What with poorly
offspring and one thing and another I had a surprisingly late night
last night, and so wasn't out of my pit until after 9am this morning.
I had a particularly vicious five minutes on "Trap One";
clearly something I'd eaten yesterday hadn't sat right.
Over brekkie my piss
boiled. One of the local geocachers had posted on the "Geocaching
in Kent" about a proposal from Kent County Council in which
the Kent cachng community might work hand in hand with the county
council to produce two "Geotours"; two guided tours
round East and West Kent taking in sites of local historical interest
using existing geocaches as a starting point. It sounds a very
worthwhile and laudible idea. I'm completely against it.
I've seen this sort of
initiative in other walks of life with other councils. A council (be
it parish, town or county) will have an idea for some initiative
that will make it look good in the eyes of the electorate, but has no
idea how to bring its idea to fruition. So they approach enthusiasts.
Over the years I've seen
this happen with kite flying, scouting, the now defunct snake club,
beer festivals, and I've heard simular tales from archers, bird
fanciers and model railway enthusiasts. Volunteer enthusiasts are
promised the Moon on a stick by parish, town and county councils.
Because the volunteers have been promised all sorts of benefits for
their hobbies and passions these people then end up bending over
backwards putting in considerable amounts of their own time and money
to provide a service for a council which then never actually delivers
quite as much (if anything) of what they once offered to these
people.
These sort of ventures
sound (at first) as though they are a good idea in theory; in
practice the efforts of unpaid volunteers are exploited and the
councils take all the credit for what other people have done for
them.
(takes a deep
breath...)
I took "Furry
Face TM" round the block. He's a lot
better than he was; as we walked he tried to pick fights with passing
taxis and buses and several larger dogs. I wish he wouldn't do that.
He did say hello (nicely) to one of the ponies in the field by
the Riverside Inn; he seems to have struck up a friendship with that
little horse.
Once home my little dog
settled down quietly; these short walks still tire him. We then drove
round to Bybrook Barn where "er indoors TM"
got my my Christmas pressie. After yesterday's soaking I realised I
could do with a decent waterproof coat for our weekend walks.
From the garden centre we
went for a spot of McLunch. As we were coming out I saw someone who
looked familiar. Cheryl had been sent into McDs to get scoff for "My
Boy TM". Together we then went to the pet
shop, and to a new shop in Folkestone; The Lodge. The Lodge seems to
be an up-market version of Canterbury's Cheapo-Bargains shop. I
suppose a combination of the place only just having opened and
Christmas coming up meant the place was heaving. I shall go back when
it's not so busy.
We found a quick
geocache, and then went round to see "Daddies Little Angel
TM" and the baby. I say " went
round to see "Daddies Little Angel TM"
and the baby"; within minutes of arriving I was fast asleep.
After a couple of hours spent snoring we came home.
Again I should really
have been out with the astro club, but a combination of rain (not
telescoping weather) and not wanting to get a running nose meant
I had an evening in. "er indoors TM"
set off bowling and I curled up on the sofa with my dog and watched
"Jeeves and Wooster." After all it's what I usually
do on Sunday evenings...
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