Climbing the Walls

As I wait for Jo to start our girlie night out I notice this hidden gem climbing up the walls of a building on Chorlton Street. I like finding little surprises like this in the city.

Jo and I kick off our girlie night by joining P and friends for a few drinks to celebrate his 40th. Something I say misleads P in to thinking we are the same age. I retort “errr no, you’re 7 years out” and in all seriousness he replies “oh right, are you 47 then?”.

I mean I know it’s been a long week, but… You can go off people you know.

The conversation moves on and we indulge the birthday boy as he holds forth on his favourite subject, The Labour Party. He’s blind in his devotion to the party and fervently proselytises on its behalf at every opportunity. His only misgiving (and it takes several rounds for him to crack and confess he has any) is that as an atheist he detests all things religious and thinks Labour loses its path when it gets into bed with “those religious nuts”.

His despising of the religiously fanatic, is somewhat ironic however given he’s worse in his way then any bible basher I’ve ever met. Seriously in the 4 years that I’ve known him I’ve yet to have a single conversation when he doesn’t bring up the Labour Party. Of course such earnest devotion only inspires me to take the piss a little and in this case, point out the irony of his position. This culminates with the sentence “But P mate, you may be an atheist, but in your own way you’re just as bad as those mad bible-basher types. Basically you’re the conservative-evangelical fundamentalist of the socialist world”.

Given that I’m several drinks in, I’m quite impressed that I even managed a sentence like that. As it turns out, so is a complete stranger at the bar, who turns around laughing and insists I repeat it to her male companion. I suppose it’s one way to make new friends.

In due course Jo and I move on and after a lovely meal in Eden we head on to Baa Bar and Via Fossa.

So much for my planned ‘early night’.