Happy birthday Liz

My pal Rhonda's wedding bash was on Sat. She'd gone to Las Vegas and got married to her bloke without mentioning it to anyone - including her own mother - and had a bash for her family and pals on the w/e. There was a food fight at the end that caused mucho mess, including a poor result for a portrait of the Queen (a direct hit with a chocolate eclair). Received the below from Rhond on Mon:

"I'm in big big trouble - I'm having to pay for the wall to be painted and the dance floor to be resurfaced after the cake fight! Oh dear!"

Dear me.

Bank Hol weekend's varied activities

Thurs - Out in London to old man's pub and then cheesy bar with Stoney, Angela and (the very drunk) C. Strangely transpired that the people we were out with knew my uni friend Gopher.
Booze-o-meter rating: *** (fair to middling)

Fri - Poker in Chester with Ad and the lads, after a few tins of liquid refreshment on the train:
Booze-o-meter rating: **** (middling to large)

Sat - Out in Blackburn with Ian. Drinking at a heroic pace in Waterspouts (was actually Weatherspoons but the spellcheck suggested the above which is much better) followed by a cheesy bar and a shocker of a night club. It was called 'Heaven and Hell' but was more of the latter. Then it was a pizza and a sleep in the car while I waited for the chaps to return to the hosue I was staying at. I had managed to lose them when I became sleepy and had to have a sit down. Followed by horrid B'burn vs Pool game the next day.
Booze-o-meter rating: ***** (whopper)

Sun - Watched brother's band in the Tiv and then decided to have a few beers. Last memory was drinking a Newcastle Brown while dancing to rock music with my brother's girlfriend's brother. No problem I hear you say, however, we were the only two on the dance floor. Next thing I know, I woke up in bed.
Booze-o-meter rating: ****** (gargantuan)

Mon – No booze required as am still p!ssed from the above.

Oh, happy days.

Ski Les Menuiers

As promised for quite a while, here are a few snaps from ski hol #2. T'was absolutely ace, with immense conditions up top later in the week. No serious injuries for the first time in a few years, excluding the 90% burns on the noses on me and Smaje due to lack of sun cream. Won't make that mistake again (until next year).

Me and Smaje high up in Val Thorens. 30 meter
visibility and bollard freezing coldness. In fact, it looks
like I' m trying to keep his warm.
Me, Aly and Smaje in the sun pre conk burns.
Me with a pint of Kaliber at lunchtime
Smaje and Tel with macho cocktails
The crew looking as cool as hell in one of the

best pics in the history of the world.

Pensions related thought for the day

One for the pensions industry folk from yesterday's FT, courtesy of McK.

"Pension saving, like any form of investment, is fraught with risks from which no nannying government can immunise citizens. Conscious perhaps of these perils, my grandfather, a portrait painter, set nothing aside when he eventually made some money in his sixties. Instead, he invested in a splendid Rolls Bentley. He used it to convey his 25-year-old mistress to The Savoy for dinner. He died before he needed a pension. He was, I hope you will agree, an example to us all."

Disaster

Lunt in failure to properly update due to beer and football shock. Will try again tomorrow.