Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Feeling Peaky


So again it has been over a month since my last post. Many apologies, it's not that I haven't done anything of interest, I just haven't done that much. And work has been amazingly busy. I haven't really started working on the main thing I was employed to do, the tube. So I don't yet feel like one of the Tubesters, or Tubeteers (we havent decided yet). I have dabbled with tube. I have made some suggestions on how our tube can become even more tube-a-licious, and talked with foreigners about tube. I've even carved into tube and looked at its innards, in 'green', 'brown', and 'dead' states. But have I made any tube? Not yet.


Outside of work though...
Not alot has happened. I went walking with Hanne from Denmark and Mattias from Germany in the Peak District, which lies 90 mins + away from here. We did Mam Tor, which sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings, but was a big ridge overlooking the valley without any lava flowing out of it or giant eyes atop a tower. It is a weird landscape out there, part desolate and brown, partly green farmland, partly urban. As you walk around you go through gates, climb fences, walk on paved paths and carved steps, hop over sheep droppings, and every now and then dodge cars as you cross the road. There are rights to public walking paths even if they lie on private land, so effectively you are half the time just walking through someone's cow or sheep paddock.

What I can say about that walk, which was a fairly easy 2.5 hour one, was that it was the windiest I have ever experienced. Nothing on the ski-slopes when the lifts closed down compared to the amount you had to lean into the wind and the amount of sideways force it had when we were on the top of the ridge.
Pics from the peaks are below.

And otherwise, we had a week of glorious weather last week, so yes summer is officially over now.and rain is forecast for the weekend, when some friends from Sweden arrive for a weekend. Oh yeah, I also moved house.

But I will leave a more geneal rant about the weather, English customer service and details about life and such, to another post, hopefully alot sooner than this was to the last.






Mattias and Hanne, students here on placement. It was Mattias next-to-last weekend in the UK, but first plod around the peaks.




"...and when you get to the top, if the light is right, you will be able to look into the valley around Castleton and behold the beauty of the village and the glorious power station..."

Guess who seemed hesitatant to attack the steep bit.


Holding on for... no real reason at all

Now I remember why I stoppped posting pics on blogger... it will be back to flickr or something next time.