68. Tandem

I actually wrote "buy a tandem", but I am going to tick this off the list as we spent the day hiring a tandem.
In fact, it wasn't me, but Mr PBR who organised this as a birthday treat for me (and a timely reminder that my 1001 days are lessening and quickly! We got up at 6am and drove up to the Tandem Experience in Jackfield near Ironbridge, Shropshire for our day, greeted by wonderful weather, a plush two-seater and a very nice man called Pete.
We were given a quick lesson on how to get on and off, how to stop and a couple of other things, without a huge health and safety fanfare and we were away!
Mr PBR was at the front, meaning I literally sat back and did nothing while he braked, steered and pedalled, blissfully unaware that I wasn't pedalling and had my feet up!
We then cycled back to the Ironbridge and had a fantastic afternoon cycling more than 25 miles without breaking a sweat. Tandeming is great fun - reminded me of my adventures in my campervan when it automatically put a smile on my face and highly, highly recommended!

12. Step up volunteering

After a lot of faffing, I am back with the local Alzheimer's Society branch. I used to volunteer as a befriender and spent a couple of hours a week visiting and talking to the most incredible woman who sadly suffered with dementia. The pleasure was all mine. She was such an inpiration; she was quite a well-known author, she painted, she could speak at least four languages and she was a total joy to be around - witty, intelligent and vivacious. Sadly, I moved away and lost touch. Four years later, by chance, we moved back to the area with Mr PBR's job and I decided that I would see if I could go and see her again. Sadly, what with procrastinating and trying to find the time between my full time job and my second part time job, I never got round to it and was devasted to read in the paper that she had died. So after going to her funeral, I came home and got back in touch with the local branch and said I would help out. They (unlike me!) wasted no time at all and I am now fully back in the swing, this time working on the admin side of things which suits me timewise.

I am really enjoying it and I feel it is a much better use of my evenings than watching TV or heading to the pub! I probably would have continued to procrastinate if I hadn't put it on my list. Vive la 101 in 1001 project!

54. Go to the top of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth

After a bit of a long break between 101 in 1001 items, I can finally tick off another! We went to Portsmouth to see some friends yesterday, so I persuaded Mr PBR to come with me to the top of the Spinnaker Tower! I was on a course in Portsmouth about 7 years ago for 6 months when the tower was being constructed and it always struck me as a bit of a waste of time and effort. However, having seeing the finished item, I have to admit that it looks fabulous and is a great signature building for the city. Thanks, as ever, to MSE Martin Lewis for his wonderful site, I did a bit of a search with the forum and also google and managed to get a 2-for-1 voucher so Mr PBR and I went to the top for just £7.25. Like the CN Tower in Toronto, there's a brilliant view and a glass floor so you can see the ground 100m down below your feet. Unlike the CN Tower, it doesn't revolve and the restaurant is at the bottom rather than the top!

92. Mystery shopping

Thanks to the sharing and helpfulness of those MSE forum members on the mystery shopping thread, I have taken the plunge! I’m not a huge fan of shopping, so initially I thought I wasn’t a good candidate for mystery shopping, but on reflection, I think this is one of my attributes which makes me perfect for the job! In fact, if I can feedback some of the things that put me off shopping that hopefully it will make the retail experience better for everyone! It’s actually quite a skill, and not just as simple as reporting when staff are rude to you! You need to be super observant, accurate and you have to have a good memory.

My first couple of tasks have been straight forward and I have been hugely impressed by the standard of customer service. It’s not going to make you rich, but it’s helpful for the odd couple of pounds here and there.

Have a look at the TEN(!) mystery shopping threads on MSE for more info!

15 - update!!! Watch University Challenge being filmed!

I found out that one of the episodes of University Challenge was being aired on BBC2 this week! Funnily enough, I wasn't meant to be around to watch it, but due to a set of very strange circumstances I happened to be at home, and here I appear in the audience for about 2 seconds!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pl24p/University_Challenge_2009_2010_Episode_24/

I got 15 questions (and a half) right, which was quite poor considering that I had heard them all back in July - perhaps my memory was affected by being just metres away from one of my heroes - Mr J Paxman!

19. Buy new bike from government scheme!

I don't really need a new bike, but since I never get anything from the government, I thought I would take advantage of the "Cycle to Work" scheme where you get taxfree bikes and equipment! Except the guy in the shop didn't tell me until I had handed over my credit card that you need to spend in excess of £200... Which means I've just bought a new bike and paid VAT on it....

101. The last one on the list! But not the FINAL one on the list!

101. Win something in the competitions I enter!
I won a signed album by my favourite band! And one of the members has signed it twice!!