Quite a weekend...

It's been a busy old weekend with one thing or another.

Friday night after the usual tea in the Tap, I paid a long overdue trip to the County to watch my mate Rich play with his band Second Nature. I don't get to see them too often even though they play regularly in town, so it was good to see that they were every bit as entertaining as I'd remembered. Recommendation #1: go and see them if you get the chance.

Saturday morning started bright and early as I wanted to get a replacement laptop seeing as the old one keeps cutting out for no apparent reason and is about ready for the big PC World in the sky. Fortunately, the big PC World on the ground obliged I despite some confusion over their stock, I walked out with a much higher spec machine at half the price I'd paid for it's predecessor. Recommendation #2: Staff were sparse in PC World but the few I found there were friendly and helpful plus there's no denying that they've got some good bargains at the moment.

Next came the job of trying to transfer stuff from old machine to new. Seeing as I still had 125 days of Norton Internet Security subscription left to run, I contacted them to help me to transfer it to the new machine. Again they were incredibly helpful and by connecting remotely, managed to sort it all out for me. Recommendation #3: There's loads of security products out there, but these guys will continue to get my business. Especially as they gave me a years free additional subscription!

Teatime, I met up with Emma and we took a trip to Cleethorpes Parkway Cinema to watch Mamma Mia. Yes, I had my doubts (about the film, not Emma!) but there's no denying that I am a huge fan of their music so it just had to be done. Again, I was not disappointed. Sure, it wasn't the most complex plot I've ever watched but they all gave great performances in a really enjoyable feel good film. Recommendation #4: Go and see it - I've not heard of anyone yet who has seen it and not enjoyed it.

From there we grabbed a couple of crafty pints at the smallest pub, then returned to the County in Grimsby to watch Si Nichols. It's a while since we've seen him play in the Tap and he never fails to entertain with an eclectic mix of ballads, fold, rock and what can only be described as bawdy songs. Recommendation #5: Check out his MySpace or better still, as he always seems to be touring pubs and clubs, try and catch one of his shows.

Now Emma and I aren't particularly renowned for our self control where beer is concerned so it will come as little surprise that we didn't call it a night after that, but decided to grab another drink then go onto Caspers where we both enjoyed a delicious seafood carbonara. Recommendation #6: OK, they aren't a licensed premises but if, like us, you've probably already had enough for one night, Caspers is a great place to end an evening out with a coffee and a delicious Italian meal.

So there you have it, over far too quickly but that's always the way when you're busy. As a bit of a bonus (?), work commitments mean I've had to cancel the remainder of my holidays for the year, replacing them by extending my weekends so at least I'll have more time to cram in the fun for the rest of this year...