1) I cycled to work today, I wasn’t going to as it was raining hard when I woke up. So I curled back up into bed ..
A short while later the rain had stopped and I cycled into work.. I got soaked when it started up again.. but that doesn’t matter.. I was dead glad that I wasn’t on the train.
2) Attending a workshop on meditation during work hours.
3) Going to bed early.. even if that was because I was over tired.
[Push] Take me to the sky
So my weekend was spent taking part in Sky Camp a competition weekend for Explorer Scouts / Scout Network an Leaders. So what is Sky Camp? Well apart for lots of hard work and good fun.
The idea is simple, you have to build a shelter that is at least 50cm off the ground and not more than 2.5 meters. You are in a team of between 4 and 8 people. The rules are quite simple, you place all the kit that you want to use in your designated bay.
The Explorers get 3 trips from the bay to the marked out site. Leaders only one.
You have then build a shelter to sleep your team, and cook a three course dinner in the shelter. The Explorers can coo using gas stoves, Network and Leaders have to cook on an open fire.
4000 points are available over the weekend, and are awarded for camp craft, teamwork, style, and for complementing challenges.
Now this is not something that I have ever done before, the rest of my team had a practice weekend a few weeks ago, so we had some ideas. But given that you don’t know where you will be building your shelter so don’t know what sort of trees that you will be able to use. It is all about being flexible and creative.
I can’t even remember the last time I took part in a competition camp.
Over the weekend I tied more lashings than possibly the last 10 years, it was great to do some real scouting for a change, rather than supervising hiking or instructing.
We had a team of Explorer scouts in the competition but during the weekend they had to be on their own. Which in turn meant that we had a free weekend to pool creativity into our site.
How was it it was really full on, from the moment we started we were pushing ourselves to get things done and build and to complete the shelter. While be interrupted by challenges to do blindfold sheep herding.
Now we had put some up front thinking into how we were going to decorate our site and the sort of things we would need, some of which I would have to lug across town and into work on my way.
My standard kit was supplemented with my complete climbing kit (which I mostly didn’t need), 2 hammocks, a mirror ball (and motor), a white tablecloth, a candelabra. a roll of wallpaper. It is an old climbing joke when you get stuck somewhere or take a very long rest, that you are thinking of wallpapering it. So if I was going to build a tree house I had to incorporate wallpaper. (I used string at the top and bottom) and then stapled the wallpaper to it. Which worked surprisingly well.
Anyway after a great weekend, were the weather amazingly stayed dry, which was impressive given the recent very heavy rain.
So how did we do, well despite being confident, we didn’t win. It was very close, we came second by just 15 points.
Going to have book myself up for next year, and buy myself a hammock.
[Scouting] Woo woo it’s Friday
Been a busy week, I have been out drinking with friends the last 2 nights so while that has been good it is a little exhausting.. What’s more tonight I am heading out to Sky camp, so heading directly to camp from work.
Now I have been looking forward to Sky camp for a while now, as it is the sort of competition camp that has lots of opportunities for being brilliantly mad.
The rules for Sky camp for the Explorer Scouts are quite simple.. Working as a team you have 3 trips from the car park to your camping area, where you must construct a shelter that is at least 0.5 meters off the ground (and not exceeding 3). You will spend the afternoon, evening, and sleep in the shelter. You will cook a 3 course dinner.
Extra points are awarded to creativity and style. There will be several challenges set during the day.
What makes this more fun is that there is a leaders competition.. The only changes to the rules are..
Only 1 trip from the car park to your site, and you must cook on an open fire.
Which is why I am currently sat on a rush hour tube with 2 huge very heavy holdalls, which contain the following additional bits of kit.
1) My climbing kit
2) A roll of wallpaper
3) A doorbell
4) Enough tools to be able to make it work..
5) A mirror ball (with motor)
6) 2 hammocks
7) A set of flying ducks (pictures)
Based on that and the other stuff I have with me, I think that it will very homely.. and jolly good fun..
[Happy] Smart looking chap in the city.
1) On the train today out for drinks with old work people so that means I’m on the train.. which gives me an excuse to wear my new bowler hat.. 🙂
2) Nearly got a seat on the train, but decided that given I was looking like a smart city gentleman, in a hat and umbrella, I would act like one and offered it to the lady behind me.
[Happy] Finding things..
So I’ve missed another day, and this post is late, but hey not beating myself up about that.
Monday I was frustrated as I was trying to sort out kit for this weekend’s camping trip, and after ages clambering around in the loft my back was aching and there were several things that I just couldn’t find..
So Tuesday’s big happyness was finding them. Quite how I managed to perchance onto one of them I have no idea as I had given up on finding that. Just goes to show, maintain a positive attitude.
Not sure that I can remember anything else to record, so will leave it at that. But I found stuff that I was sure that had been lost.
I also found H’s hat on Monday so even that day wasn’t a complete write off..
[Happy] A relaxing weekend
Only one post for the weekend, so we will have to see what I remember.
1) Curry for dinner, I’ve not had curry in ages..
2) An afternoon nap, which has hopefully helped beat my cold.
3) Finishing pruning the lavender, makes the garden look so much more tidy.
4) Getting to the dump, been meaning to do that for ages.
5) Some time catching up with people.
[Happy] A bit of a catch up.
Missed a few days of recording the happyness in my day, this has mostly been caused by a bit of a head cold..
Anyway there has been some good from the last few days..
1) Being able to work from home.. saved me battling into the office on Tuesday when I felt miserable.
2) Our Moo getting married..
3) A short lunchtime walk in the city in the sunshine.
4) Getting a seat on both of today’s train journeys.
5) Sinex nasal spray for letting me be able to breathe.
[TV] I don’t make the adverts..
I don’t offen watch the adverts, which is because most of the time they just wind me up..
So there is an advert for the Citroen C1, a chap and a girl are waiting for a bus, (note the subtle message that waiting for a bus is boring and buses are a poor choice for getting around.)
Anyway, on the bus stop is an advert for the car, the chap gets bored waiting, so walks around the back of the bus stop gets in the car and drives it out of the advert and onto the road. Looks smug at the young girl at the bus shop and drives off.
From this I learned..
1) Buses are for losers.
2) The security on the Citroen C1 is rubbish, a chap just can walk up and drive it away.
3) People who drive Citroen C1’s are self centered..
But my biggest problem with the advert is that the chap, looks smugly at the girl who he has abandoned at the bus stop and drives off.. The completely selfish git.
If the bus is so late that your willing to steal a car, but your not willing to help out a fellow traveller. That is just low.
Now I understand that that the advertising company made a mistake here.. a young girl cannot get into a strangers car in an advert, that would open them up to trouble. But it wouldn’t have been hard for it to have been a couple, or in some way indicated that he was a dad, or something.
Just leaving them is low.
[Happy] A contented goth
1) Meeting friends in Camden, I’ve not been out to Camden on a very long time. So it was a good excuse to goth up a bit. Although it was a bit disconcerting to be one of the only goths in Camden.
2) Taking a newbie goth into the New Rock shop.. there was squeeing and everything..
3) Buying a new bowler hat, so that I can look dapper on my way to work. On the occasions that I’m not on the bike.
[Happy] Being lazy at the weekend.
1) Listening to the rain first thing in the morning, and turning the alarm clock off, and deciding to have a lie in and be lazy..
2) An afternoon nap, I’ve a tohch of a cold, so it was a bit more necessary than I would like, but it was still very nice.
3) Out at a friend’s 60th, and random conversations about bicycles, bond movies, and stuff.. It was ni e to be out and a little social.