So much for an early start and getting things done... I rolled out of bed at almost midday. Oops. Charlie’s away at Graham (his better half’s) til tomorrow so today’s plans involved tidying the house (which has been somewhat neglected since Christmas) and seeing my mate Al (which would either involve me going to Huddersfield or him coming here). I got as far as the washing up before Al knocked at the door to whisk me off to the hell that is the White Rose Shopping Centre. Now for those who aren’t familiar, the White Rose Centre is a relatively recent indoor shopping complex in Leeds, not too far away from me at all. What’s strange about it is that, considering it’s the only one of it’s type in Leeds (I’m not counting the handful of little malls dotted around the city centre), it’s TINY. I mean - come on - Leeds is hardly a small city - and White Rose was only opened in 1997 or something. Compared to Sheffield’s Meadowhall, Manchester’s Trafford Centre, or Gateshead’s (excellent) MetroCentre, the White Rose Centre is barely a blip. Not that it stops everyone swooping on it come sale time. And that just makes it UNBEARABLY crowded. Al and Charlie (his girlfriend - not to be confused with Charlie my housemate - do try to keep up ) really only had the one mission which was to find a decent universal remote control in the sales. We failed. Something of a familiar trend at White Rose. The three of us tried an evening of late night Christmas shopping there a few weeks ago and left equally empty-handed. I tried to salvage the situation by looking for a language course (New Year resolution 3) in the WHSmith sale. Of course what were the only things not reduced at all...? Was good to see Al again though. We were best mates when I lived in Huddersfield, and I’m afraid we drifted apart slightly when I moved to Leeds, which was probably my fault. I’ve made far more of an effort to see him a lot more in recent months though. I hardly have an excuse. It’s 20 minutes door-to-door if I put my foot down. Still not spoken to Riche, although to be fair to him this was more my fault than his. I didn’t call him in the end last night as I had a few things to do and before I knew it it was nearly 10pm and I was done in, requiring nothing more stressful than The Poseidon Adventure on DVD and a mug of Horlicks. I texted him and asked if he would be around today instead. He said he would be. Of course he wasn’t. He was at a friend’s all night. He’ll be in tomorrow though... Oh well. So I spent a lazy evening watching the new series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet on TV and generally slobbing about. Well after all that’s what Sundays were meant for! Right - bedtime. It’s D-Day tomorrow. I should find out about that job. I’ll be ringing the agency first thing - sod waiting for them to ring me...