I was up with the lark,
and after a swift bite of brekkie I zoomed round to Asda to treat
myself to a sandwich. I had intended to go last night, but in the end
I ran out of time yesterday.
I then set off to... I
don't really know where I set off for. I think it was somewhere in
the general vicinity of Otford. A few days ago I'd read a post on the
Geocaching in Kent Facebook group that there was to be a geo-mission
today. I'd spent much of a day solving geo-puzzles, and today was the
day we were to collect them.
As I drove I was rather
depressed to hear the news on the radio. UKIP has won yesterday's
by-election in nearby Rochester. The opinion
of most of the commentators is that UKIP are getting their
popularity because most people aren't actually voting *for*
UKIP; they are trying to register a protest against the exisiting
political establishment. That may well be the case, but if people
want to make a protest they should decide not to vote, or to spoil
their ballot papers. Because by voting UKIP politicians into
positions of authority isn't making a protest; it's doing something
rather dubious (at best). Most people aren't interested in
politics, and this is where UKIP score. Have you ever listened to
anything a prominent UKIP politician says? No? - you should actually
listen to them. They come out with a whole load of guff which sounds
designed to appeal to the average man in the street. But most of what
they say is hot air based on vastly over-estimated guesswork about
how much money (if any) might be saved by leaving the EU and
sending everyone home on the next banana boat. And then most of what
they've said is then formally denied and re-worded by UKIP official
press releases the next day. But they've got someone into parliament
(again) because the man in the street likes being told that
shit is sugar.
And people wonder why I
don't beleive in democracy.
I turned off the news and
put on an Ivor Biggun CD and sang rude songs whilst I calmed down.
I arrived at the meeting
point, and by the time I'd got my wellies on, Phil and Dan had
arrived. Martin soon joined us, and with geo-gadgets primed we set
off. Up hill and down dale; and there was some serious ups and downs.
On the way we saw phesants and squirrrels and a rather brave fox.
There were some wonderful views to be seen as we went. Sandra joined
us half way round, and we carried on past rather friendly horses and
an abandoned car. Who drives a car into a field to abandon it? We
even saw the house in which the gold from the Brinks-Matt bullion
robbery was found.
We set out with
sixty-three geo-targets; we found the lot. There was one that had
gone walkabout, but it was rather obvious where it had been, and we'd
gone out with permission to replace any that were missing. We walked
just over nine miles in just over five hours. We'd parked up by a
pub. after our walk we deserved a drink; it was rather frustrating to
find the pub wasn't open on Friday lunchtime.
It's been some time since
I last did a long walk; I've missed them. But, as I usually do, I
took a few photos whilst we were out.
I'd thought we were going
to finish a lot later than we did; I came home and took "Furry
Face TM" for a walk. It won't be long
before he's out with the me on the big walks again. I was tempted to
have taken him this morning, but the vet did say he was to rest until
the end of the month. And then (with a lot of help) I solved
the last geo-puzzle for tomorrow's planned walk.
I got myself some tea,
and then watched a film. "Community"
is a horror film about a rather grim housing estate. I was tempted to
turn it off (on several occassions) but I stuck it out to the
end. Mind you it was nothing special.
"Daddies Little
Angel TM" phoned; littlun was making
strange noises and she wanted my sage wisdom. She put littlun on the
phone and he gurgled at me. In all honesty it sounded like the sort
of noises that babies make; they are noisy things. I said as much,
and she seemed happy with my opinion.
I looked at doing more of
my Coursera course, but by then it was 9pm. Next door had by then
stopped clanging the piano and was by then strangling their violin. I
shall Coursera tomorrow... And blow my sax too; I never got round to
practicing it today.
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