What with New Year booze
ups it was a late night last night. Waslking home was something of a
shock; as a leading light of the astro club I've felt I ought to
support the local council in their recent turn-off
of the street lights. It reduces light pollution and saves money.
And I've been one hundred per cent behind the idea all the time I was
safe and sound in my own house.
I regularly walk from "My
Boy TM"'s abode to home in daylight. The
way I go is along back streets because it is far quicker than
following the main roads. However at 1am last night I had a choice. A
far longer walk at sub-zero temperatures, or risking life and limb on
ice-covered pot-holed roads and pavements in pitch darkness.
I've had something of a
re-think on the matter of turning off the street lighting. Any
savings on the leccie bill made by turning off the lights will be
more than offset by the medical bils resulting from people going
arse-over-head on the ice and into pot-holes. I know for a fact that
the ideal solution would never be accepted; the ideal solution being
to only light those streets along which I am walking (and only at
the times when I am walking them). So perhaps downward
pointing street lights might be the way forward.
I got to kip shortly
before 2am, and five pints of the black ales ensured I slept like a
log. I got up rather later than might have, and being the first of
January I put up my new calendar. I've mentioned it to a few people,
and I must admit that I am rather disappointed by the lack of
enthusiasm for Goats
in Trees. But with eleven months until the next Lego calendar,
it's goats (in trees) all the way.
We then set off on the
day's geo-mission. In certain circles it's traditional to go looking
for tupperware whilst nursing a hangover. We decided to leave "Furry
Face TM" at home for this one; he likes
the walk, but after the walk when we're all in the pub he becomes a
tad excitable. In the summer we can sit outside where he's less of a
pain, but in the winter he has to sit it out. And finding that he'd
thrown up down the stairs made me rather convinced he needed a day's
rest. We left him with his huge bone; he seemed content gnawing on
it.
We drove up to Bluebell
Hill where we met up with quite a few other hunters of tupperware.
There was a formal meet-up arranged for the afternoon, and before
this there was the opportunity for a mass geo-stroll. Mass
geo-strolls are quite an experience; forty(-ish) of us set off
on a trail of geocaches. As we approached a geocache, the ones at the
front would find it and the ones at the back had the opportunity to
log a very easy find. If the ones at the front couldn't find it, they
had the back-up of several more pairs of eyes coming to help them
look. And so on such a walk if there are any caches logged as "not
found" it's a safe bet that they are actually missing.
For myself I just like
the opportunity to walk and talk with like-minded people. And today
was excellent for that. We walked for about four hours over about
five miles. We found caches, we chatted about hunting tupperware. And
there was a very embarrassing couple of occassions where I found
myself being regarded as leading the walk.
I took a
few photos whilst we were out; and the walk finished back where
we started; at a pub. More hunters of tupperware joined us at the end
of the walk; pints of reserve ales were downed. An as a special New
Year treat we had a pub lunch. Gammon, eggs, burgers and chips all
went down very nicely.
And so home for a lazy
evening in front of the telly...
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