Missing you so much

I wanted to write a post about this a few weeks ago, but just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I thought of writing a tribute, listing all the things she brought into my life.  All that did was make me tearfull, it's another late night gone midnight and I am awake typing away and feeling a little sad for myself because she would have been sleeping right next to me as I type and won't be anymore.

I was with her right to the end but that simply isn't enough, I wasn't ready to say goodbye and I feel cheated.   She was my friend, my confessor and everything a human can't be, the only time you ever moved fast in your life was to leave me quickly, a sigh and you were gone...

Doing what you did best
Sleeping

Watching

being cuddled

being lazy

More sleeping at Jazzys

I MISS YOU SO MUCH ROXY 

2003-2015

UK Touring Festival

I left early in the morning to avoid the ubiquitous and unavoidable traffic jams that face anyone who wants to travel anywhere by motorway in the UK.  Early to me is packed and off at 5:30.  Despite the early start I immediately fell victim to the beast that is the M6, which brings to mind the a quote from Terry Pratchett (rest his soul) and Neil Gaiman Novel "GOOD OMENS", "the nice and accurate prophesies of Agnes Nutter"

"In fact, very few people on the face of the planet know that the very shape of the M25 forms the sigil *odegra* in the language of the Black Priesthood of Ancient Mu, and means 'Hail the Great Beast, Devourer of Worlds'." was a construction designed to breed low level evil in the world, which I believe is the main purpose of the M6!

And don't get me started on the Toll road, which is basicly pointless and expensive...  rant over...

At least I wasn't stuck for hours, just slowed down a little I shuddered for the poor people trying to pass this way at work hours.   The drive to Clitheroe was actually very pleasant and I had that little skip in my heart that comes when the city scenery gives way to trees rivers and mountains.  The passing names and places made the journey go surprisingly quickly.

I should point out that for some reason I hadn't recieved a formal itinery or email for instructions, the website had said a Friday/Sat event so I figured I would get there early settle in so I wasn't rushing around...  Besides the weather was amazing clear blue skies, with fluffy clouds that looked like the opening scenes of the Simpsons.

I had arranged to work LIW for the day, and had cleared most of my work the night before and used up some TOIL from previous weeks so I could use most of the day for the event.  One of the benefits of working for a good employer and a reason why I can happily work late at home without begrudging it!

I stopped just outside of Clitheroe for a coffee and some free wi-fi from Macdonalds, I pulled up next to a lady and I must have been smilling like a loon because she looked at me and said your happy! I replied "whats not to like" it's sunny, bank holiday weekend im off for some fun and I am listening to the Boss "Dancing in the Dark" (Bruce Springstein).

After a lot of emails, Lync conversations and phonecalls with work I made my way into Clitheroe which is a lovely village, for my taste the right amount of houses to shops ratio :-)  I drove along the Waddington Road with the Clitheroe cement works not to distant, smoke belching from a Chimney.  I don't know why but it didn't seem out of place, I think my idea of industrial north made it feel at home even in such a lovely setting.

A dusk view from the campsite
the everpresent smoky chimney of the Cement Factory

The shock for me (and it shouldn't be a shock) was how quickly I came to Waddow Hall, which was a left turn in and jaunt up a narrow tarmac road that winds it's way around the site past various camping and activity areas to the car park.  I walked up to the Hall passing a lovely view of the river Ribble and the weir with a resident heron perched on top.

A view of the weir, at the foot of Waddow Hall, sadly no Heron
when I took the shot.

 Waddow Hall is less impressive from the outside but inside it's a great venue with lots of unexpected nooks and crannies as well as pictures and figurines etc.. each with a story to tell!

The staff in the hall were great, but very surprised at my arrival they hadn't expected anyone till 4:00 and Laura wasn't arriving till 12:00.  They told me where to camp so I unloaded and set up home for a few days.  I chose what I considered to be the best spot (first come first served) pitched tent fired up my stove and sat down to a Brew.

Tent Pitched and site set up for the weekend, My trusty
Coleman double burner stove providing a brew!

Here is a postive (to me not to everyone) the mobile phone signal was great and the data connection was fast so I could sit, read surf the web keep in contact with work and wait for everyone else.  My first companion was a pheasant that wandered over, he looked fairly tasty and I tried to remember the rules about when it's legal to nab one.. My ideas of the legality of pheasant nabbing come from "Danny the champion of the world" and living near to Shelsley Walsh where they regularly wander into the path of cars!  I left my pot out hoping he would wander over and fall in making me blameless but he just carried on... unfortunately i didn't have a supply of raisins soaked in sleeping powder.

The pot is right over here sunshine

I decided it was lunch time so lunch was begun, I cooked steak strips in a cajun sauce with mushrooms and some baguettes.  As if on queue the next to arrive (after the pheasant) was a lad who had cycled to the event, he pitched up next to me, so I brewed him a tea and shared my lunch and a good old chat.  He was also surprised that no one else was about!

Shameless Selfie, note the beautiful weather for Day 1

I went for a brief wander around and came back as a couple pulled up, a canadian who had settled in Britain and his wife, really lovely people!  They wanted to head of to Clitheroe so I promised to keep an eye on their tent, in return they promised to pick me up a chair to sit in and duly loaned me theirs till they returned.

After this a steady trickle of characters arrived, at one point a rider aproached us and I spied a set of Koga Atalanta handlebars, I mentioned them and that I had a pair also, and I was greeted with "Newt it's Tim", I had suspected as much.  Tim and I had conversed via my blog, aparently I was the only one who had put any information on these handlebars and after talking he had decided to travel down as well, planning to cycle back to London from the festival.

Tim in the woods by the Hall, stood next to a carving of a jolly fish
on it's back.

I should also mention that there was another Tim who had pitched tent next to me, he was I think 19 and we found out he had finished his A levels, was working and had saved up with a plan to tour Europe before returning and going to Uni.  Young Tim impressed us all, a really nice lad great company and the right attitude, adventurous with a willing to earn what he wanted and no expectation for things to be handed to him on a plate!  I didn't get his contact details, but if you read this I would love to hear how you get on!

I pulled this pic from Twitter, someone had caught
me answering questions about my bike and captioned
the photo as "serious geeking going on"

The young lady in shorts looking about 18 was actually 27
and setting off on a tour of Europe, another really
gutsy traveller!
I didn't get her name but I wish her all the best, have a wonderful adventure
and safe travels!

 The afternoon went by with the campsite filling up and plenty of meeting and greeting.  Registration was soon underway in a wooden hall by the car park.  On entry you were confirmed on the list, handed a goodie bag, which had various booklets, itinery, information and some cakes etc.. as well as a commerative water bottle.  This was our first chance to meet Laura and her husband who must have been exhausted from all the hello's.  Laura's mother was in attendance and she had decorated the hall with hand made stringers and banners, which really pleased me as it gave the event a really homely feel which is what I was looking for, not the corporate over organised events I would normally shy away from.

I didn't attend many talks, mainly because there were only certain ones I was very interested in.  Instead I had a wander about the place, doing my favourite past time of meeting different people and swapping stories.

I visited the book sale upstairs and got a signed copy of "Eat Sleep Cycle by the author "Anna Huges" who was really lovely and gave a great talk!  Meeting Anna was one of the highlights for me, and i was more than happy to part with some cash for a signed copy, we had a good natter and confirmed my choice for cycling round the UK and Irish coast before venturing abroad was the right choice.

I was only disapointed with one talk and that was on custom bike builds, I am sorry to be negative but I found the main guy talking to be condescending and to be honest rude, the last person I would consider buying a bike from.  A member of the audience asked a fairly standard question, "how much does getting a custom bike built cost", the speakers answer "if you have to ask you can't afford it", not the kind of answer designed to enthuse.. there were others with him and a younger chap (I think from Oxford bikes not sure) he was much more positive and enthusiastic.

One of the things I did learn from that talk was that if your steel frame is spot welded not brazed then it's probably not much more repairable than an aluminium one... something to look out for folks.

There was no food provided on the Friday night which caught a few people out, I had brought plenty of supplies, but after a chat with the two Tim's we headed down to clitheroe and a supermarket provided Steaks, sweetcorn, beans baps etc.. some veggie burgers for young Tim and a load of beers.
Unfortunately the talks went on till fairly late, fortunately for me the ones I was interested were early on, Laura and her Husband being one of them so i ducked out and sat under a sheltered barbecue on the campsite, coleman lamp a barbecue and two huge steaks and sundries later feeling very satisfied.  Tim turned up later for some veggie food and a few others wandered over before we went off to bed.

Laura and Husband

That was pretty much the theme of the weekend, meeting lovely people of all ages all walks of life and from all over the country and further afield.  I would like to say a special thankyou to the catering staff who were really patient, and especially the wonderfull lady who mixed and matched my food for me and gave me a more than generous helping as it is plainly obvious from my slim and lithe figure that I could expire from starvation at any minute!

My figure which, completely off the topic came up in conversation today, I did an hour session in the gym on the bike before work and finished with a heavy session on the leg press, I am lifting every other day to add more leg muscle pre-trip and today I pushed 18 x 20kg plates  for 3 sets of 10 on the leg press machine which works out as 18 x 20 = 360kg or 793 lb, which prompted one of my colleagues to state "never underestimate the power of a fat man" which I am going to adopt as my new tag line :-)

here are some pictures:

Group Photo

Amazingly there was a couple sat behind me, one  of whom
worked at the same place as I do, they had brought their
tandem which they commute on!
It really is a small island!

 The weather went a bit south on Saturday and was pouring down by Sunday, i got up early Sunday and was packed away before anyone else was even out of the tent.  I had a good wander round, breakfasted and met up with Tim from London before I left.

The weather had turned

I had a great time, I am looking forward to next year, I haven't covered everything there's more stories etc.. on facebook.  I would need to spend the whole weekend typing if I covered all the people that I met and all of the things I learned.

So thankyou to all of the volunteers, staff  for providing a wonderful event.

I  can say hand on heart, everyone was really nice, and talkative.  It was a great event with something for all, imho well worth the ticket price!

See you all there next year!!












Scott Whitlock

65 Mile Ride and Gorge Walking

The day ended with Richard and I freezing cold and naked in the woods together, how it started is another matter, however I should point out it was all very innocent!

I had told Richard what an interesting ride it was from Birmingham to Worcester along the canals and the opportunity came up for us to plan a ride for Saturday, so Richard came over on Saturday morning and we headed off to join the canal in Selly Oak.

Back a little richard

Barges aplenty

I remember riding over that bridge, it's closed and in disrepair now.

 Riding along the canal is great fun, however a word of caution as you get out into the countryside the path get's very rough and depending on the weather you are riding in slop or concrete ruts that can throw you off.  We both remarked how much concentration it takes to make sure you don't come off into the canal, you can tell when it's bad, the chat comes to a halt as all available brain power is diverted to cycling.

We made it into Worcester for the usual lunchtime meal and then headed back home on the roads for a total trip of 65 miles or so.  A great day out!

So how did we get naked...  well when we got back Richard explained that he had planned to go white water rafting on the Sunday but his mate was to ill to go, so I bought the ticket and we decided to go together.

Unfortunately the river was too low so we were given alternatives and we chose gorge walking which if you haven't done it before involves climbing into wetsuits and walking up the middle of a stream/river and jumping in from a height at various points along the way as well as scrambling up waterfalls and generally acting like big kids making splashes and getting wet.

Getting Started..
I look like private shultz compared to Richards
normal dashing self

Love the bermuda shorts they put you in

Look out below

Is the water too your liking sir?

Follow me in Rich, it's lovely and warm.. Honest

See Rich lovely and warm

A very slippery bottom (the river not mine)

nope I am not going to fall in

Just sit back and enjoy a steaming hot shower

still smiling

Richards turn for a shower

The Photo that made the day

about halfway

I had slipped over at this point you can see by Richards smile

Just sitting around in a stream as you do!

We took a few videos of jumping in the water, I had to endure a few comments about the swimming pool scene from shallow Hal and at one point Richard asked to jump in first to make sure there was some water left in...  It's amazing how accidents can happen out alone in a stream so easy to make a mistake Rich...

We didn't get a picture of our guide, he was taking all of the photos but it was a great day and when we finished it was a walk back to the car park and then into the woods with a large wooden fort that is used as a changing room.

Hence getting naked with Richard in the middle of the woods and wondering how such a great weekend gets started with a little jaunt along a canal!!!  Take an opportunity wherever you see it!

For anyone thinking of gorge walking it's great fun and kids will love it, our guide told us of a group of young girls who turned up all dressed as barbie in one form or another who took great delight in their makeup and mascara cascading down and ended up looking more like the rocky horror show cast!

One of the highlights especially for kids was a visit to a small clay hole where black clay is daubed onto your face as the "mark of the gorge walker"  just take it in fun and get into the spirit, aparently the girls mentioned spent an incredibly long time using their make up skills to paint harry potter glasses etc.. I went for the Hitler moustache and my guide simply stated "there's always one!" and then proceded to top me off with two streaks on my cheek.

All in all a part of my life well spent!

Airbrushing my frame

My intention was to have my frame powdercoated orange with some custom letters in aluminium bonded to the frame.  The problem is, everyone who said they can do the letters then said they can't.....

So here's a man who said he could!  Danny at Dark Arts Air Brushing in Birmingham, located in the Oasis stores:

http://www.darkartairbrushin.co.uk/

So I thought get them airbrushed on the frame, here's the first pics, there's more work to be done but need to let the first layer settle in.   Danny was great about fitting me in and picked up on what I was going for, I had originally wanted orange but as the rest of the frame stickers are red it would have looked a mess, I think Danny was relieved.

I left a camera with him and he took some photos as he worked:

That Newt is based on one drawn by another Danny who was 11 at the
time and sent it to me from Ireland so I would have a proper newt!

 

I am fitting the headset now, and it's going back to Danny next week to have the lettering sharpened.  The best part for me was the Newt, Danny took the picture I had of the original one and went with it in red I really love it.

I didn't like the badge on the Fairdale frame, TBH it really let the frame down as it looked just awful, Danny ripped it off and put my initials on instead.  

Danny is a great guy, really welcoming and I can do nothing but recommend him, I also found out that the guy does free T-Shirts for sick kids in hospital. 

All in all, I had a great day wondering around the city centre while Danny did his work and a really good meal as well at a carribean cafe, Jamaican Curry Chicken with spicy rice.  Chalk this up as a good day.

My first real blog post

I don't know what defines a proper blog post.. and I am not prepared to look it up or get into an philosophical argument about it.. My posts normally have a point, and I realised that the post below is simply a collection from the last two days.. so it may be my first actual blog post... depending on your definition.

I am in Bristol for a week, I am on the MALC (Managing Across The Lifecycle) the last of the ITIL (IT INFRASTRUCTURE LIBRARY) exams to achieve ITIL Expert Status.  I came down early for the quiet, it has been a little busy at work and I needed some solo time to complete my pre-reading.

I managed to get out for 45 miles on Saturday Morning with a local friend Richard who I met through the CTC forum early last year.   Richard is a warden on one of the local cycle routes and I am incredibly lucky to have had him as my guide for the ride, he took me along the banks of the river Severn past SS Great Britania under the Clifton Bridge, and the crumbling wooden jettys that used to launch boats for the rich to travel on before the advent of good roads made them redundant.

There was a nice climb out of Portishead and I left Richard to chase after a cyclist who had passed me earlier when I had stopped to do my laces.  Now I don’t normally chase up hills, I leave that to the “go faster brigade” as Richard calls them, however there were several reasons to chase this time:   He gave me that look.. the one that says I just passed you and I think you are just wimping before the hill; I thought I could take him because he looked more out of shape than me… the predatory instinct for a weaker rival kicked in;  I was on my Boardman not my tourer; I had no panniers  and  I figured it was an excuse to get me to the top quicker.  

I chased on and passed him, (I don’t ever look back) I prefer to imagine someone is just on my tail and easing up will let them pass, and usually I will nearly fall off because at the point I want to look back I am exhausted and likely to blow my lungs out through my nose like two pink balloons.  Which would at once look absurd, create a huge drag on the bike.. so I avoid that experience and never look back on the rare occasion I do give chase.

I got to the top with sweat dripping from my hat, deliberately not getting out of the saddle to make it harder, when I recovered enough breath to look back, my opponent was way back and pushing his bike up the hill in defeat.  All at once I felt guilty, if I hadn’t pushed passed him he would probably have made it to the top without getting off…  If you are reading this, equally large gentleman on a red bike with drop handlebars, carry on cycling don’t give up just because an idiot like me decided to use you as a motivational prop for his inner monologue!

I don’t think Richard let us touch an A road, he would get on with my Garmin Edge Touring that doesn’t like A roads either.  We wound along the strawberry road, slightly shorter than the silk road and used to bring strawberries along…  We stopped off for a Waitrose coffee that was exorbitant… and then stopped off for a coffee at a local fishing pool that was brought to us in a Cafetierre and only cost £2.00 the lovely lady who brought it to us exclaiming she would not sleep at night charging for coffee what Waitrose did (2.30 for a meagre cup).

We both had a guilty flapjack that after reading it was nearly 500 calories, I only ate half and put the other in my pocket, still trying to lose weight before my big trip.  Richard commented on this and did likewise, thanking me for ruining his flapjack by telling him the calorie count … Ignorance is bliss, especially when it is rolled oats in syrup…  

It was a great start to the weekend and put me in the mood to get into my hotel and stuck into my books.  I am staying at the Almondsbury Exchange and somehow ended up in a large room with a double and a single bed enabling me to spread my books out (about 15 of them) and a desk for my laptop etc..  I had specified wi-fi and was ready to move rooms as the signal is awful… which has some irony as I am a network manager and one of my recent projects is wi-fi oriented.

It never ceases to surprise me that people have such an unrealistic expectation of Wi-Fi??  Asking for a guarauntee with wireless is like asking someone to throw a cup of water on a tablecloth and take another cup and throw it so the water lands in the same place.  We have had television since 1936, earlier if you count mechanical television (yes there was such a thing google it I did), and you still can’t get a signal everywhere let alone a quality signal.  So why is it that lack of a Wi-Fi signal is completely unacceptable and I have witnessed the anguish that it can cause first hand??

In a recent national student survey, having a Wi-Fi signal was rated higher than heating or lighting???  I guess if your focus is on studying and being successful, the need to be online is extremely great..  

I believe that the problem is what I call “communication stress”  and appears to be inversely related to age, i.e. the older you are the less it stresses you.   More and more in my personal life and my professional life I see people communicating less and less face to face and more and more by various electronic means.  Don’t get me wrong I fully embrace this, it is after all my job to make sure it happens, but I also recognise it brings with it certain downsides..  There’s a feeling of disconnection and as studies have shown the younger generation are having difficulties in learning those initial social skills, preferring the safer distance communication over the more daunting face to face.

The I haven’t seen a soul in days kind of stress has been replaced with I haven’t had email or mobile coverage in days… there’s an expectation of instant reachability that if not satisfied is stress inducing.  Fortunately I am midway between the extremes often a good place to be, it gives you the ability to move into the extremes either way for a short while and then return when needed.. far more difficult if you either hate electronic communications with a passion or eschew human contact for them completely.

When instant messaging was first introduced into the workplace, I remember a colleague deliberately not picking up the phone to me and announcing he was training people to communicate via instant messaging as that was how he preferred to communicate.  My backlash to him was fairly swift as I explained that I was not a robot and certainly didn’t need him to train me like his personal dog….  He always had issues when dealing with people and it was well known you don’t let him loose on users…  I was always amazed at his apparent lack of social understanding, there was nothing medical at work (at least I don’t think so) he was simply an expression of a generation that preferred to communicate more like a machine than a human.

So to cut an incredibly long rant short, I put up with the poor wireless signal without giving the reception and management a hard time!  As I noted earlier being in the middle ground meant I can slide to either extreme at will.

On Sunday night (tonight) I treated myself to watching an Hindi film called Swades (2004) It was one of those films I had always meant to watch because a long time ago I had watched a music video from the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuTy9KGKNbA  that showed a scene of him travelling in India in a motorhome having picked up a religious devotee on the way.

The film was about a NASA scientist/project manager played by Sharukh Khan who having lost his parents in his grief had lost touch with the nanny who had brought him up and he resolved to bring her back to America to take care of her the way she had done till he was 17.  When he arrives the story takes him through several life changing realisations, and watching it you get to see first-hand both the beauty of India, and the Poverty and ignorance that hold the land back.  The village doesn’t have proper electricity yet, and appears to be governed by the traditional feudal system and caste system that sees the low caste virtually shunned from the village, the hero himself a high caste Brahman is chided by the village elders for associating and eating food made by a lower caste..

The village post master a wonderful caricature is amazed to hear the wonder of the internet and email, he is convinced that it will save him much work.. instead of traveling delivering letters he would simply pass on these wonderful emails..

It’s a tale of love, learning, family and emotion all the best ingredients of a Bollywood movie… and does the guy get the girl in the end??? Well this is Sharukh khan… watch the film you will love it and you can find out yourself.  For me it was a great way to end a Sunday night, though provoking..  relevant to my last few days … and scratching that itch of watching a film I should have gotten around to a long time ago!