WOHFTF? No Curling?

Just back (it's been a week now - busy bee this week) from a weekend in Dunoon with the curling lot.

Each year Fiona's curling lot go away in November for a weekend's curling to Stranraer. There is eating , drinking, and curling.
breakout

These are days, you'll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this and as you feel it
You'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky
It's true that you are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you
These are days, you'll remember
When May is rushing over you with desire
To be part of the miracles you see in every hour
You'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky
It's true that you are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you
These are days
These are the days you might fill with laughter until' you break
These days you might feel a shaft of light make it's way across your face
When you do you'll know how it was meant to be
See the signs and know their meaning
It's true, you'll know how it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you


10,000 Maniacs - These Are Days

breakout
This year as there were 4 Fiftieth birthdays and 1 fortieth, we decided to head away for a weekend without the curling.
After much searching, a venue large enough for us all was found and a weekend agreed and we all made our way to Dunoon. Physically, this is not to far from us, but due to the physical geography it's a ferry ride across the Clyde to Dunoon, where we had our cottage.

There were travel juggling to begin with. I was in Edinburgh at a conference, so after collecting Alan, who was working in the building I parked my car in we drove across to the ferry. After a quiet ferry trip, where we didn't recognise any of the foot passengers, we arrived at the house: 8 bedrooms, dining room, lounge, chill out space, pool, BBQ hut, games room, tower viewpoint, food kitchen, drink kitchen, swings.

Fantastic.

Night 1 was quiet - settling in. With a fabulous meal of baked ham, salmon, and salads we set the bar high. We all were given gift glasses to wear, especially for the official photos at the end of the weekend.
Food over it was some walking outside, messing about in the pool and sauna, and then drinking and eating until we fell.. Well kinda. Does eating unset spiked jelly count as eating or drinking?

Next morning dawned wet. Surprisingly, we were all moving reasonably well and the noise wasn't a problem. Fantastic cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast and tea. Perfect.
After a morning lounging, swimming, strolling and shopping, it was  off quad biking once the weather improved while others went golfing, and garden visiting.

After we got back from the quads I headed down to the pier to play 'David Bailey' with my camera where I was joined first by Karolyn and then the Golf Boys.

But Saturday night was BBQ night and Eurovision night. And a lot of drink was consumed. And food. And wifi died so I stopped posting and increased my drinking. And we had a gin quiz, and we sang, and we had birthday cake, and, and and. And once I see all the photos I might remember more.



Sunday started damp but again, a fantastic cooked breakfast made the morning and the weather improved to the level where we could get out and take our party pictures.

This was remarkably difficult as we couldn't get everyone to look at the camera at the same time or jump on the same cue.

Some left on Sunday, while some of us stayed on until Monday. Sunday night was a chinese bought in, and Monday's breakfast wasn't a shake on the others we had but it was still enjoyable.

A lot of bottles fell this weekend.

A great time was had.

Activity Update

I've had  the feeling that I've not been too active so far this year.
Work is definitely getting in the way of my exercise. As is the weather.And curling. And punctures.

Hopefully I have turned a corner - curling season over, 'spring' is now here, I've got new tubes and tyres.

So, how have I done so far this year?

The total number of workouts is not far from last years totals - a little bit down but not too bad at all.  Distance and duration are down a lot though, but that has been me missing my regular workout sessions.

What has that done to my weight though? Surprisingly, not much damage. (phew)

but not much progress.

At least the general trend (when I record weights that is) is a decreasing one.

And at least, given the dinners out, and hotel eating, I'm not gaining weight!

Long Cycle

Now that the weather is finally picking up, and the curling is over, we have been back out on the bikes.

Just about 100 miles in the past 2 weeks (3 weekends)

Saturday we went out to Portencross Castle. This is north along the coast. Again its fairly flat, coastal cycling with most on cycle track and only a little on quiet streets.

Being prepared, we had sandwiches with us, and if the weather was better would have stayed and had a good look at the castle.

This is all part of my campaign to have Fiona do the 47 mile Pedal Scotland event in September. She keeps saying she's not fit enough, but she did 45 miles in 4 hours, so she seems pretty fine to me.

What I have had to do is distract her. Normally she would start complaining on the cycle back, but this time I commented on the fact that my bum was getting sore and never gave her the opportunity to complain.

On the road again

Between work and weather, its been difficult to get out on the bike for some exercise. The fact that I have been plagued with punctures hasn't helped.
One day I came out for a spin to find I had a flat tyre. I took the tube out but couldn't find any leak. Deciding not to waste too much time I fixed my spare tube and headed out.
20 minutes later I was walking my bike, again.
I don't know if its the tyres, the tubes, the patches, or the wheels themselves but I had to do something.
Buying a new bike is an extreme way of resolving a puncture but that is the ultimate plan. There are other reasons for a new bike but there are other priorities first.

In the meantime I need to get my wheels spinning again. Off to the Bicycle Room in Troon (where I plan to buy my next bike) for 2 new tubes and tyres.
These are supposed to be puncture resistant, but not Kevlar lined - those ones would last 4 years and I plan to have the new bike by my birthday. If these puncture it must be the rims. It could be the tyre levers I use to get the tyres on and off the rims. That would be ironic, wouldn't it?

New tubes and tyres in and pumped to designated pressure. Now for a worthy distance.
Since we were both on holiday and it was a beautiful day, an all day cycle was on the cards.
We would go north along Cycle Route 7 and head towards Lochwinnoch.
We knew the first part of this route - normally we would turn East in Kilwinning and go to Eglinton Park, or go west to Saltcoats. Today we would continue north and see how we fare.

What a great day. The new (to us) part of the course is a bit more hilly that we are normally used to, but a quiet route.

The route crosses the Garnock River on a fantastic viaduct which must have followed an old railway line. After that point we got a few sharp rises and falls. We descended into Glengarnock where we had our sandwiches in a play park and then headed back home. The sight of the climb back out from the park was a bit daunting but not that bad in fact.

We ended up doing almost 40 miles in beautiful weather. Fiona got to show off her Pink Lady cycle outfit - a Christmas present, and I got to test my new tyres.

Fitness Review

Its not been a good start to 2014 in terms of hitting my target weight.
Too many nights in hotels and too little exercise. I am trying my best but its hard to not choose the unhealthy lifestyle when its on charge.

So what has it done to my weight?

I'm still trending in the right direction. I have overcome the reversal of Christmas (in fact I only put on 3 kg, so I was quite pleased) and despite a few poor weeks diet wise, have managed not to slide too far.

This is being done by watching what and how much I eat. Sadly, the exercise has taken a hit. Weather, and Fiona's curling always take a toll in the winter months. My being away has made this even worse.  In addition to not getting my gym and cycles, I am now also missing my badminton sessions.
I have also been plagued with punctures.

We haver managed a few longer cycles and I'm promised that we'll have more once the curling is done. There's even talk of Pedal Scotland's Glasgow-Edinburgh cycle this September...

Kinross Curling Weekend

Just back home after the annual NHS Curling competition held in Kinross. This is, predictably, a curling competition, held annually, in Kinross, for NHS curling clubs, of which Fiona is a member.

The Kinross weekend is a ends based system so the final score doesn't matter too much, just the number of ends that each team has won. The real tricky bit is that the winning team must organise next years event.
The trick is to play well enough to retain face, and avoid slagging, while playing poorly enough to get out have having to be in charge next time.
Olympics is nothing compared to this.

Not being a curler I get to make my own amusement while they play. Last year I hired a bike and cycled around the loch. This year was to be the same.

But the bike hire place from last year was no longer open. It was part of the hotel group (which also had the other hotel, gold course, ice rink) Their in hotel info made no mention of bike hire or the bistro which was alongside it. A simple question at reception confirmed that it was no longer open. But might open again later in the year. Not much use to me this weekend then.

Google showed another bike hire place, but its website was still under construction so no opening hours were available. Also the copyright was 2012 which made me sceptical.

My plan was simple - have a walk down and see what was available if anything. Other wise just go for a walk.
Even this simple plan was ruined by the weather - miserable. So, I decided to get the camera and head over to the rink and watch the curling.
Once out it wasn't as bad as it had looked from the breakfast table so heading into the town and managed to hire a bike. And was really glad I did.
Apart from being a bit blowy, it was really nice out. A bit wet under foot (i.e. mud up to my knees when I got home) but it never rained on me and was surprisingly warm.

At the moment there is a cycle path 3/4 of the way around, form Kinross Pier to Vane Farm RSPB, but the new connecting bits are almost ready to be opened - a single bridge is missing so next year I can do laps.

It was cross country from the hotel until I hit the path, then anticlockwise as far as I could go. Turn around and head back, as far as I can go. Then turn around and try to hook up with the other cycle path north of thee loch. But that was on a busier road that i would normally find relaxing so back onto the path and drop the bike back.

Over all I managed 35.k km in fairly windy conditions on a bike that had handlebars way to low for me. Compared to last year, it was 10 minutes longer on the bike, but managed 7 miles further. And that included stops, and a chat with an old colleague I bumped into.

All in all a good day.

The curling went well too. Won some, lost enough, took home 6 of the 10 raffle prizes. Had a wild dinner where the staff we genuinely terrified...

Passed a Milestone

In the post Christmas, getting back to work, in a new job, I almost missed my 21st anniversary of coming to live and work in Scotland.
That's almost half my life spent over here.

Of course, I don't actually recall the exact date I arrived here. I know I started work on the 11th Jan 1993 (because it snowed, my new suit got soaked, we were sent home early, and some snow lay until April) so I suspect it was the 7th or 8th.

My original plan was to have a small outing. Work have a long service award for 21 years so it would have all tied in nicely.

However, having changed jobs just 35 days short of the milestone, and with the pressures of the new job I really didn't do too much. Just a drink after badminton. With some of the people I spent most of those 21 years with.

2013 Review

At the start of last year I started an active campaign to reduce my weight.

I thought that by aggressively exercising and by being more careful in what I ate, I could drop 35kg by the end of 2014. I weighed in at just a smidgen under 120kg. I set my target weight myself as something that I thought would be suitable, sensible and achievable. Even if I succeeded I would still be technically overweight.

The plan was to continue with my badminton on Mondays and Thursdays,  go to the gym after work on Wednesday.  Tuesdays would be a local cycle at lunchtime since I work from home that day. Friday was my spice day. If I was in the office i would go to the gym but if I was working from home then i would go on a lunchtime cycle. At the weekends we were supposed to go out and exercise instead of going for Chinese food.

To keep me motivated I decided to post updates here, plus I planned to thrive on feedback from those people around me.

So, at the start of 2014, how did I do?

I didn't hit my target weight, so, from a pass/fail point of view, its a fail.

But...

• I lost 19kg by Christmas. I actually lost more than this in gross but had put some back on over the summer holidays and got it back off, so the 19kg represents the net loss over the year. Slipped a little over the holiday but I am only human, and I like mince pies.

• Reduced my neck measurement by 1.5 inches and my trouser size by over 3 inches. That 3 inches is a real pain as I'm between trouser sizes which means I have to keep pulling my jeans back up. But it also means I've thrown out a lot of clothes.

• I really kicked up my levels of exercise.

• Logged over 140 hours of exercise in 176 workouts, covering 1856km - that's 1000 miles. This doesn't count the badminton twice most weeks.

• Completed 75 lunchtime cycles. Though this was improved by my being on gardening leave.

• I have increased my fitness level. Not on paper (according to the gym my fitness score has decreased despite my weight loss due to my changing hip to waist ratio ) but in a visible annoying the opposition on the badminton court by being able to get to those shots now.

• I have reduced the junk i regularly eat, but not eliminated it. That would be a step too far.

• I have gone out on my bike on days when I wouldn't naturally have wanted to go out, in gale force winds and icy rain.

• Plucked up the courage to post my actual weight after only 6 months.
• I have pushed myself to go faster or further out of pure geekiness since I log all this on MapMyRun and here.

Not a bad list and I am pleased with what I have done. Most pleased with the compliments I've been getting about my reduced size.

There were a lot of reasons for this campaign.  The most obvious are the health ones. I was too big and it was only going to get worse.

However, the main reason why 2013 was the year to get lean was work related. I had not been happy at work for a long time but it was never the right time to leave as there were always changes afoot which would make things better. Incidents at the end of 2012 convinced me that things would never improve while certain factions were still in place.

So, my plan was to get myself into interview trim during 2013. Then, once I had celebrated my 21 years service, I would actively start looking for a new job. That decision was probably my main motivating factor. An incident in February confirmed for me that I needed to get away and cemented my resolve.

I came in early on this one though. I was approached by one of my customers and offered a position, doing all the things I wanted to do where I was but was being prevented.

I accepted the new job.  And so far have been quite happy.

This year I need to find a new motivation otherwise I suspect I will slip back into bad habits.

Plus the new job has more travel, more hotel meals and less time for exercise.

In fact exercise has already suffered - only 3 workouts in December versus over 20 in November. 

What will 2014 look like?

So far I have managed to reverse the Christmas bulge and resume the decline of my mass.

The cycle path was 'passable with extreme care' earlier this week after the new year floods. Still haven't managed a long cycle but then we haven't been well. Plus its been holidays.

The resolve is still there mostly because now I curious to see how far I can get to my initial target.

And my toes are submerged...

And I'm lyin' warm on the soft sandy beaches

And my toes are submerged in the water
And it feels good.
Children playing building castles on the shoreline
Like a painting that we loved and lord
It feels so fine.
Hothouse Flowers – Don't Go

After the battering Troon and most of Scotland took with the New Year storms I was a bit apprehensive heading out on the bike this morning for the first of this year's cycles.
Christmas has been 'enjoyed' and there has been little to no exercise since the middle of December.

And way too many mince pies.

First thing - I found the bike and all the gear. Of course, by the time I was actually ready to go out, it just started to rain. Better go anyway I thought, otherwise I'll never get out. Glad I did, as the rain stopped after a few minutes.

But it was cold. After a few moments my fingers were stinging (fingerless cycle gloves) and I was trying to hold the handlebars with only the palms of my hands, curling my fingers under to keep them warm.

The rain stopping didn't seem to make much difference anyway as it was already so wet. I have no mudguards. The carrier on the back keeps the spray from the rear wheels of me but the spray from the front is lifted straight up. The faster I go the higher it is lifted and the more likely that I ride right into my own spray. Muddy water in mouth and on face.

Troon was on the news, along with most of Ayrshire, as the storm surge, coupled with high tides, driven by winds, hit the shore. There was even a lovely video of the water flowing down South Beach Esplanade, with a some debris rushing with the current. If you look carefully you can just make out the specially marked surface of the cycle path.

For the most part there was little obvious storm damage. There was a reasonable amount of mulch type debris, which was quite slippery, but the real mess didn't start until I got down onto the beach.
The prom was covered in seaweed, sand, rubbish, trees, all sorts. The clean-up had already begun and there was piles awaiting removal as well. But the water had receded.

I continued on.

When I got around to North Beach there was a blockage - gravel, sea weed and sand had been washed up the steps and blocked the cycle path, but was still passable.

I continued on.

I could see water ahead of me but didn't realise just how much. The entire shore was still under water. A lot of water. At least 7 inches of water because both my feet went under as I tried to roll along the cycle path to the exit from the car park. (I could have gone back I guess ad stayed dry). I would have taken a photo but by now I could no longer my fingers (at least the stinging had stopped) and I didn't want to risk my phone with all that sea water.

After rowing to the road and resuming my cycle I got home, washed the bike and then me, and headed down in the car to get the picture.
This is looking back, south, into Troon from North Beach. I would normally be cycling north towards this point. The sea is to the right of the image, but all the water is storm flooding. To the right of centre, you can make out 3 blue cycle path signs. Its not a Father Ted "those are close, that one is far away" type thing, the poles are different sizes. The 2 small ones are a gate that the cycle path passes between. I had turned off the path to the left of centre with the water almost up to my crankshaft.

December Update

Its been a mixed December.

There has been some exercise, some dining out, some taking care and some letting go. All reflected in my weight. Well not all as I don't record weights if I don't like them. In a sense of honesty, I never write down a weight that isn't displayed, but I don't write down all weights that are displayed.

The month started out well. Despite the new job having an adverse impact on exercise, I have managed to not gain any weight and continued a downward trend.

Although "adverse impact" is a bit of an understatement. Work and travel, Christmas shopping, terrible weather, and then holidays themselves has meant the worst month for exercise this year. December has only a quarter as many workouts, distance, or duration as most of the other months except January.

At least the 2 lunchtime cycles I managed were consistent times, both in the 28.5 minutes for the 7 miles, with a wind. The only other workout was the Stephens Day walk with Fiona and her mum.

Having said that am pleased with December (apart from the weigh ins I have see but not written down). Next year needs to see me continue with this trend, but also to get back some routine for exercise.

Christmas Card

Despite it being well scheduled, with reminders appearing since before Halloween, somehow I have failed to notice Christmas creeping up on me.

I do have an excuse, what with starting a new job at the end of November and that involving a lot of travelling. Also, with my cable box I can pause live TV and then fast forward through the ads so I haven't been tempted by all that commercialisation.
But there are those who would say that in the 3 months gardening leave prior to the new job starting, I could have done a lot of preparation for Christmas. To them I say Bah Humbug.

To everyone else ( OK, in the Christmas spirit, to them also) I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

(only 1 more alarm clock 'til Christmas holidays!)

November Update

I think I did all right for November.
I did have a big gap in weigh ins in the middle of the month, curling weekend at Stranraer, Fiona's birthday, Rachael's birthday, then a few days away in Arran, but in the end I did OK.

I dropped another 1.4 kg in mass, bringing me to a total of 18.4 kg lighter than at the start of the year. That's almost 3 stone in old money.
I certainly feel a lot better for it. I'm definitely fitter as the guys at badminton are noticing since I can get from corner to corner at least twice now before losing the point.

Activity-wise, its been busy too.

Distance-wise, its been the furthest I've done this year. Only October had more workouts, and only July had more time spent. Again I struggled with not much weekend cycling.
Also by the end of the month the new job had started so I missed a few cycles in which would have pushed my stats even higher.

The worry with the new job is a combination of sitting around not exercising and eating dinners out. So far I've tried to be good, and limited what I've had to eat. But there has only been one cycle despite being at home for 3 different days. Also the change in hours is affecting my attendance at both badminton clubs.

December is going to be tough for the obvious reasons. Already bad weather and domestic trouble have kept me off the bike. And then there's the expected eating.
I really want to hit the 100kg mark by the end of the year though...

Pretty Cool

I had a new central heating system put in a few years ago. Something that should have been straight forward ended up being more complicated but it was worth it in the end.

After one of the strongest storms to hit Scotland for a while (most of Scotland was closed) I headed out to badminton on Thursday night. When I got back in the house was a bit cooler than I would have expected. I felt the radiator and it was cold. When I checked the boiler there was a solid red light shining from the wireless receiver. this receiver talks to the thermostat in the sitting room and tells the boiler basically on or off. Digging out the paperwork, which I had kept in a place I remembered, there was no mention of a solid red light. I headed off to bed in the hope that it would sort itself.

When I woke on Friday I soon discovered that it hadn't sorted itself.

After hitting Google it suggested that the thermostat signal wasn't being received any more and that the solid red light was a loss of signal signal. Flashing red light indicates communication. It seemed a logical step. There was a process to re-connect them. I decided to hit the override button first to see if I could get some heat. That worked so I let the house heat up. Just as well.

The reconnection process was convincingly ineffective.

After at least 10 separate attempts. All the while the house slowly cooling. More Google reading suggested that the batteries in the thermostat may be running down. There is a low battery alert on the thermostat and I had only changed that last year, but off to the shops at lunchtime for new AAs despite having 8 AAAs in the drawer and 9 AAAs in the torch pack I had just bought.

Finally the receiver was receiving again. Flashing red light to show the signal was locked. Good. Reattach the thermostat to the wall and hit the on button. Nothing. Then a few minutes later a solid red light. Argh.

Then the phone call the Scottish Gas, who installed the system. After almost 90 minutes, which involved being transferred from customer support to tech support to the Geek Squad (yes, that's the actual term used) and back to customer support I was in possession of an appointment for an engineer visit and a new maintenance plan.

Quite quickly the engineer arrived, took a look and smiled knowingly. "Have you tried re syncing the wireless?" but he had to try anyway. "There's been a lot of trouble with these boxes. We have new ones now" Out came the old wireless receiver, with its fragrant burnt smell. In went the new one. Heating back on. Sorted.

Considering how much I've already been away in just my first 2 weeks wit the new job, I am so glad that this problem occurred when I was home and was able to get it fixed so fast.

Epic Cycle

After yesterday's battle with the wind I went out again.
No rest for the wicked I guess.

Today, its a SSW wind at only 10mph. According to the map, this would be more of a help, at least compared to yesterday.

And it was, to an extent.

I managed more like my 15mph average, with yesterday's bad stretch done 50s quicker than yesterday, but still 30s slower than my target time.

The wind from the south was nice for the last few km, as I got a good head of steam up. I blasted past another guy on a slicker bike too and felt good until he caught and passed me on the run up to the train station. But then between him and his bike, I guess he was about 30kg lighter...

One of the features of MapMyRide where I upload my stats is that I have set up a few courses along the route so I can compare my times to anyone else doing that particular section. With today's tail wind I was keen to see how I did on the NE stretch.

To my annoyance the website refused to accept that the cycle was part of any of my courses.

For some bizarre reason this morning cycle seems to have recorded me turning left instead of right at the royal Troon Golf Course and then continuing south until I reached a point about 50km north of Algiers in Algeria. I then turned North and headed to a point just outside Galashiels before heading back to Troon and resuming my cycle. All this in a quicker time than yesterday.

Don't know why it did this. A quick Google search suggests solar flares interfering with GPS signal. Perhaps that Indian mission to Mars is in more difficulty than the news has reported.

Really Annoying wind

Any one willing to guess at what time I was out on my bike today?

This is a screen grab from weather underground for the wind speed for Prestwick Airport, and hence the Troon area.

If you guessed 11:30, when the wind speed decided to suddenly reverse trend and increase with the 40mph gusts, give yourself 10 points.

Funny, the only gust recorded is the one that almost blew me off the bike.

And you never get as much assistance from the wind as you get hindrance.

I pace myself at about 15mph (2:30 for 1km) since I had managed to hit this level back in July. I then keep a running total of how much above or below that total I am each km. (It distracts me from laboured breathing.)

Today I was 7s short of 4 minutes for a km along the sea front, with that 25mph headwind. This was 80s slower than my target time. In order to recover this time I would have to be 80s faster on the next km, which means over 30mph. More realistically, and without worrying about flashing blue lights, it means each following km being faster than the 2:30 target, so I can reduce the deficit. But thats only for 1km, what about the others?

But its not that easy.
You have to go faster to recover the lost time. So, you would think that by averaging 15mph I could do a set of 14mph, 15mph and 16mph, but that would still leave me with a deficit. I would actually have to do 14,15 and 16.2 to make up the loss. It gets worse as the difference builds.

So, today was a slow time for me. Almost 2:30 slower than my target. Or almost a km less in the same time. Kills my month's stats too.

October Review

After September's poor performance in reducing my weight I think I have done better this month.

At least, I have logged more weigh-ins on my graph than last month which shows I am taking this seriously again.

I have dropped 2kg this month so it seems to be paying off. I'm still way off the original targets set in January when I started all this. I never thought they would be realistic but felt keeping an eye on them would be good, as a way of focussing. Especially at the start when I was doing better than the target predicted.

The exercise is continuing, but fewer gym visits in October as I ran down that membership. It finally cancelled on Halloween.

I have been more determined with my lunchtime cycles. Sadly, the nasty weather has played havoc with me. Its been quite windy out there this month with some nasty winds. I have been generally dry though. I only got really wet once - wet enough that I couldn't see out of my glasses and couldn't hear with my helmet on. The wind was picking up drops of rain and sea and blasting them at me.

My route is a loop but its not symmetric. The return portion is much more exposed as it runs along the shore line. The site I use to log my cycle data recorded wind speeds at 17mph W on my slowest day. That blows like a gale off the water. A south west wind should be helpful, but the more westerly it is is the harder it seems. One day was logged as 0mph wind. That saw me finish in just 27:54. This is only 39s slower than my fastest time yet, with had an 8mph due South wind. To me, this shows that I am slowed more by the wind than helped. Which makes a bit of sense if you consider that sitting upright, holding the handlebars, makes a pocket for the wind to catch in.

My increasing my lunchtime cycles has been offset by Fiona's curling so there were fewer weekend cycles or walks. Calorie burn is down, but that is tied to the 5 hours less actual exercise. Swings and roundabouts I guess. I am fitter though. At least that my interpretation of the reducing average heart rate for these cycles. And I feel better too.

Plans for this month? I need to keep focussed. We're off to Stranraer this weekend 'curling' so I'll need to watch the food intake. The end of the month the new job starts. That will mean less time for exercise and more time in restaurants and travelling, so I'll have to be careful

Opening a can of worms

Tonight is our Cubs Halloween party and having seen something my sister posted about making 'worms' I decided to give it a go.

It looked simple - mix jelly, and some colouring, pour into straws, let set, separate and serve - but for me these things never are.

Closer inspection of the recipe shows that cream is added to the jelly mix. I can cope with this so proceeded and eventually put the filled straws into the fridge to set.

Something happened to my mix. It seems to have separated during the cooling and setting process leaving me with layers rather than a nice even mix.

This meant that my worm was a two-tone affair rather than the inspiring original.

Too late to quit now. So after what seemed like an extremely long time I finally extracted all of my worms from their nests. I found that the easiest though not quickest way was to simply grab the straw from the end and squeeze and slide down ts length. The worm dropped into my bucket.

Lets hope the Cubs are amazed (or even better, disgusted as they put their faces into this mess). Luckily I don't need to present this for a badge.

Photography - The next Generation

My new camera has finally arrived.
Well, that's not completely true. It actually arrived on Monday but I didn't get an SD card for it until I was sure what type it needed. Since the card arrived this morning the camera, as a functioning tool to take pictures, has now arrived.

Technically, its a Nikon D3100 DSLR with an 18-55mm image stabilised lens and a 55-200mm telephoto lens.
Precisely what that actually means is: I now need a photography course. The 18-55mm is good for close up and the 55-200mm is an optical zoom lens.

I have wanted one of these for a while. I have always wanted to take low light photos - moon with clouds, fog, or motion blurred shots - star trails or waterfalls. This is quite hard to do with modern digital cameras. Since these new cameras are designed to take a sharp, focussed image in as many situations as possible, it tends to take control and restrict what you can do. For instance my previous camera had a starry night mode which would allow up to 60 seconds for the shutter to close. This was alright for night shots with no artificial light anywhere, but you could not use it in otherwise.
Needless to say I got a few completely black images or some washed out images.
So the plan is to learn how to take some long exposure pictures with deliberate motion blur - either sky shots with star and aircraft trails, or landscape with flowing water, or even just low light shots. I would like to get a good photo of the moon...

Our company rewards staff with a gift after 21 years service and since I hit that milestone on 11 Jan 2014 at the start of this year I decided that I would get a DSLR as my gift. Since I am now not going to hit that mark by 7 weeks I decided to jump the gun and get the camera for my birthday.

Now, just have to figure how to use it on any mode other than automatic.

September's Review

With all this free time I haven't been keeping good tabs on these reviews.
I've also not been doing great with the weight reduction - the sitting at home makes it easier to snack.
Sadly, the almost flat line will support that view. What is really telling is the lack or measurements - that's how you know I haven't been keeping on track if these are the weights I felt good about recording.

This is despite continuing with regular exercise.

This month sees slightly further in more time and 1 more workout than last month. The heart rate monitor is lowering my reported calorie burn but I have done more walking.

In fact, I have managed to continue with my exercise though I'm not attending the gym anymore. This is because it was at work, and since I'm not going into the office any more its not sensible to attend the gym either. I am walking more though, as well as keeping up my cycling.

My lunch time cycles have also reached a plateau. For the third month my average speed for the 7 miles has been 15.0 mph

I'm going to have to try harder.
Fiona has seen great results with the 5:2 diet. I have started that at the start of October but have already had 2 birthdays with associated eating, one badminton night in, and a school holiday which isn't conducive to fasting.

Birthday Visit

We got back last night from a short break in Dublin. We headed over just for the weekend as it was my birthday on Sunday and is Ciaran's on Thursday.

I couldn't believe just how good the weather was. Shirtsleeves only in Dublin in October!

After doing some window shopping (Ciaran likes to price expensive guitars wherever he goes) we felt we couldn't let the good weather pass without taking advantage.
So we took the Liffey boat tour and really enjoyed it. This sailed East from its pier at the Ha'Penny bridge down to the East Link and then back.

Some of the new building (well new for me - this was no go area when I was living at home 20 years ago) are really impressive and the Beckett bridge is just amazing.

Some cool new buildings like the Convention Centre, but Point Depot, sorry O2 arena, still looks like a disused shed.

And some cool facts - O'Connell Bridge is one of the only bridges in the world which is wider than its span - it takes longer to pass under it than it would to cross over it.
And those grubby wooden poles you can see at low tide are actually from when the river walls were being built and are more than 300 years old.

Next time we are over we are going to have to get down there and have a good walk around.

Sunday was fantastic - home cooked fry followed by the Hurling Final replay. "I'm looking forward to this - I don't even know who won" "Oh, Clare did." Brilliant match though. But as a Cork supporter (and a former full back) was dismayed by some poor defending...

My brother made a special trip up for dinner and then it was back to Scotland, work for Fiona, school for Ciaran, and gardening leave for me.