As I got into my car, just after 6pm last night, I put on the stereo and the car filled with the opening rift from Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day. The perfect song to represent a tough day, and an exhausting week. Thankfully the weekend had finally arrived. I knew this week would see me under pressure. Two days in the Docklands at the beginning of the week, actually meant that I had to squeeze five days of office work into just three days, a difficult task under the best of circumstances. On top of which I was responsible for training a new member of staff. As always on a Friday, everyone wants something done by the end of play at 6pm. Headlines and deadlines. The story of my life, well at work anyway! (Coincidently it is a Green Day weekend on the Q music channel!)

For the past two Friday evenings I have been running around, rushing to get ready and then leave the house to go out (usually at least 20-30 miles) to make in time to meet my friends. Last night was no different. I left the house at 7.10pm to get to Pav’s house as quickly as possible because the Thai restaurant was booked for 8pm. As expected we got there late, but with Pav, this poor time keeping is to be expected. He was constantly late for Business Studies seminars at college. The worse thing is, that was over six years ago and things have not improved. After the meal we headed over to a bar called Ha Ha. Yes, Ha Ha where a friend of Pav’s is a resident DJ on Friday nights. Then after about an hour and a few drinks we headed over to Mango’s. Some of the party from the restaurant had by now left us, so it was just five of us. Now dance music is not exactly my cup of tea. Anything commercial (which I know and have heard before) is fine, but I get a bit lost when it is just the score. Something with lyrics will do me just fine, so I can pretend to sing along. Next time I go clubbing it will be a 100% cheese music policy. However, having said that, even I know poor mixing when I hear it and Pav’s friend had the courage to go up to the DJ booth and say, “Is this the amateur DJ group?” Once the DJ registered what had been said, his face was a picture of complete shock.

Whenever I meet Pav, he always has a tantalizing offer for me. Just before Christmas, it was the free amp (including installation, but that will happen in the next few weeks). The surprise this evening was a truly once in a lifetime offer. He is part of the E36 Coupe forum, and a member is organising a trip to the Nuerburg Ring. This will take place over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend and involve a medium sized convoy of cars heading down to south east Germany. How could I say no? To those non-petrol heads out there, this piece of tarmac is one of the most famous grand prix circuits in the world. Only vehicles that have been on the track, can display with great pride the Nuerburg sticker. All though the course of the night, I was thinking of the event, the drive across mainland Europe, the autobahn with no speed restrictions in places. Expect more excited discussion on this subject later, right now I feel slightly overwhelmed. At the time, I was ecstatic, I rang Chris!

The rest of this weekend has been deemed chill out time, particularly after the heavy weekend previous and hectic working week. After a late lunch at 3pm, I retired to my room to rest and listen to Five Live coverage of the afternoon football games. I was shattered and quickly fell asleep, but remember hearing Henry had been inches away from scoring a free kick. Then, I woke later in the afternoon to two pieces of shocking news. Kewell had finally scored a goal after over two years and Arsenal were humiliating Middlesborough 6-0, with a brace from the Frenchman. Later I would discover that Henry had scored a hat trick and matched Bastin’s club goal scoring record with the final result was 7-0.