So do I. Sadly, such things are often spur-of-the-moment and often involve the same six pubs and bars. But an ingenious new website can help: PubRoute.com.

PubRoute currently has 100 Manchester drinking establishments listed – and they’re good ones too, as the creator has been using The Good Pub Guide and Camra to compile them.

The idea is to first select the area of the city you want to visit. You can then pick from the list of pubs provided, which appear on a map, and put them into an order that makes sober sense.

Inevitably, trying to read a map through beer goggles is going to ruin this meticulous planning – but the sentiment is there. If nothing else, the website will remind you of a few places you haven’t visited in a while.

The developer plans to introduce pub ratings in the future, but the current system already works a treat. The map, sadly, doesn’t work in Firefox just yet.

The word ‘scheme’ made me think that this email forward had a punchline. How wrong I was:

Be aware of new car-jacking scheme.
You walk across the car park, unlock your car and get inside. Then you lock all your doors, start the engine and shift or put into reverse. You look into the rear-view mirror to back out of your parking space and you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift the gear stick back into park or neutral, unlock your doors and jump out of your car to remove that paper or whatever it is that is obstructing your view.

When you reach the back of your car that is when the car-jackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off!! Your engine was running, you would have left your purse in the car and they practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.

BE AWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED IN LONDON/MANCHESTER MAKING ITS WAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY!!!!!!!! Just drive away and remove the paper later! It is stuck to your window and be thankful that you read this email.

Someone’s obviously had a bad experience…

Bus news: you wait all year for some then two stories arrive together.

The BBC is reporting that, following the horrible death of a sign-writer in Rusholme last month, UK North/GM Buses have been investigated by the North West Traffic Commissioner Beverly Bell.

She concluded that she couldn’t be sure that their drivers had been properly trained. The result must be something of a precedent: the company’s buses have been banned from Manchester’s roads over the Christmas period.

As anyone who’s ever used a UK North will testify, it does sometimes feel like you’re putting your life at risk when you step on board their runaway red buses.

The report also revealed something else about UK North: 100 of its 130 drivers are Polish. The hearing was told that many had a poor understanding of English.

I hope the ‘punishment’ period – from today until January 2 – will be used to retrain drivers.

Don’t ask why but I was recently on a bus blog, 73 Urban Journeys, where I spotted this Radio 4 Home Truths interview with Graham Unsworth.

The Mancunian bought a big red double-decker bus, which he now takes great pleasure in driving:

When I took it round to my mum and dads place, all the neighbours were coming out and the kids were going up and down the stairs. It brings a crowd where ever you go.

And asked what his wife thought of it, he says:

At first she felt a bit embarrased sat in the back on her own. But we take the kids out in it on a Sunday. We went to a local fun day at our local village and she loved it.

You can listen to the full interview here.