Year: 2010

4th dcd and the 3 peaks.

17th October 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

The 3 peaks in Yorkshire is one of the hardest “pleasure” walks in the UK.

Unlike the UK 3 peaks, there are no stops in between to drink tea in cars. Its one long run, with 3 progressively higher mountains, a long walk between the 1st and 2nd mountains and a backbreaking slog to the village, once the final peak has been bagged.

I walked it in my 30’s with Frank and Dave Mandy and it half killed me. Tony was really keen to do it, so off we went.

We rented a car from Avis for 3 days, at a cost of only £42 (but beware, when you bring the car back, unless its completely full, you’ll be charged for a full tank). Tony came down on Thursday night, to sample the social scene in Chester, and so that we could set of early on Friday.

I haven’t been camping in a while, and I was surprised how quickly you lose the packing skill. It took me ages to decide what things to take, when previously, it would have taken only a few minutes. More proof, were it needed that I need to get back to previous adventure habits.

For various reasons, lots of messing about in the morning, meant we didn’t set off, until after lunch. This was for the best really, as the weather was utterly atrocious.

We got up to Horton, put up our tent and had a walk around. It was at this point, I realised they had a bunk house, which we should have used rather than the tent, but what the hey.

The farmer kindly gave us Sausages and burgers (I didn’t eat them on the trip, but they fed me for 3 days when I got back !).

We had a couple of coffee’s in the Crown in (Horton is served by 2 pubs, the other is the Golden Lion). Tony had invited some friends from Social Circles (an outfit based in Manchester that organize regular social events, walking trips and holidays etc) who were going to join us.

They arrived a little late, as they had experienced problems getting a spare tent, car breaking down and having to rent another one etc. All in all, I was impressed with their tenacity.

As I’ve written before, the real challenge for me is not getting out of the tent and walking the mountain, but the night before. You finish work, are presented with the options of leaving your comfort zone, getting on buses, carrying bags about etc, versus going home and relaxing in your house, meeting up with your friends.

Its all too easy to choose the 2nd one, but despite the prospect of driving rain and the night in a tent, they had got there all the same.

After getting something to eat in the pub, we wander back to the tents and bed down for the night. It was quite late, and a male group, who had been drinking heavily in the bar, decided to extend the party until 2.30am, which wasn’t appreciated.

Up in the morning, we use our stoves to make coffee and then fill up the flasks. Some people opted for porridge I had a continental breakfast as I was keen to get on the hill.

I was under no illusion about the walk. You need 2 things to get up a hill. Fitness and determinations. If I could only choose 1, it would be the 2nd. As Twid told me on my mountaineering course at PYB, sometimes you just put up with the pain and keep walking.

I’ve lost a lot of weight lately, but Tony and everyone else on the trip, were much fitter than me.

We set off, and you can see from the picture, the weather was fantastic.

I had brought my map, compass and gps, but Kosia who leads a lot of the Social circles trips, was all over it, and I was very impressed with her leadership and navigation.

After Penny-Ghent, its a very long walk to the next mountain, which was really boggy from the previous days rain.

I took the picture above, to try and capture the feeling on the trail. We had a couple of stops for drinks and lunch. It was really nice meeting new people. Kosia it turned out, was from Krakow, one of my favourite places in Poland. An Italian friend of her’s was from the Italian alps near Lake Garda and Cortina.

A couple that joined is in the morning were scientists, and we had a long talk about whether discovering aliens (or them discovering us) would bind humanity together or finish it.

She also explained why the replicators in Star Trek couldn’t really work (Old newspapers are carbon based. Loaves of bread are protein based. With what we presently know, one can’t turn into the other !)

Whernside is different than the other 2 mountains, as it has a sort of elephant back, that stretches for miles. It was a real slog getting up there.

Once down the other side, we made our final march to Inglebourough. We stopped off in a pub to get a drink and use the toilet. They told us we weren’t appropriately dressed. I pride myself on the versatility of my Rohan clothes, but how many walkers wear a shirt and tie !.

The final mountain Ingleborough is really steep, and has steps cut into the mountain, to avoid accidents. The top of the mountain is a large flat area, I saw the group, and realising success was in sight, took off, with renewed vigour. I get a picture of me and Tone, at the the trig point.

Its now time to head home. Its a really long walk, not well sign posted, and darkness was closing in.

I set of as fast as I could, I was conscious I had arranged to meet my Aunt and Uncle that evening for dinner at their house.

As I headed down the hill, my Uncle asked how long I would be, and gave directions on the quickest way back.

Navigating back is pretty easy at first, as you can see lights from the village. The path descends into a sort of basin and once your lower then the village, you cant see anything (there is also a sign that says 1.5 miles to Horton, which must have been put up as a joke).

We get back to the village, and too my suprise, my Uncle is waiting for me at the Railway station. We say goodbye to the Social Circles crew and drive back to Uncle John’s house (he owns a cottage in Horton). Take of our boots in the garage, and within minutes, I’m sat on a comfortable arm chair, in a warm living room, with a glass of cold beer. Heaven.

More is to come, when we sit down to a warm filling meal, that they’ve cooked for us.

I only see my Uncle John every few years, so we sit up until after midnight talking. A warm shower and then a well needed nights sleep in a comfortable bed.

In the morning, a full English breakfast, then say goodbye, and head to the campsite to take down our tent, and drive home.

I drop Tone off at his house, and then drive back to Chester.

That’s when it hits me. Before Frank moved to Thailand, I could think of any kind of adventure, and know I would have someone to come with me, with all sorts of organisational skills, a sense of humour and a general love of getting out there.

I have been looking for someone like that since then, but it isn’t Tony.

No, in reality its the other way around. Tony had a dream, and the drive and determination to do the 3 peaks and I helped to make it happen. I haven’t found a replacement Frank, I have become Frank and Tony is the old me !.

Thanks to everyone who came, especially Kasia who was an inspiration. Also my Aunt Vernica and Uncle John for their much appreciated hospitality.

Oh, nearly forgot Tony, sorry.

Sad News.

5th October 2010 admin Uncategorised 2 Comments

My mum passed away earlier today.

Everything on this website and all the adventure I’ve done came from my imagination, which came from her.

The search for adventure will have to stop for a little while.

I hope you all understand.

John

Pursuit of Fitness.

22nd September 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Getting fit.

People always say that you shouldn’t try to make too many significant changes in your life, at the same time.

My experiences, have consistently been the opposite. When I started a new Job, 5 months ago, I committed to losing some weight. I comfortably lost a stone in the first 8 weeks (all of this going on, while adjusting to a new company, new working hours, new systems etc).

I’ve managed to maintain my weight at this level, through sensible balance, and lifestyle choices. The next step now, is to get physically fit. I’m not convinced, £40 per month in gym membership would give me value for money. That cash (if I had it) would be better spent saving for a holiday.

Instead, I have worked out a route around town, that’s about 4 miles, and I run it 3 to 4 times per week. Will I be able to keep it up through the cold winter nights ?. Well, I’ll let you know what happens.

Steak Night.

I set myself 2 cookery goals per month. This month, it’s Steak, and Beef and Guinness Pie.

The idea is that I buy the ingredients, invite a friend around, and then cook the meal and get them to tell me what they think. Just like my work in technology, the emphasis is on certainty. Too many people in my opinion, use the word “know” when they actually mean “reckon”.

When I say that I can cook a vegetarian curry, that doesn’t mean I’ve seen it in a book and can probably do it, that means I’ve prepared it, cooked it and eaten it, alongside one of my friends. That way, if I need to cook that dish again, I have the confidence of knowing, I’ve tried it and succeeded.

I decided to cook Steak first (The pies are being cooked on the 26th, if anyone is nearby) and invite my old mate Glenn, who I know, likes Steak.

I took my experimentation further, by purchasing different steaks, to see if there really is a difference (I normally eat my steak well done, and people have said there’s no point in buying expensive stuff for that. I wanted to test it).

I bought a Tesco finest organic steak for Glenn. Nearly half a pound, Sirloin. I bought myself 4 pieces of Rump Steak, from Iceland. Roughly the same weight, both steak “items” cost about the same.

I’m ambitious in the kitchen, but the key here, is to be realistic. I decided not to try and make my own peppercorn sauce, so I bought that in.

The other novel thing, was I decide to cook the steaks on a grill pan, to make the cookery sort of “interactive”, so Glenn could get involved, and get his steak cooked the way he wanted it, rather than me bringing it in, the way I thought he wanted it.

I learned a really cool way, to steam vegetables in a microwave oven. Served with the Steak, and off we go.

Like any good guest, Glenn, bought a bottle of Red (I don’t believe in God, but if he is real, I believe that he made Red wine, to be drunk while eating steak).

So, was it a success. Glenn told me he enjoyed, it, and since he’s the guest, that’s good enough for me. What do I think ? I enjoyed my steak, but 2 crows don’t make an eagle, and loads of cheap steak, is no match for 1 big piece of quality meat. Lesson learned, and thanks to Glenn, for coming over.

Tables, Internet and the Cold war.

The picture above, shows the original table cloth, that I bought in Thailand, a couple of years ago. I do quite a lot of work on the dining table (not when people are actually eating on it) and I decided that a blue cotton one, would be better for day to day use, so I bought one on Saturday. .

I wasn’t sure whether/how to, iron the table cloth, so I google’d “iron a table cloth”. A host of websites appeared (I love the way Google lists as you type now, its awesome). I picked one called how to, and it gave loads of useful advice, and cloth and table, were as one, on not time.

I also washed some curtains. I wasn’t sure how to Iron them, so tried a similar google. Completely different this time, I get extensive listings on the Cold war, Churchills speach, Gobachev, etc. Made me smile. I suppose that’s what you get when you google “iron curtain”.

I’ve been using freegle for a couple of weeks (Its the new name for free-cycle) I was trying to get a 3 seater sofa, to replace the 2 seater one I have (in truth, I really miss lying down and watching TV).

You post, either with things you want to give away, or things you are offering. The basic idea is that you help the environment and improve the local community, by offering things you don’t need to people. That way contents of landfills are reduced and things like prams, which only have certain life span in a home, are passed around for the better good of all.

I havent seen any sofa’s, but some people have actually posted, asking for play stations 3’s and cars, which I think is a bit deluded.

One thing did inspire me. There’s a guy on there, who gets collects computer parts. He then builds them into fully working computers, which he gives away for nothing. He has just built his 264th !.

I read recently about Rebecca Javeleau, the 14 year old girl, who invited 15 people to her birthday party, but made the group public and ended up getting 21,000 invites.

The police said, they would station officers outside the house, for increased security. Okay she should have been more careful with her details, but will some psycho really turn up at the house.

From the books I’ve read on sociopathy its more likely, someone will just pick a house at random, or visit somewhere because he thinks god is speaking to him through the radio !.

Media.

White Collar, True Blood and Eureka have all just finished in the US. This week, House, Special Victims Unit (final series), Fringe, Stargate Universe and Dexter all start new series.

Spooks season 9 opened on BBC 1 the other evening, and it was pretty good. I have previously wondered how long they can drag out the same stuff, but this series seems quite good.

After recommendations from a friend, I watched the girl with the dragon tattoo. If you haven’t seen it, it really is excelent. Its tense and gritty with a very clever story. I couldn’t even guess who the killer was until the very end, which is quite unusual for me. Overall, brilliant.

On Saturday, I went to the cinema to see the sequel, the girl who played with fire. What happened ?.Same characters, same actors, but this film had lost everything from the original.

Characters, you previously struggled to fathom, become transparent. A series of co-incidences, that challenged even my imagination, and a villain, who was right out of James Bond. No tension throughout the whole film and a “hero gets the girl ending” finished me off.

I hope the 3rd part is better. Apparently, the first film is being re-made in Hollywood, so that will be even worse.

Walking the Edisbury Way.

Winter is coming, and Sundays walk was cold and embittered with rain. But no problem, we perused the map and off we went. Amelia came along this weekend, and we met up with Tone at Helsby.

A quick walk up Helsby hill and a pause to enjoy the view. Back down the other side, we had through a series of paths, then wander up the hill.

Near the top of the hill, this futuristic house, called Stepping stones. Half of the house is underground. I wasn’t sure about photographing it, as it’s someone’s home, but its an amazing building as well, so I thought a photograph from this angle was a reasonable compromise.

Further along we head out into the hills, then follow the 5 miles back into Frodsham, along the Edisbury way. The path hadn’t been walked in a while, and you can see from this cornfield, we had to “Borneo” our way through sections of it.

Back at Frodsham, a pint in the Helter Skelter, and then train home.

Friends.

I heard from an old friend, Kath Ladensowski recently. Turns out, like many of my other friends, she has set up her own business Aster Accountants.

Kath and I worked at Morris & Co some years ago, and I dug out this picture of a team event, Go Karting (just to show that its a small world, this picture was actually taken about 300 metres from where I now work).

Adventure.

Tone and I are off back to Horton on Ribblesdale on the 1st of October. We’ve rented a car (only £42 for 3 days !), and I’ve taken the friday off work. I’m quite looking forward to it, as I’ll get to see my uncle John, who I dont see very often (he lives there).

We are also meeting up with some of Tony’s friends from Social circles. Aside from money and time, one of the key challenges of organising trips and adventures, is find a ready supply of adventure ready people. I’m quite looking forward to meeting them.

I’m pretty fit, but I haven’t done the 3 peaks in 5 years and I’m now in my 40’s. I’m sure I’ll be able to do it, as I’ve said before to climb mountains, you need fitness and an unwillingness to quit. If I could only have one, it would be the 2nd.

I’ve done some overtime this month, so I’ll also be booking flights to Budapest in October. Okay, its not massive international travel on the scale I’ve done in recent years, but I didn’t want to go a whole year without getting on a plane.

I’m researching the trip at the moment, so I should have a full list of things to do and see. If you’ve been there, and have a recommendation for the city, post bellow.

Update.

9th September 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

First of all, apologies for the delay putting up this weeks pages. I have worked the past 2 weekends (but I have this Friday off, so it should all balance out).

Lyndsay’s birthday.

Congratulations to a close colleague and friend, Lyndsay, who celebrated her birthday last week.

Not only did Lyndsay go to Oxford, maintain a significant role in the accounts department, is captain of a sports team and qualifying as an accountant, but she can also bake (as you can see from the delicious cake, featured in this picture).

From everyone here at johnsunter.com (which these days, is basically, me) happy birthday.

Final episode of Last of the summer wine (whine ???).

On the subject of time passing, the final episode of Last of the summer wine aired recently.

My stepfather used to make me watch this tired rubbish when I was a teenager (and that ship sailed long ago !)

I just wish I could find the people who made this rubbish, and find out what was going through their minds ?.

No actually, I wouldn’t like to speak to them. In silence, I would like to load them all onto a bus and then drive it of a cliff. The loss of my own life, would be a small price to pay, to rid the world of these media criminals.

In a perverse way, I actually prefer the hated Big Brother. At least they are trying to do something modern and different (though failing miserably).

Simplified life. The joy of a small garden.

A lot of people are critical of my garden. They say unkind things, like “it isn’t really a garden at all” or “why don’t you cover over the windows on your back door, so you can’t see that thing”.

Well, I’m quite fond of my garden (despite the fact that its a bit noisy, because of the generators used by the Mill Hotel).

I have spent many years, trying to simplify my life in as many ways as possible. My garden has one additional advantage. Take a look, at the picture above.

Now look at the picture bellow.

I think you’ll agree, that in this picture, the garden is a lot tidier.

It took me 25 minutes to maintain my garden, after 4 months of neglect. Can you sort out your garden more quickly ?.

The cost of good outdoor gear, is never wasted.

I recently had to work the bank holiday. It involved coming into work early on a Sunday morning (6am). Although the Government, constantly bang on about the environment and public transport, sometimes, they just don’t provide an alternative.

In this instance, the first train to Warrington from Chester, would have got me there at 9:30am !. No good at all.

I decided to sleep over the night before. I set up my bed rig as you can see above. I also got some microwave pizza’s for supper, and relaxed watching the Sopranos on my laptop, before retiring to “bed”.

I was up bright and early, and everything went to plan. Unfortunately, it has been pointed out, that the building isn’t insured for tenancy, and it wasn’t the cleverest thing I’ve ever done. Obviously I’ve promised not to do it again.

Talking of trains. I got up last Saturday, to get the 6:13am train (yes, 6:13am). I was standing on the platform, and it was cancelled. Can you imagine how annoying that was ?.

More walking and adventure.

Well, we’ve been out and about walking again. The weekend before last, we did a circular walk around Frodsham, to find the source of the Manchester Ship Canal.

Last weekend, we walked from Frodsham to Delamere forest, along the Sandstone Trail route, I walked some years ago, with Frank.

We usually wrap up a walk, with a couple of pints in the Helter Skelter pub in Frodsham (that’s if the walk actually ends in Frodsham 🙂 A lot of the other walkers and cyclists there, sport beards, and for a brief time (about 3/8ths of a second to be exact) I considered growing one myself.

I occasionally wander around Warrington at lunch-time. Some people are a bit snobby when it comes to visiting places like Pound World. I popped in the other day, and got a superb luggage scales, which I’ve wanted for ages.

I nearly paid £15 for some in Capetown airport, so you can imagine my delight at getting exactly what I wanted, for a £.

If you get a minute, read Simon Calder’s website. It really is excellent.

Unusual surprise about Newton Heath.

While growing up, I lived in a place called Newton Heath, in East Manchester. I don’t like to do the place down, but lets just say, with the exception of a few close friends (who have mostly moved out themselves) I’m not sad that I don’t live there anymore.

Everyone knows, that Man United’s original name was Newton Heath football club, and played at the Loco (pretty much 100 metres behind where this photo was taken).

What I didn’t realise, was the number of interesting and famous people (in addition to myself) that came from there.

Mike Atherton – Famous cricketer and OBE, actually went to Briscoe lane school.

Alfred Morris – Barron of Manchester. I didn’t even know that Manchester had a Barron !

Sir Harold Matthew Evans – Former editor of the Times.

Judy Finnigan – born and brought up on Amos avenue, where I delivered papers.

Mather and Platt the international engineering company (now owned by Germans) was founded here.

Okay, its not exactly Who’s Who, but its a lot more inspiring than I had expected.

Near and far, the search for adventure continues…

The Frog closes.

6th September 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

The Frog and Nightingale, my local pub for the last 8 years closed last night.

It was quite a sad moment for me, as I have had loads of really good times there. Nearly all of my old friends have moved out of the City/County/Country.

I’m the last of the 20 odd of us, who used to congregate in the Firkin, that was later renamed the Frog and Nightingale.

Most pubs in Chester have seen takings drop by around 30% over the last year. Things have never really recovered from the smoking ban. A poor summer and dirt cheap alcohol at places like Tesco, have all contributed to the demise of the local pub.

Rumours had been spreading for a while, that something was happening at the Frog and Nightingale. I don’t go out that often now, but realising it might be my last chance to enjoy a pint there, I popped over on Sunday evening.

The faces of the staff, when I got there said it all.

A large group of Polish business people arrived and sat oblivious to the impending doom (it was quite a surreal moment).

Tony the landlord arrived, and things picked up a bit. It was sad in one way, but we/I have always known that nothing lasts for ever, and with that thought a sort of party atmosphere descended on the place.

Free drinks were evenly distributed, loads of the old staff turned up, including Jude, Nathan and Kev. All sorts of memorabilia was collected, and various old guitars were removed from the wall.

I grabbed this picture, which my friend Bilge painted. Its hung on the wall outside for about 5 months, in rain and hail, and the picture hasn’t run or been tarnished in all that time.

It’s a good metaphor for the pub itself I suppose. You can read a bit more about the Frog here.

Trying to find a nice pub, that’s friendly but not poncy, is going to be difficult.

Walking in Runcorn.

26th August 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Couple of months ago, I did some work at a company called AppSense. While travelling there, I realised there was a sort of pony track between Runcorn east Railway station and Daresbury park.

I’ve been working out routes around Helsby/Frodsham/Runcorn East for my regular Sunday walk, and since the path crosses a canal, I thought that would make a good start.

The idea was pretty simple. Head out from Runcorn, about 4 miles along the Canal, then leave the Canal, and follow the river weaver, a couple of miles back into Frodsham.

I met Tony at Runcorn Railway station (he was an hour and a half late, but I had the new Dan Brown, so I made good use of the time).

Weather was fab all day. The views along the bank of the canal were remarkable.

After walking through forests, walks next to water are my favourite. There is something very relaxing about Canals, and you constantly meet people coming the other way walking dogs or the occasional barge.

Everything was going fine and Tony and I were discussing our first trip around the world in 2004.

Time seemed to fly and I had a thought. Shouldn’t we have reached the river weaver by now ?.

When we saw someone friendly, I whipped out the map, and asked where we were. We had gone 5 miles too far !. We started heading back along the river Weaver.

We had miles to go, and instead of walking along the left bank (which would have allowed us to “cut the corner into Frodsham”), we ended up walking along the right (which according to the map, doesn’t actually have a path !).

The banks of the river weaver are probably the nicest scenery I have seen while I’ve been walking in the area (and I go walking around there every Sunday now). Problem is, we couldn’t enjoy it, as we had limited time.

There was overgrown long grass, sunken boats, biting insects and mounds of horse sh1t. It was like something from Indiana Jones.

After hours and hours, we finally got back to Frodsham after 9pm at night (4 hours later than expected).

After hours and hours, we finally got back to Frodsham after 9pm at night (4hrs later than expected).

Unlike Indiana Jones, there was no beautiful girl and treasure, only Tony and a pint of Fosters, but what an adventure all the same.

Feeling like a teenager.

22nd August 2010 admin Uncategorised 1 Comment

I had planned this weeks johnsunter.com out in advance, but an article I read this morning on BBC News, must take priority.

The Dudriges from London, went on Honeymoon to Corfu. They had decided not to have a Honeymoon after their wedding, as they couldn’t afford it, but family and friends chipped in to pay for it.

After a Romantic meal, Carrie went onto a balcony for some fresh air and ended up falling 30 feet and damaging here spine in 3 places.

It was at this point, they fell back on the reciprocal E111 card, which provides medical assistance in other European countries.

Once his wife was stabilised, Michael had to try and raise £16,000 to transport his wife home. Luckily, local residents, credit cards, loans from family have raised the money and they are flying home today.

The sad fact, is that insurance that would have solved the problem, would have cost less than £10 (and probably £5 each) on something like moneysupermarket.com

You’ve probably read stories like this one before. If you do nothing else today, commit to buying insurance for every trip that you take.

The Expendables.

On Friday evening, I went to see the Expendables. It contains all the 80’s action hero’s in a kind of re-visitation of the genre. Well that’s what film critics have been saying, what do I think ?

In a story, that would have better fitted the A Team, I have tried to break it down.

The action:
Ultra violent, without a care. Explosions everywhere, knife fighting (with knives, that although moving slowly, make the kind of wisping sound that electrical cable makes, when it cuts the air !). Scenes of 30+ people meet ng their maker in one “sitting” and moments later, nothing is said of it. Rapid fire, explosive shell firing shotguns. The laissez-faire removal of body parts and infeasible knife throwing.

The plot (!):
Helpless women (who are tough, but helpless all the same), Buddy relationships, Sad moments of reflection, some awful attempt at explaining the meaning of life. Simple peasants who never do anything wrong of any kind. Despot dictators. The whole soldier of fortune with a conscience cobblers. Good people, trying to find their own way in the world, but “The Man” is keeping them down. The drinking of bottles of strong spirits, and minutes later, demonstrations of hand/eye co-ordination that would make an eye surgeon envious.

References to other films:
They are everywhere, in this film. The name Expendables, harks back to a conversation in Rambo First blood part II. People being thrown into burning rivers, is right out of Beast-master. The plain is a tip of the hat to Commando.

Other notable things:
Mickey Rourke plays a character called Tool. A hilarious Cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis (Arnie even seemed to be wearing 80’s clothing).

Overall, what did I think. Utter rubbish from beginning to end. But for 90 minutes, I felt like a teenager again. They just don’t make films like this any more and I hope they make a sequel.

On the subject of film/video, my old mate Jason, who runs Woodland Ways, bushcraft and survival school, has started a video diary, so you can remove the glamour and see what its like to run a bushcraft school.

The Chester film society re-opens its doors for the 40’th year. I went to see a film with them last year, and I’m intending to watch a few more this time.

A new African restaurant – The Coconut Hut.

I’ve been trying out some budget places to eat again recently. A really nice (and rather unique) African restaurant has now opened on Brook street. Wasn’t keen on the name Coconut Hut, but the food was really good (I had Gemsbok stew, which was really nice). They also do a really good platter, with prawns and beef and stuff like that for a tenner a plate.

If makes a change from the standard fare you get in other restaurants. One word of caution, most people don’t associate African food with being hot. The stuff in here really is, I haven’t eaten anything hotter since I was in Thailand.

A simplified life with technology.

I’m always looking for ways to simplify my life (I have several books on this subject). I recently started using the Tesco automated Check-Out. It’s easily 3 times faster than conventional “tilling”.

The trick I have found, is to make sure you have all your cards/money etc to hand before you start. Its an amazing piece of technology and I’ve become addicted.

The Italian Job.

11th August 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Sorry for no update last week, mad busy again, but I’ve put twice as much in this week, to make up for it.

First of all, I had hoped to “interview” Matt and Glenn about their trip to Italy and put up some pictures.

As most of you know, its been a pretty quiet year for me personally, so I was delighted when 2 of my friends, told me of their plan. The idea, was to buy a knackered car, drive it to Rome, sell it and then fly home (obviously doing loads of other things in between).

I followed the planning and prep of this trip. Hilarious moments like deciding which CD player to have fitted in the car (which may or may not have cost more than the actual car itself !).

Unfortunately, Matt and Glenn both run businesses, and for the moment they are catching up with work/family etc..I should have more info in the next update.

Sean’s birthday.

Seans birthday.

Last year, I missed Sean’s birthday, as I put it in my diary, under the wrong day. This year, I got organised, and we all had a get together at the Frog.

Tony was there, as Sean and Mandy are 2 of his best customers. Also, Nathan who left the Frog last November came out as well. Mandy doesn’t like to be photographed.

On the subject of friends, Steve came around the other evening, and showed me a really cool trick (which most of you probably already know, but I think is pretty good). I was making a curry, and couldn’t get the remainder of the sauce, out of the jar.

You half fill the jar with water, and then tip it into the wok. Not only does it empty the jar without any effort, but you end up with some extra water, that helps the curry soak into the chicken.

Sunday afternoon walking.

On the way to Chester Railway station, I saw this old bus. They really go for that old crap here in Chester.

In the next few weeks, I’m going to start exploring some of the countryside around Runcorn, but for the time being most Sunday afternoons are spent walking around Frodsham and Helsby.

Last Sunday, I put on my old trainers, grabbed my packed lunch and headed for the station. At Helsby, I met up with Amelia and Tony Lewis.

Instead of the standard walk between Helsby hill and Frodsham Monument hill, I decide to use my map to work out an alternative route, which would be less busy and have some more unusual things to see.

The Weather was pretty fab, and most of the walk was through Forests, so perfection for me (I often say to people, If you gave me ten million tomorrow, I’d still go out walking, the day after !).

Loads of interesting conversation, and planning talk about Tony’s trip to Africa.

We reach the end of our walk at Frodsham Monument.

And this view of Frodsham Town.

We arrived an hour before the train home was due, so decided to have a pint.

I had heard good things about a pub called the Helter Skelter. It was rather smart, and even featured a traditional real ale, made in Newton Heath.

Back home, and another ace Sunday completed.

Next weekend, I’m going to finally visit the Eden project and Stone Henge, with new found adventure friend, the excellent Lyndsay from work.

I’m also planning a really good walk from Frodsham to Delamere on the coming bank holiday Monday if anyone is interested ?.

Tech stuff.

One of the cool things about working for a global company like mine, is that you get to work with the latest cutting edge stuff. One type of technology I’ve been interested in for a while, but never exposed to, is Riverbed.

It uses state of the art patented technology, to create enhanced application services over the internet.

Having spent a morning working with it, the tech is cool and fascinating. One disappointment, was that it came with a free screwdriver. Actually, its pretty crap.

Speaking of technology, for the first time in nearly a decade, I am studying for exams again. Before the 1st of January, I want to get a CCNA, a VCP and the SQL 2008 one (who’s name I cant be bothered to look up)

My CCNA is booked for 3 weeks, so I am mad busy revising. Honestly, the stuff I am mostly re-learning on the Cisco course, really is fascinating. I am also spending lots of time practising my binary maths.

In other training “news” I was sent on a manual handling course (it was about how to safely lift heavy things, not how to pick up computer books).

I wasn’t looking forward to it particularly, but it was only half an hour. When I got there, it turned out to be 2 hours, and I deeply regretted not bringing a some sort of health and safety book, big enough to hide my CCNA notes inside.

Anyway, it turned out to be really interesting. One thing was that the number of accidents is going down. When the instructor actually explained why, I was fascinated. He pointed out, that we have no real industry any-more, and fund managers accidents are a lot less serious than ones which would have previously occurred in shipyards !.

He also pointed out, that nobody actually “fixes” things any more. When was the last time, you saw a TV with the back off it, being worked on. Probably, it just broke, was thrown away, and another one purchased and brought home the following Saturday afternoon.

Another thing I’ve been learning a lot about lately, is backup exec (for those that dont know, its software normaly used for backing up file servers). Its in version 12 now, so you can imagine is has an elaborate feature set.

For the 1st time, I am learning to use the Robotic Caddy and a whole host of other features.

Its only when you use something a lot that you learn tricks and quicker ways to do things, and thats the point i’m at with BE. I guess the point is that a technology that wouldn’t normally describe as exciting (its backup for heavens sake) can be really interesting, if you spend enough time using it.

Media.

Well, the 3 part series Sherlock is over. its one of the best things that’s been on the TV in ages, and no suprise that it was written by many of the same people who make Dr Who.

I’m up to season 6 of the Sopranos. The 5th series was one of the better ones, so lets see what happens now.

Bought the latest Dan Brown book the other day. One of the problems being careful with money is that its really difficult to walk into book shops, see so many interesting books, and not be able to buy them (well I can buy them, but within a structured plan over time).

Saving power (and money).

A friend gave me a really cool gift.

You connect it to your pc at home, and then plug all your peripherals like printers, speakers and monitors into the other side.

Whenever the computer is switched of, all the other devices are switched off as well, automatically. Smart.

Got me thinking. Now I have isolated loads of things within the house, grouped them together and connected them onto 4 way connectors. Mon – Fri, I am only actually around my house for about 3-4 hours.

When I’m not there, the fridge and sky + are the only things which are plugged in. It annoys me that I didn’t think of it before.

Is this Becka ?.

I’ve never been much into the soaps, but for a while, I quite liked Hollyoaks.

The main reason, was a smart character called Becka. She was a school teacher, really nice, and obviously very pretty (played by Ali Bastion).

The other evening I was on Warrington railway station, platform 1, and a woman in dark glasses who looked just like her, was standing next to me.

I didn’t take a picture while I was there, but took one on the train (you can see that some scruffy bugger has left a bag on the window shelf. Scum.)

I have emailed her “agency”, but they haven’t gotten back to me about whether it was really her. I like to believe it is, but have a close look at the picture, and tell me what you think.

Near and far, best wishes. The search for adventure continues …

Farewell old friend.

4th August 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Well, I’ve decided to part with my Iphone.

I still think their smart, but I’ve been issued with a phone for work, and I don’t want to be messing about with 2 phones all the time.

I’ve had my Iphone for 18 months, which is longer than any previous phone. Its a shame, I’ve had it with me through good times and bad, but things are moving forward for me now, and its no time for sentimentality.

Obviously, my number has changed. My new phone number ends 617, if you don’t have it, drop me a line (at my hotmail address, obviously, you wont be able to call or text me).

Update.

26th July 2010 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Rhino’s, why ?

In Chester we have some sort of themed Rhino thing going on. Personally, I think that the Rhino idea is tedious and un-original. I’ve seen something similar done in Singapore and Manchester.

One shop in 3 is closing on the Chester Rows, if this is the best thing the council can think of, to promote visitors to the city, they would do better, to get on with repairing the walls. A farce that they have been closed for a year, considering it was originally constructed 2000 years ago, from sandstone, mud and sawdust, built (like Offa’s dyke) by people using wooden shovels.

That said, why do people insist on vandalising them (like the one above). As stated earlier, I saw a similar project in Singapore, and none of their painted “things” got vandalised (but then you would get 5 strokes with a Rattan cane, shame we don’t do that here).

Radio 6.

I was pleased to hear the other day, that Radio 6 is going to stay on the air. The BBC had previously argued that most of their listeners, like the content of Radio 1. But that’s the point. Any local radio station can stay in business, playing that kind of content.

The original idea of the BBC charter, was that they would be directly funded. If they wanted to make a documentary, about a story that really needed to be told, the wouldn’t have to worry who would pay for advertising in the breaks when it was eventually shown.

Radio 6 plays all sorts of really good music, and I believe its exactly the kind of thing the BBC is there to create. Frankly, having listened to Radio 1 for 2 days when helping Glenn at Antique Pine Imports, I think they should take Radio 1 down and put Radio 6 in its place.

On the subject of BBC, their news website, is consistently one of the 10 most popular sites on the internet (that’s no mean feat). They recently re-modelled it into a sort of magazine format. Reading it the other day, I read this disturbing story about a bloke in Dubai, who was broke, but had his passport confiscated, so couldn’t leave so was living on the street. Dubai. All that glitters isn’t gold.

Friends, TV and Films.

Well, the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy, recovering from sickness,travelling to visit friends etc.

Met up with Caz and Yvonne the other Friday, and Lee and Susan came as well. Every time I visit Manchester now, its changed a bit more. I cant believe what they’ve done with the Brunswick.

Talking of meeting up with friends, I finally finished migrating the interailing pictures over. They don’t really have a narrative (it was years ago now) but I think some of the pictures have a charm that tells a story all of its own. You can see them here and here.

This weekend, I took Friday as holiday and decided to just relax. I watched a total of 8 films over the weekend.

I took Friday off, and had a long weekend. I watched, Splice, Wolfman, Solomon Kane and the A Team. I also watched 8 episodes of the Sopranos (season 4 is really good).

In other TV Stuff, White Collar season 2 got of to an unconvincing start. Eureka blew me away, what I fantastic plot twist, right at the beginning. True Blood season 3 continues to be mediocre.

Recorded the new series of Sherlock Holmes. Its supposed to be set in the present day (they tried that with Jeckyle, and look what a mess they made of it) worst, after all the fuss, it turns out there are only 3 episodes to watch.

The changing role of Superhero’s.

I tidied my house completely on Thursday evening. As many of you know, I hate chores to migrate into the weekend, I’ve never felt that was what weekends are for. I saw a dead spider while cleaning the house. I carried it to the bin, for a descent Christian burial, but on the way, I wondered for a moment, what would happen if the spider was just sleeping, and woke up and bit me.

Would I have a fever all night, and weird dreams. Would I wake in the morning able to climb walls, and and fire webs of goo, that nobody would ever clean up, yet the next day, when I was swinging through the city, would all seem to have gone.

Anyway, made me wonder. Does the superhero premise still work, in these modern times.

I mean, you always have images of a team of bank robbers being thwarted by Spiderman. Wouldn’t Spiderman himself, be breaking into the vault, stealing the bonuses of high flyers, and giving the money to low ranking bank staff who had been laid off.

Equally, instead of the Fantastic 4, stopping criminals from stealing priceless art collections from museums, be more likely to use the GPS system in their Fantasticar to find out where Fred the Shred lives, steal his paintings, then sell them and use the money to buy Christmas gifts for the children of his recently-made-redundant workforce ?

Hell’s creation.

After much thought, I’ve reached a decision. Pull-along luggage is the worst invention ever created. Forget nuclear bombs, the gun or man made viruses, this device has created far more misery than all of the above put together.

Pull it along through the station fine, but then listen to sighs and gasps of annoyance, as we all stand behind you in the rain, while you can’t lift the thing (that you’ve over-packed) onto the train.

Alternatively, try pulling 2 at the same time across an airport waiting lounge, tripping people up, knocking over tables as you go.

Far simpler, why don’t you just take a bag. If its too heavy to put on your shoulder, then you’ve packed stuff “just in case” that you don’t need.

Misc.

This week I hate: All my recycling facilities are less than 100m from my house. Why have they moved the can collector nearly a mile away !.

This week I like: A program/internet app, called you send it. Recommended by the excellent Mell from work, it allows you to send massive files to people, they receive an email with a link that they can easily download. Brilliant invention.

Another brilliant thing I read was in The money diet, the book by the Money Saving Expert. While growing up, mum used to always say to re-fill the kettle, for the next person that wants a drink. Now, I completely empty my kettle, and fill it up, by filling the correct number of cups required with water.

One cup of tea, takes less than 30 seconds to boil. Efficiency, in both cost and time.

Congratulations to Matt Bridges, who has moved out of Chester, and now lives on the Wirral.

One final thing, I’ve had it with Facebook. I’m removing my friends and decommissioning my account (so please dont be offended, if you’ve been dropped as a friend, I’ll still email you. I’m just going to use Facebook, as I used to use Friends Reunited (remember that) to find people I’ve lost touch with.

Near and far, best wishes. The search for adventure continues…