boooo :sleep: i love the olympics and im so excited its on home ground!

People are allowed their opinions though. I'm not heavily into it but it does mean there's more football for me to watch, plus I know people taking part in the opening & closing ceremonies so I'll watch them too, hopefully they'll both live up to expectation.

All British? Hopefully that doesn't just mean wall-to-wall morris dancers, pearly kings+queens, red phoneboxes, and the friendly policeman stood on every street corner...

Oh so you have seen it?

Just had to agree with this, but I do seem to have a thing for Spaniards!

I'm really looking forward to the opening ceremony tomorrow, and it's great that the weather's finally picked up (just in time).

It really doesn't seem like seven years since London won the bid... scary how fast time flies.

i just started year 7 back then! (im welsh) ahhh it seems like yesterday

It was a week after I'd been made redundant from my job and I was in Reception waiting for one of a never ending round of meetings with HR and got to watch the announcement live on the news channel they always had playing. Really weird how stuff like that sticks in your mind!

I forgot it was the day after the announcement that the bombings happened. Wonder if it will be mentioned

That's an interesting thought, there may be some reference to it in the opening ceremony.

I am so excited for tomorrow. I mean seriously, I cannot wait for it. I've bought the bumper Radio Times which I never buy and I'm learning the channel numbers of the 24 extra BBC channels on Sky off by heart. I fully intend on getting very tipsy tomorrow and I have absolutely no doubt that I will end up weeping at some point out of sheer, drunken national pride, no doubt during Team GB's entrance.

I think the best thing about the Olympics, and something everyone can enjoy regardless of whether they like the games or not, is that its ok to be proud to be British again. You don't have to be afraid to wave a Union Flag any more. The right wing arsewipes really did hijack everything that we used to celebrate and I'm so glad that we've got that sort of late 90s "cool to be British" type vibe that briefly conquered the world back then (thanks Spice Girls!).

And even though it is in London I do feel it's very much a UK-wide thing that everyone can be proud of. The torch relay probably helped out a lot and they definitely did the right thing restricting it to the UK and Ireland rather than taking it round the world. My friend wasn't really feeling it but when the torch went right outside our house in Leeds she got well into the games! Plus I love the fact that we have a Team GB football team that the whole country can support. We're never united when it comes to football (which really pisses me off) but at least this time we can be, even if it's the least prestigious of footballing tournaments!

I'm sure I'm not the only person who enjoys measuring the scale of cheers each team gets when they march out during the parade (I must be one of the few people that enjoys that hour long sequence!) and I'll definitely be keeping an ear out for some of my favourite Eurovision countries. I can see Azerbaijan getting a bigger cheer than they would have done if they hadn't of hosted ESC this year given that people will now be aware of its existence and all that.

I do that with the cheers as well. I fully expect, other than GB that USA, Germany and maybe Afghanistan and Iraq to get the biggest cheers.

There is always tears here at ceremonies

You must be the same age as me.

I was on my secondary school induction day thing on the day of the bid results lol...

I also like to predict which nations will get the most muted cheers by looking at their delegation prior to the country's name being read out. Typically I think the teams consisting of a single woman dressed in excessively awful, table cloth design national dress with a huge arse from an obscure island in the Caribbean tend to get the lowest cheer. Or when there's just a single guy looking desperately unhappy whilst carrying his country's flag and is dressed in grey or brown or something equally crap.

Also surely Ireland will get the biggest none GB cheer?! Or at least I'd hope so! Mind you, I can imagine the Americans have bought many, many tickets!

And finally, I've never met her but there's a girl in the work pool that I'm in who will be carrying the Bangladesh sign tomorrow night so when you see that you can all think of me (and not her).

I find the Parade Of Nations so emotional- especially when someone like Tuvalu with just the one athlete competing walks around. The US team entrance is ways good for a laugh just because it's fun to guess exactly when their athletes will stop piling out of the gate.

I had a broken ankle when the Olympics was picked. Was laid out on the sofa watching it, can remember it like yesterday. Then the next day getting woken up by my dad telling me London is getting bombed, not always for the right reasons but tv kept me very occupied that week as I couldn't really move any further lol

Did anyone do that bell ringing for the Olympics this morning at 8:12? If I'd have been up I would have been tugging on my bell with so much enthusiasm that it would have started throbbing with the spirit of the games.

hahahahaha

At a time when the UK has so many visitors from abroad I think this just epitomises British humour...pure filth

Oh great big buggery bollocks!

I have LOST my provisional licence in town, my test is on August 6th and they're not sending me a replacement until Monday, and even then it will take 3 to 4 working days- so arriving from Wednesday onwards.

I can't cancel my test at this late stage- what can I do?

You can rearrange a test. I reckon that will get to you in time anyway.

I'd wait it out - it should arrive in time.

Thanks guys.

The fella on the phone said although the official guidelines was 2 weeks, normally it's 3-4 working days from after it being sent. I'm not telling my driving instructor but I will if it gets to this time next week and it still hasn't gone.

I never lose anything of this importance, even when I'm ridiculously drunk and using it on a night out. Going to just cross my fingers and hope Karma rewards me!

Have you rung around where you were and checked whether it has been handed in?

I went to the supermarket, station, bank and hairdressers and nobody has seen it.

I then got straight onto the DVLA and told them- the guy seemed hopeful I would get it in time as he said "Good luck with your test" at the end so I'm having that as a good sign.

I've got more than a week for it to get here, so that gives me comfort.

My last test was cancelled due to bad weather- am I fated never to take a driving test?!

I was going to butt in with my moneys worth as well 21CB - don't cancel your test, if you need to you can cancel it on the day

You'll be fine anyway! On my first test - it was the middle of August and I thought at least I'd have good weather, but there was torrential rain and I nearly ran over a little old lady whilst I was reversing round a corner - fail

Second test, middle of December, beautiful day - I fell down the steps coming out of the test centre with instructor though, really hurt myself but decided to take the test anyway with a rapidly swelling ankle, passed with flying colours! You never can tell

Passed my motorbike test first time though, that was the difficult one - they hide round a corner and jump out on you to do an emergency stop, scared the crap out of me!

Thanks Anne!

A lovely woman just knocked my door and returned the licence to me. Sadly, I've already cancelled it but just phoned the Swansea office and they said that my replacement has already gone through the system and will be in the hands of Royal Mail tomorrow. I then have a week (including next Saturday) for it to get to me. I'm a-hopin' and a-prayin' that it arrives in time.

If only I hadn't bloody cancelled it so swiftly!