And today I saw my first mate in University! Paul was in the next room and came bouncing in, all smiles. The moment I saw him I was just struck by how much I thought he looked like that fluffy puppet called Hartley Hare…

Obviously I couldn’t keep that to myself and asked him if I was the first person to say that ( well expecting him to say that I wasn’t … ) but actually he just looked bemused/ slightly offended and nodded.
Not reading the hint ( well don’t let emotion stand in the way of having a laugh at someone’s expense ) I spread Paul’s new name. I never ever heard ANYONE call him anything other than Hartley after that.
So him and Mrs Hare, who’s better known as Mellie Mel ( who was also in Uni with us, and is now an age group GB triathlete, no less ) came for lunch, along with top man Stu J who I worked with bloody ages ago. Maria T, Stu says howdy ( cos he’s American now, pretty much, after living there for ages, and even carrying a gun (!) .. though he still sounds like a Northern Git ).
Anyway, we had a laugh about lots of stuff, including that Hartley can’t reverse park a car ( MellieMel has to do it for him ) and the odd bad thing I did in Uni ( and yes there were a lot ) like locking 2 girls into a room, so that one of them had to climb onto a chair to have a wee into the sink in the corner of it.
Id only play jokes on my bestest mates. It was a sign of affection! Blimey looking back, I did some terrible things to Hartley. It’s a wonder he even speaks to me really. A more sensitive type wouldn’t have taken it so well…

Anyway this is a picture of Paul. I’ll think you agree he looks like Hartley Hare.