Ant attack

June 14th, 2006

Returned home from running last night to discover that the kitchen had been overrun with ants. Not content with undermining the lawn and patio these pesky little insects insist on regular raiding the kitchen. This invasion was more enthusiastic than most with hoards of the beasts having reached as far as the overhead cupboards. Not content to wait for the ant poison to do its stuff, I set about sucking them up with the vacuum which, if not productive in the long run, is certainly more satisfying. The question that this always leaves me with is: do the ants survive the journey to the hoover bag and, perhaps more importantly, if so, are they capable of finding their way back out?!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

SOC misfires at Harvester

June 11th, 2006

We correctly predicted that we would be busy with the Inter-Regionals this weekend and consequently didn’t volunteer to join the SOC Spitfires for their journey north of the border to the Harvester. Unfortunately, looking at the results it looks like they experienced more than a few delays on the ‘flight’. Julian seems to have trouble getting the team airborne and Mike must have almost stalled in the middle! I’m in the office this week so will hopefully make the Tuesday night run and look forward to hearing the crew’s tales of woe.

Posted in Orienteering | Comments Off on SOC misfires at Harvester

Bordon in the sunshine

June 10th, 2006

102After the England-Paraguay match was over we headed out to Bordon Heath again to tag control sites. It was nice to be there in the sunshine for a change although let’s hope it isn’t quite so hot on the day or there will be juniors melting all over the place! At least they won’t have to experience the assortment of midges and mossies that abounded when we finally left around half nine in the evening. I didn’t envy the army cadets who were out on the area under canvas. As predicted, the bracken is now over a metre high in some places but in general it shouldn’t impede progress too much although later runners may benefit from elephant tracks in to a few controls. The stinging nettles are also pretty viscious but are mercifully few and far between.

Posted in Orienteering | Comments Off on Bordon in the sunshine

Humax chase play

June 7th, 2006

Bought a Humax PVR-9200T a few months back after much agonising over the various limitations being posted on the Digital Spy forums. Although, to be fair, I haven’t been in the country much of the time since then, I’ve been pretty pleased with the purchase. The Freeview reception is certainly better than the previous box we had and Christine has certainly got the hang of recording programmes while I’ve been away. As a result, we probably watch less crap TV although Christine did make the observation that we probably also watch less news than we used to. Anyway, Humax have finally satisfied one of the major complaints by the addition of chase play in their latest over-the-air update (not to mention padding of recordings). Now, if they’ll only speed up the USB download then I’ll be a very happy bunny. (PS Owners of this box should also checkout www.hummy.org.uk for advice on getting the most out of it.)

Posted in Technology | Comments Off on Humax chase play

Lounging about in Verona

June 1st, 2006

99Just back from a two-day trip to Verona. Fortunately the rain stopped for long enough for myself and a colleague to wander around the city centre taking a few shots of the sights. The sun was even shining for a while although the sky largely remained an ominous dark grey. My colleague had both an early flight and the car so I arrived at the airport before my check-in even opened. Unusually I was flying business class so could get some work done in the lounge. Indeed, by the time the flight had been delay 75 minutes, I’d got about 4 hours work done. The food in the lounge wasn’t up to much though – I’m not sure that many pistachio nuts are good for you!

Posted in Travel | Comments Off on Lounging about in Verona

Mynydd Troed fell race

May 28th, 2006

96Running up and down grassy banks in Copenhagen really isn’t good preparation for a Welsh Fell Race! Estimates varied but the final advertised statistics were 7 miles and some 2700 feet of climb. The race started in the vicinity of The Castle Inn, climbed to the trig point to the West and ran along the ridge of Mynydd Troed before dropping down in to the valley at Blaenaudraw. We then turned North, dropping down Cockit Hill before climbing to the trig point once more.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Running | Comments Off on Mynydd Troed fell race

Physical JIRCs

May 27th, 2006

Spent a large part of today planning courses for the Junior Inter-Regional Champs individual day to be held on Bordon Heaths on 24 June. We have deliberately planned the courses long as previous events on the area indicate that times will be fast. However, running some of the legs later in the day revealed that all of the recent rain seems to be bringing the bracken on nicely in some parts. Nettles are also starting to take hold in some potential control sites so we’ll have to watch how things change over the next month.

Posted in Orienteering | Comments Off on Physical JIRCs

Danish deer

May 24th, 2006

93Had another great run this evening. Drove the few miles to Dyrehaven, Copenhagen’s equivalent of Richmond Park. The deer were certainly in evidence and generally much tamer than those in the New Forest (10 metres was about the limit before they would take off) although one of the first herd I came across tried to make a run at me. Unfortunately my camera battery gave out shortly before reaching a group of stags with impressive antlers.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Running, Travel | Comments Off on Danish deer

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »