Earthquake!

Market Raisen is about 30 mile away, I’ve heard 4.8 -5.2 Richter and the bastard thing woke me up.  I've sympathy for the man in Barnsley who had a chimneystack drop on his legs and the people in Gainsborough whose houses are now unsafe, but it woke me up.  I have enough trouble sleeping without seismic bleeding events.  Can't remember feeling anything like it before, journos are saying strongest in England for 20ish years and that was isolated to some welsh peninsula.  I struggle to remember 20 days ago so I’ve certainly no recall of that one.

I first thought Sandy’s waking me up to tell me I’m snoring, she thought I was having a fit, it went on long enough to work out what it was - very disorientating.  I was going to start empathising with people who suffer 'real' earthquakes but that seems crass.  Still I certainly know how confusing it is when the solid stuff around us starts moving around.

Yippee, it's Xmas time for camper vans.  New springs and dampers have arrived - pimp that ride.  It's going to be about 35-40mm lower and just a tad stiffer.  Plus the polyurethane bushes and it should ride a lot better.  I've noticed when we've loaded it up with all the camping gear for a 2 week jaunt it feels much better.  The suspension is designed for a 3.5 tonne load and we usually have about 2.5 so it's not surprising it wanders about at speed.

The UPS person who delivered the springs was some sort of pocket behemoth, he sauntered in carrying them, asked for me, and I gleefully accepted delivery.  Nearly popped the tendons in my knees taking the weight!

Knee quake!

DS Lite Fun

Not a whole lotta bloggin' goin' on here at the moment.  I did have plans to document the stuff I’m doing.

Engine build

Oil burner construction

Front suspension rebuild.

But I’ve been too busy actually doing them.  On top of that I’ve had a birthday, 50 don't you know, and there's been a new addition to the family.  That's the family of tiny computers.  Sandy bought me a pair of Nintendo ds lites so we can play together.  We were thinking of a Wii but it meant buying a big telly and neither of us wanted that.  So here goes with a lite review.

Great

Brilliant

Terrific

Buy one.

 

I'm biased, having owned and loved every generation of gameboy; it was only a matter of time before I got the latest one.  Total brand loyalty Nintendo rule.  Hey I’ve even got a pack of Japan airline playing cards made by the Nintendo playing card company.

The ds lites have pretty standard wifi built in, most of the games you only need one card for multiplayer fun - dead good.

So the upshot is No 33/30 bus journeys have been taken up with Mario brothers for the last week.  I'm now rationing myself and alternate days seems a good way to do it.

It's Monday and routine trip to the flea market on the way to work.  No treasure today.  I have had some notable scores though.  What about a 1hp air compressor £10 and it works a treat. When it comes to putting paint on the camper it'll be really handy.  Talking of which it's still broken, getting the parts - no choosing the parts is really hard.  Still not decided which valves to put in.  Theory has it that I can go up to 42mm for intakes but I don't see how.  Need to talk to my engineers - need to find some engineers.  One gang I talked to said 'what vw air-cooled - no chance but I know someone in Wakefield’ not very encouraging.  The other mob said 'no problem’ but I can't get any references.  Weird really in a city once dedicated to engineering.

Hiker Trip Out

It's Sunday and we're off for a walk.  The campers still brock so it's back to the past busing it out the Peak and walking back.  Bleeding hell hiking's got popular since we last did it by bus.  Used to be a couple o' hikers, a couple of yar pap clubbers coming down from a night out in the big city, a selection of weirdoes and ruddy faced country folks.  I imagine the latter had brought a pig to town and were swindled out of it and all their other possessions by a city smart fox person hybrid in exchange for magic beans or parsley passed off as righteous 'erb.

Back to this morning, the bus is packed with Sheffield University walking club members.  Hiking may have got popular but don't let anyone tell you it's fashionable amongst the young.  I've never seen such a gang of dweebs, wait I'm being unkind to dweebkind, I’ll reclassify them as poindexters grade a1.

Not surprising really, proper young people should be waking up in wrong beds, hung over, wondering where, who and what or thinking 'when will the disco biccies will wear off?'

Youth is definitely wasted on these youngsters

 

A beautiful day and thankfully the walking club got off two stops before us so they won't be following us about.  Last week we purposefully set off a different way to what we planned to escape the CPpc? Pensioners and they sneaked up on us by a bizarre route.  I think they must have been a bit confused god bless 'em.  Today we're doing history - well it's difficult to avoid, if you look it's all around us.  The route tries to take in lots of long distance paths limestone way, mid shires way and the high peak trail joined together with any byway which has a name.  So most of the walk is on pack horse routes, droving lanes and coach roads.  Even where we set off from is part of the A6 which has got to be a coach road - does having milestones make it a certainty.

First village is Chelmorton, which is pictured above, today's prize question is what century was the village first laid out.  I’m expecting big things from our captive archeologist, prof cowie hcc.

I don't know why I offer all these prizes so far I’ve had no entries.  Here some answers to clear the backlog of prizes.

Camping location - Aberdeen

Bad Cary grant film - Father Goose

All prizes have been donated to the Don't Over Populate Europe fund.

 

 

Hiker Trip Out

It's Sunday and we're off for a walk.  The campers still brock so it's back to the past busing it out the Peak and walking back.  Bleeding hell hiking's got popular since we last did it by bus.  Used to be a couple o' hikers, a couple of yar pap clubbers coming down from a night out in the big city, a selection of weirdoes and ruddy faced country folks.  I imagine the latter had brought a pig to town and were swindled out of it and all their other possessions by a city smart fox person hybrid in exchange for magic beans or parsley passed off as righteous 'erb.

Back to this morning, the bus is packed with Sheffield University walking club members.  Hiking may have got popular but don't let anyone tell you it's fashionable amongst the young.  I've never seen such a gang of dweebs, wait I'm being unkind to dweebkind, I’ll reclassify them as poindexters grade a1.

Not surprising really, proper young people should be waking up in wrong beds, hung over, wondering where, who and what or thinking 'when will the disco biccies will wear off?'

Youth is definitely wasted on these youngsters

 

A beautiful day and thankfully the walking club got off two stops before us so they won't be following us about.  Last week we purposefully set off a different way to what we planned to escape the CPpc? Pensioners and they sneaked up on us by a bizarre route.  I think they must have been a bit confused god bless 'em.  Today we're doing history - well it's difficult to avoid, if you look it's all around us.  The route tries to take in lots of long distance paths limestone way, mid shires way and the high peak trail joined together with any byway which has a name.  So most of the walk is on pack horse routes, droving lanes and coach roads.  Even where we set off from is part of the A6 which has got to be a coach road - does having milestones make it a certainty.

First village is Chelmorton, which is pictured above, today's prize question is what century was the village first laid out.  I’m expecting big things from our captive archeologist, prof cowie hcc.

I don't know why I offer all these prizes so far I’ve had no entries.  Here some answers to clear the backlog of prizes.

Camping location - Aberdeen

Bad Cary grant film - Father Goose

All prizes have been donated to the Don't Over Populate Europe fund.

 

 

Tales From The Chalkface

Today is the premiere of my latest creation and I find out if I’ve made a monster.  It’s a facilitated e-learning session.  Some fool bought this not very good learning package and I’ve wrapped Moodle around it to try and make it e-learning.  Some of my customers, god bless 'em, need time and space away from their workplace to get on with it.  Today they get that space-time.

If the business of training has elements of performance and it does, then sometimes I’m a performer.  Now though I feel like a playwright - first night nerves, what will they think, how much rewriting will I have to do for the next show? 

20 mins to curtain up and only one in the audience - we’ve only sold 3 tickets, there's no walk up and usually some no shows.  Could be more on stage than in the seats.

On with the motley, break a leg etc.

Well it went fine, the half hour instruction bit got extended into 45 minutes by my co-presenter wanted to discuss with trainees but without that it would have fitted the plan.  The clients thought the training package was great - it isn't but if that’s what they think - hey.