So we're in. Jono and myself are now official residents of Number 67., and it's looking fantastic. Yoli hasn't failed to amaze once again, repainting every single room and supplying to rather nice fittings wherever possible.

I arrived on Monday night to meet both Jono and Louisa (who has been living in while the house is empty and she paints her own room in Oxford Street.) The first job was to get some food on board. Mother had kindly supplied me with a stash of tins, which would have made for an interesting meal - four tins of tuna, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tin of chicken korma and a tin of sweetcorn. Now even I, not the culinary genius, realise that does not sound the most appetising meal and I think there would even be abject shock from the chefs on Ready Steady Cook if they were presented with the same items.

Tesco provided us with three or fours days worth of rations, and allowed me to test my concept of quantity. It won't really matter that I sort of 'overshot' this time around, as next time we are going to be there a whole year so it's much harder to buy too much than on a four day stay.

The second day I sat inside most of the time reading Harry Potter (which incidentally I have now finished and was quite impressed with) which whiled away the hours I spent waiting for the NTL man to show with all our fancy technology. It only took about half an hour for him to set up the lot, and another hour for the subscription channels to come through. Jono finally managed to get the internet working after my initial failure (shame on the computer dude) and the evening was enjoyed in the aisles of IKEA.

This may seem unremarkable to most, but for me was an experience fraught with personal emotions. You see, despite being an Industrial Designer of sorts, I was, as Jono put it, an IKEA virgin. Overall I was mightily impressed and I ended up buying a new lamp amongst a plethora of items for the house. Clocks, mats, drinking vessels, cooking equipment but disappointingly, no jugs. I couldn't believe a place that size would fail to supply to the market who like to drink more than a thimbleful - as that is the only size of jug they seemed to stock by the looks of it.

I also made time during the day to meet up with Nick who I have seem quite a lot of in the past two days. We have been working hard on bits and pieces for the freshers and his advertising literature. I will explain more later as I've just realised I'm meant to be meeting Broomy before I disappear home this afternoon, and with him being locked away in the labs, it means that I'm the one whose going to have to pay the visit. This story will continue later...

...and so it does.

Nick is pushing to make sure that SX launches with a bang this year, and a has few surprises lined up for the fresher bazaar which should be cool. Instead of the GBP for payment on some of the work, I've been well fed and which has saved me the 20 minute walk back to the house at lunchtimes and therefore made the day a little bit longer to fit all that stuff in.

Yesterday I met up with Catherine at the BHF to discuss their new site. We decided that in light of the projected launch date that the site will launch as a static incarnation, then instead of using the mish-mash of bespoke code that I wrote before, I will implement the newly finished Askyric as the powerhouse behind it. This gives me time to refine the software and trial it before I apply it. Suits me and they still get the site they want, even if the dynamic part will only appear in the longer term.

We did some more shopping yesterday afternoon around at the veritable purveyor of quizzical delights that its Wilko's. Not the most sophisticated shop on the face of this planet, it still manages to provides all those little things we couldn't find anywhere else, or at least, couldn't afford to buy.

I bought all the bits required for a 2-way split extension lead which I've now proudly assembled and pinned over my door (there were no sockets going to my bedside table - a critical oversight which I had to correct) and an assortment of other odds and ends - lightbulbs, bins, batteries and duct tape.

Jono and I managed to assemble the TV case and prop up what we estimate as the 32 inch TV that he has kindly supplied for the use of the house. Also, with a bit of generosity on the part of the NTL technician (we didnt have any cable) we have also been able to wire up the stereo system in the lounge. Number 67 is now a multimedia extravaganza. Fantastic.

Today is miserable. Ever since I was woken by Moyles at 9am, the rain has failed to ease off and I'm fairly sodden after my little walk into Bridgeman. It is slightly annoying to think that the one time of year I can actually avoid my department, I have ended up back in it. It's a bit like when OSH employed me in previous holidays.

Last night I met up with Tongy. He came over and picked me up so that we could head over to his flat and I could inspect the lot. His parent have just bought this apartment around the back of The Rushes in Lufbra's centre and the place is stunning. He's on his own but has a master bedroom, and then another master bedroom (it's exactly the same size, and big enough to host the population of a medium sized pacific island. This is reflected in the rent however. The lounge is expansive and it had one of those modern style open plan kitchens where you can't tell where it ends and the living area starts. The place looks a little sparse at the moment, and he graciously let me sit on the chair to watch the TV. Apparently furniture arrives today.

We went out for a drink down at The Orange Tree. Everywhere in Lufbra looked positively dead compared to this cocktail bar; Newshouse only had the one patron who was sitting at the bar looking rather lonely.

Despite the lack of people elsewhere, Orange Tree was fairly busy, most of the people inside looking like the trendy A-Level type, with a couple of neo-Nazi's thrown in for the craic. It was good to catch up with the boy as after he moved out of Towers at the end of the first year we never got to see as much of him as we used to, me being the one exception that I was on his course. But even that exists no more, as Tongy is taking a placement at Diam International, which although only down the road, probably means that our paths are not likely to cross as often as they would have done last year.

Despite my best intentions, I have now watched two episodes of Big Brother (The Shame). I was trying to avoid this plague of the mind, but I can see myself getting drwan in now. Evasive action needs to be taken in order to prevent brain drain. I'm going to have to avoid the TV as best I can.

I'm heading home this afternoon. I was hoping that The Parents might be able to give me lift (I don't fancy walking to the train station), but I haven't got in touch yet, so they don't know anything about it. I've also got to procure a birthday card and present for Sister Two who celebrates her birthday on Saturday. If I do get the train, Birmingham Bullring sounds a good bet.

One last thing is that after finally getting my radio working this morning (sockets permitting) I heard some new tunes that I will be needing in my collection, so I think some downloading is in order.