Damn weather

So, I was hoping (along with Karen, and a friend from work) to go skimboarding at Troon on Sunday, but the weather doesn't look like it's going to be conducive to a day at the beach, so it looks like we're stuffed.

Got a panicked call from K earlier.  The tv is stuffed.  It's switching off, then on, then off, then on.  Problem is, the final "on" state is taking over half an hour now.  A quick search online, and this appears to be quite a common fault with Samsungs.  Admittedly, we've had it a couple of years, but even so, you'd expect a tv to last longer than that.  All the forums say the same thing, it's cheaper to replace than repair, and at least that way you get (at least) a years guarantee.  So, while she's not working this afternoon, Karen is off in search of the holy grail (ok, a new tv, but if you watch as many movies as we do, it may as well be the holy grail)

Funniest thing I've seen in a long time

CollegeHumor’s Favorite Funny Videos

What I've been up to lately

Well, I had a very relaxing week in Menorca (Calla N Blanes).  I don't know why, but for years I've always wanted to go, but instead I've seen the Soddom that is San Antonio (Ibiza) and the Gomorrah that is Malia in Crete.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Ibiza and Crete, but I always wanted to go to Menorca.  Well, I went, and I wasn't dissapointed.

The island is quiet.  It's not riddled with nightclubs.  The people who go there appeared to be young families, and older people.  Not the usual clubbing crowd.  The roads are pretty quiet.  I've never driven on the right, but if I was going to, this would be the perfect place to get the hang of it.

And the cycling provision, OMG! Cycle lanes everywhere, and they're alongside but SEPERATED from the traffic.  Someone really thought about cyclists safety when they put the lanes in.

We were staying about 2.5kms from the old capital of Cuitadella, so we had a choice of jump a bus in, or walk along a waymarked coastal route to get there.  Once there, we could wander the narrow medieval streets of the old town, go to the market (Saturday), or catch a bus into Mahon (Mao in Catalan) and wander the streets of the new capital.  There was also a market there as well, and more narrow medieval streets - Mahon used to be a walled city, but isn't any more.  Down one of the wee streets, you can see the last remaining part of the city wall, and pass through the gate.

If you want a relaxing chilled out holiday, I cannot recommend Menorca enough.  If I go back, I would be seriously tempted to hire a bike for the duration of my stay.

My reading material of late has not been my usual sf fare.  While I was away, I read Himalaya by Michael Palin, and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  This non-sf theme has carried on since I got back, as I'm currently reading Wake Up by Jack Kerouac, about the life of Siddharatha Gautama.

And that, is the state of play at the moment.

Hello callouses. Am I pleased to see you.

I've finally got small callouses on the tips of my fingers on my left hand.  Can you guess why this is making me happy?

Just bought a skimboard

In an attempt to find a new and exciting way to take myself out the gene pool, I've bought a skimboard.  This isn't as daft an idea as you may think, as and ex skateboarder and snowboarder, it's just an aquatic progression.  I'm thinking Troon, or the quieter end of Ayr beach should be cool for this. (Or even Girvan given that it's not the tourist mecca it once was)

For those who don't know what skimboarding is, check out this video.

Walk 26 miles.....maybe next year

The registration is open for the 2013 kiltwalk.   A work collegue told me about this, and it's quite appealing, I think I might go for it.
There's no way I'll run a marathon again, so this seems like it could be an alternative, and it's for good causes.

Anyone up for it then?

Back on the bike

Yesterday I finally got back on the bike.  Me and Karen cycled over to the Riverside Museum and had a wee wander round.  It's the first time in years that Karen's cycled on the road, so we cut through Bellahouston Park,   the quieter (dodgier) streets in Ibrox (on in particular along the back of the wee training ground is seriously dodgy), along Govan Road and over the Bells Bridge.
The dual cycle/foot path from the helipad to the museum could do with actually being finished.  There's a stretch of tarmac followed by loose gravel, then tarmac again.  Doesn't look nice for any tourists walking to the museum.

The museum itself is a pretty cool building.  Got a few dislikes about it as a museum though.  The cars up on 3 levels of shelving - you really can't get a decent look at the cars on the top two levels.  Another thing is that there's a lot of non transport items.  I'm probably wrong, but I thought this was the Transport Museum?  There's a lot of things that should probably be in the Peoples Palace.  If the remit of the museum is more than just transport, then fair enough, but that isn't made clear, so these exhibits seem a bit out of place.

I forgot to take a camera, and I hadn't picked up my phone when I left, so no photos.  Then again, it's an excuse to head over again.

I was pleasantly surprised to see there's a wee ferry running between the museum and Govan, and the river bus seems to be running again - we had to wait both going and coming back, for the Bells Bridge to swing into place again after letting the boat through.  Glasgow using the Clyde in the same way Paris uses the Seine, is long overdue.  There's a fantastic river that has plenty of tourist potential.  The riverside should be upmarket, not run down.

Begging must be paying well......

Today I went for lunch with my mum.  We went into the Atholl, not expensive, but not the cheapest pub in Glasgow.

Standing at the bar was a guy who regularly begs outside the bus station.  Now, if he can afford to spend £3.50+ on a pint, and feed the jukebox the way he was (Robbie Williams in case your interested), then either (a) the begging is paying well, or (b) he's a lying chancing scumbag who deserves to get a karmic kicking (as opposed to a physical one).

I'm not for one minute suggesting that all beggars are at it, far from it, but it's gits like this that make the general populace think they're all at it.

I'll stick to my usual tried and trusted routine of giving a Big Issue seller the occasional £1, and refusing to take a magazine.  (In fact, it's that long since I've bought a BI that I'm not sure what the current price is).

Stunning (watch full screen)

Goodbye weekend, hello Monday

So the weekend is over.  On Friday, I took a half day and went to GOMA and Kelvingrove Art Galleries.
There's a new installation that takes up the entire ground floor of GOMA (WARNING - If you've a dust allergy you may want to avoid it) that's made up of sawdust.  It's bloody huge.
To be honest, I don't get it.  I looked at the comments book, and a lot of people nailed it.  It looks like a gigantic cake.
There must be some statement it's (trying) to make, but I just.don't.get.it.  Anyway, onwards to the art galleries, and it was hoaching with schoolkids who seemed to be getting their art class there. (here's paper and pencils, go draw something).  There was some primary kids getting shown round the Egyptian room - cue female outrage that only men could be scribes in ancient Egypt - who seemed to love it.  I admit, I did listen in on the talk they were being given, and it was brilliant.
Below is a statue of the goddess Sekhmet, the warrior goddess and goddess of healing for upper Egypt.

Saturday we nipped into town and spent the credit note I had for Missing Records.  The resultant hall was a couple of dvd's, The Adjustment Bureau, Hostel III and some cd's, Levellers, SRV Live Alive, and Robert Plant - Principle of Moments (currently jammed in the cd drive of the Streamium).

Yesterday, we were determined to go out despite the rain, so picked up a couple of friends, and went for a walk in the Linn Park, with a pause in the middle for lunch in the Old Smiddy.

So, that was that.  My plan for this week is to (finally) dismantle and dispose of the computer desk in the spare room.  When that's done I'll reward myself by digging out the LoTR miniatures, and get set painting them.

Big company bully boy tactics

Disgusting behaviour from a global company to small local one.  They should be ashamed.

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/diageo-v-brewdog

In other news...

I saw a wonderful sight yesterday morning.  A young deer running down my street.  Must have crossed the bridge over the M77 that leads into Pollok Estate.
It didn't seem scared.  By that I mean is wasn't bolting hell for leather down the road, but is was out of sight before I managed to grab a camera and get to the door.
Considering where we live is bordered on 2 sides by the estate, on one by a road and on the other by a railway, I reckon it's chances of heading back into the estate were pretty good.

Work as an extra

Well, after doing no extra work since World War Z last August, I've received a text about 11 hours on Monday for the BBC.  I've got back saying yes, so I just need to wait and see if I'm picked now.
Fingers crossed.

Karate and walking

This weekend mostly revolved around not slobbing out.

There was a karate course in Largs, that ran from Friday afternoon, to Sunday lunchtime, but I only headed down for the Saturday practice.  There were four sessions on Saturday.  The first had started not long after my alarm went off (7.00am).  I got there for the 10.00am session, and stayed for the 2.30pm one as well, before heading back to Glasgow, utterly knackered, and avoiding the post-dinner 7.00pm session.  It was a brilliant, day, and next time I WILL do the full weekend.

On Sunday, I got up early again, and fired up the breadmaker so that Karen would have warm just made bread when she got up.  While that was baking I started to watch Ran (Akira Kurosawa movie based on King Lear), but once Karen got up, and the cats wanted attention, subtitles became a pain (can't read them from the kitchen), so I put it off, and got ready to go walking.

We jumped in the car and headed off to a forestry park near Gartmore (between Aberfoyle and Drymen) to do a walk that the book said took just over two hours, that the sign at the car park said took and hour, and that we did in about 40 minutes.  So, we looked at the board and found another waymarked route, and off we went.  In total we got our 6 miles in, and once back at the carpark, sat on the riverbank and had a coffee before coming home.

Just beautiful

Why have I never heard this song before?  This is simply stunning.  Moby is a genius.

The ongoing clearout

So, I've started the clearout, and I've a bag of dvd's that I'll take to Missing sometime this week.  (If anyone is interested and want's a bargin, give me a shout pronto)

I've also got my Praktica 35mm SLR and 3 lenses, along with a camera bag, flash and autowind, that I'm open to offers on. (Does anyone still use film?)

I've also (finally) got rid of the massive brick that was the ancient desktop, and also my Dell that blew up last year (not as spectacular as it sounds).  I stripped the hard drive, dvd drive and ram from the laptop first.  I'm passing the dvd drive and memory to a friend to use himself, and I'm keeping the hard drive to see if I can get an adaptor that'll let me use it as an external drive or something.

So, not having a desktop, there's no need for a computer desk, so when I get home, the allan keys are coming out and it's getting stripped.down and binned as well.

In place of the computer desk, I'll be making a wee trip to Ikea for another bookcase, and that'll take care of the boxes of books that are cluttering up the spare room and making it unuseable.

So, that's my (cunning) short term plans.

Next time we'll take the bikes.

Yesterday we drove down to Troon, but rather than parking in the centre of the town, we parked in the South Beach car park just as you get into the town.  Then, we walked out of town over the hump back bridge, and followed the cycle path through the country - and at one point along the side of the main road to the airport - to Prestwick, where we sat outside with coffees at Mancini's on the seafront, before having a wander along the main street, before walking back to Troon.

Unlike the cycle paths in and around Glasgow, this is a really nice scenic route stretching all the way along the Ayrshire coast.  We met a lot of people both walking and cycling, as we went.  Something else we noticed.  Outside of Glasgow, strangers are friendlier.

Anyway, I've made up my mind.  Once we're back from holiday in June, I'm getting roof bars and bike racks for the car, and we'll head down again with the bikes this time, and cycle from Troon to Ayr.

If you can get down with your bikes (train maybe), then it's a really nice route.  Give it a try.

That naked feeling

Why is it I feel naked if I forget my watch.  It's like having an itch and trying to resist scratching it.  I mean I'm sure that when I forget my watch, I go to look at my wrist way more than I do when I'm wearing it!

So the alternatives are don't check the time at all.  After all, in the words of Douglas Adams, "Time is an illusion.  Lunchtime doubly so."

OR

Use my phone to keep tabs on the minutes ticking away.

Either way, today is a chronograph fail.

WHW update

It's officially off.  We got a week in Menorca for £50 more than it was going to cost to walk to Fort William.
Go figure!

West Highland Way and being ripped off.

Our plan to do the WHW in June looks like falling through.  The problem is partly to do with the fact that we'd planned to use a bag carrying service (£40 per bag for the duration, with unlimited stops) to ferry the rucksacks between stops, so that all we had to carry was a daysack with provisions for the days walk.

The "proper" campsite outside Balmaha is a caravan club site, and has a minimum stay of 2 nights.  Now, my reading of this is "while not actually saying we don't want the backpackers walking the way, in reality, we don't want the backpackers walking the way".  So, we're left looking at another option where someone will be there to receive the bags from the company transporting them.  Sallochy campsite is partly manned, and I've still not heard back as to whether there's provisions for receiving bags.  This means a stop in Balmaha.  Bunkhouses are already full, so that's not an option.  So prices so far for one night, have been between £75 and £100.

Now, this would be repeated at Bridge of Orchy, so £150 - £200.  Then there's the two nights at campsites (approx £20 a night), the hostel at Fort William (again about £30) and the train back to Glasgow (God knows what that will cost).

Add in food and drink, and you're looking at spending AT LEAST £400 - £450 for five days "camping".  looking online, we can get a week in the sun flying from Glasgow, with B&B accomodation and preety much guaranteed good weather, for just over £90 each.

Now, I'm sorry, I really really want to do the WHW, but I don't want to get screwed over in the process.  I know the summer wild camping ban is there to stop drunken idiots from starting fires, and causing trouble along the side of Loch Lomond, but the knock on effect seems to be hotels and B&B's cashing in big time.

Holiday at home.  Get financially screwed.  You know it makes sense.