You wait for something interesting to happen in Life and then it all comes flooding in!

The week before the wedding was fairly uneventful, with various PhD, ferite and cricket activities taking place. However, on Tuesday, Sarah, Chris B and myself went to see Wedding Crashers which is a great film. On the way home (I was driving) my alternator decided to choose the moment to stop working. The result was that my battery was running down and becoming very much flat. I called out the RAC which finally arrived and helped me get back home which was very much useful. The next morning I picked up a battery charger and some new jump leads and took my car over to Hadley motors.

On Thursday they replaced the alternator and I picked up the car.

On the Friday, I picked up Simon from University and we ambled down to Aylesbury, where he got on the train and I went and met my Dad and Emily. Friday evening was spent doing not very much (food, drink and film I think – Dodgeball).

Saturday I was up early and headed down to Colchester for the Wedding. I found my B and B and then went for an amble about. I picked up Beginners Japanese Script and started to read that with the help of a couple of coffee’s from Cafe Rouge. I then met with Anna, and Dav (having gotten myself suited and booted). We went to the church and it was very nice. Elle looked stunning and Dan looked very dapper. It was a great ceremony (if not a little emotional in places). Afterwards we ambled up to the Gold Course where the reception was. The meal was very good and the evening equally so. I enjoyed the drinks and the dancing and had a really good time. The best bit was all my old friends there and falling into the old routine!

Sunday was a quick start as we all got kicked out of our rooms. Dav, Sasi, Si and Joe picked me up and we headed down to the gold course to pick up my car and meet with the rest of the group. We said our good byes, with Dav, Sasi, Joe, Si and myself heading off to find some food. We had some lunch which was nothing short of hilarious. We were first in the pub garden, and it wasn’t until, an hour later, when we heard a baby’s toy did we realise that there were other people in the garden. We left about 1ish and headed back to our respective homes. I dropped into my Dad’s house and then drove Si and myself back to Birmingham.

Monday was a lazy-ish day and I decided to hop in my car and leg it down to Aylesbury to reduce the driving for Tuesday. I dropped my suit off to be dry cleaned and then didn’t do all that much.

Tuesday I got up and headed into Aylesbury to sort out some Swedish currency and my E111. I got back to the house and packed my bags into my car and dusted it down to Heathrow. I ended up having plenty of time in the Airport and got slightly bored, so I ended up purchasing Pitch Black on dvd. I duely watched it on the plane using laptop. The flight was pretty uneventful. When I landed I grabbed a taxi. The driver was just shocking and had no idea where I wanted to go (even though he had a GPS navigation system and I had given him the exact address). Finally arrived and ended up grabbing dinner with Christian, Daniel and Anna. We had traditional Swedish food, Thai!

Wednesday was fun, once again I was suited and booted with the aim to impress the client for Cention. The meeting went well and we are well on our way to having a good idea of how the new system they want is going to be produced. It is rather exciting. Went for some very good sushi for lunch. At the end of the day, we went to a pub had some beers and ended up staying for food. Best. Steak. Ever. After that we went to a place called Spy Bar where free drinks were laid out for general consumption in the VIP room. I ended up spending a good 3 hours talking to a gorgeous Swedish lass called Sandra (I know not very Swedish). When the VIP room closed, we headed into the main bar area and ended up drinking expensive champagne. In part to celebrate ferite. Cool stuff. I also ended up chatting and dancing with a Finnish lass and had a good time. Christian and I left and hunted down a place to have a Burger. On the way we stopped and grabbed a hot-dog. The burger was good and I think I finally got back to the hotel at 3.30am. Crashed.

Thursday was slightly painful in the morning (due to lack of sleep), although there was work to be done. Daniel and myself fleshed out the main components of the new system, and started getting some UI mock-ups in motion. I also got a phone call from Ant telling me that Si (different one) and Marriane had broken up :0(. I left Cention for the Airport about 3.30pm and ended up falling asleep in the taxi. When I got to the airport I was starving; I purchased a sandwich and a beer and consumed them quickly. I then used the old CC to hook onto the WIFI network that was in the departure lounge. After reading up on AJAX, I boarded the plane and had a long journey, although this time it was spent hacking on code. Got to Heathrow, picked up car and drove back to my Dad’s house. I was about 2 hours later than I had wanted to be.

Friday was spent getting some more work done. I picked up GT4 for PS2 and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for GC. Friday evening was spent watching The Thomas Crown Affair and having a glass or two of wine. Good evening until I got a phone call from Maz to tell me that my house had been broken into and turned over. Bugger.

Saturday I got up early and started my drive up to Birmingham to try see what happened the previous night. I got to about junction 12-13 and my alternator sheared off it’s mounting bracket. Long story made short, RAC came out and removed alternator, got car moving, Alex came, as backup, and drove behind me all the way to Birmingham. Got the car to the garage that fitted the alternator. Still need to contact them (seem to be closed at the moment).

Alex got me back to the house. Was nervous and wasn’t given a chance to really relax due to Sarah’s parents being at the house. As well as Chris B, Si, Alex and Lauren. Had a scout about to see what was stolen, looks to be not very much. Sorted various bits out such as grabbing some more locks for the back door aswell as reinforcing the existing covering for the door. In the evening, Maz, Lauren, and Ant came round. We (including Sarah) watched Me, Myself and Irene and had take-away. It was a good evening. Maz dropped Lauren home and Ant crashed on our couch. The night was uneventful. Thank god. Ant and I did speak to Ro on the phone which was really nice.

Sunday found Alex, Lauren and myself at the gym and then off to Wolverhampton to see Si, Gaz and DJ. We stayed for a short while and came back to pick some stuff up for a BBQ and then watch the final moments of the cricket. The cricket was exciting, the BBQ good. Most people turned up which was nice.

Monday morning was spent sorting out the rest of my room. Monday afternoon was spent at Ant’s hacking on code doing not very much. In the evening Si and Maz (post a talk) came round to Ant’s. They have decided that they will not get back together and remain friends. The four of us went to ZiZi’s for food. Si went back to Wolvo and the remaining 3 had some beers in the Varsity.

Tuesday was spent doing work for Cention, chasing down specs and working on the functional specification document. The evening was spent either in the bath or reading my book, or both at the same time!