Ang, Fran and Sam

So today I headed into Manchester center to see some Uni mates. We met up in Kro bar on Piccadilly gardens. I was pleased to see them all but especially Ang (short for Angharad) as she bore gifts and also I hadn't see her for two and a half years. Ang has been living and working out in Japan when we left Uni back in July 2005. Blimey, you might say.
We went for dinner down at Dukes 92 and I took some pictures (see below). Later the boho side of me took hold hence the end pics:

Sam and Fran	Ang's Japanese Friend	Ang
Fran and I
	Dukes 92
The "ilton"

What a lot of Family

The following are members of family whom I have seen this Christmas period:

1. my mother, Helen,
2. my mother's partner, Stuart,
3. his son, Chris,
4. my father, Mark,
5. my younger sister, Elizabeth,
6. her fiancé, Anthony,
7. my elder sister, Melanie,
8. her partner, Jonath,
9. their son or my nephew, Alex,
10. my father's mother or my grandmother, Thérèse,
11. my father's father or my grandfather, Peter,
12. my father's eldest sister or my aunt, Cath,
13. her husband or my uncle, Leo,
14. their son or my cousin, Jimmy,
15. their daughter or my cousin, Grace,
16. my father's youngest sister or my aunt, Renata,
17. her husband or my uncle, David,
18. their eldest daughter or my cousin, Olivia,
19. their youngest daughter or my cousin, Freya,
20. my mother's sister or my aunt, Sue,
21. her husband or my uncle, Peter,
22. their eldest daughter or my cousin, Emily,
23. their youngest daughter or my cousin, Lydia.

What a huge family! Phew.

Brilliant Giggles, Although A Bit Nerdy

Now I can't remember whether or not I've posted this and if you recognise it then I'm sorry, but you do know my blog better than I do. Looking back through my pictures I found this and it made me giggle. Call me a saddo but I am quite a musical person. Anyway, have a read through and I hope it'll make you laugh:

A Good Weekend, But No Time For It Now

So I've been to Keswick last weekend but it's late and I can't be bothered to explain and post the pictures. Instead I'll leave you with this:

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.
Cna yuo raed tihs?
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

How to Change a Headlamp Bulb on a 2002 VW Polo

Don't.

The manual states

To change the headlight bulb may require removal of other parts of the car. Take the car to a VW dealer or seek expert adivce.

Well, I thought; "sod that it's a headlight. You should be able to change the bulb without going to the dealer. It's usually a simple operation." So this morning I got a spare bulb and some star drivers and set off trying to achieve this simple task. And here's how to do it:

1. Open the bonnet and find the rear of the headlight fitting,
2. Remove the waterproof rubber socket,
3. Stick your head in and this is what you should see:

4. Loosen the star screws on the left and right only until the bracket becomes slightly loose (be careful not to undo the screws completely,
5. Grab hold of the connector box and carefully wiggle and twist the broken bulb until it frees itself,
6. Replace the bulb in the same orientation (with the square sticky outy bit at the top),

Now for the hard part

7. Try to fit the bulb into the bracket by jiggling, wiggling, twisting and pushing it to no avail,
8. Look at picture above again for inspiration,
9. Jiggle, wiggle, twist and push again,
10. Curse loudly,
11. Look at picture above again for more inspiration,
12. Jiggle, wiggle, twist and push again,
13. Observe the screws you only loosened ping out of the brakcet across the engine,
14. Stand montionless for a while as though trying to ignore the fact that the screws are now lost and consider the meaning of life,
15. Switch on torch,
16. Stick arm, hand, head and torch into every possible crevice to find screws. They may have fallen inside the headlight fitting itself, in which case;
    1. Curse loudly and pull out hair,
    2. Remove more waterproof sockets from the fitting and peer inside. A good tip here is to get a magnetic screwdriver to help pick up the rogue screws.
17. Look at above picture to see how the bracket fits together,
18. Replace screws into bracket and bracket onto headlight fitting,
19. Repeat from step 7 until somehow miraculously the bulb secures itself in the bracket,
20. Tighten screws carefully,
21. Have a long sit down.

May I just take this opportunity to say to the man/woman who designed this: You idiot!

Classical Spectacular

A short post tonight. Just been to see the "Classical Spectacular" at the MEN arena. Beccy and I enjoyed a great evening's entertainment provided by the Halle Orchestra and Halifax Choral Society. Highlights included Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Finale, Jerusalem, Handel's Hallelujah chorus and the grandest 1812 Overture, with cannons, fireworks and everything! We finally made it home after the fight we undertook to get out of the car park. Anyway, here's a picture taken during Land of Hope and Glory at the end of the first half:

Skiing and Christmas Markets

So today I spent most of the morning trying to find my skiing equipment, namely my boots and pants. Eventually in my mother's attic I found my astro boots and hockey socks! Brill. But not my skiing stuff. So I headed over to Beccy's parents' house and rummaged in there loft. 'Ere I was more successful and sped off to meet my friends who were taking an introductory skiing lesson at the brand new (and spanking) Chill Factor (e?) near the Trafford Shopping Centre. So after a lot of messing about I finally got my skis on and off to the hill I went.

Now I must explain that this ski centre is one of these indoor snow "domes". From the outside it couldn't look more unlike a dome. Inside they've tried to generate a "village" atmosphere with shops and coffee bars and normal bars and restaurants and all that. The atmosphere was one of excitement and people seemed to be hurrying around and disregarding all the notices and rules, but I wouldn't say it was villagey. At one end of the "village" is a ski hill which is about 20m wide and about 120m long with two drag lifts at each side. To the left of that is the beginners' slope which is just a little dip really.

So they don't really seem to have the whole getting going bit sorted. It seemed a bit clumsy collect this here and that there and this and that and this; all the time walking around with bulky bits of equipment. Finally though I got out onto the piste. I have to admit the snow was great. It felt real under my skis. I tried all sides of the piste and found the conditions to be different all over. Icy patches and powdery patches and all manner of obstacles that the organisers have for some reason stuck into the middle of the piste. A nice gentle hill with not quite enough room to carve a turn, but plenty to get your ski legs back.

After about an hour I was pretty much bored and about 3 hours overdue a coffee. Thankfully the place doesn't have ski-hill prices and I settled into the bar with my mates for a bit of apres ski! Here's the view from the bar's balcony:

Next we headed back to Matt's house and then out to sample the Christmas Markets a little. Unfortunately the weather didn't reflect the skiing theme and instead reflected a wet theme. Matt, Brian and I were soaked. After the rain had died down a bit we huddled under the shelter of the mulled wine stand for about 2 and a half hours.

A Visit to Bristol

Hi. It's been a while again, although I haven't forgotten you. I was actually waiting for some pictures to arrive from my mate Faz who was up last weekend but they're taking ages to materialise. I'll back date the post when they finally arrive.

This weekend just gone by I headed down to Bristol to catch up with Tommy, a uni friend, and Faz, again. Although Faz and I spent most of the weekend bickering. We played some squash and watched the Rugby and that was pretty much Saturday day. Mind you a great match between RSA and The Barbarians, an exhibition match team made up of the best players of the world the managers can get there hands on. Twas rather entertaining I say.

After dinner we three went over to Clifton Village on the outskirts of Bristol to sample the nightlife briefly. Which I have to say was most enjoyable, but Tom dragged us away as he was driving and didn't want to stay out too late... boo. Tom took us to The Coronation Tap but I couldn't pluck up enough courage to order a scrumpy, although having tasted Faz's I wished I had. An opportunity missed.

Sunday was again a wet and windy day. After a lazy start Tom took us to Sandy Bay to enjoy to the stiff 45knot wind and rain. Horizontal. We retreated home quickly.

That was pretty much the weekend in a nutshell, I'll leave you with a picture of Clifton Suspension Bridge