Holiday weekend

That was the Glasgow September weekend holiday that just happened.  It was pretty good, and saw me and Karen heading to Stirling Castle for a "Meet the archaeologist" talk, which was really interesting.  It was a guy who had been working at the castle, excavating, since the 70's.  Really good talk, and gave a better insight into what you were actually seeing, when we went round the castle after the talk.

On the holiday Monday, Karen didn't have the day off, so I went climbing with a couple of friends from work.  We were dodging the rain, and ended up in Dunkeld, north of Perth.  We got climbs each in, but I only completed one.  There was a point on the second that I just couldn't see how to get past, but it turned out I would have needed to use a hand jam to get past and onto the rest of the route.  Having never done this, it never even crossed my mind to try it.

All in all a fun weekend, and it makes this working week a four day one, which is always good.

That was a good weekend

On Friday there was only three of us at the karate class, but it was a good session.  Back home it was time to chill in front of the tv with a couple of beers (Trade Winds, and Arran Blonde).

On Saturday, we were pretty lazy, apart from a wee cycle round Pollok Park in the afternoon.  Got the last two pitches of The Great Climb onto dvd.  Awesome stuff.  Four discs of amazing awe inspiring climbing.

Sunday morning, I headed over to the climbing centre, and nailed my first 6a+.  I was totally stoked about it, and my arms were pumped, so after celebrating with a coffee, it was a warm down on a 5+ overhang, then home.
After lunch, Karen and me headed to the Phoenix retail park, where she trawled TK Maxx and Matalan, while I vegged with a pint in the Bobbin Mill.  A quick shop in ASDA, and then home to catch up on Unbeatable Banzuki and Ninja Warrior.

Please don't come whinging to me, you're bringing me down.

I'm starting to get really down/fed up/stressed, with the number of people in work, who are coming into my room and moaning.  To be fair, they're not moaning at me, they're just letting off steam, but the constant stream of negativity is getting to me.
I want to (a) lock the door and curl up in a corner (b) scream at them to "fuck off" (c) get out of hear for a week at least.
(a) isn't an option, (b) would probably get me a visit to HR or a counseller, so fortunately (c) is the option.  I'll have to wait till the end of October though, as that's when I'm off to Marrakesh, so until then I'll have to put up with the negative souls sucking energy vampires that work in this place.

Dumbarton Castle

Yesterday we took a wee run down the Clyde to Dumbarton Castle.  It's the first time either of us had been there, but with us being Historic Scotland members, it cost us nothing to get in.
It's a brilliant place, and there's 557 steps to the top of the rock, where there's a trig pillar, and direction rose.

Gong gig

Well the Gong gig was superb.  The support was Nik Turner's Space Ritual, so loads of really good Hawkwind-esque music from them.  Gong, were totally totally bonkers.  Mr Allen and co are superb musicians, and completely off their trolleys.  The average age of the crowd must have been about 50, so I actually felt young :-)

The meal before the gig was at Oshi, and again was excellent.  Highly recommend it.

Nostromo

Yeeeeha!  I've been watching the Last Exit to Nowhere site, waiting patiently for the Nostromo caps to come back into stock, and today they have.  So, that's the holiday headgear ordered :-)
Now, do I wear my kilt to travel to Morocco or jeans ?  Got about a month to decide.

Birthday Gong

Today is K's birthday, so tonight I'm taking her for dinner, then on to see Gong at the ABC.  She's never seen them, so she's in for a treat.  Support is Nick Turner's Space Ritual.  Should be a cracker of a night.

Climbing on rock

After about 3 years of climbing on and off at the indoor wall, I finally made it out onto rock.  One of my work colleagues regularly climbs outside, and so it was that four of us headed over to Neilston quarry after work.  For two of us it was the first time outdoors, so it was a bit scary initially, but loads of fun.

We all got to climb two routes, before it started getting a bit dark and we had to give up.  On the way back to Glasgow, we stopped off at the Waterside Inn for a wee half-pint and a natter.

It was a really good evening, and I'll definitely need to start picking up gear for outdoors now.