel like if I don't do the work, if I don't go drive up to Manchester, if I don't seek new opportunities that this could stop.

00:22:21:03 – 00:22:49:22
But I've, I've got to take, the I feel myself like needing to stop for a bit like this last I've been in London. So the reason why I went on my own to went freelance was to to have more free time and be able to work to my own schedule and do whatever I want to do. But the last six of the last eight days I've been in London and so it's, it's been it's been, it's been just been a lot, really.

00:22:49:22 – 00:23:09:22
And it's not, like, super stressful, but it's just it's just fatiguing, moving around, talking constantly, like today we've got. And I'm not moaning over just letting you know what the day was. I got up, I got here at 9 a.m. and we recorded an episode of football in the Lions edited that, got that up. Then, that we jumped on.

00:23:09:22 – 00:23:30:03
We're doing this. We need to edit this afterwards and send that over to you for you to do your bits. Then I've got a preview for the Burnley with Mark at 230, so I've got an hour's break between that which is needed. And then at 5:00 I agreed to do this podcast called oh, oh. So suppose about two weeks ago on a Friday night.

00:23:30:03 – 00:23:53:14
Oh yeah, we've got about it. And and I'm doing that at five. Yeah. So that's not, it's not that I'm complaining. It's just it I, it's a lot to do in the day. And I made the. No I did Ric like last night I didn't get back from London till 5:00 yesterday and we had to call it the Flight and got podcasts at six, and then obviously recorded that for an hour and then had to edit and get that up.

00:23:53:14 – 00:24:13:22
So I was done by about nine. And then I had to go around to see my mates who had come over from Boston Bar by to see my mates, friends of the extended family. They've come from Barbados, where they live. So I didn't get in bed till at half one and I was up at after eight and I feel tired.

00:24:13:22 – 00:24:48:14
So anyway, all I'm saying is all this work which is self-inflicted, which is a choice. It's actually come to a head a little bit and it's only the start of the season, like this is the start of the work. So I need to take the Sunday and Monday and Tuesday off. And I've turned down work in London on both Monday and Tuesday just to just take stock really, and then and sort of go ahead and yeah, but when you're freelance it's like how much unless you to super secure or I mean you work for yourself, how much time can you afford to give off yourself?

00:24:48:16 – 00:25:23:09
I panic if I do. Yeah. No, I totally get that. But like, if you don't take that time off, the time off will be taken off of you because you'll just be so mentally burnt out that. Yeah, you. End. And you'll end up taking even more time off because you'll be so fucked. Like I, I tried to do, you know, the two weeks off in the summer because I've, come out to the family villa, that that's fine.

00:25:23:09 – 00:25:53:03
But even, like, a seven day, I don't know, retreat to what? Or anything else? I think it's not really important. And obviously, I see and I know how much work that you're doing, I think I don't. I to. Us it's and it's hard for me like we're going to. It's your update I'm here every third word you're saying.

00:25:53:05 – 00:25:58:09
So let's try and reconnect this call. Okay.