Showing posts with label not funny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label not funny. Show all posts

Monday, 5 December 2011

Not my annus horribilis, that's probably next year.

Over the last six months, I have been thinking where is blog has been and where it is going, and whether I should continue with it.

I have always stated that it was primarily for me to write up trip reports and have photographs from these trips available for Peter & Keith to see; up until 2009 I spent eight years backpacking with these guys.

Keith, Peter and me somewhere in the peaks
Gradually others found it and started following or subscribing and slowly it built up a reasonable number over the years.

I wouldn't say I was a prolific blogger with rough 350+ posts over six years and the grammar and spelling at times have been pretty bad, there are reasons for this but I won't go into them.

Not surprisingly the most viewed posts are either trip or gear reviews, but then I guess we're all interested in when people have been or what gear they are using.

The last eighteen months have seen no backpacking trip reports posted; the main reason for this, is that after finishing TGO2010 and going back to work, I found that I had to take a fairly substantial pay cut.  It also seems that public transport has become quite expensive especially travel in the South, the cost of a trip to somewhere like Dorset is almost as much as a trip to Scotland but a trip Scotland means at least a week away which then only adds to the expense.  Even local campsites that use to change a couple of pounds a night are now asking £8-12 even for a backpacking tent.

I had hoped to enter the TGO2012 as a present for my fiftieth or failing that do something similar but neither are now looking possibly; although I didn't apply for the TGO as I knew I wouldn't be able to afford to do it.

The only thing at present keeping the blog alive are the equipment reviews and I'm not sure how much longer they will be appearing.

I did try to get out for a couple of trips in the past year but both times they were scuppered due to illnesses in the family.  So for the first time in near ten years, I haven't managed to spend any time in the outdoors.

I honesty can't see next year being any better and the chances of getting out are going to be even more limiting.

There will be at least one more post before the end of the year but after that who know.

If I do manage to do something, I'm sure it will appear here at some point.

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Salad Days

Yesterday was spent going around the Natural History and Science Museum in London.

I haven't been to either of these Museums since around 1976/77; back then I spent quite a lot of time there, for reasons I won't go into.

There was plenty of feelings of deja vu, seeing some of the same exhibits from back then, like the dinosaurs and the Apollo 11 moon lander (obviously a reproduction).

Things have changed though; back then the most interesting electronic 'gadget' in the Science Museum was the T.V that had Ceefax on it. Nowadays its all touchscreen interactive computers.

One thing the Science Museum always had were either really old things like Stephenson Rocket, or Beam engines or items that Joe Public would never own like a Cray computer or Space craft.

But yesterday I saw a Chopper Bike, NES Console and an original Game Boy machine; these are not old (well that old to be a Museum!!) these are part of my childhood and early twenties.

Going to Museums can sure make one feel old.

Major Tom

From Days out
T.Rex

Friday, 7 November 2008

The continuing saga

So guess what didn't happen today?

Yeah; that's right no parcel delivery, after trying to deliver yesterday they didn't bother today even though I have arranged for the delivery today and it was them that said that they could deliver only on Friday.

Bunch of muppets; They said that they maybe able to deliver Monday, this will be the third attempt and will then mean I will have to try and get to the main depot to collect. Only problem with that is the depot is miles away and not particularly easy to get to.

Thursday, 6 November 2008

AAAGGGHHH!!!!!

So they try to deliver on Tuesday and no one is home; so I ring to arrange a new delivery date, which I told the earliest day is Friday.

Guess who has been back today?

I've tried phoning to see if they are still going to attempt to deliver tomorrow and after 15 minutes on hold; I'm cut off!!!