I've had a great Christmas folks. The dinner went brilliantly -I'm actually quite proud of myself. The whole combination of the Christmas Eve drinks and the Christmas day indulgence has worn me out. I've really had a great time.

The big trouble we've had is that there's been a murder outside our bedroom window last night. I can't say I live in the nicest area, well I do live in a shit area, but you'd never expect what seems to be an unprovoked bullet to the face attack. My to be father-in-law actually called in the emergency services (a fireman himself) but he never saw the attack itself, it was the commotion after that grabbed his attention to look out of the window from our spare room. The pro that he is (my to be father in law) timed it, 12 minutes, which is rubbish he reckons but the delay's been caused by the armed response. The ambulance service aren't allowed to turn up until they've been given the all clear.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/26/student-shot-dead-christmas-salford?newsfeed=true

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16137580