Happy Halloween

Considering that it's a lovely night, it has been a very quiet evening .
So far, only 4 people have been to the door (four very bad jokes) and only a few fireworks.
It's not even that they are not coming down the cul de sac, there seems to be no noise out there at all. Having said that, Ciaran didn't want to go out either so he decided to stay in and help with the sweets. We also watched the "Frighteners" - about the only scary film I have that he can safely watch.

Happy Halloween to all the monsters and witches I know.

Whitelee Windfarm

It was a beautiful day today so we headed out to the Whitelee Windfarm. It seems like everyone else in the EK area had the same idea also, so it was a bit of a challenge actually getting onto the site. Once on the site there is plenty of room - the place is massive - over 140 turbines and 90km of trails for walking and cycling. Its a clever idea to make the grounds into a park it both allows people to get up and close to the turbines and opens up what was moorland and commercial woodland.
The visitor centre is run by the same crowd that do the Glasgow Science Centre. There was plenty of info on the environmental aspects and the generation of electricity from wind, but not a huge amount on the mechanical aspects of these turbines.

The bit that is hard to appreciate is the immense size of these turbines. Yes, you can see them for miles, turning slowly in the breeze. And I had been up close to them before on Myre's Hill where we have our turbine lab (I'll need to check will Ali just where on the Whitelee's map Myre's Hill fits in). But you cannot appreciate just how big or powerful these things are until you stand under one when the wind is blowing.
The two pictures here show the same turbine, which is number 40 from the map. On the first one you can just make out the green shed at the base of the turbine, while on the second pic you can see it compared to my Dad.
Once the site quiets down Ciaran and I will have to take the bikes out and cycle some of the paths...

Birthday party

It was Ciaran's birthday party yesterday.
His grandparents were over since Tuesday night and he had a few friends around for a small party during the day and then we went out for dinner down to Troon's Jade Dragon.
Sounds simple?
My folks booked their flights ages ago, got a good deal but their weekends mixed up and with the school holiday wouldn't see Ciaran at all. But then they were supposed to be at a retirement party so the may have to come back early if they could get the flights. But then the ex had to work and change our arrangements. Perfect. Now my folks get to see Ciaran. But since they can't get the flights changed they may have to attend the retirement party. So they might not make their planned trip anyway.
So, for Ciaran I thought an xbox party would be a good idea. Until the console died the week before the party. Out of warrently but Game were willing to have it fixed under the sale of goods act free of charge. It was only collected on tuesday so the chances of it being back by saturday were slim. Sunday night and my mum confirmed tht they would be coming over for the week as originally intended.
By now of course there are no tickets left to book for the 'The Jacobite' the Harry Potter steam train run from Fort Wiliam to Mallaig but maybe some available on the day. With no xbox I thought we could all do the train run (but not the steam train as it finished for the season) and looked at prices for that.
Tuesday and Ciaran and I agreed that perhaps the xbox was nt happening and what other options were there. Bowling was considered. Ciaran would get me four names by wednesday
By wednesday I had a replacement xbox from Jim who would bring his in on thursday and the train run was put on hold. I never got the names though, but as the xbox waas back on it wasn't an issue. On thursday Jim was late in and forgot the xbox but would bring it friday, if I would come in for it. Ciaran called and confirmed 5 names which with him and me would be too many for the car to take safely, but we now had an xbox so that was ok.
Friday i went in and got the xbox then bought munchies for the party. Friday night telephoned the guys to confirm attendence and duration.
Saturday was cool. 4 guys showed upa nd they xboxed for a while , ate for a while and then played with Ciaran's soldiers for a while before heading home again. Almost like a quiet cub's night.

Once everyone was gone and everything was cleaned up we headed down to the jade Palace for dinner. As ever very good, but almost too much to eat, and that was with Ciaran picking from the platters.

Penne Pollo a la Ciaran

Ciaran made his penne pollo a la Ciaran tonight.
Basically its seasoned chicken mixed with peppers and corn in a creamy sauce served with penne pasta. The secret is in the seasoning whcih included crushed red and yellow chilli peppers, garlic, black and red peppercorn, oregano and basil. the sauce is Cambells (now knorr) condensed chicked soup. It has to be server with penne so that the sauce can get into the inside of the pasta

Oil in Water 2009

Oil in Water 2009 - a different hotel but at the end of the day I really cannot see the difference between these hotels. For the rate we are paying we get good rooms, plenty of hot water and reasonably quiet, so no excuse for not getting a good night sleep. i think that there is a step above the level we are at, but for simple overnight stays then I don't think we need move to that level (as if that would be authorised for us anyway) So far, the worst I've had is the threat of a ghost in Snodland, but then that gives the Priory a bit of flavour that the typical travel lodge can't match.

We had out first solo flight, Alick and me. Ming-less: for only the second time since he started the clubs Ming has not been able to attend the workshop/club meeting and has had to leave it in Alick's hands. My job is to keep him away from the sea food.


People think these events are a jolly, but they are a lot of work. Yes, its out of the office (and all that means) and there is food and drink, but you are working from the minute a delegate sees you and that doesn't include any setup work you may have to do.
This time, we have the speaker's dinner on Wednesday night. Then as we don't have access to the room we have to setup first thing Thursday morning. The change of room layout for the Club meeting on Friday should be taken care of by the hotel, but then Alick and I will have to dismantle and pack all the gear to get back to EK as Hazel and Fiona are heading back Thursday evening.

The Speaker's Dinner was very good - out for Chinese at Zen Oriental on Bon Accord Crescent. It was a nice meal and gave me a chance to meet the speakers I hadn't met before. Had a few beers before heading back to the hotel where a few of us stayed up for a few more drinks.

Early start Thursday for breakfast and setting up the room. Best to leave Hazel to issue the orders and simply do what's asked/told. Doesn't take as long as expected but at least an hour before the scheduled start the first delegates being to arrive. In order to meet everyone, albeit quickly, I volunteer to man the badge desk. Minor panic as some of the speakers are late (locals) but not enough to delay proceedings. Things get off to a start while the Nigerian delgation decide whether to shower or attend the lecture.
Thursday went really well and the feedback looks positive. No major disasters that I noticed which is probably all that matters. I spend an hour in the pool/sauna and then meet Alick, Jon, Wolfgang, and Greg for dinner in the bar. Later on Stefan comes back from his walkabout in Aberdeen and joins us for another beer or so. A good but long day.
Friday is a little more relaxed. The club meetings are les formal and Alick and I got enough info over the last 2 nights to be informed of what the other club members feel for the future. Again we have tardy speakers but after making adjustments they arrive and nothing has to change. We have a full busy interactive meeting which overruns by almost an hour due to the conversation.

Afetr getting the room sorted and our gear packed Alick and I head back to EK getting there about 1930. I drop Alick off for about 2000 and finally get back to Troon for 2100 and fill the hire car for collection. I think Ming will be pleased.


**After this was written we found out that Ming had been sent ot St John New Brunswick instead of St Johns New Foundland. Sadly he found ut from the taxi driver when they couldn't find his hotel. It didn't stop him though - he got to the right St Jihns the next day and gave his 2 courses.

Straiton Hike

Went out this morning for the first of this year's hikes.
Had a great day. The weather was fantastic and we had a great turnout - about 21 in total including Mums, dads, and little sisters.
Afterwrads dave and I managed a quick beer while Shirly and dylan went for an ice cream. All in the name of supporting local business.
Roll on the next outing.

Limited Shelf life

I got a flyer through the door about a manager's special event being held this weekend where I bought my current car. As we had no other plans for today Ciaran and I decided to head out and see what they have. Ciaran would have loved to get a Prius or a Celica or MR2 but there was little chance of that - Prius doesn't suit my drive (or pocket) and both the mr2 and Celica are out of production. In all honesty I didn't expect to buy anything and was only interested to finding out what my 7 year old car would be worth. I will admit that i wasn't happy with the car though - over the 2 plus years I've had it its had a series of electrical problems in different systems. An expensisve and difficult thing to resolve.
So we arrived at the garage and looked about for a bit before being approached by the salesman. As we were 'interested' in the Auris (the Corolla replacement) we were offered a test drive in the 5 door TR model.
Once we got back to the garage the haggling started. In order to get my info I went along with it all - specificed what model I would want, features and the trade in value for my old car. Of course, what he ofered wasn't near what I would like for it (but then is it ever?). He ran the numbers and came back to me - way to much, but I expected that. He offered a bit more for my trade in and re-ran the numbers. If I took their finance deal they would add more onto the trade in so he re-ran the numbers. Much better this time, almost reasonable. however, I had a service/MOT due and my preferred colour would not be available for 16 weeks (Tpyota build to order). They would pay for the service/MOT and any work if the new car wasn't available by then. The salesman explained that the weekend deal was only for the weekend and that their bonus depended on them hitting the targets, which, at 1600 Sunday evening with only 2 hours remaining, they still hadn't.
By this time the deal wasn't that bad and I was seriously considering it. I then asked about the steering wheel audio controls. "Not on this model, only on the next one up." "Oh, its funny how its the little things you get used to" "Wait here". Off he popped and when he came back asked how fixed was I on the colour I choose as he could get me the next model up, in silver, next week, for the same price, if I signed now.


Went and bought a new car today, I get it next week. Got a great deal. Not a colour I would normally go for, but silver is neutral enough and I'm looking forward to it.

Blair Drummond

We had our annual Staff day out today, this year at Blair Drummond Safari Park.
Like most of these events it was alright, not fantastic, but certainly a nice gesture by management.
The park is nice and you certainly can get quite close to the animals, depending on their nature, sometimes very close. Yo also get an idea of how big some animals are. I was amazed at just how big the camels were, despite seeing them often enough on TV.
There was also the play park, the pedal boats, and the zip line, so it was a busy day despite the weather.
Still, at the back of my mind, there was an uneasy feeling. seeing the animals captive was a bit depressing despite knowing that their natural habitat was probably under threat ad that the animals almost certainly wouldn't be alive if they were not in captivity somewhere.
Still I think it took a hard heart not to feel pity for the tiger as it lapped its enclosure. The info board told us about the hundreds of square km thta a normal adult would range in and it compared poorly to the few acres available.

First Night at Scouts

Ciaran has his first night at Scouts tonight. Once he sees what its like, he and the other promoted cubs will be brought back to the cub pack for a final evening where they are supposed to organise the games.
In the meantime Ciaran will continue to come to cubs with me as a helper. It means he will be able to come along on events if he wants to when he's with me, and he is eligible for a junior leader badge if he progresses with Scouts.
Depending on what Colin (the Scout leader) says tonight I may have some transposing of badges for next week.

High Tech Misery

While I was back in Dublin I looked out my old photo album from the loft. I though I had moved it over with me years ago but obviously didn't.

It was nice to look back at those old pictures. One thing is obvious now though - quantity. I took over 120 pictures in Dublin last week, most on one day. I have 9 pics from our first year trip to Kilkenny in 1983, 6 from Paris in 1985, and less that 20 from a week in Normandy in 1986, and that includes a failed funny hat picture with a church steeple!
At some point I seem to have moved up to larger film sizes as I have rolls from things like Engineering Balls (but only one portrait from my Debs) and uni trips. Once I moved to Scotland there are lots of photos and typically double sets as well (but i don't have a lot of those any more)

So I had a brainwave to scan all the photos I currently have. Of course the scanner I have is pants (why I'm keeping it in the loft I really don't know - I think I just bin it). As my printer is a bit on the old side, I thought about an all in one affair. Thing is, I'm particular. I want a laser printer since I don't print that much and toner doesn't dry out. Also I don't want the paper to curl over. No suitable one was in my range so i decided to simply keep the printer I have and borrow the office scanner for the weekend.
Once I got the scanner home and its software was installing I stared to look at all the pictures I had to scan. I certainly wasn't going to be done this weekend, and thats without rotating or cropping.
Of course once the software installed and i rebooted the scanner didn't work. So i followed the obvious troubleshooting steps and tried again, and again. afer many attempts and web hints it seems that you, or me anyway, can't get a scanjet 4400c to work under vista.

So, what now? I looked at scanning services and they looked expensive though fast. As ever, a lot of cost is added via postage, so I decided to simply buy a new scanner. so a visit to the various web sites to make an informed choice (spoils impulse buying doesn't it?) and find out that tesco sell the one I want cheaper, plus I have a coupon for money off if I'm over a limit, which the scanner is by itself. So now I have my new scanner, plus points for Christmas and a coupon for next week's petrol.

So that was last night. Today, amid the Tour de France and F1 qualification, I started scanning.

Not so bad. This was the worst lot as they were in the album from Dublin, and the oldest photos I have. The plan is to scan the rest as and when i get time and even to scan Ciaran's drawings to save me some storage space here and he constantly drawing.

Once I play about I may even be able to use either the Hugin or the Microsoft stitching software to re-assemble larger items like my degrees...

Summer in Dublin

Just got back after a week in Dublin with Ciaran.
We had a really good time but we didn't do all that much as it was difficult to plan with the changable weather. We did spend a lot of time with Michele's brood. As the boys get older the age difference between them becomes less of an issue and they all get on better.

We headed into town on Thursday to do the touristy thing.
We started with "The Body" exhibition. This was a set of real human body parts, dissected. It was really interesting, especially where they can preserve the circulatory system by injecting polymer resin and then dissolving the meat around it. At the same time, just at the back of my mind it was a bit "ugh" but quiet and faint. Ciaran, as ever, seemed to neither enjoy or dislike it. I later heard that the bodies were executed Chinese but I don't really believe that. The website (http://bodiesdublin.com/) notes tht the doners were all Chinese, but I think the executed comes from the fact that some councils etc banned the exhibit.

After having lunch we headed for the key attraction (at least as far as Ciaran was concerned)- Forbidden Planet. After at least half an hour he couldn't find anyhting he wanted enough to spend his money on so came away empty handed.

We headed up the north quay and decided to take the open topped bus tour. Once we got our tickets and found the bus we stared off up towards Trinity College. Once we got there Ciaran remembered about the "Infection" exhibition at Trinity (http://www.sciencegallery.ie/infectious). When asked earlier about going he said he didn't want to - he still hasn't learned about planning - he wanted to go to Forbidden Planet. So we got off the bus and headed into Trinity.

"Infectious" was really cool - better then the Bodies anyway. It was a simple enough exhibit - just some info about how viruses spread, microscopes, etc, and a simulator where you could control a virus outbreak and specify what type of response there should be and see the impact on both infection and recovery. There was an edge - When you arrive they give you a unique RFID wafer to wear. The hall was in the middle of an infected zone - a bluetooth virus had infected one of the RFID and was being passed onto the other visitors. You could check your health by the flashing light on the wafer or by displays on the wall. Basically as you moved about the exhibit you stood a good chance of being infected with the computer virus. There were disinfection points which weren't always effective. It was really cool to look at the live wall maps of who was where and if they were infected.
I got infected and Ciaran wouldn't come near me.
Apparently this was all real research. They had tried it before at seminars, but the nature of those meant everyone was infected quite quickly.

Back onto the bus for the rest of the tour. I had hoped to get to the Jameson Distillery but when we got to the Guiness Brewery Ciaran asked to go in, and who am I to argue with that type of request? We did a quick tour and then headed up to the "Gravity Bar" for its views and a pint.
By the time we were done and back onto the bus it was too late for any more visits. So we just continued on the bus as it made its way though Dublin, up around the Phoenix Park and back t O'Connell street where a short run had us back on the old 41 for the trip back to Swords.

While we were over it was my cousin's 40th so we headed out for that. It was good to see some cousins who I hadn't seen for a while and the porter was great (That's at least 3 times I've had beer at the Guinness brewery and not enjoyed it as much as in normal (non uk) pubs!)

Flew back on Monday night. Almost shoplifted from the gate side shop - a ryanair steward with a thick eastern european accent paged virtually my name. It was only as I told Ciaran we were being paged that he said I couldn't take those things!

Happy 4th of July

Had our first BBQ of the year tonight.

Our main problem was a lack of outdoor table se we bought a picnic table before we headed to Arran.

Of course it took a few attempts to get it assembled (and the purchase of a new 13mm socket wrench) but we got it up and tested by late afternoon with enough time to light up the disposable BBQ and get grilling.

I tested the smoke alarm inside by cooking the burgers and then Ciaran took over by bringing them outside to the fire.

As Ciaran isn't a salad fan (he'll eat green salad but no mayo or cold pasta) it was simply burgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob and cold cucumber, washed down by Belgian lager and pepsi.
Ciaran then roasted his cucumber and corn.
The weather was great (still, again) and we got a few games of swingball in.

Final day

Had a pretty easy day today. Had to be up and out of the hotel by 11.00. Not that early compared to the previous days, but having a deadline always adds pressure. The day was slightly overcast with chance of rain and suited our just taking it easy attitude.

Ciaran is still into collecting rocks so we had a drive around to the usual places and he managed to get a piece of something exotic. I also managed to get some cheese and despite Ciaran getting something from the Chocolate factory I was able to resist, though the fudge shop seems to have closed.

The warship we saw last night was still lurking about. They were flying helicopters off it to a smaller boat. We took some pics of it but nothing that will give a name, the zoom is just not powerful enough. After looking at the pics and comparing them to whats on wiki it might be one of the new type 45 destroyers. Its hard to tell from the picture, but the helicopter could be a lynx, but its certainly not a Merlin. It was playing about off Corrie for most of the morning.

After lunch we headed south to Kilmory. The plan was to walk out to the cairns but there was no where suitable to leave the car so we headed back towards Kildonan. We parked up there for a while while Ciaran did some more rockpooling.

Of course, one of the things you have to be aware of while at the beach is the tide. It going out isn't that much of an issue, but when it comes back in you should be prepared. Ciaran didn't nad got cut off. The thing was I had told him to keep and eye out and had told him to take his socks off. Short wade and he was back.

It was then back to Brodick and onto the ferry home. We ordered chinese on the road homw and collected it when we got back to Troon.

All in all, a great holiday.

Rockpooling

Today was a more restful day. Since I got to choose yesterdays activity, I felt it was only fair to let Ciaran choose todays: he went for rockpooling.
After stopping off to buy a bucket and a net we headed off in the Lochranza direction, stopping in Glen Sannox for a bit.
Ciaran made a beeline for the water while I followed at a more sedentary pace.


We checked the map and there was a nice walk along the burn up to waterfalls and the info board in the car park had a return path via the "Witch's Stairs" but since it was Ciaran's day we decided not to do the walk. I have to admit, my thighs were still aching so it wasn't a long discussion.

Within a few minutes of Ciaran getting to the water he had dropped the bucket. He maintains he threw it to me but that will never stick. Thus began the great bucket race of 2009. The pool was actually quite deep so Ciaran wasn't going in after it. So he prodded it with his net, but hadn't learned by then that you don't tip an empty, floating, bucket over because it fills and sinks. Luckily there was enough buoyancy in the bucket for it to float just at the surface and move slowly enough that he could chase and catch it. By then he was stuck on the far bank. To my great amazement we managed to leave there with all our possessions and still dry.

We then headed up to Newton Point in Lochranza where Ciaran could do some rockpooling while I watched.
Now this is what holidays are all about. While Ciaran hunted small aquatic life in the various pools I could sit and enjoy the weather and the simple fact that we had no deadlines to consider.
After spending much of the day and having our lunch we then decided to take a short cruise - the ferry to Claonaig runs from Lochranza and takes about 20 minutes to get across. Despite me not being great on boats we decided to head over and see what was there.

The ferry is a pay on board so we climbed on and bought a return ticket. The sea was incredibly calm and even I didn't feel queasy.

It was the first time I had seen Arran's west coast.
You get so used to seeing the same side - the island faces the house so every time we head into the village we can see Goatfell et al, so it was nice to see the other side. Clanaig though is basically a shallow spot on the coast. Still the trip over was fun, the weather great. Once on the far side we went down for a paddle until the ferry came back for us about an hour later.

Once we got back into Lochranza we headed up to the distillery (you have to visit a distilery when in Scotland) but it was near closing time and the last tour was already done. So we simply bought ice cream and drove back to Brodick.

We tried the new pool in the hotel this time. Unusual for a new built pool - it was deep, from 0.9m to about 2m. We swam until dinner time and then after dinner headed back to the spa pool.

Goat Fell : 0 Dermot & Ciaran : 1

6 hours to the minute - from 1020 until 1620. From sea level to 874m. From reasonably comfortable to absolutely shattered and sweat soaked. But we did it, made it all the way to the top and back without mountain rescue and under our own power!

After our hearty cooked breakfast (another reason to stay in a hotel - cooked breakfast) we set off into Brodick to get some lunch materials and then off to start the climb.



The climb is basically in 3 parts. The first is a woodland walk of about 3km from the car park at sea level up to about 300m, basically the level of the ridge in the picture on yesterday's post. It ends with a the path crossing a small burn and a deer gate. The second part is about 2km over open moorland with a lot of scattered granite. This bit climbs from 300m to about 650m with the peak on your left the entire time. The path ends on the ridge over the Corrie route with a very steep drop back down to the valley floor.
The final bit is a scramble up to the top. 200m pretty much straight up.

We started off easy enough, the forest walk is one that we have done a number of times now. This time both of us had rucksacks and its the first time I have ever seen Ciaran sweating as it was warm while still being somewhat overcast. We took a welcome break in the burn at the top and refreshed headed onto the moorland path. This bit is also pretty easy but being so open it drains the life from you as you can see how much you have done and how much more you have left.
Finally, we got to the ridge and the start of the final ascent. By now I was pretty tired, but Ciaran had gotten his second wind adn went bounding on ahead. He is sitting at where we had to give up last year. We didn't know it at the time but its about another 40 minutes from where he is.
It was hard work those last 200m, but the view from the top, looking northwest is pretty amazing!

We made it to the top in about 3 hours (based on the timestamp on the photos) and stayed on the peak for about 40 minutes just taking in the amazing view. Sadly it was quite misty, you could hardly see Brodick but on a clear day you can see Ireland. Ciaran was well chuffed that he was above the clouds.

Now for the descent and the walk back to the car. Watch that first step, its a killer. We let the peak at about 1400. In the picture you can see the path crossing from left to right, part 2, but we still have to get down to it. The climb up was hard on the knees, but the climb down is a killer on the ankles and heels.You are tired and that old bugger Gravity keeps grabbing you by the shoulders and pushing.



Although the climb was tiring you had the excitement of "getting to the top". The walk back is the anti-climax. Plus you can see where you have to go. By the time we got to the bottom of the steep descent we could see the path back to the burn stretching across and away from us witht he tree line marking the end of the moorland and the start of the final walk down the mountain.

By 1620 we were back at the car and headed straight back to the hotel. Once we got there we changed into our swimming gear and headed to the pool for a few hours just being restful (and pampering with the footbaths). After dinner we headed back to the pool for more resting before bed.
Two tired but happy little hikers.

Welcome to Arran

Arrived on Arran this afternoon for 4 days.
Main objective this year is to get to the top of Goatfell, the highest peak on the island. Last year we had to turn back due to worsening visibility. Basically I couldn't see my hand in front of our faces and thats not the time to be still going up. Other than that, Ciaran and I plan to have a relaxing time and to enjoy ourselves.
We are staying at Auchrannie again, quite a nice hotel. We choose the hotel because its a bit of a treat for Ciaran and because it has some nice leisure facilities. To be honest, its also a bit of a treat for me and the pool and spa are great after a day walking.

Weather was overcast so we couldn't even see the summit of Goat Fell. This picture has another 500m of mountain completely missing from it so after some lunch we headed off for a spin. Arran basically has a coast road, located conveniently on the coast, and an inland shortcut which cuts from Brodick west across to Blackwaterfoot. We took the inland shortcut, known as "The String" to have alook at the west coast.

The poor weather seemed to be caught on the ridges as the weather on the west side of the island were much better. Spent the afternoon over at King's cave, on the south west coast. These are impressive sea caves and sea cliffs, though with "bounceback" after the last glaciers left the sea level is much lower and they are some height above sea level now.

It was about an hours walk from the car to the caves and about the same back, though we didn't stop for any pictures. We drove back into Brodick for some food and then back to the hotel for a swim.
Attempt on Goat Fell tomorrow, weather permitting.

Water water...

Back from my workshop on water management.
It was actually pretty good.


All right, the room was tiny, only slightly bigger than my cubicle back in the office, and in the basement. Of course, Edinburgh is a strange town like that - basement on one side can often be second storey on the other side, but this was just a basement.

As soon as the event started I was worried. We were told that after each session we would have to change seats so that we didn't interact with the same small group for all the tasks. I wasn't expecting tasks. It ended up not being too bad though and by the final day I was actively participating despite having no actual experience in the subject matter.
Certainly the work group idea was very useful - almost all of the presentations had an interactive part "Any ideas as to what we did next?" "What could have caused this?" which meant things settled into your head better than just listening does. The final day was pretty much a single exercise. We were introduced to an oilfield and had to suggest how it could be developed. Once we had our ideas we were told how it actually was developed and split into teams based on our 'experience'. Each team was given a limited set of data and told to solve the production problems. Once each team reported the teams were shuffled so that at least one from each original team was in each new team and we were asked to make a proposal for the future of the field.
Absolutely brilliant.

As an added bonus, I got to meet up with an old pal who I hadn't seen since the end of 2001. Anne and I used to travel together when we both lived in Edinburgh. Once I moved to Troon we used to meet up once a week for lunch and gossip. However she changed job as the commuting was taking too much out of her (100 miles a day). It was good to catch up and natter on about the old place.

Camping Weekend

Back from a weekend at Lochgoilhead with the Cubs. Lochgoilhead is at the top (or head) of Loch Goil which is off Loch Long, just to the west of Glasgow, about 70 miles drive from Troon. Our dorm was the one in the middle of the three. There were 12 cubs, one scout training for his leader badge, me and another parent (pseudo-leaders) and the 2 official leaders. Because of the school holiday in England the week before we had the place to ourselves (apart from Friday evening and Saturday morning but we then got a better breakfast as the English scouts had a long drive home).


View Larger Map


It was really great. The weather was perfect (actually bordering on the too hot, but I don't want to say that too loud in Scotland). Its incredible to see scenery like this this close to a city. Glasgow is the 3rd largest population in the UK but this is barely out of the city centre. These are the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond as seen from the bus at 50mph.

Activities were archery, bell boating - 8 of us in a twin hulled canoe trying to beat the breeze and the waves, despite some of the smallest cubs I know, team building - which was a lot of fun; it started out as simple games and ended up with all of us getting pretty wet, and 3 stack on Saturday. On Sunday we had abseiling - where we were eaten alive by midges, a ramble - about 4 miles in all, and power boating.

The 3 stack was the most frightening thing I've done in ages. Basically its a 40ft high arrangement of logs and wires. One side, the wooden side, consists of a log ramp up to a vertical pole. You climb the pole to stand on a log suspended by chains from the layer above. You have to walk across to the other side - of course its too wide to be able to hold on to both ends. Once you get to the other upright you climb to the next level and 'simply' walk across and ring the bell. Once you've done that you just walk back to the middle of the top row and abseil down. Hiking boots and small staples done work too well and by the time I got back down my arms and fingers were sore from holding on so tightly. (also called for dear life).
The other side, the wire side, had a cable to walk across. You held onto a barrel suspended from above for balance. Once you got across you went up to the next layer and went back across on the cable this time using swings for balance. The third layer had knotted rope to balance with. sadly time meant could have a go on this one (this is the official position, being scared s*@#less had nothing to do with it)

Saturday night was a long one though. Once we got the cubs to bed and things quietened down we decided to get to sleep ourselves. Just after we had all settled and were falling asleep there was a retching and splashing sound. Sadly one of the cubs was violently sick all over his room's floor. We got him out and into the toilet and started the clean-up as he continued to be ill. We were just about done when a second cub came out, asked what was going on, and vomited all over the floor. We finally got that sorted and put them back to bed with spare sleeping bags, a bucket at each bed side and a towel on the floor. Once we were all back in our beds we were like gunfighters with hair triggers, pouncing on the slightest sound. Finally we were right as a third cub was ill. By now we had our patter down pat and it didn't take too long to get him back into his bed. The 2 ladies went back to bed while the 3 lads stayed up drinking tea and eating biscuits. Finally at 0400 we decided that there wasn't gong to be any more drama and headed off back to bed. Sunrise is 0410 and that's when the birds started so it was about 0430 before I got to sleep. We all slept in til 0830 when we headed for breakfast. It was the worst hangover I've ever had without the pleasure of actually having had anything to drink.

We did implement a new rule - no more sweets til they got home. It was unpopular to say the least. We wanted parents to see just how much their kids had been eating, other than the supplied meals. It surprised the 5 of us.

Another fine day though and we went abseiling. Good fun but a lot of waiting about for something that was over quite quickly. One thing about Scotland is the midgie - a vicious predator that lives in Scotland. Being about 1mm long they don't get the press that say bengal tigers do, but thay are nasty. We were eaten alive. As we had all morning there, most cubs had as many goes as they wanted while the others were being eaten. It finaly went to a vote but then Cubs isn't a democracy as they were soon to learn.

The rest of the day was a ramble along the southern slopes of whatever hill that was, ending down by the jetty. The cubs went onto the boat and I escaped back to the lodge for a feets up rest.

The trip home was quiet and uneventful We stopped for chips which we all enjoyed but got stuck in traffic which was appreciated somewhat less.

Playing with Windows Live Writer

As part of Vista’s update process, I was given the option of downloading some of the Live tools. Most of them are not for me as I’ve already got better alternatives, but I was intrigued by the Live Writer.

This is on offline (not really sure as the desktop has broadband) tool for constructing posts.

Not sure if its worth the bother, especially if it needs the connection. If its an off line editor then it may be worth leaving around. Of course, since the desktop at home has always on broadband I don’t need it there, and the eee is a Linux flavour. I guess I’ll just have to try Win7 on the eee. (which will be the 4th OS I’ve tried there)

Aberdeen

Currently in Aberdeen at a produced water conference. So far not so bad.

Just had to buy a wireless access card for this w'eee pc I've got. It all seems to work quite well. I haven't really used the eee too much yet (mostly as I've been changing the OS again and again) but the little I have used it has gone well.

Have to say though, I still don't like trackpads and having to use one on the eee is bugging me. I will have to find a nice small portable mouse.

Downtown Snodland

Another trip down to Kent, to Snodland (yes, that's the actual name)
Flew down with EasyJet to Gatwick. I've never had much luck with Gatwick as a waypoint. There was that 4 hours in a small room back in my uni days, but the last time I was through Gatwick the pilot arrived at the wrong terminal and we were all stuck. Domestic passengers cannot pass through international arrivals, but once you go through that door from the plane you cannot go back. It took them over an hour to sort it out. On the way back a fire alarm went off, just as the beers arrived. I was quite pleased this time - no Gatwick problems yet.
Hire car though. Went to collect my car and there was a lot of damage noted. Nothing serious, just scrapes and dings. While I was checking it all I noticed the flat tyre. I got a different car quite quickly (with a similar list of damage) but this one had air in all its tyres.
Only got minorly lost as well, and just at the end. It turned out I was basically circling around whereI neeeded to be.
Had a good meal and 2 good pints locally and 1 more back at the hotel. Why do all the locals roll their eyes when I tell them where we stay?

w'eee

Bought myself a webbook mini pc on saturday. An Asus 900 in black. Quite nice. Not used it much yet, still trying to get used to it. Not having wireless in the house means I'm tethered by my Cat5 cable which is only 1m long.
Have spent the weekend trying to replace the supplied OS with something a little more powerful. Specifically, I have been trying to build a bootable USB key with Ubunto 8.10, to no avail. I am hoping the app I am using just doesn't like vista cause I just can't figure out why it didn't work. I will have to try again from an xp machine.

'S'no Joke

We have some snow. Of course, living by the sea there's not very much, hardly more than a hard frost, especially not after the light snow in Michigan last year.
Anyway, once Ciaran saw how much there actually was he knew there would be no time off school, or even a chance for a snowball fight. Of course East Kilbride would be different and he knew it and wasn't pleased. I told him I would take some pictures for him.
East Kilbride, like Troon, has its own little micro-climate. Sadly, it tends to be miserable most of the time. Today was no exception. We had snow and sun but no disruption (except for the project managers who all buggered off early, some by 11 am). The view from my pod was suitably wintry though...

By the end of the day, some of the snow was actually lying, and before I could leave I had to clear the car off.

Luckily I wasn't down south. This amount of snow would have left the car completely trapped in the car park - I would have driven around for a while before sliding into the only lamp post of course. But we are a hardier bunch here in Scotland. I simply cleared all the snow off the car (that's all the snow so that none slides down the window when I'm driving or off into the following car's windscreen - that's care for me and courtesy for others), got in and drove off carefully (ie not sliding into the only lamppost).
All in all the journey took the same amount of time as usual.

Nero 9

I've finally gotton so fed up with Nero 7 saying it couldn't recognise the DVD in the drive that I uninstalled in and am currently 15% through the clean install of Nero 9.

About an hour later...
Finally installed and not impressive. The actual quality of the video playback is appalling and this is from a store bought DVD. If I turn off multimonitor support and turn on film affects then it says the disc is corrupt. Upgrade methinks!

300Mb download!!

About another hour later...
Installed the update and it doesn't fix the problem. I don't know what the issue is as nero7 had great quality (when it could read the DVD)