Ben Ledi

On Monday a group of us from work climbed Ben Ledi outside Callandar, for charity.  It was a great day despite the weather, and we raised just over £400.

That was my first proper hillwalk, and I think I might just have caught the bug.  Need to do more now.  Where to start?  The Cobbler?  Goatfell?  Wait, that involves a ferry to Arran.  Oh I'll think of something.

Karate course

Well, the day course at Whiteinch was yesterday, and it was really good fun.  The main practice was on drawing in the energy of your attacker.  We started off doing a practice with boken.  This was to get the feel of what we were eventually going to be aiming for.
Then, the without the boken, we paired up, with one person attacking.  The defender kept the hands as if holding the boken, and the movement was the same as in the boken practice.  You couold then draw in your attacker and get them off balance, and leave them open for your attack.  In practice, the effort required to get your attacker overbalancing, was a very light touch.  If a full punch had been used the effect would have been amazing.

All in all another very tiring but very good course.

Stuff

Not been up to a great deal this week, but the weekend should be pretty full.
Tomorrow, I've got a karate day course to attend.  I missed the last one, but the one before that I got graded and got my green belt.  I don't think there's going to be a grading (for me at least) this time round, but it would be pretty cool if there was.  If someone walks away from these day events with a new belt, it's a good feeling all round.

I'm multi-tasking on the book front, juggling The Soft Machine by William Burroughs with How to Practise: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama.

On Monday along with some collegues from work, I'm off to climb Ben Ledi.  Really looking forward to that.

So, that's it.  Nothing else to report.

Reading of late

If you know me, you'll know love SF/F and horror.  I also like anything else that's a bit different.  A few years ago I went though a Burroughs phase, during which I read Cities of the Red Night, Place of Dead Roads, Western Lands, Junkie, Naked Lunch and Interzone.  I don't know what appealed about his books.  Probably the fact that the first I read was Cities, and when I had finished I had to go back and re-read as I'd no idea what had just happened.
Anyway, I'm back catching up with Bill, and I'm currently reading The Soft Machine, and I've The Ticket that Exploded waiting to be read.
In a weird combination, I've also just started reading How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama.

Edinburgh festivities

Yesterday we took a train through to Edinburgh to soak up the atmosphere of the Fringe.  The Royal Mile was awash with show promoters, punters, and stalls.  It's going to be mental at the weekend!!!

We didn't bother taking in any shows, but we did visit our favorite Thai restaurant, which was amazing as usual.

Aside from the atmosphere and the food, some ales were partaken of.  So a pretty laid back wander round the town, and a couple of pubs drunk in.  All good stuff.

To Infinity.....and beyond

Well, that's BT been out to upgrade my broadband to Infinity.  ta ta daaaa!  It seems slicker now.  No sign of lag at all.
I'd taken the afternoon off as they were coming out between 1.00 and 6.00pm, but while I was at work this morning (on site, not in the office), I got a call from the engineer.  He was at my house at 10.30!  He knew it was an afternoon appointment, but he had finished another job early, so came along on the off-chance.
When I did get home, he turned up dead on 1.00pm, so 10/10 for service.  The installation went smoothly, and it's all good.

On a totally separate issue, could someone, anyone in Glasgow City Council, please please please get their finger out and do something about the state of the roads. Major arteries through the city and riddled with potholes.  I was in Syria earlier this year, and their roads are in excellent condition.
It's that bad, that a pothole I reported a couple of weeks ago - about 10" in diameter and 6" deep - that was filled only last weekend, has started collapsing again.  The policy seems to be fill it in, not to repair the underlying problem, hence the fact it's now sinking again after less than a week.
Please get your act together, it's a false economy, and it's my tax money your wasting.