Another couple of photos from around Marsden
Another couple of photos from my walk on the moors. One is on the approach to the moorland on a road best left to Land Rovers, the other is of a small reservoir on the top of the moors, looking through the cloud that had just blown in.
Wessenden Reservoir, Marsden, Jan 2005
Another picture from the walk I went on when I was back in my home village. This is just before you start on the first uphill section. It's from series of three connected reservoirs providing water for West Yorkshire. It was built in the late 1800's back when I guess labour was cheaper. All the stone was quarried locally for it which you can see as you walk at the side of the water.
Some more views of the same area can be seen
here
A walk on the moors
When I was back in the UK in January I went for a walk the Pennine Way above Marsden, West Yorkshire. Marsden is my home village and a place I have a lot of connections with. It was a cold day and the clouds closed in around me. It actually made for a wonderful walk, very atmospheric. I walked around nine miles that day and saw three other people in total, and nobody at all for two hours.
That Friday feeling
Since it's Friday, here's a Friday joke. This was sent to me by Mike, my friend in New Zealand:
Melbourne Zoo had acquired a female of a very rare species of gorilla. Within a few weeks, the gorilla became very cantankerous and difficult to handle. Upon examination, the zoo veterinarian determined the problem. The gorilla was on heat. To make matters worse, there were no male gorillas of the species available. While reflecting on their problem, the Zoo management noticed Fitzie, a big Kiwi lad, responsible for fixing the zoo's machinery. Fitzie, like most Kiwis, had little sense, but seemed to be possessed with ample ability to satisfy a female of ANY species. So, the Zoo administrators thought they might have a solution. Fitzie was approached with a proposition, would he be willing to have sex with the gorilla for $500? Fitzie showed some interest, but said he would have to think the matter over carefully. The following day, Fitzie announced that he would accept their offer, only under three conditions:
"First," he said, "I don't want to have to kuss er."
"Sicondly, you must niver tull anyone about thus."
The zoo administration quickly agreed to these conditions, so they asked what was his third condition. "Wull," said Fitzie, "You gotta give me another wik to come up with the $500."
Shark patrol
I remembered this recently and was discussing it with some of the guys here at work. It's worth another look in case it had slipped your mind. A guy in Oxford had the brilliantly deranged idea that while his house was OK what it really needed was a 20ft shark sticking out of the roof. So he did just that.
All kinds of upset happened in the city council and the story got played out nationally in the tabloids. In the end he was allowed to keep it, and it's still there today with the occasional bus load of tourists dropping by to take pictures.
The full story and a couple of pictures are
here.
sorted !
I got my Rumble Pit 10 ! Click
here to see why this is a big deal to me :)
Nearly, so very nearly
I've been playing Halo 2 ... well, let's just say a lot ... since it was released on Nov 9th last year. The single player campaign was fun but ultimately forgettable. However the multiplayer experience is the best I've found yet for any game. Ever. Bungie pretty much got it right when they built the game. Along the way they somehow made me care, despite myself, about the rank you can achieve in the game. And to me there's no truer expression of your abilities in Halo 2 than how you do in Rumble Pit.
For those of you who have never heard of the game, Rumble Pit is basically you and seven others going at each other with guns, swords ( ::the precious:: ) , plasma rifles and pistols.
Ranks are interesting. You can go up in rank depending on how you play. But you can also go
down in rank. And it's here that I now have a dilemma. I am so nearly at my level 10 in Rumble Pit, and don't want to slide. As a result I haven't played since I realised.
Oh, what have I become !!! And yet ... it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine !
Time passes
Today is my 12,601 day on this planet and in this life. At least according to the way I agree to perceive time and with the help of the website below.
My 10,000th day on the planet was January 5th 1998. I'd have had a party if I'd known. It doesn't stand out in my mind. My 20,000th day will be on May 21st 2025. That should be a dear diary moment but will probably pass by unnoticed even by myself. Due to my family enforced superstition I don't even want to *know* about the 13,000th day. That's a day just to stay in bed I think. And only 399 days away too.
If anyone is interested in finding out how many days old they are then
click here
Getting and staying fit
My resolution for the past two years has been to get and then stay in shape. It's not been easy at times. There are demands on my time which mean I don't get to devote the energy to it I would like. Leaving work and *then* going to the climbing wall or gym would mean I would definitely get some exercise in. However if I just go home, getting out to the gym afterwards is much harder - hey, I have a nice house !
Just recently I've been making more of an effort though. If I leave work with the idea that home is just the place I go to change then, plus leave the car in the driveway rather than park it in the garage I find that it's possible for me to overcome the home inertia. In the past couple of weeks I've started lifting weights again with a little more regularity, and I've also - gasp! - started running. Not far, and not for a long time either, but at a reasonable pace. I hate it. There's no part of it which is enjoyable. And yet ... the next day I feel so good. Cleaner somehow, more alert, toned, stronger. So my resultion keeps on rolling along.
