Day 146 - Oh What a Night

pin snot

I was going to open this post with a hearty TFIF!...but as I started to type I realised I've missed the boat by about 20 minutes.

I've never been that punctual.  I'm not late all the time, but in general if I need to be somewhere at a certain time, I'm more likely to be late than early. 

For instance, today I was a little late:

• leaving for work...
• getting to work...
• leaving work...
• getting home...
• leaving for Kim's...
• getting to Kim's...

I suppose the leavings don't really count, even though they lead directly to the gettings...but still, you get the idea, I'm sure. 

I was due to be born on Friday the 13th, but I was two days late, eventually arriving on Sunday the 15th December, 1963.

50 years later, and I still haven't quite caught up. 

The point of all that is...it's late - I'm late...so I'll try to keep this brief (although perhaps it's already too late for that...QED!).

This is my first attempt to take a decent portrait photo.  I think it turned out pretty well!

To be fair, I took loads of photo's, and cropped this out of one of them.  

This is my lovely daughter Kim.  We spent the evening with Kim and Roob, to celebrate Kim's birthday.  Although mostly we just nattered, and ate doughnuts.

Being an arty couple, their house is full of all sorts of interesting things, and here's one of them (two,if you count Kim, natch):

or, you know, don't

I can't agree with the sentiment on the side of this gorgeous drinks cooler, but it is a lovely shade of red!

I'm not suggesting drinking coca cola out of a can - it's much better from a bottle, I agree on that front...what I'm suggesting is 

Don't drink Coca Cola...  

You know it's wrong...on pretty much every level...

To bastardise the tagline of another corporate behemoth that you should probably avoid at all costs...

Just don't do it.

B-/

Day 129 - Walked One Mile...

...in my own shoes

Now we have a new camera on the way, I need to lower the bar considerably, in order to give the illusion of greater improvement.  This will justify our purchase, and prove that we were absolutely right to spend all that cash on something we really don't need at all...

So here we are with today's exciting, substandard photo - a pair of approach shoes!

Ooooh, I hear you, erm, ooh...

They are actually noteworthy for a couple of reasons...

Firstly, it's taken over a month to get hold of them.  The first delivery attempts went so horribly, repeatedly wrong, that I can't even bring myself to talk about it...suffice to say, the bottom line is, they arrived today, at long last!

Secondly, they were only £17...down from a (presumably artificially high) recommended retail price of about £50!   A veritable bargain, I'm sure you'll agree.

I bought a pair of these (in a slightly different colour) two years ago, and a half size larger. 

As mentioned earlier, I use them as approach shoes.  This is a category of shoe that I think is specific to climbers.  They're walking shoes, used to walk and scramble up to the crag before climbing.   

Lightweight and grippy, they can easily be carried up a climb, and are comfortable and effective to scramble and even climb in.

I'm not sure if anything differentiates a lightweight walking shoe from an approach shoe, other than the way it's marketed.  As it happens, these aren't marketed as approach shoes, yet that's what I use them for...go figure!

Anyway, the point is, since buying a pair for £15 two years ago, they've accompanied me on all of my climbing adventures. 

They've been all over the Peak District...carried me from Snowdonia in North Wales to Pembrokeshire in South Wales...tramped through la Forêt de Trois Pignons en Fontainebleau, to Orihuela en la Costa Blanca with me...

I've driven thousands of miles wearing them...I've even worn them to work a few times!

I've found them really comfortable, light and easy to wear, grippy on rock, nice to drive in...all in all I've been really happy with them, even though they're a fairly basic outdoor shoe.

Lately, though, they've started to feel a little loose and baggy, especially walking downhill...which I seem to do quite a lot.

So I've gone mad and bought myself a new pair, a half size smaller for a snugger fit.  

(snugger - there's a word you don't hear every day!)

Also, look closely...they have red bits!

B-)

Day 100 - Day 100!

100!

Today's mission?  To remember to finish off yesterday's story, and not leave you completely hanging, as I inadvertently did last night...sorry about that, it was late, and a long, busy day (as I failed to fully explain last night).

But first;

100 Days!

Woohoo!

I can't believe I made it this far...when I find time, I shall read back through it all and find out Who I Am!

There have been contenders for best story, best photo, worst post, most popular post, and of course (who could forget?) best cow shot.

There have been pictures of cats, dogs, cats and dogs, bats and birds, various weather phenomena (not snow, of course), odd perspectives, and lots of red stuff. 

There's been me, Anna, my mum, Kim and Roob, Noah and 'Tembie. 

But there's only been one 100th post, folks, and this is it, so make the most of it!

B-)

Anyway, to finish up last night's saga...

When the car crash happened, I'd been about to get over to Birmingham to collect my friend Matt, who was coming to stay with us for a few days.   Not only did the aftermath of the crash delay me, but then the road was blocked when I needed to go...I had to take a 15 minute detour around 5 miles or so of winding country lanes, just to get the other side of the accident!

So I was late getting over to Birmingham, but still arrived back home by around 8.30pm. 

We had some dinner and chatted, but Matt, who's not been very well, was clearly struggling.  By about 10.30, it was clear that he needed to be at home, in his cave.  I completely understand how critical this can be (being a bloke myself and all), so I drove him back home again. 

Consequently, it was gone 12.30am by the time I finally parked up for the night, and I still needed to shower and blog...hence proof-reading poorly and forgetting where my story had been going...

I think I'm equally tired tonight, but in addition everything hurts...not only do I have some significant muscle soreness from climbing yesterday, but also my holiday lurgy is back with a vengeance...

So (to quote one of my favourite tag lines), ya know, yay!

Day 71 - Too Cool For School

redroom

So this was my restful, relaxing Sunday morning, after a frantic week at work, and a day of chores on Saturday.

There are a few things to note.

Firstly, this is our lounge.  Do you remember me telling you about The Red Thing.

Quod Erat Demonstrandum...

Secondly, that incriminating cereal bowl isn't even mine!  I didn't even have time to have breakfast before we went climbing this afternoon.   It was the last session before our climbing holiday, and we did ok.

Climbed very hard actually...it was probably the hardest overall set of routes (roped climbs) we've ever done in a session, followed by the hardest set of problems (short, strenuous boulder climbs, without ropes) we've ever done.  

I think we're ready for Spanish Adventures, at any rate.  

La esclada deportiva en el sol!  Que sera increible!

Back to my Sunday morning...

This must be some kind of busman's "restful" Sunday morning.  What am I doing??

Oh, of course, I'm fixing PC's...

Or rather, rebuilding the image on two laptops.  They came with Windows 8 installed, and nobody needs that.  So I had to wipe and partition the drives, install Windows 7, install everything else that you need (browsers, itunes, acrobat, media players, security, utilities et cetera (bit more Latin for you there, you're welcome).  Then of course all the windows updates, and the inevitable unidentified driver conundrum.

I got it all done ok, but it took up most of my weekend.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I was also updating my own PC, and fixing an annoying bug on Anna's laptop...and setting up some walkie talkies, for mountainous adventuring...and trying to make lists of all the climbing gear we need to remember to take...and some other stuff, probably.  

And last but not least, trying to teach Loz the finer points of Windows Image building...

click there

I have to say, whilst she made an effort to pay attention, I'm not sure she was really interested.   She's not come to me with any follow up questions, and I've yet to catch her trying to format a hard drive...

I'm sure she has the smarts for it, but maybe she's simply too cool to give a rats ass.   

Which she would happily do - with rodents, she usually starts by eating the head, and works her way as far down the body as she can be bothered.   Often the back legs and tail are left for me to deal with.  Rats asses, she could get for you, if she cared...

But I reckon she's just too cool for school.

She's cool for cats, she's cool for ca-ah-ah-ah-ats...

Fin...

(I just wanted to sneak a fourth language in there, je ne sais pas pourqois!)...

Day 65 - FFS, Google

how do you spell grrrr?

This has been niggling away at me for a while.   And, truth be told, I've been saving it for a day when I'm really short of time...I was in work by 7.20 this morning, and I sent the last work mail of the day about half an hour ago (it's just after 10pm). 

So tonight, I'm tired, and I'm keeping it short and sweet.  

Well, short, anyway.

Short-ish.  

Probably...

So, to the point...what the fuck, Google?!  

Let me get this straight...the Google blogging service is called Blogger.  The main website is www.blogger.com.   The URL of my personal blog is 50h1aday.blogspot.co.uk.  Virtually every page has a button on it that says, "View blog".

And then I find that your helpful spell checker software in your editing interface objects to words like, oh I don't know, BLOG?!?!! 

Those of you who know me, will probably agree that I can be a bit of a pedant.  Some even go so far as to label me with the charge of Grammar Nazi (cough Aaron cough).

Despite my apparent love for the colour red, I don't like that red squiggle that appears underneath words that Google in its infinite wisdom deems incorrect, even though it sounds a bit like a red squirrel.  

And funnily enough, the word "blog" crops up fairly often in a daily whatchama call it, what's that thing again, thingummy wotsit,

oh yes, it's called a fucking blog!!

Thanks for that, you know, listening and what-not.   

I feel better.

I really do...

Day 63 - The Red Thing

red on red on red

I've noticed an unexpected trend in my life...the colour red. 

There was a time when my colour was black, although during periods when I was either less depressed, or less cool (dude...), this would fade to blues and greys.   I would reject any clothing that had primary colours, for instance.   

Don't get me wrong, this wasn't some premeditated decision.   It just seemed to be a reflection of the inner me of the time.

Tonight, we were at an engagement party.   As we sat people watching and idly chatting, early in the evening, I mentioned that I was looking for photo opps.  In my mind, this meant looking for interesting, non-posed people shots.   However, Anna pointed out that the table decorations were quite interesting, so I snapped a few different angles to see what I could get.

I quite liked this shot, and it occurred to me then that The Red Thing was cropping up again, unbidden, and almost unnoticed. 

The Red Thing started when I moved into the cottage where I've been for the last 8 years or so.

It was a plain, threadbare little house with nothing warm about it whatsoever...Neither thermally, nor emotionally, nor psychologically.   The walls were pale and bare, as was the carpet.   The only room with any colour was the bathroom, which was a cold, pale, wintry blue. 

Except in the lounge, there was a huge red rug.  

I liked the warmth of it, so when I needed curtains, I got them in a similarly warm terracotta colour.   I also bought some cheap throws from Homebase, in the same sort of shade, and...you know....threw them. 

I say terracotta, everyone else (cough, Anna) seems to think they're red, whereas I see them as clearly burnt orange, not red at all.   I don't know how everyone else can be so wrong.  In the name of truth, I feel obliged to stand alone on this issue, against a spectrally deficient world.

Anyway it was the first time I'd chosen furnishings of my own, to my own taste, and I found it quite liberating.  The lounge now has lots of warm reds, terracottas and oranges.  And everyone seems to find it cosy...so, ya know, Yay Me!  And Anna of course, without whom it would probably just be red,rather than the homely warm room it now is...

Now I find that since starting to buy climbing clothing and equipment 3 years or so ago, probably every other item I've purchased has red on it, or is red, most frequently supplemented with greys and blacks.

So I have red shoes (5 pairs), red T-shirts (half a dozen), red long sleeve T's (3), black tops with red stitching (several).

I have a grey and red harness, a red belay carabiner, a red belay device.

I have black slings with red stitching (approx 5), red cams (2 or 3), red nuts (6 or 8), black and red chalk bag.

I have red rucksacks (2), red fleeces (2), red softshell jackets (2), a black softshell jacket with red stitching, and a red baselayer.

Oh, and a red rope.

And half a dozen red quickdraws.

And a red dry bag.

Hmm now I'm even freaking myself out...

I feel like the old creepy guy who wears too much red. 

Damn that The Red Thing...

Day 62 - Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

most poems rhyme, but this one doesn't

Well, I had to, didn't I?   It is Valentine's Day, after all.

Does everyone else's mind make unexpected connections and then leap off in odd directions, or is that just me?

For some reason, the capitals in Valentine's Day jump out at me and shout, "VD!" in my head.

In my youth, this was short for Venereal Disease, a vague, mysterious ailment that made your bits fall off, or some such unspeakable horror.  Who knew?  All we had were whispers and rumours and bravado and bullshit.  We didn't know our arses from our elbows.  I'm still a bit confused on that one, if I'm honest... 

Nowadays, in my mind, it stands for Very Difficult, or VDiff, which is, of course, a climbing reference.

VDiff is a Trad Climbing grade, and a quirky one at that.

Trad Climbing uses a double graded system to rate the difficulty of a climb.

One of these is the Technical Grade, which indicates how hard the hardest move of the route is, on a numbered scale.

Somewhat more interestingly (fortunately for you) the overall difficulty of the climb is given an Adjectival Grade.  This takes into account factors such as how scary the route is (or how much bravery is required), how dangerous it is (or how much injury is likely in a fall), how long the route is, and so on. 

Adjectival Grades follow a range from Easy, through Moderate, Difficult, Severe and Extreme.   Each of these are subdivided several times, and Extreme climbs are numbered on an open ended scale.  

In reality, anything easier than Difficult can barely be considered a climb...which leads to an apparent contradiction whereby a Difficult climb is in fact about as easy as it gets.

Consequently, Very Difficult is a fairly lowly grade, and is considered entry level.   Many climbers will subconsciously translate Very Difficult into Pretty Easy in their heads.

However, it turns out that many of these climbs were first climbed over the first half of last century, when such climbs were indeed Very Difficult.   The climbs are often fairly safe, but physically hard.   They don't demand much technique (and hence are considered easy), but brute brawn, with a hefty dollop of strenuous grit and determination will often be mandatory. 

Which leads us, yet more confusingly, to an apparent double contradiction, whereby a Very Difficult climb, considered to be Pretty Easy, often turns out to be Very Difficult after all! 

Anna really dislikes VDiffs, and finds climbs in the Severe range to be more consistent, more predictable, and thus, ultimately, easier.

Apropos of nothing, our aim this year is to break into the Extreme grades!

Anyway that's more than you ever wanted to know about British Trad Climbing Grades...

So, where was I?   Oh yes, Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! (in the voice of Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth)

As to who bought the red rose for whom...well, that would be telling...

;-)