The Alpha Dog

In the morning, I head home to L. It’s a good job I don’t have a hangover, apparently MD has had a lie in and is as high as a kite.

As you may have gathered MD has well and truly settled in now and has his paws firmly under the table. He is fast becoming the Alpha dog. We keep reminding Doggo that he's supposed to be the Alpha dog but he doesn't listen. He just sits back and lets MD get on with things. He occasionally tries to knock him down a peg or two with a growl and a bat round the ears with his paw, but MD just thinks he wants to play.

After catching up with L, we visit our local farm shop, then I take the boys out on the park, finally it's off to the football where Derby are the evening game on Sky. The cameras are presumably just there to witness Derby going a full year without a victory.

Actually, the team put in another good performance and I think that finally their luck might just be on the turn. First, we take the lead when Paul Green's diving header is deflected into the net by a Sheffield defender but then the bad luck is back, as we concede the obligatory and almost immediate equaliser.

This is followed by the referee awarding us a penalty, only to change his mind after talking to his linesman and giving a corner. Typical. I'd never seen that before but 24 hours later, it happened again to Everton.

Then perhaps some more good fortune, Rob Hulse controls the ball, perhaps with a little help from his hand, before thumping home a volley against his former club. It's usually a former striker who comes back to haunt us, not the other way around. So finally a win and Sky go home disappointed.

L joins me in Derby and we partake of a 'rack' at the Royal Standard. Five thirds of different beers and a generous pot of mature cheddar for a fiver. Very nice.

Back in Nottingham, Son is out on an 18th birthday bash. He and his friends are all heading towards this same milestone. I remember those days. A heady time of parties and drinking, I could tell some stories... But everyone needn't be so concerned about the hell raising, binge drinking, youth of today. The boys do cinema and a meal and are home by 8.30.

Not so, L and I. We have a few more ales in Derby and then head back to Nottingham for a decadent late night curry.