The answer to the question is: "A little better."

I met Woody for a beer in the Woodstock, his new place of work. They were robbed after the Bank Holiday, he told me. Four massive guys with an angle grinder went to work on the safe. Shit. It’s set back from the main road, sure, but its only 400m from a police station. That takes some stones. And how was he coping with the move from a high-pressure target-based call-centre team-leader to slow, afternoon, bar work, sweeping the occasional patio? Pretty well, it seemed. Early doors though, not being stressed takes a bit of time to get used to.

The British Lions romped through the Golden Lions, scoring ten tries to their opponents’ two. Satisfied with their performance, I went to Milner’s for Thai food. Amazing, very peanut-centred! Cally and Ali were there too. Cally’s joining the police. I was dumbstruck. We put on the telly.

After successfully avoiding all that bollucks with Susan Boyle whilst it was going on, I saw her singing for the first time. I was touched, though not for the sappy reasons that many others were touched – my first ever girlfriend put the song I Dreamed A Dream on the tape that she made for me when I went away to University and broke both our hearts. It all came back to me.

“Have I got any better at managing my exes since then?” I wondered in the taxi home. They were playing Nelly and Kelly’s Dilemma. I hate that piece of shit song.

Helen, Cally, Chorlton.

After delivering my presents to Liz, Paul and Clare, I met up with Helen and Cally on the 23A and breezed into Chorlton for a few drinks. We nipped into my house for a look round, and then I went to collect my Batman DVDs from Dunk while they strolled on ahead down Beech Road. Dunk didn’t look very well, poor thing. After a nightmare trying to get hold of some cash – the pay machine in the shop was empty, as was the one in the Trev – I finally caught up with Helen and Cally in the Lead Station. “Do you realise how stereotypical you’re being?” I asked. Milney knew, the minx. It’s so nice to see her getting on so well with someone who knows her really well, and is gay too. I feel really honoured that Helen has selected me from her friends as the kind of person that would get on with her other friends. It’s a vote of confidence at a time when my confidence is quite low, and so very much appreciated.