So, where to begin. Well, we all thought summer was over but it has reared its happy head and started pounding the pavements with intense UV rays. Had to get the ol' sunblock out the other day. Absolutely unheard of!!!
What have I been doing with all this glorious weather, you may ask. Lean closer and I will tell you.......
Spending cash.
That's what I have been doing.
When I paid off my student loan a good few months ago now, I thought 'right, now I can do some proper saving; get a little nest egg; save for a house etc'. That pipe dream has been decimated with the prospects on offer to the UK dweller in summer.
A few Saturdays ago, a small crew of around 50 of us descended on the Ascot races like a swarm of locusts. After we were done eating the crops, we decided to hit the drinks and make a few bets in the hopes we would win BIG!!!.
The weather had other plans by showering us with hail for a solid hour. The little umbrella was dog tired at the end of it. Though the sun came out and everyone cheered.
The Queen came hooning by in her horse and carriage and we all waved at her. Shes a nice old lady.
Then for the horses. Everyone was in good spirits. Its at events like this when you realise how small the world is, when your mates know the mates of some of your other mates. Mate, it was crazy.
"Pom!" I shouted and beckoned. Over he strolls. "Gidday Jono." some random bloke sitting near me says. "ROB" shouts Jono, and off he goes to have a discussion with him, leaving me friendless and lonely. For a few seconds at least.
Anyway, I placed a few decisive bets. I won £5.20 on a race!!! "You little bewtay" I yelled, clutching my ticket so hard veins in my fist flared up.
Doesn't matter how much I lost. It was all in the name of fun. Maybe I lost £50.
By the end of the day, most people were right-offs. Especially the chicks. Most of them were unconscious. Ha.
So we all went back to Putney and I ended up in Camden (the other side of London) for the rest of the night. We were miles out. I decided to catch the standard 2 night buses to get home. On the second night bus, as I was passing in and out of consciousness, the bus started braking erratically. The driver started laying on the horn as well. Proper. People then started gasping, some chick screamed. Then I heard a few more screams following by an almighty thud.
"What the hell just happened?" I asked this wide-eyed bloke next to me.
"I think we just killed someone" he replied.
"What! Really!" I was amazed. Girls in the front seats were turning away, crying into their boyfriends arms.
'I gotta see this' I thought, rather shocked at my lack of human emotion. It must be all those horror movies.
I craned my neck so bad I think I strained a muscle. "Is it that bloke in the white T-shirt?" I ask the guy next to me once more. He just nodded, looking at me strangely.
"But he is getting up" I say "That cant be him". Now the guy next to me starts looking. "What the hell?" he says.
This dude that has just been smoked by the bus stands up, dusts himself off, and starts briskly walking away, just prior to getting into a full blown sprint. The driver and everyone around him were dumbfounded, as if they were looking at a zombie (they probably were). They all stood around looking at each other for, what seemed like in my mind altered state, an e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y.
"Come on" I pleaded, impatiently, "The guy is feeling better than I am".
After a half hour of mucking around, convinced that this dude would be OK, the driver finally started to crank the bus into gear and take me home. 'Good' I thought. I searched the papers the following few days for some kind of story but to no avail.
I spent the Sunday nursing a hangover, glad that that was all I had to handle. Wonder whatever happened to that guy. I am pretty sure he is a mutant.
Last weekend was huge. Quite possibly one of the biggest weekends I have ever had. Off. All. Time.
(Apart from Sevens Weekends - those things are huge)
It started with myself buying a few beers on the Friday night and deciding to drink them all. That was a bad idea. At 6:30 the next morning Renee karate kicked me out of bed.
"Hiyah" she says, hand also arcing in chopping motion.
"What the hell" I blubber, shocked, and hungover.
"We are going to go line up at Wimbledon" she exclaimed. "Come on"
"Owwwwwww mannnnnn" I cried out, like I used to as a teenager.
We got into the line at 7:30am, and already it filled the whole of Wimbledon Park. 'This was a serious line', I thought ' I better make a mental note of how big this line actually is, so I can compare queue sizes in the future'. Its a thing I do.
We got our queue card. 'Great', I thought ' we are only 8472 in the line'
Editor note: That is not exaggerated. That was actual place number in queue.
So we waited it out, chatting to a few people around us to wile the time away.
8
Hours
Passed
And we got in! Yay.
At the time of entry (3:30pm to be precise) the clouds opened wide and good ol' sunlight streamed in. We ate strawberries and cream (apparently its tradition) and watched a few of the matches played in the outer courts. Near the end of the day, we chilled on Henman Hill and watched the Djokovic / Baghdatis game before calling it a day. I was sunburnt but in high spirits because I paid £10 on a Wimbledon tennis ball. What a deal!
On the Sunday, we went out to............. hmmm should I say it.............. OK I will............. The Glee Stage show. Dont be haters. I don't care what anyone says about the show. It was awesome. It had all the original actors from the show in it and everything. Man, they are talented.
That finished around 4pm so we hauled ass into the underground and glided through to Hyde Park where we had another concert booked to see. This was the final day of Hard Rock Calling; a 5 day relaxed festival within Hyde Park. On the Sunday they had a few bands playing to the likes of Train, Barenaked Ladies, Mike & the Mechanics, Adam Ant, Stevie Nicks, and Rod Stewart. Stewart headlined. He was awesome, though he didnt sing 'Rhythm of my Heart' and I was gutted.
So that about wraps it up. We have a Spanish festival in a weeks time. Bands like Coldplay, Amy Winehouse, Chemical Brothers, Blondie, Black Crowes, Jack Johnson, Kaiser Cheifs and Kasabian will be there. Will tell you all about it.....