Well, I’ve bought my rucksacks. I’m very pleased, though it was a tough old decision which required external input – the casting vote delivered by my Mum. After all as Dad said when I phoned and said I didn’t mind who I spoke to (he always assumes I’ve rung to speak to Mum ... well – best speak to Mum, she’s good at making people’s minds up for them.
What to do? I wanted 2 bags. One was my “day sack”, this is the one I’ll be carrying myself on the trip so I want something comfy, hardwearing, unobtrusive, with an integrated rain cover and preferably something that wasn’t going to make my back saturated in the way that my £10 from Halford’s effort has been doing all summer …
The other one is the big rucksack which needs to have all my gear in that I need for the trail. This one I won’t be carrying in Peru, but will be carried by the Porters (I hadn’t realised this to begin with and have been busy doing stuff at the gym to try and make myself better equipped to carry a big rucksack. Doh!) This also needed to be comfy, unobtrusive, have a rain cover and be none sweat inducing in the back department!
So, I had an interesting session in a hiking shop where I tried on lots of rucksacks – had a wee lesson in how to get it on and off without falling over etc and ended up trying to decide whether to go for the “girlie option” or the “real hiker” option. This was according to the very helpful man in the shop … Girlie option = good bag, very comfortable now, but won’t last well. Real Hiker option = good bag, comfortable now but will get more comfortable with more wearing and very very durable …
Obviously there’s a cost implication, so Mum being the final arbiter advised to just spend the flippin’ money on the good quality durable option and just to make sure I get out there travelling! So, that’s what I did.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
5 days
I just had 5 consecutive days off work. Trouble is, it took me so long to wind down, that by the time I had it was a real struggle to wind myself back up … Note to self – 7 days would have been better!
What better way to wind down that go and be looked after by Mum – only I’m not very good at being looked after! We had a nice time looking after each other though.
Mum and I went out of a scoping mission to Millets to look at rucksacks – shopping with Mum is shopping with Mum! We also stopped off at the new “gallery” in Mum and Dad’s town. It was quite good actually. Nice little “Designs for life” exhibition downstairs, showcasing local furniture designers and a Photographic exhibition upstairs with a great picture which was curious to begin with and which I loved once I read the title – "Dave, Party, Lincolnshire". We laughed! Mum ended up joining the mailing list and has resolved to go back – even dragging Dad in if possible, but knowing that its fine for her to go in on her own.
I cooked on Saturday night – lots of food, lots of wine …
Sunday we headed out for another walk. A lovely walk along the Norfolk coast with a picnic on the beach with just a hint of the sea miles away! BBW will get to walk next to the sea yet …
I also ordered my new phone … I was actually going to terminate my contract, having discovered that I could get a better deal elsewhere, plus get my new phone for only £49.99. Now I didn’t really have £49.99 but my current phone is really starting to sag – it goes slow at the drop of a hat, has been dropped and scratched etc and I figured that even though I couldn’t really afford £50 at the moment, better to get it now at that price than miss it and then not be able to get something I wanted when my current phone went belly up. Well, having explained why I wanted to terminate I managed to change my tarrif so that I get 220 minutes and 200 text per month more that I do currently for £10 less, PLUS, PLUS!!! MY NEW PHONE as a free upgrade. Was I excited or what? Still haven’t received it yet. Its on back order. But it’ll be great when it gets here! New toy – hurray!!
What better way to wind down that go and be looked after by Mum – only I’m not very good at being looked after! We had a nice time looking after each other though.
Mum and I went out of a scoping mission to Millets to look at rucksacks – shopping with Mum is shopping with Mum! We also stopped off at the new “gallery” in Mum and Dad’s town. It was quite good actually. Nice little “Designs for life” exhibition downstairs, showcasing local furniture designers and a Photographic exhibition upstairs with a great picture which was curious to begin with and which I loved once I read the title – "Dave, Party, Lincolnshire". We laughed! Mum ended up joining the mailing list and has resolved to go back – even dragging Dad in if possible, but knowing that its fine for her to go in on her own.
I cooked on Saturday night – lots of food, lots of wine …
Sunday we headed out for another walk. A lovely walk along the Norfolk coast with a picnic on the beach with just a hint of the sea miles away! BBW will get to walk next to the sea yet …
I also ordered my new phone … I was actually going to terminate my contract, having discovered that I could get a better deal elsewhere, plus get my new phone for only £49.99. Now I didn’t really have £49.99 but my current phone is really starting to sag – it goes slow at the drop of a hat, has been dropped and scratched etc and I figured that even though I couldn’t really afford £50 at the moment, better to get it now at that price than miss it and then not be able to get something I wanted when my current phone went belly up. Well, having explained why I wanted to terminate I managed to change my tarrif so that I get 220 minutes and 200 text per month more that I do currently for £10 less, PLUS, PLUS!!! MY NEW PHONE as a free upgrade. Was I excited or what? Still haven’t received it yet. Its on back order. But it’ll be great when it gets here! New toy – hurray!!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Its all a matter of stile ...
Why are all stiles not the same? Why are some perfect (in my humble opinion!) Example A below:
And some chunky and sturdy looking but frankly ill designed. Example B below:
Now if it comes to it I'm happy to scramble over a fence or a gate; though the absence of a stile or kissing gate (isn't kissing gate a lovely description?) would indicate that I wasn't necessarily walking a public footpath and was possibly temporarily in the wrong place (lost) and probably trespassing ... However, I think if you're going to provide a stile, then at least provide one that works logically. ie. you get over it using one foot after another - like walking in fact! Example A allows you to do just that, whereas example B makes you either change feet half way over, or do a one footed turn (complete with potentially heavy rucksack) at the top and then come down backwards.
Hey ho, no pleasing some people is there?
PS - this is my favourite stile ...
I don't want to be 'the slowest person" ...
Whilst I'm doing quite a bit of walking in preparation for this trip (13 miles this weekend - 5 miles Saturday & 8 miles Sunday), I'm still really scared that I'm going to holding people back. I know that the group can only go as fast as the slowest person, but I would be mortified if that person was me ...
There are no easily accessible proper hills near me - well there's Box Hill but that's only 172 m above sea level and I'm going to be going up to 4,200 m (1,400m in one day in fact …) So I'm just hoping that my gym work will mean that I'm not the weezy runt who struggles with the climbing ...
In the mean time to at least get the mileage up and get me walking on lots of days my training is now up to walking both Saturday and Sunday, plus walking a couple of times during the week too.
The only way I've managed to schedule the mid week walking in without either setting out to walk after work (the time at which I'm more in mind of a glass of wine, food and doing home type chores) or getting up at 5.30 and walking before I leave for work, is actually to simply walk to work. Well, not the whole 12 miles, but 3.7 of them.
I did it for the first time today and it worked quite well. Up at 6.30, train to Cheam at 0710. Arrive Cheam 0730 and set off to walk to Epsom. The first person I bumped into was JC, someone I used to work with in a previous life (seems a lifetime ago now) – what are the chances of that happening? It was certainly weird to see someone in a completely unexpected place and chances are we’ll bump into each other again bearing in mind I’m going to be doing this twice a week. Anyway, 60 minutes later I arrived in Epsom, had a shower at the gym and was at my desk by 0900. Not a bad morning all told!
There are no easily accessible proper hills near me - well there's Box Hill but that's only 172 m above sea level and I'm going to be going up to 4,200 m (1,400m in one day in fact …) So I'm just hoping that my gym work will mean that I'm not the weezy runt who struggles with the climbing ...
In the mean time to at least get the mileage up and get me walking on lots of days my training is now up to walking both Saturday and Sunday, plus walking a couple of times during the week too.
The only way I've managed to schedule the mid week walking in without either setting out to walk after work (the time at which I'm more in mind of a glass of wine, food and doing home type chores) or getting up at 5.30 and walking before I leave for work, is actually to simply walk to work. Well, not the whole 12 miles, but 3.7 of them.
I did it for the first time today and it worked quite well. Up at 6.30, train to Cheam at 0710. Arrive Cheam 0730 and set off to walk to Epsom. The first person I bumped into was JC, someone I used to work with in a previous life (seems a lifetime ago now) – what are the chances of that happening? It was certainly weird to see someone in a completely unexpected place and chances are we’ll bump into each other again bearing in mind I’m going to be doing this twice a week. Anyway, 60 minutes later I arrived in Epsom, had a shower at the gym and was at my desk by 0900. Not a bad morning all told!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Lessons Learned #2
- Waterproof leggings protect you from the external elements; they do, however simply make you wet from the inside out ...
- Map and compass walking is good and Sunday was the first proper go at it. I re-walked a previous route but only using the written instructions as back up for map reading cockups! I had my home made waterproof map holder (a bit 'Blue Peter', but did the job!), my new bargain of a Berghaus waterproof courtesy of my credit card … and my waterproof leggins …. I'm not saying I knew precisely where I was all the time (I need to do more practice on the compass reading stuff to be able to do it exactly), but I always knew which direction I was heading in and approximately where on the map I was ...
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Lessons Learned #1
- Sitting around in the sun all day (Fruitstock 2006) is exceptionally tiring ... Why is that?
- I really should try & find myself a job where the Jimmy Choo people phone me up and ask for my shoe and dress size .... Just check out the "Classic Boots" and "Classic Shoes pages ... Sigh. (Note to Catster here) The best I manage is a free bottle of ropey red wine when I do the work Friday lunch order at the local Indian restaurant...
- I'm never going out walking without a proper map and my compass again. The internet is great, but you can't trust the walk instructions some people post on some sites. For example
"At the path junction go straight ahead and then take the left fork through a gate and along a wooded path"
This should really have read"at the junction between the National trust Trail and the Greensand Way, take the National Trust path going right and then immediately left downhill along the sandy path of the Greensand Way. Keep heading straight ahead (first going downhill and then up and back down again) over four more path junctions until (after approx 1.5km) you come to a fork in the path. Take the left fork through a large gate and continue uphill along a wooded path ..."
Little hints like "uphill" "downhill", "left" & "right" (left and right are no good of course if people don’t know which is which…) seem alien to some walk contributors ... Some seem more intent on describing a configuration of trees, plants/public signage as landmarks, whose noted configuration could quite possibly change, in the way that a slope upwards, or whole forest off to the right is unlikely to ... Why can’t they keep it simple rather than doing instructions that sound like they have more place in a dungeons and dragons game?
Suffice it to say that that walk was not the most successful because I realised too late that it fell off the edge of my OS map ... Never go out without a map and compass! Consequently getting frustrated with bad instructions and having to keep retracing steps was my own fault for not having had the relevant map to refer to...
As I say, lessons learned...
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Without Prejudice ...
Dear Bloominjools
Without Prejudice
Feminax
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the above. I am sorry to hear about your disappointment with your purchase of our new Feminax Period Pain Capsules.
At the direction of the UK medicines licence authority (the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)), the active ingredient, Hyoscine Hydrobromide has been removed from Feminax.
The MHRA reviewed all Hyoscine Hydrobromide-containing products and decided that it was unclear whether the quantity present in Feminax performed a relevant function. [well they should have asked me – I could have told them!] Bayer therefore took this opportunity to review the current formulation and decided that an optimal formulation was 500mg Paracetamol and 8mg Codeine Phosphate. [Pah!] Bayer also took this opportunity to change the pharmaceutical form from hard tablets to a more favourable soft capsule.
I hope this information is helpful to you and apologise for any inconvenience you have been caused.
Yours sincerely
Feminax Lady
Medical Affairs Administrator
Without Prejudice
Feminax
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the above. I am sorry to hear about your disappointment with your purchase of our new Feminax Period Pain Capsules.
At the direction of the UK medicines licence authority (the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)), the active ingredient, Hyoscine Hydrobromide has been removed from Feminax.
The MHRA reviewed all Hyoscine Hydrobromide-containing products and decided that it was unclear whether the quantity present in Feminax performed a relevant function. [well they should have asked me – I could have told them!] Bayer therefore took this opportunity to review the current formulation and decided that an optimal formulation was 500mg Paracetamol and 8mg Codeine Phosphate. [Pah!] Bayer also took this opportunity to change the pharmaceutical form from hard tablets to a more favourable soft capsule.
I hope this information is helpful to you and apologise for any inconvenience you have been caused.
Yours sincerely
Feminax Lady
Medical Affairs Administrator
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Grumpy old woman
Straight down the middle
Why is it that people feel it necessary to drive down the middle lane of a 3 lane motorway regardless of the fact that the inside lane is free? It really pisses me off. There I am in the inside lane – doing the limit. There is Mr(s) limpet, clinging tenaciously to the middle lane and I’m catching them up on the inside. Therefore, in order to avoid overtaking on the inside I have to cross right over the motorway in order to get past. If less people drove down the middle unnecessarily, ie. not for the purposes of overtaking, then there would be less people trying to insert themselves in the outside lane, ie. putting themselves in the way of people tanking it. Surely that would be safer all round?
Only a fool …
... breaks the 2 second rule. Well there are lots of them about. Why do people (a female Honda driver for the sake of argument) feel it is acceptable to tailgate me – I’m doing the limit in the outside lane of a 2 lane carriage way so I can get past a queue of lorries doing 55mph and I also have a queue of traffic in front of me meaning that even if I did want to go over 70, I can’t. Add into the mix a sudden gap on the inside lane and said Honda driver continues her mobile phone conversation, interspersed with shouting and gesticulating at me (she was obviously an octopus, as I reckon that waving hands, holding a phone and holding on to the steering wheel surely lead to a hand over allocation), overtakes on the inside, still shouting and gesticulating, and plonks herself into the safe distance previously left between me and the car in front. But hey, she managed to get a good 400 feet further down the road – made all the difference I’m sure …
When I’m awake …
I wish I could do it, but I can’t. Once I’m awake, I’m awake and my body doesn’t give a monkeys whether its 5am or not. I’ve tried (for years) to be the sort of person who can luxuriate in lying in bed, drifting in and out of sleep and generally chilling. But I can’t do it. I tried again this morning. I woke at 4.50am and lay in bed for an hour before I finally got up, but it wasn’t enjoyable. The longer I lay there the more my back started to ache and I knew that if I stayed there much longer I would get a headache – and I can’t be doing with that. So, I’ve done some well needed house keeping on the old laptop, a bit of filing and a bit of a blog. No backache or headache forthcoming, so I think it was a good move.
Why is it that people feel it necessary to drive down the middle lane of a 3 lane motorway regardless of the fact that the inside lane is free? It really pisses me off. There I am in the inside lane – doing the limit. There is Mr(s) limpet, clinging tenaciously to the middle lane and I’m catching them up on the inside. Therefore, in order to avoid overtaking on the inside I have to cross right over the motorway in order to get past. If less people drove down the middle unnecessarily, ie. not for the purposes of overtaking, then there would be less people trying to insert themselves in the outside lane, ie. putting themselves in the way of people tanking it. Surely that would be safer all round?
Only a fool …
... breaks the 2 second rule. Well there are lots of them about. Why do people (a female Honda driver for the sake of argument) feel it is acceptable to tailgate me – I’m doing the limit in the outside lane of a 2 lane carriage way so I can get past a queue of lorries doing 55mph and I also have a queue of traffic in front of me meaning that even if I did want to go over 70, I can’t. Add into the mix a sudden gap on the inside lane and said Honda driver continues her mobile phone conversation, interspersed with shouting and gesticulating at me (she was obviously an octopus, as I reckon that waving hands, holding a phone and holding on to the steering wheel surely lead to a hand over allocation), overtakes on the inside, still shouting and gesticulating, and plonks herself into the safe distance previously left between me and the car in front. But hey, she managed to get a good 400 feet further down the road – made all the difference I’m sure …
When I’m awake …
I wish I could do it, but I can’t. Once I’m awake, I’m awake and my body doesn’t give a monkeys whether its 5am or not. I’ve tried (for years) to be the sort of person who can luxuriate in lying in bed, drifting in and out of sleep and generally chilling. But I can’t do it. I tried again this morning. I woke at 4.50am and lay in bed for an hour before I finally got up, but it wasn’t enjoyable. The longer I lay there the more my back started to ache and I knew that if I stayed there much longer I would get a headache – and I can’t be doing with that. So, I’ve done some well needed house keeping on the old laptop, a bit of filing and a bit of a blog. No backache or headache forthcoming, so I think it was a good move.
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