Sunday 3rd October

Determined to make today less of a miserably lonely day than yesterday, I start brightly by heading to Sainsbury's to shop for goods to get me through the week. I also invite Alex round for lunch, on whose instruction I cook up some fish fingers, potato waffles and beans – a fact that makes my mother laugh on the phone later, such was this meal's ubiquity in my childhood. Thankfully K and others have taught me to be somewhat more adventurous in the intervening years.

Alex comes round and the meal goes down very well as we watch a bit of telly before heading out to watch the football. We arrive at the Worlds End on Stroud Green Road a good hour before Chelsea v Arsenal kicks off, managing to catch the end of Man City v Newcastle (2-1) and catch world of the astonishing result between Liverpool and Blackpool at Anfield, in which the hosts are beaten 2-1 by the visiting Premier League minnows. The pub slowly but steadily fills up to capacity, our seats occupying an uncomfortable position in front of the bar but with a decent view of a good few screens over the heads of the gathered Gooners. The match turns out to be a very enjoyable one with some good quality attacking football from both sides, and more or less impenetrable defending from Chelsea. Drogba scores the first from an Ashley Cole cross before half-time, then Alex adds a second with a typically thumping free kick five minutes from time. Alex (my Alex) isn't too pleased, but we head up to the Faltering Fullback for another pint to dissect the game.

We're both in the mood to play a little pool, so we get the bus up to Crouch End towards the Hope and Anchor, whose sole pool table is in the firm control of the local semi-pros. Nevertheless we put our names down, and over the next couple of hours we drink and play the jukebox in between routine demolitions. One game sees me paying a pound for the priviledge of taking a single (missed) shot. Alex fares a little better, potting a couple before her inevitable demise. By closing time we're both hungry again, so we make a welcome stop at Pizza Go-Go before heading home. I don't know why, but Sunday always seems to be more of a fun day to go out. Until Monday morning, that is.