Chinley Churn, South Head, Darjeeling

Stuart and I headed out from the house early, flasks a-brimming, socks a-warming, rucksacks a-weighing, to Hayfield, in Derbyshire, nestling picturesquely in the foothills of the Peak District. We left the car and set off for the Summit of Chinley Churn at about 1100 which we reached about an hour and a half later after taking some rather interesting detours trying to achieve this undoubtedly obvious task. Anyway we took in the view and had our first cuppa. Here we are enjoying the fresh air:

So after a refreshing sit down we set off toward Chinley in search of sustenance. As we descended into the village we saw a beardy lady who directed us to a Deli Cafe, but it must be said that at this point alarm bells were ringing as she was sweeping her wall(!?). In answer to our request for suggestions she had waved her arms down the road in the direction of the afore mentioned eatery and proceeded to give directions. It was, however, visible from outside her house. So there opposite the Post Office in Chinley we had happened upon probably the best sandwhich shop outside of Salisbury (see previous post).

As we munched our hot sandwiches we walked past her again and she asked of our opinion of our sandwiches which, we told her in between facefulls, were delicious. And on out of this delightful village full of friendly people we set a course for South Head. As we went we saw that many of the houses were for sale and it tended to sadden me because I felt as though this almost untouched family village full of similar people to the beardy lady was slowly declining into commuters' ville. A shame.

South Head we reached after a fairly long and snaking road out of the valley. The final few hundred meters before the summit was indeed a steep drag. Once there I felt as though I were about to fall off as the summit is only a few square yards and surrounded by steep drops on all sides. Not only that but we were being blown away by a sixty knot wind. After hurriedly taking in the view and a quick sit down we scurried away in search of some shelter.

Quickly we found a spot on the lee side of a wall and drained the flask of its final few drops of water which was, by this point, 6 hours out of the kettle and was at that six hours in a flask being sloshed around temperature and texture. We ate our Mars bars, cunningly purchased in Chinley, and heeded the warning of the dusky sky setting out for Hayfield once more.

We reached there a short time later and after a not altogether unpleasant promenade through a forest edge and by a small river. Hayfield seemed to be a wonderful place to live and with an absolutely awesome looking slide! There were too many people about to really have a bash on it. As we meandered back to the car through the few streets of Hayfield we mused about how lovely it would be to live in the village and go every night to the local pub which serves cream teas it would seem.

And so our expedition drew to a close. In the car home we discussed what we would do to entertain ourselves in the evening and played spot the commuter alone in his 4x4, which Stuart won with 1,204 to my 942 (but I was driving). It was decided that we should take in a film, Stuart suggested "The Darjeeling Limited" which we did eventually see. The film is not bad but it was annoyingly full of obvious metaphors and seemed far too over considered. I was just very aware that I was watching a film and it didn't draw me into the story. Well done Stuart.

I'll leave you with some more pictures of the lovely Derbyshire hills taken on this sunny day (I think I forgot to mention the weather):

Bins, Recycling and Security

I think the council is listening. This is a shock to many, and not least of all me! They have decided to start recycling and issuing different coloured bins with rules and things. Here have a look:

On a different note I have been toying with the idea of placing a sidebar with "What I am doing now" sort of thing as I have found that google calendar does this funky embedded thang. Anyhoo it would aid those people who would like to know what I will be doing in a few days/weeks to come. I have it tested:

What I need to know is; does it pose a security threat. Realistically does anybody know where I live who also knows to look on my website for my working patterns which could then point to the times when the house is empty. Please comment and let me know if you think it'd be useful to you or not.

Cloud 23

So today I finished my afternoon shift early because Saturdays are pretty quiet, especially before the ski season. So I met up with Beccy and her parents after their gig; Jools Holland, for drinks in the bar in the tallest tower of Manchester called Cloud 23.

Gladly they were staying in the hotel and so we got in through the "priority line" otherwise it was a long long queue (about 1.5 hours). Once we were up there it was quiet disappointing, loud music, expensive drinks. I ordered a Cuban Sidecar and it came with orange juice in it! It's one redeeming feature was the view which was spectacular. Thank goodness we didn't queue for too long!

Anyway here's a picture I took looking west:

It's Friday

Yes it is. But I'm still working tomorrow. Booo. Meanwhile check this out:

© Trinum.com

Can you believe that it was taken today? Let's go skiing!!!

Salisbury and Stonehenge

So then on Saturday my Dad and I headed up to Salisbury where we went to the best ever sandwhich shop in the world called doorsteps just off the main square. We went to eat these in the presence of an awesome cathedral. Next we went to meet Lizzie and Anthony at Stonehenge. As they say pictures speak a thousand words, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Graduation (again?)

So yesterday Mum and Stu picked me up and we drove to Bournemouth because this weekend is graduation weekend for those esteemed trainees who have completed courses since April 2007 at the College of Air Traffic Control, in numbers roughly 40 of us. As one of those who was successful I too was invited to join them.

The day started at about 10 o'clock in a marquee in front of the college. It was actually a great opportunity to show my parents what goes on in air traffic and those avid readers will remember that my dad, Mark, actually had been round before just before I completed college. To be quite honest though, trying not to sound so big headed, it is quite complex to understand, especially for those for whom air traffic control meant "the man on the apron waving table tennis bats" until that morning. So there were lots of blank looks and gawping coming from the crowd as, in one room, I attempted to demonstrate what it is we do in about 3 minutes on one of the simulators. Well it has taken me 18 months to get to my current level of understanding so I suppose they can be afforded some leeway in that department.

I digress.

After a typical company buffet lunch comprising nearly stale sandwiches and interestingly spicy chicken sticks we all reconvened in the Royal Bath Hotel which is the height of deluxeness. So there we had speeches, name calling (not the rude kind), hand shaking on stage and receiving of certificates with applause from the crowd. After this the champagne reception (hour and a half) was held in which the canapés and bubbly flowed freely. Happy times.

Next came the sit down meal with bow-ties and from then on I have to say my memory is blurry, but like a strange film trailer of the evening the key moments can be pieced together; accidentally spilling my wine all over the table and myself, dancing with my mother, drinking lots of Brandy, various over-affectionate embraces with my colleagues and collapsing into bed. It was here the night ended.

How Bayes' Theorem Helped Me Win Fantasy League Football

So I'm home and I got back through the Man United traffic who won tonight. Not that I follow football. That said I did play fantasy football last year and I was musing about the fact that, given my low level of knowledge of the sport, I still came third out of about fifty in last years' College of Air Traffic Control league. I told them it was just a simple application of Bayes' Theorem but they didn't believe me.

Just looking at the following:

© Wolfram Inc.

one can clearly see that one could apply this to selecting football players for the team. For those of you baffled (and still you're reading?) this equation basically quantifies the following statement: "If the player is playing well and scoring lots of points frequently and reliably then he is likely to continue to do so". Exactly how likely can be calculated using the above formula. So there you go, that's how I came third.

Br(rrr)

No it's not cold... well it is, but that's not what I mean. Yeah I recently found out that I'd been using the line break code in my website, /br, but it doesn't display in Mozilla. Which means that all you using a Mozilla based browser can't see the line breaks. Why did nobody tell me? So I've been going back slightly through time to move it about a bit and change them all around for you.

Meanwhile I played football for the first time in about 8 years today. I thought I did alright. I met up with the guys from work this afternoon at the JJB Soccer Dome. They want me to continue playing every week with them. But then there's always hockey.

A Weekend In Glasgow

So this weekend Beccy and I met up with Ed and Gill in Glasgow. We drove up from Manchester in Beccy's car and it didn't take as long as I thought it would; 4 hours. Not bad. We set off on Friday afternoon at about 1530 and got in for 1930.

So on Saturday Ed showed us around Glasgow and it was lovely. I didn't really know what to expect but it was unexpectedly classy. I mean Manchester's nice but it just isn't quite that classy. We went to a lovely old arcade for coffees and the over to the Merchant City for lunch. That was really nice and we found a bar where the food was brill and the atmosphere was fun. But the service was just a little bit rubbish. Then we had cocktails and wended the hours away. The back of the place was in an old covered market which was used for tobacco but now it had an art market.

So then we headed out to find a deli, of which there were many, but Ed knew one which he has been previously employed by called Peckhams. We bought some wine and smelly cheese called "Stinky Bishop". And by golly it was smelly!

We set off home and had a brill evening playing games etc. Ahh, a good time was had by all.

Ed in the Met Bar	Beccy enjoying a cocktail	Gill enjoys some orange rind from her Cosmonaut
Gill enjoys some wine at Ed's howse...	...as does Beccy...	...and Bendy Bob
Ed gets aquainted...	...Bendy Bob's still not sure	The game of Big Taboo is ready to go
Off we go...	The drawing round...	...is quite hard
Ed does Bendy Bob	I draw...	...then do Bendy Bob
And then we play TP	and charades (it's a book)	but it's too much for Gill (as usual)

Dear Santa...

... please see my website for details.

Yes! I've finally done it. I got round to putting my christmas list on my website. Where is it? why it's there ->>> on the "sidebar". I had to learn how to code cascading style sheets to do it right but I think I managed, don't you? Some of the more vigilant may have noticed the TEST phase which has been displayed on the site for about a week now. Sorry about that. Finally got round to putting something of use in the list. I particularly like the bit where I've used images from the relevant links to brighten it up.

Don't worry for those of you are worried about the length, more will arrive shortly.

I went to see Mel, Jonath and Alex today. It was a kind of unplanned visit as I spoke to my Dad on Monday and he needed his post collecting and his spare keys leaving with Mel. So I headed up there and dutifully collated it and promptly left it at Mel's house. We went to see the swings with Alex too, who is not feeling very well, but better after some fresh air.

I took my Dad's mini (which I'm keeping running etc) and drove all the way at 60mph (where legal) to reduce my carbon emissions... not really, do you think I care about that? **ATC Joke Alert** I'd like to think that I do my bit for reducing carbon emissions by routing direct GASKO, giving continuous climb and passing wind on fewer occasions. No it wasn't my carbon conscience that caused this radical change in driving style but it was to save some cash as the lovely spinty vehicle in question can be quite thirsty at times. While I watched the road slip much slower under the bonnet than usual I had time to ponder things, but instead I decided to sing along to the CD and rant to myself, like a crazy drunk, about the seemingly unceasing heavy traffic. Oh and she's called Bella, for those of you who don't know her. The car that is.

While we're on the subject my main concern for the environment rests with landfill. Living in Manchester I am appalled at how few are the facilities being provided for recycling of household waste purposes. The County Council does not do enough! I can only recycle glass, newspaper and magazines, clothes, shoes, batteries and cans. What about plastics, tetra pak, tin foil, card, cardboard, office paper, kitchen waste, and everything else! I ask you!.