The 305th last day of my 20s

Well, it looks like we're going to sign Koscielny. Lorient are holding out for a larger transfer fee, with manager Christian Gourcuff saying something eerily reminscient of something we've been saying about Barcelona's pursuit of Cesc:

"If Arsenal really want him, they will pay the right fee. To replace him we will do what we're used to doing – even if the transfer fee will not be re-invested in a new central defender."

So I expect we'll dick around with the transfer fee until the beginning of August, before a last-minute agreement at the stroke of midnight. It's what happened with a number of players. We seem to prefer saving a couple of million over integrating a player into the squad over a full pre-season.

The official site's been going through individual player reviews, and today focused on Craig Eastmond. He did pretty well this year, been impressive as Song's backup. I'd still like us to buy another defensive midfielder who can also play as a central defender, but Eastmond has good potential. He said:

"I set a target to play in the Carling Cup but I got a taste of that and thought I was ready to get into the squad regularly for the Premier League. The boss gave me a chance and I think I have taken it. I stepped in for Alex Song and I am progressing in that role. I just have to look at his good points and adapt them to my game. I speak to Alex a lot and he gives me a lot of good tips."

So on the 305th last day of my 20s, I went to work. It's the last time I'm going to have the awkward situation where I have to work in two locations on the same day. I'm really pleased about that. Driving a hour in order to work a half-day was really starting to shit me off.

Recently, I've been bumping into a lot of people I used to know a long time ago. Last Saturday, met some people from my old church whom I haven't seen in 10 years. Yesterday, met a guy I hadn't seen since we were kids. This Saturday, going to lunch with some uni friends; I've kept contact with them more or less, but I don't think the four of us have been in the same room together since we graduated. It's interesting; maybe June's become nostalgia month.