A 2:1 in talking rubbish, drinking and smoking!

I have been trying to write this for over a month now and still can't find the words. Here is my best attempt to describe my friend Jim and how much I will miss him...

We met at university in Exeter where we struck up an instant friendship. Jim was possibly the most intelligent man I knew. I don't know anybody else who was capable of achieving a 2:1 in a politics course having never attended a single lecture! I can vouch for that because I spent many of those lectures with my 'Bad Habits Professor' Jim talking rubbish, drinking and smoking.

Occasionally we went to lectures together, despite the fact that we were on completely different courses! One time, we were preparing ourselves for a Black tie ball when I was supposed to be at a Psychology lecture on Freud. I happened to mention how amusing some of the theories were and 1/2 hr later we were sitting in the lecture together, half cut and dressed in our dinner suits!!

Happy times. Jim and I also had a great pool rivalry and we often spent lectures in the Queen Vic together battling it out over a pint. We were very evenly matched and the pendulum would swing on a regular basis as each of us found form. When we teamed up as a doubles partnership, as we sometimes did, it was always worth sharking our opponents with a little wager which we invariably won!

Unsuprisingly most of my fondest memories of Jim involve our drinking exploits together. I was also priviledged to travel around New Zealand with him and see him catch his first fish. That trip also happens to be the only time I have ever managed to sleep through an entire 24 hr period. Needless to say this was induced by Jim's insatiable appetite for partying! Prior to our trip to NZ Jim also visited me in Australia where I was living at the time. He slept in the lounge and I have a fond memory of Jim's tale the next morning of how a burglar had attempted to enter the house via the patio doors only to be greeted by a huge Englishman 'looming' over him. Needless to say he scarpered as quickly as possible!

Those who know Jim know that he was never short of a tale to make you smile. Despite hearing some of them multiple times I never tired of them. Jim was proof that it really is the way you tell em' So Jim, I will miss you. I will miss my pool companion, and I will miss my drinking companion but most of all I will miss my friend. Bolt on fresher...

Posted on behalf of Richard Hunt