My brother just got engaged. Pretty cool. Stag night ahoy although I don't know if they've set a date yet.
Brilliant news.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Monday, 27 April 2009
Wanderings in Wales
Just about recovered from our trip to Wales now, aside from legs that are still a bit achy and sore feet. Mike, Ian and I had a very successful 3 day hike, starting late Friday afternoon and finishing Sunday lunchtime, carrying all our kit and food and wild camping in the Brecon Beacons.
We made it up the peaks of Cribbyn and Pen y fan in a howling gale and with low cloud closing in which was quite exciting, the only casualty being Mike's sleeping mat which somehow became detached and blew away. Some fantastic scenery with reservoirs, moorland, and forest, got some pictures which I'll upload shortly. Also saw quite a few buzzards including 2 coming into roost near our campsite on Saturday evening which was nice. I woke up in the morning to the sound of green woodpeckers along with the rest of the dawn chorus.
We managed to cook up some pretty respectable meals including beef stew, pasta with spicy chorizo (which was a bit too hot if we're honest), porridge and bacon sandwiches. Lots of energy was needed to keep on going with the heavy packs up some pretty steep slopes.
Navigation wise all went pretty according to plan, utilising our ordnance survey map and some trusty compass work we pretty much always got where we were aiming to go, which was not altogether expected really. Think we probably covered about 25 miles in total, although it's hard to tell with all the up and down bits.
Already looking to plan our next trip which might be to Dartmoor, or bushcraft in the South East somewhere, or even canooing on the Norfolk Broads.
We made it up the peaks of Cribbyn and Pen y fan in a howling gale and with low cloud closing in which was quite exciting, the only casualty being Mike's sleeping mat which somehow became detached and blew away. Some fantastic scenery with reservoirs, moorland, and forest, got some pictures which I'll upload shortly. Also saw quite a few buzzards including 2 coming into roost near our campsite on Saturday evening which was nice. I woke up in the morning to the sound of green woodpeckers along with the rest of the dawn chorus.
We managed to cook up some pretty respectable meals including beef stew, pasta with spicy chorizo (which was a bit too hot if we're honest), porridge and bacon sandwiches. Lots of energy was needed to keep on going with the heavy packs up some pretty steep slopes.
Navigation wise all went pretty according to plan, utilising our ordnance survey map and some trusty compass work we pretty much always got where we were aiming to go, which was not altogether expected really. Think we probably covered about 25 miles in total, although it's hard to tell with all the up and down bits.
Already looking to plan our next trip which might be to Dartmoor, or bushcraft in the South East somewhere, or even canooing on the Norfolk Broads.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Political distractions
Why do all the political parties think the majority of us are interested in what some bloke wrote in an email about other members of a political party? Yes Damian McBride was a plonker for writing nonsense in an email, very childish and unconstructive, however is this really what our politicians should be debating at the moment?
Maybe they should think about solving our foreign policy issues, the current recession, and our problems on the home front before entering into playground squabbling. Stupid politicians.
However I suspect Jacqui Smith is somewhat relieved the pressure is off her for a bit. Gives her time to watch a few movies.
Maybe they should think about solving our foreign policy issues, the current recession, and our problems on the home front before entering into playground squabbling. Stupid politicians.
However I suspect Jacqui Smith is somewhat relieved the pressure is off her for a bit. Gives her time to watch a few movies.
Monday, 13 April 2009
Easter Weekend
Well the weather turned out okay for an Easter Weekend for a change, even managed to wash the car!
Visited my parents on Friday and Saturday, down in East Sussex which was nice. Everything is growing in ernest now so their garden looked lovely. Also went out for lunch with Chris, Jenny and Eve - went to the Squirrel pub near Battle, post a wander round the town.
Easter Monday has mostly consited of cleaning the house and gardening. All seeds are germinating well so looks like we'll have some decent carrots, beetroot, peas and courgettes later in the year; good supplies should the zombie apocolypse happen.
Visited my parents on Friday and Saturday, down in East Sussex which was nice. Everything is growing in ernest now so their garden looked lovely. Also went out for lunch with Chris, Jenny and Eve - went to the Squirrel pub near Battle, post a wander round the town.
Easter Monday has mostly consited of cleaning the house and gardening. All seeds are germinating well so looks like we'll have some decent carrots, beetroot, peas and courgettes later in the year; good supplies should the zombie apocolypse happen.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
London, G20, and the state of the nation
It's been an interesting day keeping abreast of the news from London whilst the G20 summit is going on. Funny seeing Twitter come into its own as everyone starts using it to keep track of events. I had to laugh when I saw a few City workers had been waving £10 notes from their windows at protestors, a little provocative but quite humorous.
Good to see the anti war and climate change protests or coming off peacefully so far, I have no problem with them. It's good people make themselves heard without having to cause trouble.
Do have a bit of a problem with people causing the fights and vandalising banks. What's the point? RBS is mostly owned by tax payers, so the same tax payers are effectively going to have to pay for the damage - if you're a tax payer involved in this you're effectively trashing your own stuff. Pretty stupid however there again the sorts of people that do cause the damage probably aren't tax payers as they don't have a job and don't want one. They're just there for the adrenalin rush of big crowds, mob mentality and the chance of letting off steam. When they wake up in the morning they'll probably feel slightly ashamed.
I wonder how many of the people protesting about the current finanical crisis really understand it. If they do really understand it maybe they should try fixing it because I'm not sure many people understand what's going on at the moment.
I've been wondering about all the blame we're putting on Banks and the Government for the current financial crisis. I don't think any government or modern banking institution would have done much different, as is evidenced from the way the crisis is a global phenomenon. Maybe this is more of a social problem and down in part to the Jo Public. I mean how many of the people protesting have maxed out credit cards they can’t pay off, 100% mortgages, remortgages, self certified mortgages they lied about, loans or other debts they can’t pay off? They didn’t necessarily have to get into so much debt and now suffer the consequences because the economic climate has changed. There’s been a ‘must buy it now’ culture for years which has meant personal debt has risen massively, and people that save up to buy something are few and far between. In fact those that save money are often penalised with taxes and bad interest rates, whereas those who go bankrupt or are in financial difficulty get payouts from the benefits system, all a bit upside down.
There’s a culture of ‘it must be someone else’s fault as it can’t possibly be mine’. People need to take more responsibility for their own actions and realise the excess of debt and financial difficulties we’re seeing at the moment are partly down to themselves.
I am by no means saying the banks and government are blameless, there lots of room for improvement and we need tighter regulation. Financial institutions are responsible for irresponsible lending, and packaging up financial products that entice people in and get them into too much debt – they made it and continue to make it all too easy sometimes, and we got too used to these products being on offer so didn’t really consider the risks too much. They also went too far with risky lending and borrowing and in the end the liquidity all dried up, which in turn really hurts those people that really need that load to keep their business going, or start a business, everything grinds to a halt.
However people need to take a look in the mirror sometimes and start spending within their means; you don’t have to buy that Xbox for your 6 year old! Some people also need to realise you can’t get something for nothing; us workers shouldn’t have to support people that have been on benefits for ages because they simply too lazy to get a job, so make up excuses about being too ill or something akin to that. Incidentally I don’t have a problem with supporting people who genuinely need it!
It’ll be interesting to see how tonight and tomorrow progress in London. I hope the government wake up to just how angry people are feeling at the moment and realise they can’t get away with the same old crap anymore – not necessarily just because of the economic situation, but for all the social, political, environmental and legal reasons that underlie people’s frustrations. MP’s need to start being a bit cleverer and stop trying to just score points and complete short term goals; there again who’d want to be an MP really? If you’re at all good you generally have some sort of quirk that the media pick on and get’s you the sack. For example Charles Kennedy was pretty promising however he got the shove as soon as the media realised he liked a drink or two, so we’re left with those such as Jacqui Smith – please can some-one get rid of her, do you really trust a person that can’t even check her own receipts and who doesn’t really obey the spirit of the law when it comes to expenses, with the Home Office?
Anyway, that’s enough of a rant, although it was quite therapeutic. I’m not saying I’m completely right, I may well be missing something, however a lot of people feel the same way. Thoughts?
Good to see the anti war and climate change protests or coming off peacefully so far, I have no problem with them. It's good people make themselves heard without having to cause trouble.
Do have a bit of a problem with people causing the fights and vandalising banks. What's the point? RBS is mostly owned by tax payers, so the same tax payers are effectively going to have to pay for the damage - if you're a tax payer involved in this you're effectively trashing your own stuff. Pretty stupid however there again the sorts of people that do cause the damage probably aren't tax payers as they don't have a job and don't want one. They're just there for the adrenalin rush of big crowds, mob mentality and the chance of letting off steam. When they wake up in the morning they'll probably feel slightly ashamed.
I wonder how many of the people protesting about the current finanical crisis really understand it. If they do really understand it maybe they should try fixing it because I'm not sure many people understand what's going on at the moment.
I've been wondering about all the blame we're putting on Banks and the Government for the current financial crisis. I don't think any government or modern banking institution would have done much different, as is evidenced from the way the crisis is a global phenomenon. Maybe this is more of a social problem and down in part to the Jo Public. I mean how many of the people protesting have maxed out credit cards they can’t pay off, 100% mortgages, remortgages, self certified mortgages they lied about, loans or other debts they can’t pay off? They didn’t necessarily have to get into so much debt and now suffer the consequences because the economic climate has changed. There’s been a ‘must buy it now’ culture for years which has meant personal debt has risen massively, and people that save up to buy something are few and far between. In fact those that save money are often penalised with taxes and bad interest rates, whereas those who go bankrupt or are in financial difficulty get payouts from the benefits system, all a bit upside down.
There’s a culture of ‘it must be someone else’s fault as it can’t possibly be mine’. People need to take more responsibility for their own actions and realise the excess of debt and financial difficulties we’re seeing at the moment are partly down to themselves.
I am by no means saying the banks and government are blameless, there lots of room for improvement and we need tighter regulation. Financial institutions are responsible for irresponsible lending, and packaging up financial products that entice people in and get them into too much debt – they made it and continue to make it all too easy sometimes, and we got too used to these products being on offer so didn’t really consider the risks too much. They also went too far with risky lending and borrowing and in the end the liquidity all dried up, which in turn really hurts those people that really need that load to keep their business going, or start a business, everything grinds to a halt.
However people need to take a look in the mirror sometimes and start spending within their means; you don’t have to buy that Xbox for your 6 year old! Some people also need to realise you can’t get something for nothing; us workers shouldn’t have to support people that have been on benefits for ages because they simply too lazy to get a job, so make up excuses about being too ill or something akin to that. Incidentally I don’t have a problem with supporting people who genuinely need it!
It’ll be interesting to see how tonight and tomorrow progress in London. I hope the government wake up to just how angry people are feeling at the moment and realise they can’t get away with the same old crap anymore – not necessarily just because of the economic situation, but for all the social, political, environmental and legal reasons that underlie people’s frustrations. MP’s need to start being a bit cleverer and stop trying to just score points and complete short term goals; there again who’d want to be an MP really? If you’re at all good you generally have some sort of quirk that the media pick on and get’s you the sack. For example Charles Kennedy was pretty promising however he got the shove as soon as the media realised he liked a drink or two, so we’re left with those such as Jacqui Smith – please can some-one get rid of her, do you really trust a person that can’t even check her own receipts and who doesn’t really obey the spirit of the law when it comes to expenses, with the Home Office?
Anyway, that’s enough of a rant, although it was quite therapeutic. I’m not saying I’m completely right, I may well be missing something, however a lot of people feel the same way. Thoughts?
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