A nice relaxed Good Friday with nothing major planned. It panned out well considering. I had arranged to head over to Pav’s for about 11am and he was going to give the A3, a quick wash and pre-detail inspection. The car was not really dirty but could do with a clean up anyway. I got up around 8.30am and headed out at 9am, to check the oil and tyre pressures on the car. The air machine at ASDA petrol station is still out of order and has been for several weeks (if not over a month by now) so I headed to the Tesco Express down the road. I came back, jumped on the computer for a bit, before getting ready and heading to Caversham. Around 11.30am, we were foaming the car down with the special shampoo from Chemical Guys. He then gave it a quick wash using the two bucket technique. One bucket to wash, another bucket (with gridguard) to rinse. This ensures that you only use clean water, on a clean sponge (or in this case mitt) on the bodywork. Then, a few minutes later he was applying the detailing spray and polishing off. Then, he masked off a square of the bonnet and got his polisher out just to do a test. His first coat did not remove much of the swirl marks at all but his second attempt with a stronger polish cream did an excellent job.

Phil and Sazzle had arrived by now and we quickly put everything into the garage before jumping into Phil’s Mondeo and heading to Ascot. We had arranged to meet up with Mel and Kev at 1pm. Pav had already told me that the pub was a great place to go, particularly on a beautiful sunny afternoon like today. We drove down the A329(M) to Bracknell and then across to Ascot, pass the Racecourse. The Crispin is tucked away, off the beaten track but set against a wondeful quiet country atmosphere. A great choice I would have to agree. We got there early, quarter to 1pm. Mel and Kevin arrived just after 1pm. We left around 3pm, after a leisurely lunch. I was back home by 5pm, only to go back out the door to collect my cousin from Heathrow.

My Sky broadband was supposed to be activated today but it still has not been done. I will call them tomorrow to find out what the problem is. I have checked the unofficial Sky User and there have been numerous people with activation delays. Most likely my MAC code has been rejected and I will need to get a new MAC code generated. In reality, I should thank my lucky starts that I have an internet connection as many people have gone month after month in limbo waiting for their Sky to be switched on.