A whole bunch of numbers

As if smoking wasn't enough, I've discovered a new addiction.

The quality newspapers in this country have been fighting a war recently around the compelling game of Su Doku. I was skeptical at first; I've never been one to jump on bandwagons whenever they're heralded as "the next big thing".

But I've been in college the past ten days, and everyone there is playing it. I'm one of the few in the class who buys the Independent, and I was regularly being asked to provide copies of the game from that paper after those playing it had finished the versions in the Times and Telegraph.

So, in a moment of boredom, I thought "what the hell, I'll give it a try". Ever since, I've been totally addicted. Most days, I finish the Indie game by the time I get off the train (although this morning I almost missed my stop trying to find the 9s in a particular column). I usually blag the other two games from someone in class once I arrive. I'm not alone - one guy in class paid £10 today for a book of 100 such puzzles, and the internet is littered with stories of people who are so addicted they refuse to speak to anyone while they're playing it.

So my advice to you is this: if you're bored, give it a go. But be prepared to do very little else, possibly for the rest of your life. Take the phone off the hook, put Su Doku or Sudoku into google, and enjoy!

Return of the Jack

It's been a while but I've finally found a moment to sit down and write on this thing.

First things first. Beer. By which, of course, I mean the sponsored walk that took place over a week ago. We had a good turnout (40+) and great weather, and apparantly over £1,500 was raised for charity. The picture of me (left) was taken in my local pub at about 4pm. More on that story later.

The walk itself was cunningly devised in order to pass by as many public houses as possible. The day started at 10am with a "quick drink to send you on your way" courtesy of the landlord of my local pub, where we all met. Then it was into cars and up to the York Inn at Churchinford, about 10 miles (and about 500 feet above) away. A quick pint there, and we were off via a number of other hostelries along the way, eventually arriving back in the village late afternoon.

By this stage, I was a little the worse for wear. But fear not, dear readers, for I certainly didn't stop there. A smaller, hard core of the group decided to wander further on towards Taunton, stopping at the Vivary Arms for a couple. The final destination (for them) being the Westgate Inn, where a live band was playing. But not for me and my good friend Dave - for us it was onwards to several more pubs, and then a couple of clubs in town.

That day I drank a total of 19 pints, mainly Guinness, and walked nearly 15 miles. As you can probably imagine, by 3am (a total of 17 hours drinking) I was pretty wasted. I'm not about to admit to what I did at that point, mainly because my next clear memory is of leaving Dave's house at 9am the following morning. I do feel bad about it though.

Still, it was overall a good day, and amazingly I felt well enough the next day to get up at midday to go see Man Utd v Newcastle in a sports bar in town. Not drinking, though, hell no. Photos of the day will be posted when I can be arsed to sort them out, so watch this space (if you're still reading this far, that is).

In other news, the election campaign is well underway here. I have a leaflet going out at the moment. The only bad thing is that they've moved the count to the day after the election (the national election result gets counted the evening of the poll) cos apparantly they don't have enough staff to count them the same evening. I'm not sure if I can get out of work, which will suck if I can't turn up to my own count.

Well that's probably enough for now. Tune in for more tales of West Country craziness next week when we'll be learning how to train badgers as pets.

The walk of life

Tomorrow (well it's nearly today actually) I will be embarking on a sponsored walk in aid of the Make a Wish Foundation. They help terminally-ill children to fulfil their dreams such as going to a sporting event and meeting the stars, or swimming with dolphins.

The walk takes place over the Blackdown Hills, just south of my home. I heard tonight that apparantly there's a mysterious animal which has been sighted in that area. It's like a very large cat, with long hair and a long tail. Several people I know swear they've seen it, so who knows, it may exist. Or it may just be folklore. I'll have a camera with me so if I see it, you'll see it here first!

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Labour

Your actual outcome:

	Labour 47
Conservative -45
	Liberal Democrat 42
UK Independence Party -12
	Green 10

You should vote: Labour

The Labour Party is broadly pro-Europe and takes a strong line in favour of all anti-terrorism measures, and of course supported the war in Iraq. Labour is against explicit increases in income tax to fund public services and against the abolition of university tuition fees, but has pledged to reintroduce maintenance grants for students.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

Probably not all that surprising a result!

Election fever

Today I got going on the whole election thing proper. By that, I mean I arranged for my publicity to be printed, which after all is what so often makes or breaks a campaign. I spoke with my election agent and some of my supporters to sort out how things will proceed. We've arranged profiles in both the local newspapers next week.

I still don't think I stand much of a chance, but I'm gonna fight as hard as I can and work for every vote. I can't wait to get out there and speak to the voters.

Holiday

As a result of not taking all my leave last year, I'm taking this week off in order not to lose it. I had a whole list of things I need to do, but so far I've succeeded in mincing around on the internet, posting to people's blogs, chatting on MSN and watching TV. The only constructive thing I've done is to sort out my election publicity with my agent.

I don't why, but I'm always saying "if only I had the time to do such and such", and then when I get some time I put all those things off and waste it instead. I've got to do some studying - the exams in September won't pass themselves!

Farewell, sweet princess

I've made the decision I hoped I'd never have to make: I'm selling my car.

A 2001 Seat Arosa 1.4 TDi, she was the ideal small car with the impressive combination of 65 miles to the gallon (and more) while doing 0-60 in under 10 seconds. But alas, these things cost money and the loan I took out to buy her just over a year ago is crippling my finances.

She'll probably be replaced with an older equivalent - probably a Peugeot 106 cos those things still do good mileage but they're available at under £1,000. I'm distraught at the prospect of losing her, but I can't keep racking up credit card debts.

La vita è dolce e bella

Well maybe not.

My employers have just told us "no payrises" for the new financial year. No-one is exactly pleased about it, and I'm pretty livid myself. I've forgotten what disposable income is.

In other news, my nomination for Council has been confirmed, so I will definitely be appearing on the ballot on May 5th. I'm looking forward to getting out and campaigning - it's gonna be fun.

Here at last

Finally, I've got my ass in gear and started one of these things.

Well, I had to find something else to do, having spent the afternoon so far watching the seemingly endless tributes to and analysis of the life of the Pope, John Paul II. It really is the end of an era - he was a great man and I think the world will miss him more than many realised. I've been quite moved by the pictures of mourning all over the world, and particularly in Krakow where both the Pope and my grandfather grew up.

Having said that, I'm hopeful that his successor will have some more tolerant views on certain issues, particularly contraception. The last thing we need is a conservative in the Vatican.