Here comes 2009

Oh how I hate New Year!

Merry Christmas!

It's that time of year again, excess food and well not drink, but you get my drift. This is the first Christmas in many I year where I have actually managed to save some leave from work to enable me to take some time off, but unfortuantely I have been struck down with manflu for the second time this year. The good thing is, as you can tell by the fact that I am writing this at lunchtime on Christmas Day - it's got me out of giving a hand! - I offered to solider on and help, but the excessive amounts of mucus I am producing seems, for some unknown reason, to have put people off me handling food! hoo hum! So there is nothing left for to do other than wish you a Merry Christmas and I hope that Father Christmas brought you what you deserved! (deep uh?!)

WRGB 08, Shakedown.

Setting aside my annoyance at the seemingly 'anti-spectator' attitude of the organisation of this years rally, generally I enjoyed it. As I have done for the past few years, I again went to the rally shakedown in the woods near penllergaer, this year however, involved a long hike to the spectator entrance from the Junction 47 services. A helpful lady showed the way into the stage from the housing estate, so my thanks to her, as I'd probably still be wandering the estate now.

Argh! Dents and rallying.

Looking forward to the start of the WRGB 2008, I popped to Tesco to give my Fiesta ST a quick bath. Was then I noticed the dent and chip on the bonnet, in the centre of the dent was a 5mm square chip back down to the metal and below that an inch long split in the paint. I'm not a very happy chap.
As an aside, I've got my tickets for the rally, well mostly! Decided not to go for the full rally pass, but to get tickets for the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. (I'm in two minds about the Friday, especially if the weather is bad). As it turned out, they'd sold out of the Shakdown tickets. Hopefully get some nice pictures this year, a little snow would be nice!

Sanding, sanding and more sanding

My arm and shoulder have just about given up now, only when it comes to sanding the woodwork do you realise just how much there is. It's starting to take shape now though, but time has ran out. The window company are arriving tomorrow to install all my lovely oak. I've got a door and a few windows totally sanded and preservative painted on, I'd hoped to have been able to paint a quick coat of varnish to the underside to help protect against any moisture which may get under the wood. My own fault, if I had a coat of arms my motto below the shield (probably written on a piece of sandpaper) would be something along the lines - I'll operor is cras. I've got some photograph's of the windows and the ready to install sills, but sticking with my crest - I'll post them tomorrow! *translation courtesy of http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=English&to=Latin

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Rushed about like a headless chicken yesterday evening to get to TopStak near Llandow to have a look at some multifuel stoves. As is the way with most things, you start off with a price in mind, find a model that fits your budget and specifications and then see a much better one for not that much more. Using this process i'd identified the Stovax Stockton range (the 3,4 or 5 models) as the stove for me, so armed with my wallet, my Mum and an empty boot I headed down there again today buy one. I'm every sales persons dream, after about half an hour of sales pitch I'm now looking at a Franco Belge stove. Which you guessed it, is a much better stove at only a little bit extra in price. So it's now a chioce between the belfort or montfort models, back to the calculations....

Energy Saving Bulbs - not a bright idea?

Flicked the light switch and 'pop', a small flash of light, then darkness, my energy saving bulb (ESB) had given up. The bulb had only been fitted for a couple of years, and definitely not the six years or 10,000 hours life stated, when taking into account the fact it was a bedroom light so wasn't heavily used this doesn't seem like good economy to me. Putting aside my personal preferences - I don't like the light from an ESB and the fact they take a while to warm up, if their in real day usage lifespan is far less than stated, then are they really that environmentally friendly? I'm yet to be convinced, now I've got to drive to the council tip to securely dispose of the mercury time bomb of an expired ESB.

You are feeling very sleepy.....

Reading my blog it would be a fair assumption to make that I don't do much with myself, but you'd be o so very, very wrong. In fact the main reason that the pages of my blog remain uncared for and empty is that I'm very busy at the moment. Ah I hear you cry, if I'm so busy there must be a whole raft of interesting entries waiting to be typed up and yet again, you'd be o so very, very wrong. Because my evenings and weekends, although not having a spare minute to draw breath are as boring as watching paint dry and in fact to a certain degree that's exactly what I have been doing, well, not strictly true, it was wood preserver.

However, today has been slightly different, I took a half days holiday, partly due to still suffering from BST lag, like jet lag, but not involving warm and sunny places, just that summer has now officially ended and the clocks have gone back an hour. They say that this gives you an extra hour in bed, which is true, however I spend that hour awake, because in reality my body clock thinks 6:30am is still the BST 7:30am an hence I'm awake and ready to eat.
Besides the chronic lack of sleep, I also needed to meet with the surveyor from the company who are installing my lovely new windows. At last (mostly, well entirely, due to me dragging my feet) the completion my window install which has been on hold for the past few, uhem, 9 months is now within sight! Woohoo!
I must now leave you, I've got to do some hunting to find a good deal of Fallout 3 for my brothers birthday present. Just think, if you're bored reading this, how very bored I must be to have lived it and then to write it in a blog! But panic not reader, those thrilling events which I haven't yet chronicled will be typed up and available in the not to distant future.

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated

To calm the fears of the hoards of avid Bird Brained followers - the Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated! It has been a while since I posted last, I was brutally struck down by Bird Flu earlier in the month (well, before the scientists with the rubber gloves and the probing come racing my way, it was really man flu, but bird flu fits in better with the name of the blog.)

Ahoy, It be Talk Like Pirate Day!

Aye, 'tis talk like a pirate day, avast yerr scurvy landlubber talk. By the powers I be speakin like ye buccaneer for ye rest o' day. Ye Servin wench in Tesco did look me strange, whenst handed over me Pieces o' eight and bid her a good wind and a calm sea, ye squiffy lass!

A squadron o sprogs were a lingerin by me car, No nay ne'er be doin tha again! Swashbuckled them down to Davy Jones' Locker, Yarr! A wee grog be'ore ye retire to me hammock.

Yo-ho-ho!

The Long Way Home.

It's taken a few weeks, but I'd finally recovered enough from the Mashup weekend to contemplate attempting another bike ride. Along with Mr. Pilau (Mr.P), we decided to go for a ride one evening after work. With the weather forecast sounding hopeful for Wednesday we decided that it would be the day to slope off work early (his words not mine I hasten to add!) and head out to the Penhydd trail at Afan Argoed.

The plan of action was to ride up the abandoned railway to Afan Argoed and so to the start of the Penhydd trail, unfortunately I was struck down early by what can only be described as a dog with a bowel problem. Both of my wheels were amply covered in a thick dog deposit, so whilst taking a pit stop by a water pumping station I attempted to remove the offending substances by rubbing the wheels in the thick grass. Now my wheels were covered in dog mess and thick grass, plan two was put into effect. On hindsight, plan two wasn't the best of idea's using my short supply of thirst quenching water to wash my wheels, as Mr.P pointed out, was not the best of ideas.

View from start of Sidewinder.

I didn't take any pictures on the day, so here's one I prepared earlier, much earlier, well, if the BBC can do it so can the BBB - think about it!

The route had changed slightly since the last time I rode Penhydd, the start, as I remember it, now been the finish of the trail. The climb out of the centre was a killer, but the initial single track section was thankfully a lot shorter than I remember. However, this was more than made up for by the forestry road section leading to Desolation which was much longer than I recall. Desolation was enjoyable, but short and suffering from the very wet weather we've had, sadly, Brashy Track, Green Run, Frog Corner and A Ridge To Far were all closed, so we followed the diversion up to Hidden Valley.

Mr.P set off at speed, at first I just about managed to keep pace, but not for long! Making my excuses, I found the surface quite skittish, I blame my tires! Sidewinder is very close to home so I know the area fairly well, with confidence boosted, I threw caution to the wind. Following round one of the small banked hairpins on the track I came face to ground with a tree trunk which was sticking out of the bank. My front wheel hit the stump, which stopped me more effectively than any disc brake could ever manage. When I say me, what I should really say is 'my bike', as I proceeded to travel forward. Despite my ninja like reactions, my graceful Superman like flight was not accompanied by an equally graceful landing, other than a few bruises and grazes I was thankfully uninjured.
Through the trees at the start of Dead Sheep Gully the lack of light was starting to become noticeable, so putting our best foot forward we completed the following sections in good time, and without major incident. The run back down the railway track was a good warm down and gave a chance to use the top gears which (well for me) weren't used during the previous two hours cycling.

I'm certainly feeling the ride and flight this evening, my bike remains unwashed, still it's the weekend soon.... and in case you were wondering, it's Bird Brained Blog.

The corn is as high as an hedgehog's eye.

My garden has been laid low by our 'glorious' late summer weather. I'd planted around ten sweetcorn seeds back in the spring, and things were looking hopeful for a fruitful harvest. However, they have nearly all been laid flat by the recent spell of extra inclement weather.

On a brighter note, nuzzling amongst the caterpillar ravaged remains of the sprouts, were two small hedgehogs, I resisted the temptation to pick them up - but they are so cute! Leaving them to munch through my many slugs, I returned to my attempts to salvage the corn. Earlier in the year I'd cleared a lot of the brambles and bracken from the garden to make room for the veg patch. Whilst doing this I'd discovered quite a large hedgehog curled up amongst the undergrowth, so a little concerned that I've removed their nest area and hoping to keep them interested in the garden - plans are now in the making to attempt to make a hedgehog nesting box. I'll keep you posted on it's progress!

Kona Mashup - Discretion the better part of valour?

This weekend saw the Kona Mashup arrive at Glyncorrwg, I've had a Kona Kula since 2004, therefore felt obliged to turn up and see what it was all about. I considered entering, but after last week I realised that maybe I'm not quite as fit as I used to be, so decided that discretion would be the better part of valour - someone has to come last, and it wasn't going to be me! Maybe it's the rose tinted shades, but I vaguely remember that at my best I was quite good at the climbs, my stubborn streak takes over, I put my head down and just keep going, however, I'm far from there! That ruled out the enduro stages, so all that was left was the technical stages. My rose tinted glasses aren't that effective, I don't kid myself, technically I'm awful. Wheelies remain a mystery to me, bunny hops - isn't that something Thumper does? It takes a certain sort of person to be truly fast downhill, a disregard for self preservation, a Kamikaze mentality which I don't share.

With both the Enduro and Technical disciplines ruled out there was nothing left but the camera. To misquote a proverb - those who can, compete, those who can't, photograph it! Armed with the trusty Canon, (which unbeknownst to me had an almost flat battery) and weighted down in my soon to be surplus waterproofs I set off for Them Thar Hills. The 'Ponds' were packed, but I managed to squeeze into the car park. Amidst the hustle and bustle of activity - competitors preparing for the days activity, I suppressed the urge to rush home and get the bike. With the rain clouds lifting and with the knowledge of the climb ahead I set aside the waterproofs and set off.

Deciding that the riders wouldn't appreciate me walking up the initial climb from the car park I decided to take a footpath which was nearby, confident in my infallible sense of direction. The path climbed steadily at first, but became ever steeper, to a point where I had to take a pit stop under the now hot, yes, I said hot, mid-morning August sun. While attempting to suck the last dregs from my can of coke I glimpsed a brief flicker of orange windsock around a 1/4 mile away and 100 metres vertically up the hillside - b#^%$r!! Could it be that my sense of direction was not as infallible as I once assumed? Well, yes it could. It had taken around an 1 hour for me to emerge from the undergrowth from my 1.5 mile trek up the hillside, the car park now 200 metres below me.

Despite feeling shattered it had been an enjoyable day, was discretion the better decision? probably, despite been a bit disappointed with the quality, or lack of it, of my photographs - the queue for the 1st aid tent helped improve my mood about not competing. But look out next year - fatties coming!

*Edit - Check out some of my pictures of the event on flickr

Chinese Whispers

Despite not been a huge sporting fan, unless it's got an engine, I've spent the past two weeks watching and dare I say, in general, enjoying the Olympics on the good ole BBC.

Some suspect judging in the boxing and taekwondo have come close to spoiling those events for me and I suspect, for the athletes who took part in those events. Despite that, whilst eating my breakfast (at 9:40 - yes I am lazy) and watching the last few events as the Olympics comes to a close, I find myself actually feeling a little sad that it's coming to an end. Maybe it's because it's the climax of four years preparation, athletics at the peak of their sporting prowess, or maybe it's because the TV schedules will return to their boring pre Beijing output.

Late to the band wagon

Ho hum, I eventually setup my stall in the Blogsphere and everybody's gone!? and for that matter, what the heck is the Blogsphere anyway?

Inspired by my colleagues blog, I thought it was about time that I opened up my (slightly) insane ramblings to a wider audience than just the select group of my lucky friends who have been blessed by my pearls of wisdom, though they say endure, which is good, right? Plus, not wanting to go along with the crowd, I think that blogging has now become unfashionable enough for me to join in, if blogs were a person, he'd be called Dwayne Dibbley.