July 17 (Saturday): I wake up around 6.30 pissed off. I have a sore head which comes from forgetting to have any water to drink before going to sleep in the early hours, in other words I am dehydrated.

It is hard work but I manage to get Stevo out the flat by 10.30 but not before I a get pissed off by his presence. As a method of getting him up and out I play Shellac MP3s at ear bleed levels of volume, to the point I catch him trying to cover his ears with a pillow (note to self: destroy spare pillow). We walk into town to pick up our respective cars and he is still pissed! He obviously hasn't seen a mirror, if ever a man was in need of a comb!

It is a beautiful summer's morning and we pick his car up from the office and Jimmy is in working so we pop in and say hello. I actually look pretty good for my night, my head is even clearing. Stevo unfortunately looks terrible, it's a giggle. We talk donkey for about ten minutes, the most attention I have had from Jimmy in months. By the time we get outside into Stevo's car the heavens have opened and it is a storm beyond storm happening. Stevo drops me off at my car but by now it is too late to try to get to Clacton/Holland to get to Colin's for a haircut. Instead I do the Saturday run of getting newspapers (The Sun, The Star, The Guardian) and I also head into town to Cash Converters (Swag Converters) to buy old Playstation 1 games. I am too shy to go into the shop during the week, would anyone wearing a suit in their right mind shop there? Nope, you'd just look like you were from Customs and Excise or something. There are quite a few good Playstation games in a 3 for £10 deal and I end up getting FIFA 96, FIFA 2000 and NHL 2000. I also check out the DVDs and find two recent WWF (WWE) titles. Like a male without a girlfriend or life, I snap them up immediately.

Eventually I drive to my parents and the rain is insane, the heaviest it has been in a long long time, the kind that actually does make driving hard. I still drive like a prick down the A12 though. Dad has bought a DVD player for his birthday but he doesn't have a scart lead so much of the day is spent agonising over what to do. Like an idiot I say "I might have one at home" instead of just letting go out and get one. I spend the afternoon on their sofa trying to catch up on lost sleep but the cricket is on TV and dad comes in and insists on talking to me (the cheek!). My head pounds and I have to get away so I move to the computer room and watch my Before They Were Famous 2 DVD. Around 4pm Chris phones me up to see what I am doing, did I drunkenly make daytime arrangements with him last night? Whoops. He’s in a rush to go charity shop shopping with Sofie and he says he will call me later about going out this evening.

The night gets old and I am still at my parents watching their Sky television, episodes of the Simpsons and Malcolm In The Middle that I have never seen before. Excellent!

Eventually I get home, back to my crib and promptly crash out upon arrival.

np: The Walkmen - The Rat